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unprofessional posted:what's the height/is there vertical space for the monitor to explore? Can make a big difference. 4 feet tall with perches etc.
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Sep 9, 2012 20:35
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We got our bearded dragon today! He seems to be doing alright, he's eaten the mealworms we gave him as a treat (he'd already been fed crickets at the shop). Just one question, I'm not sure where to put the UV light. It's a bit too long for the tank so it won't fit straight along the back wall, I've put it diagonally, the lowest end is about 6 inches off the ground and the highest end is at the top. Is that enough coverage? Ideally I'd like to hang it from the ceiling but since the tank is 2 foot high I wasn't sure if it would be too far away. I'll post some pics when he's settled in, we both really want to handle him now but obviously we don't want him to get stressed, he's just so lovely! minema fucked around with this message at 21:44 on Sep 9, 2012 |
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Sep 9, 2012 21:41
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minema posted:We got our bearded dragon today! He seems to be doing alright, he's eaten the mealworms we gave him as a treat (he'd already been fed crickets at the shop). Just one question, I'm not sure where to put the UV light. It's a bit too long for the tank so it won't fit straight along the back wall, I've put it diagonally, the lowest end is about 6 inches off the ground and the highest end is at the top. Is that enough coverage? Ideally I'd like to hang it from the ceiling but since the tank is 2 foot high I wasn't sure if it would be too far away. It should be like 6-10 inches away from him. He needs to be able to bask in his heat lamp but also receive plenty of UVB from his other light. Granted I'm assuming you have two fixtures with two bulbs and not a two in one. A perch makes basking in his lights more effective, and the temperature will be more intense if he's closer. His basking spot ideally should be near 120F. And the rest of his terrarium should be like 85-90ish. If he's too cool, he won't be stimulated enough to induce hunger and digest properly.
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Sep 10, 2012 00:00
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Sgt. Shaved Balls posted:It should be like 6-10 inches away from him. Is this at the basking spot or everywhere? Could I hang it from the top and make sure he can climb to the taller bits, or is that like all over coverage? Also I've ordered a reflector for the uv light to make it more effective. And yeah, I know about the temperatures, I don't actually know what they are at the moment (I assumed the all-inclusive setup would include a thermometer but apparently not) but I've ordered a digital thermometer with next day delivery so hopefully that will all be sorted soon. In retrospect we probably should have got the tank first and set it all up properly before bringing him home.  Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I look after him properly. 
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Sep 10, 2012 00:11
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minema posted:Is this at the basking spot or everywhere? Could I hang it from the top and make sure he can climb to the taller bits, or is that like all over coverage? Also I've ordered a reflector for the uv light to make it more effective. Yea, He really only needs one spot to get closer to the lights. Everywhere else doesn't really matter as long as he can get in and out of the heat as he wants. The basking spot is gonna be a place he spends lots of time. You can mount the lights however you want as long as glass doesn't block them.
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Sep 10, 2012 00:19
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Thank you for the help! Can't wait until he's all properly settled in. 
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Sep 10, 2012 01:04
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My emaciated newt Gimpy still hasn't eaten. I would like to try a terrestrial set up for him - how does one transition a newt from aquatic to terrestrial? What should his new environment look like? How should I attempt to feed him in this new set up?
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Sep 10, 2012 03:29
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Big Centipede posted:Giant water bugs are bad rear end These things have always horrified me but I cannot help but be intrigued by them.  Do you keep one of these?? 
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Sep 10, 2012 05:19
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hypnotoad posted:These things have always horrified me but I cannot help but be intrigued by them. Yeah. I love keeping native bugs. when I was a little kid, I saw one of those giant water bugs eating a water snake. I just caught this cute little booger today: dolomedes tenebrosus eating a lateralis roach 
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Sep 10, 2012 05:52
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My little veiled male was shedding a few days ago and very grumpy about it. So undignified.
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Sep 10, 2012 06:58
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zoo birthday photodump! Rocky and Apollo, the gay sulcatas  Me doing a show with a rainbow boa:  Tang, the best uromastx ever:  Our curator and dwarf caiman:  Argentine boa:  Friend of the zoo brought his 12' yellow and her 28 new babies:  Somebody else brought their lavender albino retic (just two years old):  My buddy Dave doing a show with Flapjack, one of our pancake tortoises:  One of our grumpy female croc monitors:  Solair, our water monitor came out to play! 
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Sep 10, 2012 14:09
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unprofessional posted:Tang, the best uromastx ever: "Do you need assistance? I am here to offer you assistance. I am Tang."  Great pictures unpro, I love what I've seen of your little zoo. Any pics of the yellow mama? I have a lack of self-preservation and a love of anacondas, though I'll never own one.
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Sep 10, 2012 17:37
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Missed getting a pic of her - she was good length and totally handable, but looked pretty scrawny after just having dropped her babies. I think I could've gotten a baby off the guy (and was planning on it), but he mentioned he did have his male green in with her for a while, so he didn't know if they were intergrades or not.
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Sep 10, 2012 18:45
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Captain Foxy posted:Two perches is a great idea; I hadn't seen that recommended but it makes perfect sense to allow the animal to self-regulate. Thanks for the tip about over misting too! Since I mist my cresties once a night, it should be easy for me to stick to the same schedule for a GTP without the temptation to over-water. I have an unnatural obsession with Arboreal snakes, and my Sorong is the chillest snake out there. A couple things I found keeping GTP's, they are VERY bad shedders if you have a humidity upset, and spraying 1 or 2 times a day really doesn't affect the ambient humidity if you don't have a Mister going off constantly. I'd not reccomend using tap water as your misting agent, instead use distilled of RO/DI. GTP's drink off their bodies and sip on water droplets, so I found misting more often better then misting less. I made my own auto-mister, but got one of those Monsoon type as a christmas gift a few years back, and it's really good as well. http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/monsoon_rs400.php I also found that the temperatures the GTP's do best at are high seventies in the basking spot and room temperature ambient. Surprisingly I found high sixties and low 70s at night actually increased her food response, over higher temperatures. As nocturnal snakes, you will get bitten at night, regardless of how tame they are. During the day, some snakes can be picked up quite easily, just be VERY careful with the prehensile tail, especially as a neonate. If it gets damaged, your snake may not be able to grasp while feeding (they dangle their whole body with just the tail wrapped around a perch) and slowly die. I've also found that having different diameter perches is a good idea, and those flexible vine type perches are awesome. Your snake will have a favorite position for the day, one for hunting at night, and will switch it up every few weeks. Here's my baby Jade playing camouflage. I keep a water in pebble bed bottom, with a couple of minnows in the water and pathos for plants / cover. If you go with water bottom, you'll have awesome humidity, but might make a bacteria farm, so be careful. She's 8 months old now, and just went through her colour morph. 
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Sep 10, 2012 20:10
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I've always loved uros. How similar are they care wise to bearded dragons? We used to breed those years ago, and here in AZ they did loving awesome outside for much of the year.
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Sep 10, 2012 22:40
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Hey, look what I saw in my frog tank today! Look a bit closer:  Tadpole on dad's back! I just wish my good camera was with me; I'm trying to charge the neighbor's that I borrowed, but it'll probably be too late to get a good shot.
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Sep 10, 2012 22:56
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Cowslips Warren posted:I've always loved uros. How similar are they care wise to bearded dragons? We used to breed those years ago, and here in AZ they did loving awesome outside for much of the year. I've never owned a beardy, so I can't really compare them, but I absolutely love my uro.  He's a 2 year old Saharan and super laid back. He actually comes running up to the side on his cage when he sees me with his harness and loves going outside on super hot days to eat hibiscus flowers from my garden. I don't know how summer temps in Arizona are, but these guys like it HOT. They need a basking spot around 110-120 degrees F. Their diet requirements can be a little difficult too. They're pretty much exclusively herbivores (mine gets 1 or 2 roaches a month as a treat) and should have a pretty varied diet to make sure they get all the vitamins they need. Mine gets fed a staple diet of Earthbound Spring Mix with various other vegetables like carrots, peas, squash and dandelion greens/flowers cycled throughout the week. As long as you keep the temps high enough and do your research on their dietary requirements though they're pretty easy.
Hype fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Sep 11, 2012 |
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Sep 11, 2012 00:54
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At the last herp show there was a goddamn BEAUTIFUL bright yellow, like Photoshopped yellow, uro just chilling at a vendor booth. Super friendly animal and stupid cheap. When I asked why, the vendor said it was WC and had been in captivity for...a month. I doused myself in soap pretty well after that. So did everyone else who had been looking at his table. Haha, this summer it got to 116 or so for a high outside. The drat lizard could live outdoors for probably half of the year here.
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Sep 11, 2012 01:26
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After talking with a friend, I ended up deciding to create rocks and hides and stuff for my tanks. I started to experiment with the Leopard Gecko's tank first since it is the most bare by far.  What is currently looks like. Just a plastic flower pot, a dish, and some slate tiles with a mixture of sand/cococoir in between. Yeah, the thermometers suck. They're just temp.  Oh Herro Anyways. These are what they currently look like...  That is roughly what it'll look like once I set it in the tank. Still gotta wait for it to dry so I can paint it a bit. Not too much just adding in some browns and greens mostly. I've also started a second project,but I haven't started mortaring it yet because I'm not fully sure if I am done sculpting it. Gotta look at it some more to decide if I like or if I will start over possibly with expanding foam. 
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Sep 11, 2012 03:35
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That construction looks neat, Cless, I'd like to see pics of the finished set up. big dig posted:I have an unnatural obsession with Arboreal snakes, and my Sorong is the chillest snake out there. Thanks for this, I'm getting more and more interested in these guys as time goes on... I'm fairly sure I can keep humidity constant, and I'm accustomed to de-chlorinating and filtering tap water for my sprayers; I have a chameleon with delicate humidity reqs as well, and people call chondros the chams of the snake world. I work from home so I'm able to mist multiple times daily, and I have an excellent spot-gun heat meter and hygrometer. I provide drippers and do daily showering during shedding. I'd also definitely throw down for a misting system if any of that were to change.  The info on breaking neonates tails makes me a little about handling, but I'm reading how to avoid that now. I have plenty of pothos and sterilized bamboo perches, as well as varying widths of driftwood and vines, so I should be able to provide a good variety of coil spots. Brazilian Rainbows are also a possibility, but I'm definitely leaning towards a GTP.
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Sep 11, 2012 05:09
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big dig, do you allow a drying out period for your GTP? I'd considered an auto-mister just to be sure humidity stays high enough, but then I was told too much humidity could lead to skin infections and that there should be a period each day where the cage is totally dry. I'm worried I'm going to have a hard time keeping that balance between too humid and just humid enough. There seems to be a lot of variation in how people keep their chondros, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can before getting mine.
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Sep 11, 2012 05:29
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On the subject of GTP, the zoo I'm at has...well, a lot, thanks to an old keeper breeding them for fun. Like, double digits of them, just chilling in the back room. The setup there is just a large plastic bin with 2 perches hanging from wire, and a screen cutout on a hinged top for a lamp. About 1" of water is covering the bottom, and whenever it gets gross, we simply move the cage to the floor, flip the lid (and thus the snake) so it's resting parallel to the ground, and slowly tilt the entire base until the water all pours out. The perch swings on the lid, so the snake really isn't disturbed. If there is a lot of algae growing, or the snake is really active, we bucket it and then manually scrub out the cage. All the snakes are manually misted once a day, directly on their coils. We wait till either they drink and are done, or they tuck their heads deep into the coil before stopping. When feeding, the feeder is put directly into warm water while thawing, so that if the snake feeds, it gets a good bit of hydration too. Just another technique if anyone is interested.
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Sep 11, 2012 07:15
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yours is a nice one - most of our are fairly ugly, aside from Tang. The cool part is they chill nicely with the pancake tortoises.
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Sep 11, 2012 14:42
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Can anyone tell me at what length a Nile Monitor should be moved out of a 6x4x4 terrarium?
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Sep 11, 2012 16:37
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"Sgt Shaved Balls posted:Can anyone tell me at what length a Nile Monitor should be moved out of a 6x4x4 terrarium? You already asked this, but since you posted again I'm assuming you're frustrated with the lack of response. We don't have a lot of big monitor keepers ITT, but a little bit of googling and forums-browsing tells me that you want the enclosure to be more than double the size of your monitor, preferably a lot more, so if it's approaching 3ft, it's time to be moved. Hype posted:big dig, do you allow a drying out period for your GTP? I'd considered an auto-mister just to be sure humidity stays high enough, but then I was told too much humidity could lead to skin infections and that there should be a period each day where the cage is totally dry. I'm worried I'm going to have a hard time keeping that balance between too humid and just humid enough. In terms of humidity, I'm seeing some keepers claim that neonates need a constant 80% humidity to assist with shedding and drinking, until they are fully mature, in which case they should be misted once and then left to dry out. Basically, babies = 70-80% humidity at a constant rate, and adults should = 60-70% at misting, then allowed to dry. Your guy is a yearling, right? I'd assume you're on the low-misting end of the spectrum. big dig, care to weigh in?
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Sep 11, 2012 17:19
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Sgt. Shaved Balls posted:Can anyone tell me at what length a Nile Monitor should be moved out of a 6x4x4 terrarium? I forgot to respond to this - for reference, our blue tree (who's about 3 foot, head to tail, but a very narrow bodied monitor) is 7' x 4' x 4' (with another 2' overhead for lighting/heating/foggers) with logs for climbing and hollow log hides. It all really depends on your layout and how well you utilize vertical space.
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Sep 11, 2012 18:10
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Captain Foxy posted:In terms of humidity, I'm seeing some keepers claim that neonates need a constant 80% humidity to assist with shedding and drinking, until they are fully mature, in which case they should be misted once and then left to dry out. Basically, babies = 70-80% humidity at a constant rate, and adults should = 60-70% at misting, then allowed to dry. Your guy is a yearling, right? I'd assume you're on the low-misting end of the spectrum. big dig, care to weigh in? Yep, mine's a yearling! That does make a lot of sense, and is precisely why I wanted one that was a little older. Neonates sound so difficult in terms of humidity. The water-covered bottom that both big dig and ZarathustraFollower are using is something I'll have to check into. Seems like an easy way to keep relative humidity up as long as it's kept clean. If I do a planted tank I'll probably just have an extra large water dish. I appreciate hearing everyone's different techniques! You guys have given me a few more options to look into that I hadn't thought of before.
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Sep 11, 2012 19:50
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I've wanted a uromastyx for a long time. I hope to be in the market for one early next year. I've never met one with an attitude, and they look super adorable when their face is covered in strawberry.
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Sep 12, 2012 05:59
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uros are awesome. Better than beardies, in my opinion. Question for everybody: I'm trying to develop a sort of lecture series here, offered to enthusiasts and adults, sometimes with guest speakers for a small fee, and other shows that would be hands-on instruction for a greater fee. One idea we've thrown around is a workshop that would provide all the materials to set up a dart frog terrarium and give guidance on how to properly do it and take care of darts, for say $200. My thought is that people are amazed by the dart frogs, love the enclosures, and even when they're not reptile people, they always say things like, "that's something I would actually have in my house," but I think the process is really intimidating to people. Thoughts/ideas?
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Sep 12, 2012 13:42
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Hype posted:big dig, do you allow a drying out period for your GTP? I'd considered an auto-mister just to be sure humidity stays high enough, but then I was told too much humidity could lead to skin infections and that there should be a period each day where the cage is totally dry. I'm worried I'm going to have a hard time keeping that balance between too humid and just humid enough. I also work from home, and have my snakes in the office and living room, but I travel for work so I need the mister. I have my automister set on 30 seconds every 3 hours, and my GTPs and amazon tree boas get plenty soaked, but they do dry completely about 10 minutes later. They have hydrophobic skin and water will bead off them, or collect in their coil (which they drink, or just evaporate). I had a hard time with humidity at first as well, and had a few bad sheds. Humid boxes are a good idea if you notice a bad shed, especially one starting on their heads. I also have all of them in glass display tanks, which further gently caress with humidity. The exception is one of my ATB, who is a notoriously jumpy snake and lives in an opaque bin with a water floor. Those are the best for retaining good humidity IMO, but you can't look at them. As far as the tail, I just let my neonate slither into my hand and let them uncoil their tails themselves. It sometimes takes up to 10 minutes for them to decide your fingers are branchlike themselves. As for feeding, I fed pinky heads, and it took up to 1 hour for the first feeding once they hatched. That will be the most difficult part, after that, it's KILL KILL KILL! I found my ATBs a helluva lot more aggressive then GTPs. I'm getting into Emerald tree boas once I finish my home renovation, and might be able to re-home a Carpandro, even though I'm against hybrids they look REALLY COOL. A good source for seeing how to care for GTPs is youtubes CuteGayJason, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuHWit3DHt0
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Sep 12, 2012 15:06
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big dig posted:
This is the most amazing video about snake care I've ever watched. I...I love CuteGayJason. 
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Sep 12, 2012 18:23
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unprofessional posted:uros are awesome. Better than beardies, in my opinion. That would be really neat, and I think people might be interested. I've always wanted to get into making and selling tanks, but never had anywhere to sell them; it can be a lot of fun to make a dart frog tank.
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Sep 12, 2012 20:28
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big dig posted:A good source for seeing how to care for GTPs is youtubes CuteGayJason, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuHWit3DHt0 Oh my god that video is fantastic. Thank you for all the tips, they've been really helpful! If you end up getting that carpondro be sure to post pics! I'm not a huge fan of hybrids either, but I have to admit they're pretty awesome looking snakes.unprofessional posted:Question for everybody: I'm trying to develop a sort of lecture series here, offered to enthusiasts and adults, sometimes with guest speakers for a small fee, and other shows that would be hands-on instruction for a greater fee. One idea we've thrown around is a workshop that would provide all the materials to set up a dart frog terrarium and give guidance on how to properly do it and take care of darts, for say $200. My thought is that people are amazed by the dart frogs, love the enclosures, and even when they're not reptile people, they always say things like, "that's something I would actually have in my house," but I think the process is really intimidating to people. Thoughts/ideas? I think this would be a great idea! My parents want to do a dart frog vivarium, but they're scared it'll be too much work or too difficult to care for. They're pretty comfortable with caring for reptiles/amphibians, but I think they find the initial set-up to be a little intimidating. A workshop like that would be ideal for them!
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Sep 12, 2012 22:48
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Anybody here keep Tentacle Snakes, Erpeton tentaculatum? I just discovered they existed today, and think they're kind of neat.
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Sep 14, 2012 05:57
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Desert Bus posted:Anybody here keep Tentacle Snakes, Erpeton tentaculatum? I just discovered they existed today, and think they're kind of neat. Never kept any, but I always thought they were cool. They're a lot rarer now than they used to be a few years ago, but you can still find them on Kingsnake every once in a while. I don't know much about their care (I think they need brackish water, but I might be thinking of some wart snake species or something). I believe Vosjoli mentions something about their care in The Art Of Keeping Snakes, but in case he didn't mention them specifically, he did talk a bit about how to set up for aquatic snakes. http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Snakes-Advanced-Vivarium-Systems/dp/1882770633/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1347599100&sr=8-13&keywords=vosjoli
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Sep 14, 2012 06:06
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I have a ball python and it has trouble shedding most of the time. It recently was trying to shed for almost a month, and I finally let him soak in water with a log in it and he was able shed for the most part. I had to help get some of the shedding from his head. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do so he has an easier time shedding? I've had him for 2 years and he's pretty much had troubles the entire time.
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Sep 14, 2012 14:19
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You can create and offer a humidity box by taking an appropriately sized rubbermaid container, cutting a hole in it, and filling it with damp sphagnum moss.
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Sep 14, 2012 15:01
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Great thanks, I never thought of doing that. I've tried adding a damp cloth to the terrarium, but it never seemed to help, do you know where I can get the sphagnum moss?
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Sep 14, 2012 15:05
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Most garden centers (or even Lowes) offer it in small amounts as orchid potting medium.
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Sep 14, 2012 15:08
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Hide boxes are awesome, but sometimes you have a snake like my roommates BP, who just sits on top of the box with a look on his face, so we also pop him in the tub with about 1-2" of warm water, usually a few times during the shed. I've also had to physically place him in the damp hide box a few times. He's not a bright animal.
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Sep 14, 2012 16:28
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