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They don't need a group; they just tolerate others well. No frogs need a group, but some don't work at all in groups, or only sometimes work, etc. One frog will do just fine, though the fun of course comes in with the breeding and breeding activities. If you buy a sexed pair of leucs, they'd do well in there, I think. Or some thumbs; 1-4 vents, a pair or trio of imitators, etc., would go well.
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Aug 26, 2012 02:13
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Ahh, good to know. I thought the male would harass the female and that's why you do groups of 2-3 females per male, but I have no recollection of how/where I learned this, so it's probably just something my brain decided for me. I would really, really like some vents but I had bad luck with shipping from LLL Reptiles (never again, I know better now, unfortunately) and my little trio were all DOA last time I ordered.  Didn't feel up to replacing them as I was moving, but I may look into the local vendors at the next expo and see if I can get some well-started cbb ones.  When/if you do a 10g for your efts, will you post or PM me a modified small batch recipe for this awesome clay substrate? 60g's worth seems a bit much for just one ZooMed, but I really like the idea of added calcium benefits and increased room for isopods/springtails.
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Aug 26, 2012 04:00
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Here's a few pics of my new albino house snakes. This is the male, he's around 1/3the size of the female, but he's big enough to mate (quite frantically actually). He likes sleeping and making GBS threads in the mother-in-law-tongue.  Here's the female (ignore the dirty glass)   To show the size difference:  House snakes are one of my favorite colubrids. They're just as easy to keep and breed as cornsnakes, and the generally have pleasant personalities.
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Aug 27, 2012 03:21
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You keep them in a viv? That's really neat, I haven't seen a lot of snake setups with natural plants. Do you have a pic of your full setup?
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Aug 27, 2012 03:42
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Captain Foxy posted:You keep them in a viv? That's really neat, I haven't seen a lot of snake setups with natural plants. Do you have a pic of your full setup? To be honest, my viv is embarrassingly amateurish. I keep live pothos and mother-in-law-tongue in my gecko tanks with no problems, but these drat snakes seem to poo poo 15 times a week all over them. That piece of wood in the pic in entwined by the pothos, which makes it a pain in the rear end to clean. This tank is just basically an experiment, so don't judge me too harshly. The plants have been doing pretty well, and they've been in there for a few months. I was worried that it would be too dry, but they seem to be ok.   Edit: I know that the mother-in-law-tongue will out grow the tank. I have no idea if trimming it will work. I figured that the worst case scenario is that I have to dig it out and repot it
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Aug 27, 2012 04:08
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Captain Foxy posted:Ahh, good to know. I thought the male would harass the female and that's why you do groups of 2-3 females per male, but I have no recollection of how/where I learned this, so it's probably just something my brain decided for me. I would really, really like some vents but I had bad luck with shipping from LLL Reptiles (never again, I know better now, unfortunately) and my little trio were all DOA last time I ordered. I would just take that recipe and halve it if you have to; it's too much trouble to make much less than that. The recipe I posted is a doubled recipe; the person who I got it from posted a half recipe, but would double it, too. I think I over-estimated how far a batch would go, though; I posted the recipe when we were still planting my friend's. I ended up making two batches of that recipe I posted, and it wasn't quite enough for her 40 breeder and my 20 high, though I could have used more Turface in mine (it took up most of a batch). But for the most part, it's not worth the effort of mixing everything just for one ten gallon tank; make some extra and save it; you can keep any dry extras for however long you need. The clay is holding up really well, though. Like I'd hoped, it's not mushing together into one big ball, and the gaps are large enough that I've seen fruit flies lost down there, ha. My Varadero imis are calling right now; this is the first morning that I've been able to sit down and listen to them, and it's really neat. Here's for hoping for eggs! My intermedius have some eggs (3), but two are definitely bad. The previous owner hadn't gotten any tadpoles from them yet, but I think they're just old enough for breeding now, so they'll work it out. Get some vents (or other frogs) straight from a breeder, that's your best bet. LLL and those other places are just middlemen, which means their quality is going to fluctuate wildly, and the frogs are outside the breeder's care (and potentially exposed to more parasites/diseases) for a few weeks to several months, so who knows how well they'll take care of them in that time. Josh's Frogs is a decent place; I've never bought frogs from him, but I've talked to him a few times, and he's pretty respected in the hobby from what I understand. They sometimes have vents. http://joshsfrogs.com/ Patrick Nabors has some vents right now, and more later. I've bought frogs from him in the past. He's a pretty decent guy. http://saurian.net/frog_availability.html You can also just watch the Dendroboard classifieds; someone will be selling some in the near future, I'm sure. I'd like to get some Iquitos vents as my next frogs, I think. Or you could just get lucky at a show; the bigger show you go to, the more frog vendors they'll have, and you could find someone with some great animals.
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Aug 27, 2012 15:59
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I've actually seen some decent-good local breeders (I think they're called Driftwood Frogs) at my last expo, so that's a shot, but I'll definitely be ordering directly from a breeder this time, no more third party deals! I also got burned that way when ordering a CBB IJ carpet for a friend (arrived WC and stressed as gently caress; she eventually rehabbed and sold him to another friend and got her CBB baby), so I'm definitely not a fan of LLL's practices, just their cheap prices on supplies. Big Centipede posted:To be honest, my viv is embarrassingly amateurish. I keep live pothos and mother-in-law-tongue in my gecko tanks with no problems, but these drat snakes seem to poo poo 15 times a week all over them. That piece of wood in the pic in entwined by the pothos, which makes it a pain in the rear end to clean. Dude, all my 'vivs' are potted plants on paper towels for convenience; no judgements here! I think that's beautiful and definitely more aesthetically pleasing than most substrate + hide + water dish snake setups. I can easily see how poop removal would become a chore in a viv like that, though, so keep us updated as to how it works out.
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Aug 27, 2012 16:06
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Wow, I want some house snake babies! Goddamn those are gorgeous. Is that the standard phase color?
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Aug 27, 2012 23:09
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Cowslips Warren posted:Wow, I want some house snake babies! Goddamn those are gorgeous. Is that the standard phase color? They're albinos. Supposedly, the male is some unusual type of albino, but I'm not totally convinced that its not just a regular albino.
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Aug 28, 2012 01:20
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hypnotoad posted:gently caress. I'm a big blubbery mess. I woke up this morning and my hognose with the regurge problem had passed. Today was literally the week and a half mark that we were going to attempt to feed him a pinky. He'd been active and acting fine all week, although he started to look pretty crappy the past few days. But still, the fear of having him regurge again and cause more damage to him made me hold off feeding him until today. Goddamnit. gently caress, I loved that huffy puffy little bastard. I can't believe he went so goddamn quickly, from healthy and fat to gone in no time. I am bawling like a goddamn baby. I can relate. I've lost one or two to feeding problems in the last couple of years and they didn't show any signs of being thin in the way I'd expect a less chunky species to look. If decide you're interested in getting another shoot me a PM or something and I'll help turn up one that's a stronger feeder.
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Aug 28, 2012 01:51
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Ridiculously beautiful animals, Big Centipede. They're as orange as my everglades rats. Their hatchlings must be a trip to deal with. My lyre eggs are well. 7 for 7, all going strong thus far. The big test is my move on Saturday, not rocking the yolk boat and screwing things up. We'll transport them late in the evening, slow and steady. It's only a 2 mile move. I'd carry them the distance by foot, but I'd have to stop every 50 feet to shoo a neonate atrox out of the way. And perhaps a gila or two, the way this summer has been.
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Aug 28, 2012 06:52
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OneTwentySix posted:You'll want: Would adding calcium dust for feeders into the mix help at all, or does it not work like that?
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Aug 28, 2012 14:19
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I'm not sure; I know just adding calcium dust to regular soil isn't of much use, since calcium powder tends to go bad when exposed to the air. You could add it to the mix, but I think it would get expensive quickly; I use a full cup of CaCO3 and that would be over $8 if it were just feeder dust, whereas you can get a huge bag of lime (~70% CaCO3) for under $5, or a six pound bag of "fast acting lime" (95.5% CaCO3) at Home Depot or Lowes. With lime, be careful that you don't raise the soil pH too much, since that's exactly what lime is intended to do. If you can find pure CaCO3 somewhere, use it, but the fast acting lime is almost entirely CaCO3 (vs. the big bag that's 70% or so); regular lime will raise pH more than pure calcium carbonate. That said, some people have reported highier pHs (into the 8s) with no problems. The redart and peat help lower the pH a bit, too. As far as calcium in the mix, though, you really shouldn't need to add anything; if you spend extra for Calcium Bentonite and Aragonite sand, you've got plenty and can probably go with the 1/4th cup of CaCO3 (which would be better for pH). But overall, unless you're specifically raising pumilio, you don't really need to worry about calcium too much. The idea is to help the frogs with free calcium and to improve the soil for invertebrates; it's not a replacement for dusting fruit flies, so they'll still be getting calcium from dusting. I mainly do this because it looks nice, because I already have the material for backgrounds, and for the invertebrate benefit (which is huge, especially for tiny frogs). The extra calcium is just a really nice bonus, though I won't ever try pumilio without this soil and possibly UVB lighting (which will require a screen lid or special plexiglass; regular glass filters out UVB light). Here's a thread on dendroboard that led me to getting into the clay substrate. They go into the science of the mix much more thoroughly, and they're quite a bit more knowledgeable than I am. http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/63732-clay-substrate-how.html And as I type this, my Varaderos are courting, and I suspect I'll have eggs in there soon (if I don't already), which is really exciting.
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Aug 28, 2012 17:03
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I don't know why I assumed calcium powder would be cheaper. I saw that Dendroboard post way back (and assumed you were working off of it, actually) but I forgot that the guy that posted it lives close by, so I'll ask him where to get the stuff locally.
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Aug 28, 2012 20:42
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Pinesnake arrived this morning. No pics, because I pretty much just unpacked her, gave her a look over for injures/problems and then put her into her tank. Right now it's 4 hides (2 hot side, 2 cool side) and a water bowl on some cage liner, although I'd like to put her on a sand/soil mix later so she can burrow. She's active and alert, and dropped a fecal this afternoon (which I was dumb and tossed, rather than saving to take to a vet for a double check.) The place I got her from said she's 4 months old, and eatting pre-killed. Friday I'm planning on offering her a thawed mouse, and hopefully that'll go well. Which reminds me, I still gotta poke some holes in the tub I got for feeding her in.
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Aug 28, 2012 22:55
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Is it safe for my Russian Tort to chill on my cable box or behind my PC? He hangs out in those 2 spots when he takes his random turtlenaps and he prefers those areas because obviously they're the warmest. I wouldn't want to like, cook him or something though.
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Aug 29, 2012 00:52
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Anybody know of any studies that compare feeder insects, more than just protein - especially calcium levels?
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Aug 29, 2012 18:23
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This might help a bit: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml
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Aug 29, 2012 20:38
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poo poo. I had my snake out a few minutes ago, and I noticed her vent looked odd. Does this look like a vet trip, or do pale snakes normally look this red? Now I'm worried the seller might have injured her while probing. Edit: Mentioned it when I said I got her, but she did defecate yesterday. It wasn't bloody or anything, at least not that I remember. Ugh, this was me when I first made this post/saw it:    
ZarathustraFollower fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Aug 29, 2012 |
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Aug 29, 2012 20:48
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ZarathustraFollower posted:poo poo. I had my snake out a few minutes ago, and I noticed her vent looked odd. Does this look like a vet trip, or do pale snakes normally look this red? Now I'm worried the seller might have injured her while probing. It's hard to tell over the phone, but really pale snakes are sometimes kinda pink at the cloaca. As long as it's not swollen or crusty, I wouldn't worry too much.
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Aug 29, 2012 22:06
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Years ago I got a sheltopusik in a trade. I kept it for a few months before I traded it to a guy in order to cement a deal. It was a really cool animal, and I was just thinking that I wish I had another. I'm seriously thinking of picking a pair up for fun. How cool would it be to be basically the only guy who captive breeds these things? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheltopusik  I've had a lot of animals over the years, but I can't think of any others that would look at me with as much disdain. I wish I had pics of him, it was nicer looking than most of the other imports I've seen since.
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Aug 30, 2012 08:27
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It's a shame they're basically never captive bred, but they do tend to be ridiculously cheap. I actually just requested one for the zoo to use in our education program.
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Aug 30, 2012 10:47
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I had two of these, both rescues, one a serious burn victim. They were really cool; skinklike more than snakelike, little vestigial limbs in the form of spurs, and they were absolute murder machines for all types of prey. Unfortunately, mine passed away after years with me at unknown ages and they are actually illegal in my state so I doubt I will come across more. I suggest trying them out if you get the chance! Regarding breeding, I would try to provide UVB, mimic seasonal changes, put them through a brumation or hibernation, and feed a high protein, high fat, very varied diet. I never attempted to breed mine since they are illegal and were rescues of unknown age etc. I might have if I had been able to vet them properly and they were in good shape.
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Aug 30, 2012 17:51
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Pardalis posted:I had two of these, both rescues, one a serious burn victim. They were really cool; skinklike more than snakelike, little vestigial limbs in the form of spurs, and they were absolute murder machines for all types of prey. Unfortunately, mine passed away after years with me at unknown ages and they are actually illegal in my state so I doubt I will come across more. I suggest trying them out if you get the chance! Regarding breeding, I would try to provide UVB, mimic seasonal changes, put them through a brumation or hibernation, and feed a high protein, high fat, very varied diet. I never attempted to breed mine since they are illegal and were rescues of unknown age etc. I might have if I had been able to vet them properly and they were in good shape. Illegal? Where do you live that they would be illegal?
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Aug 30, 2012 17:57
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Thanks for your support everybody. I'm still pretty bummed out from the loss, but I'm feeling a little better knowing we did everything we could for him. And thank you so much for the offer, the yeti! I still haven't decided on whether or not I want another one right this instant or if I should use this opportunity to get a different species to try out (although hognose quickly won my heart as my favorite snake, I might look for something other than a normal morph). Unfortunately I don't have PMs, but my email is sprince1022 (at) gmail if you ever wanna shoot me an message with your availability or something.
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Aug 30, 2012 19:31
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Big Centipede posted:Illegal? Where do you live that they would be illegal? Oregon. We have really weird import/export and wildlife regulations. You can own a wallaroo but god help you if you want a dojo loach or a russian legless lizard!
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Aug 30, 2012 20:06
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We just had somebody call and act like they wanted to rescue a painted turtle, but then started pushing for a little blanding's that we rescued (and are going to release with the DNR), and finally even offered me $50 or a "large donation" to our facility. Crazy.
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Aug 30, 2012 20:31
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OneTwentySix posted:This might help a bit:
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Aug 30, 2012 20:33
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I know a study on feeder insects, gut loading, etc. that is being put together at a vet school but I don't think they are ready to start until at least the fall and who knows when results would be published. I can put up more info when I know its safe, but I don't want to potentially screw up their funding or something by talking about it before an official announcement.
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Aug 30, 2012 20:59
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Understood - if you had anybody you could put me in contact with to make inquiries, I'd be appreciative - I understand either way, though.
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Aug 30, 2012 22:30
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We had one of those legless lizards at the zoo I used to work at; apparently it was one of the most nasty reptiles in the building, comparable only to the dwarf crocs and the Burm donation who almost broke down the exhibit door to strike at a volunteer.
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Aug 30, 2012 23:27
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Ok, so today was an..interesting? day for me. First, spent all morning cleaning a snake neck turtle exhibit so it could be resealed. That was fun, and by fun I mean I got blisters through my gloves and was sneezing actual dirt clods. At lunch, I chattec with the curator of the reptile center, and dude knows so much awesome poo poo. He also kept and bred venomous snakes in his dorm room, and remembers days when you could buy king cobras priced by the foot. His friend also found a ball python wandering around downtown D.C. and was trying to find someone to take it in. So, Saturday I'm getting a new snake? The guy next door saw me bringing in a new tank in prep for Saturday, and it turns out he's from Florida and used to breed so many snakes he had 2 rooms in his house just for them. He also said that a decent trick for getting indigo snakes from gopher tortiose holes was to put a gardening hose down and blow into it. Then listen in it for a hiss or any noise, pull the hose out, and the snake will follow within 5 minutes because they want to know what the gently caress it is.
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Aug 31, 2012 01:28
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Cowslips Warren posted:We had one of those legless lizards at the zoo I used to work at; apparently it was one of the most nasty reptiles in the building, comparable only to the dwarf crocs and the Burm donation who almost broke down the exhibit door to strike at a volunteer. The reptile rescue in Raleigh, NC has one they named "Hate Sausage"
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Aug 31, 2012 01:45
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the yeti posted:The reptile rescue in Raleigh, NC has one they named "Hate Sausage" That's a fantastic name. The one I had wasn't defensive really, but it clearly did not like being hosed with.
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Aug 31, 2012 02:49
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I read the first several pages and the last few, sorry if this has been posted before, but I've got some questions regarding getting a Mountain Horned Dragon. I had a leopard gecko for the last several years and about a month ago he passed away, from what I'm assuming was old age. When I "adopted" him, the previous owner didn't know how old he was but they had owned him for many years, and I had him for over three years. I'm certain he was an old man gecko, and I miss him. He was also my boy cat's best friend, the cat would lay by the tank for hours while the lizard came over to stare at him. I'm ready to get another lizard, and I am very interested in MHDs. I live in Northern Minnesota and our Petco supplies them, I'm fairly certain that they are bred in captivity. They haven't had any for about a month (I've been calling every three days), but they are expecting a shipment in ten days. I have my terrarium from my gecko, it's all been washed and disinfected, I've got all the proper gadgets, and I've picked up a few other things to make it more MHD friendly (driftwood for climbing, namely), but I'm unsure about what to do with the water situation. I know that MHDs need running water, but the only thing I can find at the store is one of those drip buckets that lets water out a drop at a time. Will that be good enough, or should I invest in a bubbler? If so, do you have any recommendations? Also, I've read that they are fairly friendly lizards and do well with handling, is that true? My gecko was great with handling and I'd like another friendly lizard. One more question - I've read that they like to be solitary, but when I saw them at the store they were always right next to each other. Should I stick with getting one, or should they have a buddy? Edit: whoops nvm Koivunen fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Sep 1, 2012 |
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Sep 1, 2012 01:36
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Koivunen posted:I read the first several pages and the last few, sorry if this has been posted before, but I've got some questions regarding getting a Mountain Horned Dragon. MHDs aren't a good step up from a leopard gecko. They require lots of space and they have very specific heat, light, and humidity requirements. Also, most of the ones you're going to see at a Petco are going to be stressed, unhealthy, and probably parasitized. I strongly suggest a different species from a private breeder. Crested geckos, gargoyle geckos, fat tail geckos, blue tongued skinks, and bearded dragons are much hardier and better choices for a novice keeper.
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Sep 1, 2012 01:51
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I would be extremely surprised if Petco had captive bred MHDs, considering they're near impossible to find even from good breeders.
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Sep 1, 2012 03:15
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Captain Foxy posted:I would be extremely surprised if Petco had captive bred MHDs, considering they're near impossible to find even from good breeders. Didn't notice that he said that. Yeah, CB MHDs are really, really rare. There's no way a Petco would have some. If they're labeled CB, they're either farmed (which is basically WC) or they're flat out lying. Tell us what you're looking for in a lizard and maybe we can help point you in the direction of a more suitable animal.
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Sep 1, 2012 04:18
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They tend to lie about WC/CB all the time. There are some adult green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) at my local Petco labeled CB, and I find it really hard to believe that anyone is farming or breeding green tree frogs, much less to sell adults for less than $10.
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Sep 1, 2012 04:58
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 15:53 |
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Picked up a ball python today, petsmart has a sale on them for a few days. It was $35, which is a pretty killer deal. Had one with the ex-wife for 5 years, a very beautiful snake. Was around 3.5ft when she took off, miss it something fierce. However this little bugger is sure to take care of that. Haven't thought of a name yet, and yes its home is a very temp one till I get my hands on a more suitable enclosure. I plan on grabbing a large clear plastic tub tomorrow until I can get my good tank back. Very curious and exploratory, trying its damnedest to remove the hydrometer from its temp dwelling. 
ExtremeODD fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Sep 1, 2012 |
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Sep 1, 2012 05:00
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