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Lonesome George was found dead this morning. A sad day for tortioses. On a less depressing note, are there any TX goons here that wouldn't mind keeping their eyes open for a beetle species for me? I'm interested in trying to get ironclads breeding in captivity. ZarathustraFollower fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jun 25, 2012 |
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Jun 25, 2012 18:53
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I just can't believe it. I thought he was going to pass away when I was middle aged. I also handled my sister's crestie. I thought "Hey, how come we don't handle this thing more often? She's pretty calm and tame and the only reason she jumped all over the room was because it was nighttime." Right in the middle of when I was thinking this, she pissed all over my hand reminding me of why we don't handle her.
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Jun 25, 2012 18:56
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Despite the reptile gods taking Lonesome George, I want to thank them for Rorschach passing that final egg. You know what Silly Putty comes in, right? It was that size, dark black and green. I about screamed when I saw her without the swollen mass and yes, she's still in shed mode. So thank you, thank you reptile gods for letting her pass that slug.
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Jun 25, 2012 23:20
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Cowslips Warren posted:Despite the reptile gods taking Lonesome George, I want to thank them for Rorschach passing that final egg. You know what Silly Putty comes in, right? It was that size, dark black and green. I about screamed when I saw her without the swollen mass and yes, she's still in shed mode. That's great she passed it. She'll be good as new in no time. Yeah, that blockage can be a nasty mass. My suboc's final mass was part amber, part brown. Miraculously, this luckly little lass was missed by several vehicles including an 18 wheeler that went right over her, and still alive in the road as I swerved to a stop beside her.  Understandably, she was a little rattled.   A sense of her size is conveyed via the USB chord, and the useless thermometer sticker that pet stores make a fortune overcharging novice keepers for. She is approximately 12 inches, hardly the monster of western mythology. Large adults top out at about 2 feet. She sang the whole ride home, her rattle being a high-pitched nasal buzz. The sidewinder's song differs from diamondbacks, whose heavier maraca-toned rattles promise "Somebody's about to die."  Here she sits atop one of her hides, a partial shoebox lid buried in sand with a rock slab adjacent to the hole, emulating a pack rat nest, favorite homes of sidewinders. Sand is not recommended for most snakes, but it is the preferred substrate of sidewinders. Their natural range stops wherever the sand does. They coil up and snuggle into it the same way you would your favorite spot on the sofa. After just a few days she took her first meal, a f/t road-killed packrat. A dead packrat is an easy find. Literally the stupid things will run right into your wheels. Rats and packrats are extremely common to see on the roads at night in the desert. I expect she will switch to f/t rodents with ease. But if not, the desert is in no short supply of free meals. Anyways, it's a pleasure and a thrill to be working with an icon of the Old West, a journey over 3 decades in the making. I'll get better pics and video as she settles in more. 
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Jun 26, 2012 07:46
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Bobbaganoosh posted:That's great she passed it. She'll be good as new in no time. Yeah, that blockage can be a nasty mass. My suboc's final mass was part amber, part brown. That's awesome, I love cerastes, but don't underestimate the little fuckers. Here's some pics of my friend's sidewinder bite: Check out that bruising coming from a bite on his finger:   About a year (and $100k in medical bills) later, the doctors gave up on saving the finger and amputated it. 
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Jun 26, 2012 13:52
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I have never adblocked any images that quickly before. 
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Jun 26, 2012 16:49
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Wasn't he the one who tried to ride it out sans treatment? That would exacerbate the effects of any bite to the extreme. Venom left unchecked is insanity. Unless you're Bill Haas, of course. Nevertheless, I don't underestimate these TNT sticks. Never have. I'd sooner mistake mistake my .45 for a Q-Tip. As a musician, I've a vested interest in not losing any fingers or limbs. And I'd prefer to not work the computer keyboard with a straw for the rest of my days. Having rescued, removed, released and photographed hundreds upon hundreds (probably thousands at this point) of crotes in fields and washes, on roads, from garages, yards, gardens, greenhouses, and once even a pool skimmer, and having had exactly zero close calls, I'm confident in my safety protocols. More valuable than experience and knowledge is the mentoring I've had from a few local hot keepers on making the decision and on best practices. The clincher was restoring power to our climate-controlled poolhouse that nobody but I ever uses. The perfect Herpetorium.
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Jun 26, 2012 17:12
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She's beautiful, Bobbaganoosh! I'd love to see more pictures of her.  I love hots, but having no experience with them or anywhere to start, I don't think I'd ever keep one myself. But I love seeing pictures of everyone else's!
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Jun 26, 2012 17:33
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Bobbaganoosh posted:Wasn't he the one who tried to ride it out sans treatment? That would exacerbate the effects of any bite to the extreme. Venom left unchecked is insanity. Unless you're Bill Haas, of course. Haha... he waited to be sure it wasn't a dry bite instead of going to the hospital. He's my friend, but he isn't too bright.
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Jun 26, 2012 18:05
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Bobbaganoosh posted:Wasn't he the one who tried to ride it out sans treatment? That would exacerbate the effects of any bite to the extreme. Venom left unchecked is insanity. Unless you're Bill Haas, of course. One of the keepers I work with used to work for a private zoo. He was in charge ot the hot snakes specifically, and the owner would often go in after closing to rearrage the back room/feed stuff. Often the owner would forget/not care to relock or even close cages. The guy quit after the 2nd time of playing 'find the cobra' by himself one morning. Anyway, she's a beautiful snake, and I can't wait to see more pics as she grows. What size tank are you going to keep her in full grown? Are you planning on setting up a lock box to herd her into while working in the cage, or just removing her each time?
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Jun 26, 2012 21:40
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Big Centipede posted:Haha... he waited to be sure it wasn't a dry bite instead of going to the hospital. He's my friend, but he isn't too bright. Ouch! Costly error! Their bite has been described as dipping the afflicted limb in hot fryer. Unfortunately, their venom is highly evolved to dissolve tissue and destroy blood cells of mammals and other vertebrates. Barring anaphylaxis, they aren't likely to kill you. But as those photos illustrate, there's no such thing as a "safe" hot, a diet rattlesnake, a one-calorie mamba. Sidewinder rules couldn't be easier to understand: enter their Death Zone, and they will indeed bite the hell out of you. Without hesitation. hypnotoad posted:She's beautiful, Bobbaganoosh! I'd love to see more pictures of her. I love hots, but having no experience with them or anywhere to start, I don't think I'd ever keep one myself. But I love seeing pictures of everyone else's! Thanks hypnotoad. I'll take more photos and video soon, once I get better lighting in there. And feeding photos as soon as she starts taking f/t hoppers. Near-daily exposure to buzztails 9 months of the year for years upon years helped to perfect best practices. The sidewinder is only one of 3 hots that I'd ever consider keeping. One of the others, the Sonoran Coral Snake, I tried keeping last year, but couldn't get it to feed on blind snakes (its preferred food) nor night snakes, neonate longnosed or euthanized kinked rat snake hatchlings. As such I released her shortly after capture. Ol red touch yellow:  Refreshments are served:  Having the stand-alone hot room was an absolute key requirement for keeping a crote. If anybody gets tagged, it will be from stepping on a neonate diamondback in the driveway in the dark, and not from any of my mistakes. This happened to a buddy of mine in his own driveway while taking out the trash. He doesn't wear flip-flops after dark anymore. It's rarely the one you see that gets you; it's the one you don't. Back in 2007, a diamondback tagged somebody in the garden center of the local Walmart, as bad luck would have it.
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Jun 26, 2012 22:04
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ZarathustraFollower posted:One of the keepers I work with used to work for a private zoo. He was in charge ot the hot snakes specifically, and the owner would often go in after closing to rearrage the back room/feed stuff. Often the owner would forget/not care to relock or even close cages. The guy quit after the 2nd time of playing 'find the cobra' by himself one morning. Yikes! Smart of him to move on. Carl Kauffeld wrote of his king cobra envenomation. He accidentally hooked his thumb on a fang, trying to help it shed. He notified a fellow keeper, who promptly prepared to administer the horse serum. He recalls pleasantly drifting into a comfortable dream state. The next thing he knew was coming to, and his fellow keeper saying "Thank god! I thought you were a goner!" It was hours later. The fellow keeper recounted his log of symptoms observed, most notably violent coughing and convulsions, a sharp contrast to the peaceful dream Kauffeld experienced. Neurotoxins don't mess around in shutting down the nervous system. ZarathustraFollower posted:Anyway, she's a beautiful snake, and I can't wait to see more pics as she grows. What size tank are you going to keep her in full grown? Are you planning on setting up a lock box to herd her into while working in the cage, or just removing her each time? Yes. I chase/ferry her into a lockbox (a small rubbermaid filebox) and move that into my crote bucket -- a 5 gallon bucket with a screwtop locking lid. In the meantime I've ordered a Vision 221 for my Az. Mountain King, the current resident of the sidewinder's future cage. The hidden underlip of Visions pose a bit of a safety risk with small hots. Hidden nooks where you can't see them lurking is begging for disaster. Its adult cage is a custom oak herp cage built by a local woodworker/cabinet maker. 44" wide, 18" deep, 16" high. I got it off CL several years ago, as he was no longer keeping herps. It's a heavy, sturdy cabinet type cage, double-hinged framed glass doors wired with undertank heating, with flooring waterproofed and sealed by some kind of epoxy. The thing is heavy enough it could double as a bomb shelter. The cage originally housed my California King, who inexplicably outgrew it. Dingbat is over 66" now and resides in a Vision 322. The size is a bit excessive at first glance, but the key is to have enough room for it to truck around in. The cabinet cage was actually 2 separate cages, but I cut out most of the center dividing wall, such that only an inch lip remains around the top, front and back, while about 1/2 inch remains at the bottom -- enough to submerge in substrate. The front currently has hook locks, but those will be removed and replaced with padlocked bolt latches. I'm fitting it with a lock-in-place partition, for securely dividing the cage in half for cage cleanings. This makeover warrants a photo post of its own when complete.
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Jun 26, 2012 23:59
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So our African sideneck (she's a pelomedusa subrufa) has been acting strangely this week and kind of has me worried. She's normally extremely active in the summer and constantly hungry/asking to be fed on feeding days. This past week she's been sleeping a lot more than usual and definitely is not as active. She's eating, but not nearly as much as she usually does and hasn't really been doing her usual begging routine. Her eating has gone from "YES PLEASE LET ME WAVE AT YOU AND BE CUTE" to "Oh, food? I guess I'll eat this." We even got her some live fish (rosy reds) and normally she would pretty viciously hunt down every last one fairly fast, but this time she was pretty slow about it and even has left two alive that she refused to eat. I've offered them to her again a few days later and she still wasn't interested. She's been trying to dig again too which she hasn't done in ages. Her substrate is bigger now too (since she's big enough to eat the river pebbles that were in her old tank) and she still tries to burrow completely under it or get under her canister filter. She's also EXTREMELY docile and has never once tried to nip or bite anyone and today after I had her out to give her eyes and nose a look since she's been acting so strange I got ready to put her back in the tank and she actually snapped at me. She's always been a tiny bit shy, but never acted like this. Her eyes are clear, nose is clear and shell and skin looks good and I've given her a bunch of good close looks and everything seems fine. She's in an appropriate sized tank (55 gallon) with UVA/UVB lighting, has a 12 hour photo period, daytime and nighttime heat and a good gradient with proper temps. Her water is also clear and clean. When my boyfriend first got her she laid 10 eggs a year later out of nowhere. He said she acted similarly before she laid them and even for a bit after, enough that he took her to the University of Georgia exotics vet since he was living nearby at the time and the vet gave her a clean bill of health and soon after she went right back to her normal perky self. Could she be getting ready to lay a bunch of infertile eggs again? I've been looking all over the internet for more information on behaviors associated with that and if there is a cycle or anything (ie: laying every certain amount of time or something) but I'm not finding much. Anyone well-versed in aquatic turtles have any opinions? Should we run her to the vet this week? We now live 3 hours away from UGA (which is the only place I can think of with a reptile vet), but we love Da Vinci to death and would be willing to make the trip if this sounds like something she needs to be examined for immediately. E: typos. Terminally Ill fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jun 27, 2012 |
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Jun 27, 2012 00:20
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 Zippy gecko dove up my hand/wrist/shoulder/neck and perched on my head. Then stared at himself in the mirror. King of the world. Then of course, he promptly got a hair curled over his leg, I couldn't see what was going on, so I had to rip hair out of my scalp so I could pull him down and unravel it. He bit me for thanks.
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Jun 27, 2012 01:43
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The news about Lonesome George still makes me sad, so it seems quite apropos to instead trot out some pictures I just took of Hubcap (redfoot tortoise, a species incidentally on the endangered list itself) as he mercilessly attacked an unsuspecting pile of cubed squash. Ever so carefully, he crept up on the squash. He is so good, he gets point blank without his prey ever suspecting. Interesting to witness natural instinct in the safety of your own home also! I did not know tortoises do this, but he keeps a tin of Vaseline in his half-log, and kind of 'suits up' when he's ready to hunt.  "What the gently caress are you looking at? I'm working, here."  The strike! Showing the deft, unparalleled swiftness that only a tortoise can produce, he darts like concrete-encased cement upon the unsuspecting vegetation.  A clean hit! He wrestles the squash cube to the ground, strangling it with his beak with a luchadore move I taught him in early May. Fast learner.  He lingered a moment, like any true predator, savoring the defeat of his prey and basking in his superiority.  A blood-curdling shriek! Certain to get me reported to the apartment manager, too! But, boys will be boys.
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Jun 27, 2012 04:24
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 Tha heck is going on with my egg guys  Edit: This clutch is about 25 days old, kept 82ish. Humidity should be fine as there's plenty of moisture in the perlite the yeti fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 00:14
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Hey guys, I found a 125 gallon pond liner I'm going to pick up for my turtle. It's definitely outgrown the current aquarium it lives in now and I'm planning on building a scaffold around it. Any advice for this? I've read about it for low budget turtle housing since I can't afford a massive glass aquarium and it seems like a solid plan. I'm not entirely sure where to even put it yet but I'll figure something out. Any advice on this venture?
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Jun 29, 2012 02:16
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the yeti posted:
They still look firm and healthy. Don't panic. I've seen eggs do weird poo poo before and hatch fine.
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Jun 29, 2012 02:55
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Honest Ray posted:Hey guys, I found a 125 gallon pond liner I'm going to pick up for my turtle. It's definitely outgrown the current aquarium it lives in now and I'm planning on building a scaffold around it. Any advice for this? I've read about it for low budget turtle housing since I can't afford a massive glass aquarium and it seems like a solid plan. I'm not entirely sure where to even put it yet but I'll figure something out. Any advice on this venture? These may be a better fit http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/waterland-tubs/
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Jun 29, 2012 02:56
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Big Centipede posted:These may be a better fit Whats better about those out of curiosity? I was just figuring I'd build some kind of ramp and use the frame as a basking area. It's definitely cheaper than the ones on that site.
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Jun 29, 2012 03:09
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Honest Ray posted:Whats better about those out of curiosity? I was just figuring I'd build some kind of ramp and use the frame as a basking area. It's definitely cheaper than the ones on that site. I've never owned one, so I can't honestly say, although those have a space to fill in soil as a basking site and some other convenient features. I've also never heard any complaints from anyone that owns one. They're certainly not a necessity, but I figured if price wasn't a factor that they might save you the trouble of building a setup with a pond liner.
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Jun 29, 2012 03:16
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Big Centipede posted:I've never owned one, so I can't honestly say, although those have a space to fill in soil as a basking site and some other convenient features. I've also never heard any complaints from anyone that owns one. I got you. Haha, the main reason I'm going all pond liner on this is because of price. I found one on Craig's list for a pretty reasonable price. I'm going to need to buy a new filter though which is gonna set me back a few bucks regrettably. Any advice on where to keep something like this? It's pretty big being the gallonage but I'd like to keep it inside. I'm not sure what the best course of action here is.
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Jun 29, 2012 03:19
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Honest Ray posted:I got you. Haha, the main reason I'm going all pond liner on this is because of price. I found one on Craig's list for a pretty reasonable price. I'm going to need to buy a new filter though which is gonna set me back a few bucks regrettably. Any advice on where to keep something like this? It's pretty big being the gallonage but I'd like to keep it inside. I'm not sure what the best course of action here is. I don't know, I guess it depends on the shape, but 125 gallons is going to weigh over 1,000 lbs.
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Jun 29, 2012 05:29
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New addition today. 1 month old female pied.
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Jul 1, 2012 22:05
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Whale Cancer posted:New addition today. 1 month old female pied. Very nice! I'm not a huge BP fan, but the pieds are awesome.
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Jul 2, 2012 02:40
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We've got 5 now. I'm not a fan of pieds but my girlfriend has been wanting one forever and we finally found one that had a decent amount of white on it so I got it for her for her as a present.
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Jul 2, 2012 03:14
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Whale Cancer posted:We've got 5 now. I'm not a fan of pieds but my girlfriend has been wanting one forever and we finally found one that had a decent amount of white on it so I got it for her for her as a present. I enjoy the weird patterns that pieds exhibit on the non-white patches.
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Jul 2, 2012 03:39
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Like the ejaculating penis on its neck. ...sorta. And the happy face tail
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Jul 2, 2012 05:59
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Malalol posted:Like the ejaculating penis on its neck. I see it....
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Jul 2, 2012 06:24
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So, is anyone heading to the Repticon show in Columbia SC next weekend?
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Jul 3, 2012 03:47
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Any issues with keeping my snake outside? I want to move my corn to the garage, he lives in a 20L in my room and I have absolutely no room for a bigger tank in there. Trying to think of how I can shift furniture but its not working out right now. I just picked up a 40b and I also have a 30g? that I can use out there. Temperaturewise, itll be pretty similar to inside I guess (I dont use a heating source for him in the summer time). 80s/almost 90 daytime, its 74 outside right now nighttime. e: V I havent thought about that, not sure how diff. the temps are. When its about 90s out, my room hits about 86+ so on average a 5 degree difference? Ill check what the garage is tomorrow... Malalol fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Jul 3, 2012 |
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Jul 3, 2012 07:48
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Malalol posted:Any issues with keeping my snake outside? I want to move my corn to the garage, he lives in a 20L in my room and I have absolutely no room for a bigger tank in there. Trying to think of how I can shift furniture but its not working out right now. I wouldn't. You have no control of temp spikes.
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Jul 3, 2012 08:00
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Malalol posted:Any issues with keeping my snake outside? I want to move my corn to the garage, he lives in a 20L in my room and I have absolutely no room for a bigger tank in there. Trying to think of how I can shift furniture but its not working out right now. I don't think he necessarily means 90 degrees, I think he's more worried about all these scorching temperatures that keep happening. It'd be a pain in the rear end to move him if it hit 100, especially in a 40 breeder. It's not impossible or anything, but yeah, pain in the rear end.
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Jul 3, 2012 14:59
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I have a bit of a heat problem in my apartment, and I just wanted to see if there's anything more I can do. My crested gecko tank is starting to get up around 28-29 degrees during the day, and I know that this is the upper limit for him. I've been leaving a cube of ice in his water bowl every morning to bring the temperature down, and giving the entire tank a liberal spraying every few hours when i'm home with cool-ish water. There's not many other places I can put his tank as they're all about as warm as the next area. Is he going to be okay, or should I be doing something more? He's not lethargic, in fact he seems a bit more active than usual, I just worry a lot. 
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Jul 3, 2012 17:56
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Cthulhuite posted:I have a bit of a heat problem in my apartment, and I just wanted to see if there's anything more I can do. These guys are really hardy but all it takes is a short time with higher temps to really wipe them out. This summer's been so bad... have had a lot of friends that have lost Rhacs to the heat already.
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Jul 3, 2012 23:12
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Mine seem to be hanging on alright (it's been one of my biggest concerns because desert+evap ac), though god drat they were nippy as hell today (today was change everything out/around day). Calvin got me at least four times. And both of them are around 12/13 grams now. They used to be so small. I also louped today and I'm.. 90?-ish% sure Rich is actually a girl. Calvin's got some weird scales I'm not really sure about. Mostly because Calvin was busy squirming/biting the hell out of me the whole time. On the other hand, I totally could check their calcium sacs without issue because they spent half the time gaping at me. Yay! I've been reading that some folks' geckos get more nippy without crickets if they're huge cricket lovers. Mine seem to actually be more aggressive and ready to snap at things if they're getting crickets regularly. Is that relatively normal too? Everywhere I'm reading seems to disagree. E:  I don't mean to seem heartless, either. Gecko talk just reminded me that I had a question. I feel awful for the folks losing geckos to this heat.
Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 4, 2012 01:11
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So, no one is going to the Columbia SC Repticon show?
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Jul 5, 2012 00:56
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Well my little axolotl is all settled in his big tank now and is really starting to grow, went over the 8cm mark the other day. He's also pretty much unphased by my hand noodling in there to drop his food pellets near his mouth as he's a snobby little axolotl doesn't like them once they've hit the floor. So at this point I'm wondering what kind of stuff there is to hand feed him at this size, preferably nothing too exotic as the nearest specialist store is a subway and a bus ride away and even they don't have a very extensive stock of stuff.
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Jul 5, 2012 13:26
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I haven't been to a show in over a year because I am literally a child with no self-control.
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Jul 5, 2012 15:51
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I feel the same way, my boyfriend is always trying to get me to go to shows and gets mad when I say no. Because if I go I WILL bring something home with me. He said, well just don't. Dammit, it's not that easy!
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Jul 5, 2012 18:16
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