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I own burmese pythons and I have read on the burm forums that guinea pigs are used to fatten up females before breeding. Piggies are higher in fat then other food sources so it is not recommended to feed burms all the time. So I imagine that people have heard piggies are used for food and get scared when trying to give a pet away.
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Mar 19, 2012 17:25
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My new baby beardie, Penne, wanted to stop in and say hello! Here she is meeting her future cage mate, Ravioli:  Here's a bit more detail of her pattern:  She's the offspring of a German Giant and Tiger/Sandfire. She's 19 days old and quite energetic. She has very vivid markings for her age, hopefully they stay around.
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Mar 19, 2012 18:25
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I was cleaning out my (small) backyard pond today, and found two baby snapping turtles in the bottom! This is really bizarre as we're a good distance away from the nearest river and how the heck did they get in there?? Anyway, one is quite dead/mummified but the other one has warmed up and is moving around. I'm considering keeping it, but I need advice. If it would be better for it to release it in the river, I'll do that. However, I'm quite willing to educate myself on reptile care/feeding. Does anyone have any good links/suggestions? Is there anything I can do for it right now - like feed it, or will it have to warm up some more? I've put it in a large jar with some pond water for now. Here's a pic of the dead one. I haven't taken a picture of the live one yet.  edit: Oh, god. I just did some reading on them, and I don't think it's really a good fit for me. I can't keep it in the pond if it will eat my pond fish, and I don't have the space for something that's going to grow so large. 
PooBoots fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Mar 19, 2012 |
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Mar 19, 2012 19:33
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Roach breeder people, what do you feed your roaches as a staple? E: VVVV Any particular sort of dog food? I can't seem to find a decisive x amount is too much protein/x amount is too much carbs for CG feeders. Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Mar 19, 2012 |
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Mar 19, 2012 23:12
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Roach breeder people, what do you feed your roaches as a staple? Bananas, apples, oranges, dry dog food, potatoes,and carrots. I also toss food dishes full of old Crested Gecko diet in my colony. They come out looking like they went through a dishwasher (then they get washed for real).
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Mar 19, 2012 23:21
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Mine also go nuts for sliced up potatoes and dry plain oatmeal. ^^Oh, you said potatoes too.  Well I second it!
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Mar 19, 2012 23:44
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Big Centipede posted:Bananas, apples, oranges, dry dog food, potatoes,and carrots. I also toss food dishes full of old Crested Gecko diet in my colony. They come out looking like they went through a dishwasher (then they get washed for real). All of this. I'll also throw in oats and other sugar-free cereals/grains, melon rinds, papaya, noodles... In other news I picked up a new-to-me species at NARBC Tinley. I'm in love.   6.9 grams of pure unbridled grump.
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Mar 19, 2012 23:51
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Tarentola chazaliae/helmeted gecko? Or am I completely off? 
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Mar 20, 2012 00:09
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Look at it's little wrinkles oh god
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Mar 20, 2012 00:22
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Oh sweet jesus it's a tiny triceratops
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Mar 20, 2012 00:48
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Cowslips Warren posted:I loving love these amphibian pics. Thanks for them, makes me want to go scouting for cool poo poo. But in AZ most cool poo poo can and will kill you. Cool poo poo can kill you just about anywhere; I mean, I poked a copperhead with a stick that couldn't have been more than eight inches long on that trip. You just have to be smart about things; watch where you step and put your arms/body. Wear boots (or get high quality snake boots to be extra safe) just in case you miss something, but overall, just be careful, and for the most part, you'll be fine. Venomous animals aren't all that common; I'd love to find more copperheads, and I've never found a rattlesnake, and not through lack of trying. It's not as dangerous as it seems, provided you're careful; I mean, the local bio professor takes her students out to see rattlesnakes when they go down to Florida. These are just normal college students, and she has an idiot rule; i.e., you have to find one in order to not be an idiot. So she sends them wandering around the area to find rattlesnakes, in an area with a very high density of rattlesnakes. They're told how to flip objects properly (keep the object between you and where the snake could be) and to watch where they step/put their arms, etc. They've never gotten bitten. Hell, she's never been bitten, and she used to be a rattlesnake researcher, finding dozens in a week and working closely with them in the lab. Which is fortunate; she's allergic to the venom due to so much of it being in the air/skin due to all the lab work over the years. Failing that, go road cruising. That's fairly safe; you can stay at a safe distance from anything you find, and there's nowhere for anything to hide on a road. It's also pretty exciting, and there are some really neat animals out your way. Some of the others might be able to give you tips if you wanted to try that. You definitely won't find a lot for amphibians, though. You do have tiger salamanders, and a handful of frogs. The tigers are pretty sweet, though; the western subspecies frequently are neotenous, so you can see these giant gilled adults if you're lucky. If you search online a lot, especially with things like JSTOR if you have access, you might be able to find a population near you, depending on where you live. You've also got the playas and other vernal ponds; check those out for amphibians and really neat invertebrates. Triops and fairy shrimp and all sorts of cool things. And don't forget scorpions. Before I die, I want to get out that way, but the American SW is just too far to drive right now. OneTwentySix fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Mar 20, 2012 |
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Mar 20, 2012 01:21
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PooBoots posted:edit: Oh, god. I just did some reading on them, and I don't think it's really a good fit for me. I can't keep it in the pond if it will eat my pond fish, and I don't have the space for something that's going to grow so large. Wild-caught reptiles don't make very good pets anyway. They tend to have a really high parasite load and other problems, and the stress of adjusting to captivity (which is bad enough on its own, I'm not talking "gee, what a hard day at the office" level stress) can make that spiral out of control. An outdoor pond where they're basically still wild is a different story, but yes it would kill the hell out of your fish.
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Mar 20, 2012 01:55
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For the SW, the monsoon is pretty impressive for toads and frogs. When cruising during the summer monsoon, the roads become a minefield of frogs and toads, curiously spaced out at regular 20-30 foot intervals. Driving becomes a slalom of dodging and swerving. It blows the mind how much amphibian life the Sonoran Desert supports. In S. Az, the diamondback may well be the most common snake found, along with the gopher snake. Some herpers in jest call them rats with rattles. Familiarity makes it pretty disarming how a smaller diamondback is still a big stick of TNT by copperhead standards. Making matters worse is how disgustingly cute and mesmerizing sidewinders are. To watch a neonate, all 5 inches of it, stomp around me with its coils to get back onto the road I removed it from, like a 2 year old in a stomping tantrum, was stupefying. You can't help but laugh. But then you remind yourself that one mistake can easily amount to a 5 digit hospital bill. Still, it's a pity they're venomous and ever so trigger happy. Otherwise they could beat hognoses at their own game.
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Mar 20, 2012 07:54
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Sweet CupnCakes posted:I own burmese pythons and I have read on the burm forums that guinea pigs are used to fatten up females before breeding. Piggies are higher in fat then other food sources so it is not recommended to feed burms all the time. So I imagine that people have heard piggies are used for food and get scared when trying to give a pet away. This is what I was wondering. I'm always seeing ads for piggies listed as not for snake food, and I couldn't think of what morons would keep a snake on a steady diet of piggies. Anyway I'm probably a good rodent hypocrite because my mice are breeders and feeders, and I've had pet rats but none of my snakes will take frozen ones. Won't feed guinea pigs but if I had a large enough snake, rabbits would be all right. As for AZ wildlife, I used to live at a zoo and there were scorpions every loving where. I don't know what kind nailed me, but my leg went numb for half a day. Since I could still walk, although funny, and didn't have health insurance, I went on my day. I was later informed that next time, have a doctor check me out so I don't go full on body numb. Who knew, right?
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Mar 20, 2012 14:11
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mushroom_spore posted:Wild-caught reptiles don't make very good pets anyway. They tend to have a really high parasite load and other problems, and the stress of adjusting to captivity (which is bad enough on its own, I'm not talking "gee, what a hard day at the office" level stress) can make that spiral out of control. I'm sure I've done the right thing, then! I took him down to the riverbank this morning and let him go. He dug himself into the mud and a minute later, I couldn't even see him. I'm still baffled as to how two turtles got into the pond. I've seen a female laying eggs nearby, but it's a good 500m or more from there to here. It would have meant crossing a couple of streets, getting under peoples' fences, etc. The river is a lot closer to the hatching spot 
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Mar 20, 2012 16:49
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PooBoots posted:I'm sure I've done the right thing, then! I took him down to the riverbank this morning and let him go. He dug himself into the mud and a minute later, I couldn't even see him. 30 years later, my cousin's married and starting a family, and that evil fucker is still going strong. Snapping turtles live forever, and they can be mean as hell. Everyone hates that turtle, including my cousin, but he's dead-set against releasing it. After all this time, I guess another 5 or 10 years won't make a difference, but still. That thing has never and will never be what you'd consider a "good" pet. Small ponds can turn up the weirdest things. My parents have a small koi pond, probably about 4-5 ft in diameter, that had been neglected for a few years. All of the fish died, so they decided to drain it and start again, but leave out the koi this time. A month after it's been drained and filled, I'm helping them scoop some leaves out of the pond with a pool skimmer. I bring the net up out of the water and HOLY gently caress A FISH. It flips over and dives back into the pond, while I just stare in shock. To this day, I have no clue how it got in there.
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Mar 20, 2012 19:18
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hyperhazard posted:A month after it's been drained and filled, I'm helping them scoop some leaves out of the pond with a pool skimmer. I bring the net up out of the water and HOLY gently caress A FISH. It flips over and dives back into the pond, while I just stare in shock. To this day, I have no clue how it got in there. Fish can be deposited by birds sometimes or it was hibernating in the mud?
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Mar 21, 2012 03:56
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As an aside, if anyone is purchasing any new supplies for their critters, I HIGHLY recommend New England Herpetoculture ( http://www.neherpetoculture.com/ ) - I had a package stolen off of my porch (because everyone in the ghetto needs a fern) and their customer service was excellent!
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Mar 22, 2012 00:40
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Trilineatus posted:As an aside, if anyone is purchasing any new supplies for their critters, I HIGHLY recommend New England Herpetoculture ( http://www.neherpetoculture.com/ ) - I had a package stolen off of my porch (because everyone in the ghetto needs a fern) and their customer service was excellent! I second this! Just earlier today I was picking out stuff to get from them once I get paid. They have a ton of stuff at great prices! And in other news... guess what I got yesterday!   My Eurydactylodes Agricolae!  I've been so excited to get this guy, and he's even more awesome than I expected! (And so tiny!)
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Mar 22, 2012 05:54
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hypnotoad posted:I second this! Just earlier today I was picking out stuff to get from them once I get paid. They have a ton of stuff at great prices! Oh wow, not many people keep Eurydactylodes. Very cool. What's it's temperment like? I imagine they're more skittish than Rhacs.
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Mar 22, 2012 05:58
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Big Centipede posted:Oh wow, not many people keep Eurydactylodes. Very cool. What's it's temperment like? I imagine they're more skittish than Rhacs. I'm quite excited to be keeping one, although I feel like finding a female in his future will be rather difficult. I haven't done much handling yet as I just got him, but he was actually much more... deliberate than my rhacs. No quick jolts anywhere or leaps of faith or anything! Relatively slow moving too, it was kind of refreshing. I expected skittishness as well, but was very surprised. He just kind of scoots along. 
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Mar 22, 2012 06:06
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A THOUSAND MORE PICTURES  What's adult SVL on these guys? Some say 4", some say 5" for adult males, but I've mostly seen posts indicating the latter. Any major distinctions between them and the Eurydactylodes vieillardi? I'm beginning to see more specimens of the E. viellardi when I browse for Eurys, and I love the paler coloration. It's a long shot, I suppose, but does anyone keep or know anything about the Strophurus family of geckos? I'm interested in keeping S. ciliarius ciliarus (Northern Spiny Tailed Gecko, afaik) but I'd really rather have CBB than WC, and not many people keep them from what I see. I've seen S. elderi, which are also lovely, but I don't know if their care differs.
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Mar 22, 2012 06:30
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Captain Foxy posted:A THOUSAND MORE PICTURES SVL is only about 2 inches - total body length is ~4.5 inches. Males tend to stay smaller. Eury v's aren't much different, some say they prefer it slightly warmer than the Eury a's. Hypnotoad, it shouldn't be too difficult to track down a female. They really are not difficult to produce, just not a ton of people working with them yet, so just keep an eye out. I love the finger-hugging little bastards so much.
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Mar 22, 2012 14:35
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If you google "The Gex Files", Debbie has pairs of both Agricolae and Vieillardi and did side by side shots of both. The difference is pretty cool! And I promise once he settles in a little more, there will be a big ol' photoshoot.  Here's the link: http://www.the-gex-files.nl/indexeng.php?pagina=pages/vs_eng Cultured Snail posted:Hypnotoad, it shouldn't be too difficult to track down a female. They really are not difficult to produce, just not a ton of people working with them yet, so just keep an eye out. I love the finger-hugging little bastards so much. Thanks CS!  I hope that's the case. I've been seeing pairs pop up more frequently on Fauna recently, so I have my fingers crossed that by the time my little fellow is a little bigger finding a lady won't be a problem. Is Felipe adult size yet? And in other news, after seeing pictures of Humphrey, my boyfriend is absolutely smitten!
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Mar 22, 2012 17:47
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Just got back from the everglades. 10 mile hike out in the backcountry to my camp site. Not as many herps as I would have liked, but I'll post pictures when I get around to pulling them off my camera. Florida Kingsnake, gartersnake, softshell turtle, crocs, dead copperhead  and a bunch of anoles are the only herps I saw.In other news, I got an internship with the national zoo for the summer, and get to help out with some work regarding Chytrid fungus!
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Mar 22, 2012 19:47
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^^With the Panama Golden frogs? That is so awesome!hypnotoad posted:If you google "The Gex Files", Debbie has pairs of both Agricolae and Vieillardi and did side by side shots of both. The difference is pretty cool! And I promise once he settles in a little more, there will be a big ol' photoshoot. I know the Gex Files! Debbie and Leon are friends of a friend of mine, and he's stayed at their house with their hairless cats, after the Hamm show. They're mostly who I'm seeing with the E. Vieillardi, and I am seriously tempted.
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Mar 22, 2012 21:09
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Big Centipede posted:Oh wow, not many people keep Eurydactylodes. Very cool. What's it's temperment like? I imagine they're more skittish than Rhacs.
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Mar 22, 2012 22:35
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I may soon be receiving a red-eared slider being gifted to me, and I'm a bit concerned about a few things. Backstory: I'm currently student teaching in biology. My cooperating teacher has a red-eared slider as the class pet named Squirt. A former student inherited a slider named Alias from her brother, and she does not want it. She wants to pass it off to the teacher, who ultimately wants to pass it off to me. I love animals and will be more than happy to give it a good home. That said, today the student brought in Alias. She wanted to introduce Alias to Squirt and see if they could both live in the same tank for a few days before she brings in Alias' own tank from home. This was a slight problem, as Alias began attacking Squirt after a little while, leading to me trying to fish Alias out of the tank with one hand while continuing to lecture (to the amusement of my students). We decided they need to remain separated. Long-winded setup aside, Alias' shell is hardly as pretty or buffed as Squirt's. It's pockmarked and rough. Upon getting home, I began searching and found images of shell rot. It's not as severe as most images, but it basically looks as if someone took sandpaper to the turtle's shell when compared with Squirt's. The student's brother had this turtle for years, and she insists the shell has always been rough and a bit uglier. Though I have no reason to doubt her, I wonder if maybe it still may have something and she just doesn't know enough about it. I can say that when picking it up, the shell did not feel any less solid than Squirt's - no softness or moldy smell. Just REALLY extensive and deep scarring/peeling. My concern is what I can do if this is shell rot, and if there was a chance something was passed to Squirt during their brief time together.
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Mar 23, 2012 01:45
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I finished modifying my 29g aquarium into a split gecko viv and my plants came yesterday. Here's some pics: The yellow-ish crud on the ground there is some brewers yeast I put in for the springdtails until the viv gets established.    These are my new babies arriving next Wednesday: First is a lavendar tri-color 98% Pinstripe from Anthony Caponetto's stock  Second is a 100% Pinner from Mendel Gecko's best mating pair of the year  I talked back and forth with Eric of Mendel Gecko's via email and worked out a deal to get both for $315 shipped. He was originally asking for $275 each so I think I really lucked out here. They're both probable females so even better. Big big thanks to Nesbit for inspiration on the viv and answering my hundereds of PM's. Also to Capt Foxy and Greycious for being my go to on not getting ripped off and sending me in the right direction for my first crested project. I wish I had taken more progress pictures of the vivarium. It actually took a lot of work initially. I stripped the plastic framing off of it and painted it black instead of the wood color is used to be...and then had to cut polycarb to make the removable divider. The hardest part was the backgrounds...just really really tedious to get them to look how I wanted and I'm still not finished with the one...I'm going to put a bark half to make a hide where you see the cubby hole cut out. I probably put a little more money into it than I wanted but I'm really happy with out it turned out and I've always been a fan of naturalistic housing for my critters.
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Mar 23, 2012 19:58
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Looks great, Shaci! Just be sure to have a hide in there, I know you were looking to get cork tube or two. Glad I could help, just wish I could have done more with your questions on the cresteds but it has just been too long since I have paid much attention to their current market.
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Mar 23, 2012 20:59
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nesbit37 posted:Looks great, Shaci! Just be sure to have a hide in there, I know you were looking to get cork tube or two. Glad I could help, just wish I could have done more with your questions on the cresteds but it has just been too long since I have paid much attention to their current market. Thanks! Yeah I've made a couple hides I haven't added in yet. You were still a bunch of help.
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Mar 23, 2012 22:27
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Shachi, the viv looks very nice.
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Mar 23, 2012 23:04
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Great looking viv, and great looking geckos! They're stunning now, and are only going to get better with age! Eric at Mendel Geckos is a super cool guy.
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Mar 24, 2012 00:27
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I don't really want a snake anymore. I think the entire reason I've been geeking out over them for the past few weeks is because I'm thinking about getting a reptile, I love reptiles and I'm looking over and researching the hell out of ones I've often been thinking about getting. I'm not one to buy pets on impulse. I really like Bearded Dragons. They're so funny! Does anyone here own one and could tell me what they're like?
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Mar 25, 2012 01:34
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Celery Face posted:I don't really want a snake anymore. I think the entire reason I've been geeking out over them for the past few weeks is because I'm thinking about getting a reptile, I love reptiles and I'm looking over and researching the hell out of ones I've often been thinking about getting. I'm not one to buy pets on impulse. Bearded Dragons are awesome! They're adorable and scampery when small, and quickly grow into giant lumps that are happy to sit on you and watch TV for long periods of time. They'll look at you when you talk to them and have tons of personality. They take some good money to setup. You'll need at least a 40 gallon breeder for a full grown along with heating supplies to make it 100ish on the hot side and 80s on the other. And a good UVB light. Don't house more than one in a tank. They eat like pigs. The cute little 6 inch baby one can chomp down 20 small crickets and not blink twice. They also need greens and other veggies, but will mostly ignore them until grown. They're really great lizards overall
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Mar 25, 2012 01:53
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SASS2013
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Celery Face posted:I don't really want a snake anymore. I think the entire reason I've been geeking out over them for the past few weeks is because I'm thinking about getting a reptile, I love reptiles and I'm looking over and researching the hell out of ones I've often been thinking about getting. I'm not one to buy pets on impulse. Beardies are awesome. But if you can't decide, can you go to a local reptile shop or show or even sit and look at one of the big reptile stores online? You can see a vast collection of reptiles, see what'll interest you and google care sheets to see what they require. Then you can break down a list of what you like and what you're willing to do to take care of the reptile.
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Mar 25, 2012 04:21
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Or adopt one, I'm sure there are rescues around with ones needing homes I think beardies are pretty rad but, ...not for me I guess, theyre on the ....boring side? Here I am thinking 'Man they dont do anything they just SIT there' while I like SNAKES that just sit there. The food thing is the hardest part really, a habitat you only need to set up once and maintain it every now and then but food you have to prepare pretty often. And the bugs will get costly in the beginning unless you set up a roach bin.
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Mar 25, 2012 05:19
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What I love about Beardies is that they aren't nocturnal. Which is awesome because I like a animal that is active during the day. Not to mention that Beardies are so colourful in personality, it seems. I also like the size.
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Mar 25, 2012 05:46
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I have to say overall that our beardies were easy to care for, but since I live in AZ, they got a lot of natural sunlight in a nice aviary-like cage we had in the backyard. And a good cage inside, but goddamn when you have a male and several females and they all want to be handfed, gently caress, at least the snake doesn't ask for that! Speaking of the snakes, my female hognose Alice is in shed. Again. She just shed a month ago! Cheshire by comparison is totally dwarved by her now. He only wants tiny pinkies; she will take fuzzies with relish. And last year one of my Kenyan sand boa females dropped 18 babies. One of them was pitiful. I mean, the others were all X inches long and super eager and dashing around. This one was at most .5X in length but was zippy too. I kept this one back when I sold the lot of them, and amazingly enough, this little fucker eats mice that even Ches turns his nose up at. Bugger is growing FAST. Time to set up real tanks soon for the trio of anery female babies and their future husband, Weapon Brown, the albino Kenyan I got a year or two ago. I hope their babies are pretty, but that's years away still. Oh, and with beardies, I remember that our adults got pinkie mice here and there, and they loving loved mealworms and cooked chicken, and goddamn they would suck an egg out of a garden hose if that was the only way to get it, but most of their diet, while adults, was greens. Since we usually had leopard tortoise babies year-round at the same time, we would go through several large containers of mixed baby greens and standard mixed greens. Every week, for a while, it was close to $20 for veges that no human had a chance to eat. I remember the puzzled looks from the cashiers at the grocery store when I dropped off another load of salad for the second time in the week, and here I wasn't losing any weight!
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Mar 25, 2012 07:07
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Beardies are awesome. As adults they'll eat 80% vegetable matter, so they're not too expensive. You're looking at about a $500 investment for the cage, lights, etc. Personally, I'm a big fan of Exo Terra's 36x18x18; it's got good ventilation and easy open front doors. (You can pick those up at PetSmart for $180.) A lot of people will tell you that you need complex fluorescent UVB setups, blah blah blah, but in reality you can get by just fine with nothing more than a 125watt Mercury Vapor Bulb for heat, UVA and UVB. I really enjoy my beardies. They have a lot of personality and are a lot of fun. My sub-adult like to nestle up in my lap and fall asleep at night. He'd sleep there all night long if I'd let him!
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Mar 25, 2012 15:01
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