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They're not that expensive if you include them in other orders on places like MiceDirect, but I've never seen them in stores.
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Dec 30, 2012 05:33
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Pew! Pew! posted:They're not that expensive if you include them in other orders on places like MiceDirect, but I've never seen them in stores. I really don't understand why stores don't breed/carry them, since they're so stupidly easy to manage.
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Dec 30, 2012 05:35
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Really? I see them all the time, but I live on the west coast so. They're expensive as gently caress in stores, though. 35 cents each for adults at my local herp store. I hate that Photon loves crickets.
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Dec 30, 2012 05:36
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I can't stand crickets. Fuckers die way too easily besides other things. I just had one active alive cricket kick the bucket from the time I put it into the vit powder to the time I tried to take it out. At least Asha is a voracious little leopard gecko and will eat any god drat thing you put in front of her face. Including fingers. Can't wait to be comfortable to start feeding off from my dubia colony. I started with roughly 450 babbies, 5 females and 1 male in I think September. A large number of those should be reaching adulthood in the next month or so. All the bigger ones seem to be female so far. Hopefully I get a few males just cuz the single male I had is one of my very few casualties. Foxy, you try feeding Photon other roach species like B laterals? I've been tempted to start a colony,but then realize I have no use for it when I only have like 3-4 animals that need insects and nothing that needs such a varied diet like Chams.
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Dec 30, 2012 06:17
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I had the worst reptile related dream last night, it actually made me upset and I have no idea why I was dreaming about it in the first place, but anyway. There was a 20 gallon cube which contained: no water bowls, repti-carpet, a basking rock, a 50 watt bulb on top, and a king cobra and carpet python in the same container. With live rats and mice running all over the bottom. I don't know what sort of thing I did to deserve such a horrible dream of bad snake keeping.  e: Also Cowslips Warren I meant to thank you last night for the awesome sand boa post but forgot. It sucks now though because just before I went to chat with the breeder about them someone took all three. 
Hardwood Floor fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 13:08
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Pew! Pew! posted:
Someone I know recently told me about how their ball python lived with a rat and was "friends" with it for a whole month before it finally ate it and he thought this was the most ADORABLE thing in the world!!!! and I had a small aneurysm. 
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Dec 30, 2012 16:05
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I don't get them from the store, I get them from a tub in my reptile room.  They are super easy to care for and breed like crazy, and if you ever get too many you can sell the surplus for decent money. Don't smell like crickets, don't make noise like crickets, can't escape super easily like crickets, have a higher protein ratio than crickets, they are pretty much better in every way!
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Dec 30, 2012 16:22
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Superconsndar posted:Someone I know recently told me about how their ball python lived with a rat and was "friends" with it for a whole month before it finally ate it and he thought this was the most ADORABLE thing in the world!!!! and I had a small aneurysm. Snakes being off feed for a while with something potentially dangerous in their cage is the cutest thing!  e: I just realized I have a friend who would think exactly this. One of those people who just can't comprehend that animals are not nice to each other. On dubias: definitely would like to start a colony if/when I get things that eat them. For now it's just f/t mice everywhere. Hardwood Floor fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 16:33
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I have a colony that I'm building up, and they're my preferred feeder for sure. I only get frustrated and buy some from the store when I get sick of crix and want to feed off some dubia. I buy crickets in bulk and keep them in a big Sterilite, but they die off even with the best of care/water/food and they stink like hell. I'm not keen to try B. lateralis since those are Turkish roaches and much more active/prone to climb and escape than the dubia. I did buy a container at the last herp show and everyone did eat them so I will buy them every now and again for variety, but probably won't keep a colony unless I can get an escape-proof container, which for roaches may not exist.
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Dec 30, 2012 17:22
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Pew! Pew! posted:I had the worst reptile related dream last night, it actually made me upset and I have no idea why I was dreaming about it in the first place, but anyway. Don't stress, sand boas explode when it comes to breeders trying to drop off babies in the summer/fall, depending on when they breed their snakes. I made the mistake in recent years to breed the three adult females I had then, and each dropped 10-15 babies. When I tried to sell some in October, because I keep the babies for a few months to make sure all are eating, the market was so saturated I couldn't even give them away.
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Dec 30, 2012 20:22
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Are there any good studies or experiments or ...ghetto examples of a reptile that requires uvb where one control gets everything required, while one gets no uvb but a diet containing d3? For example, those RES pellets 'with calcium, d3' A lot of its anecdotal, like http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload/index.php?showtopic=140308 where these sliders are pretty much just....fine. Curious if they really are fine and got what they need from food or if theres some underlying nutritional deficiency thats slow to show because...turtles. Wondering the same about lizards. I know you can overdose those Ca powders with d3 but, mainly talking about those prepared herp diets with everything.
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Dec 31, 2012 05:56
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Wow this guy is the worst Kenyan sand boa.   (edited out a creepy staring stuffed animal) Got him from the same breeder, as when I was over there chatting he asked if I liked ball pythons and wanted to see an older (8ish months) clutch he'd given up trying to sell, and this guy followed me home from the batch. I'm starting to understand why they say ball pythons make great starters. They're fantastically laid back. I should probably stop visiting that breeder because I always wind up taking something home. Malalol: I can try a ghetto experiment with my boyfriend's turtles, right now they're not getting correct UVB lighting so that would mean just adding UVB light to one and continuing the d3 diet without UVB with the other. They're fine right now, but for the longest time my boyfriend didn't even know about UVB lighting and proper turtle care.
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Dec 31, 2012 13:53
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Cute ball! I want one too, just as a fat snake bracelet.  Pew! Pew! posted:Malalol: I can try a ghetto experiment with my boyfriend's turtles, right now they're not getting correct UVB lighting so that would mean just adding UVB light to one and continuing the d3 diet without UVB with the other. They're fine right now, but for the longest time my boyfriend didn't even know about UVB lighting and proper turtle care. Turtles are one of the worst animals to have without UVB because so much of that D3 is needed for shell development/helping with scute sheds. If your boyfriend has had them without proper UVB for a long period, they're going to either not develop properly or at all unless you start getting them correct UVB, ASAP. They're really not fine right now, please get them a UVB light. 
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Dec 31, 2012 15:20
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Will do. I have the clamp and domes ready, he was supposed to pick up a bulb this afternoon. It sucks cuz he got them like...5 years ago I think, from a real shady "buy the tank get some quarter-sized baby turtles free" deal. There's a third one that actually passed away (before I started dating him) because a friend was taking care of it and only fed it wild insects for a year and kept it in a fish tank with no place for it to stay above water. 
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Dec 31, 2012 15:27
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How big are they now? If the answer is anything other than 'the size of a dinner plate', then they've probably sustained some major developmental damage, unfortunately. They frequently don't get very big and eventually die after lack of UVB, and I would hazard that that's what killed the third one, since wild insects and not having a place to haul out are actually less bad then not having proper lighting. I used to keep RES for my local herp club and we constantly got in quarter-to-hockey puck-sized turtles who had been kept in plastic containers with only turtle pellets and no lighting whatsoever, and the poor things always died. I'm glad you're getting a light for your BFs! I would be heavy on the supplementation, too, especially D3 calcium.
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Dec 31, 2012 15:42
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There are still unknowns about proper UV levels and D3 supplementation. Mercury vapor bulbs are often used, but I saw a number of monitor lizards at/come into the zoo with cataracts, presumably from those same bulbs.
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Dec 31, 2012 15:46
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Captain Foxy posted:How big are they now? If the answer is anything other than 'the size of a dinner plate', then they've probably sustained some major developmental damage, unfortunately. Oh no they're probably bad off then, both are only about 6 inches at the longest part of the shell. Now I feel really bad for not getting them UVB light sooner, or not looking that up or something. I really don't know much about turtles, my boyfriend doesn't either (he got them because when his son was going through chemo therapy he asked for pet turtles, so my boyfriend got those without researching them).Do you think there's any chance to repair the damage or are they going to be permanently undersized/malnourished? Maybe I should schedule a vet exam?
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Dec 31, 2012 16:02
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A vet exam couldn't hurt, but if they're males that may just be only slightly undersized. Females are big 10-13" monsters, males are about 8-10", but I did know some 6-7" boys. Five years without UVB is a long time, though, so a vet is a good idea. I had a rescue turt named Tara that was only about five inches when I got her from the herp club, and I kept her on a steady diet of earthworms (go find a bait shop or some Petco/PetSmarts have them-nightcrawlers are awesome if you can get 'em) dusted in D3, with dark leafy greens (all kinds of kale)and sometimes wet dog food/calcium paste (try a Senior formula: I used Wellness). She eventually grew to a reasonable size and was transferred into the big concrete pond at the herp society, so there's hope, don't feel too bad. I blame pet stores more than anything. The most expensive, difficult animals like RES, iguanas, monitors, big snakes, etc are always the cheapest and sold with the worst setups, and a parent with a kid who sees a picture of a turtle in a book and wants it isn't really going to know not to trust them. Only spergs like us do. Captain Foxy fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Dec 31, 2012 |
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Dec 31, 2012 18:23
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Yeah, the way I heard it from my boyfriend was something like "well the guy who sold it recommended this, nah I don't need UVB" and neither of us thought to double-check. It sucks when people aren't honest and up front about the animals they sell. I think the place he got it from has long since been shut down, though. Is reptisun 5.0 UVB alright for sliders? Want to make sure I didn't get something too strong.
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Dec 31, 2012 19:14
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5.0 is the way to go. Make sure their basking spot is also covered by the UVB, and position it so it's about 6-10" away from the basking area. I'm glad I was not the one buying my UVBs for me because for a while there I was thinking 10.0 for everything.  Nothing can beat natural, actual sunlight too. When it warms up, take them outside on your lawn for a supervised hangout time. Even just 15 minutes of sunlight through clouds is a huge amount of natural UVB and is really the best for pretty much all things that need it, and even those that don't.
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Dec 31, 2012 19:31
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I went in to my local Petco, and they were having their dollar a gallon sale on tanks up to 55 gallons. Should run until the 19th, so now's a good time to stock up.
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Dec 31, 2012 19:34
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Yeah, I dont send people off with turtles unless they GET EVERYTHING or already have everything. Its just, like that thread- and a lot of folks keep RES, and they are 'fine'. So Im wondering if its the food or super super slow to show any damage... Ive seen photos where youve got these really bad looking shells and I have just never seen it IRL (on tortoises, yes). My friend keeps a pair and they are 15? Something like that. No uvb, no 85-90 basking spot and I dont see anything wrong with them. She did let them get sun outside however. My little cousins apparently have RES too, and they are now gigantic (never seen them) and Im 110% sure they do not have a proper set up. Im focuses more on RES just since theyre a dime a dozen, and more people seem to not...not so deformed looking ones vs other herps. I can't say as far as internal/actually testing calcium levels/vet stuff etc etc, just eyeballing. Kale as far as I know, isnt a good staple for herps/birds right?
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Dec 31, 2012 21:18
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oh god, thanks a lot for letting me know about the petco tank sale, i went in to find an upgrade tank for my fatty growing king. walked out with a ball python whos currently making this difficult to type. I know I shouldnt buy from petco, but she/he is super fat and moving great, looks healthy as any i saw from breeders ( to my admittedly untrained eye ) but oh well, here we are! tl;dr went to petco to get cheap tank, bought new snake.
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Dec 31, 2012 23:52
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Foou Manchu posted:oh god, thanks a lot for letting me know about the petco tank sale, i went in to find an upgrade tank for my fatty growing king. walked out with a ball python whos currently making this difficult to type. I know I shouldnt buy from petco, but she/he is super fat and moving great, looks healthy as any i saw from breeders ( to my admittedly untrained eye ) but oh well, here we are! QT QT QT QT loving QT. Even after QT from a well known breeder we got reptile mites. Thankfully they never spread beyond a cage, but the snake who brought them in died quickly, too quickly for it to have been the mites. Seriously QT the gently caress out of the new snake.l
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Jan 1, 2013 15:02
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RES have the UVB light set up now. Because I accidentally splurged last week on ball python supplies (whoops!), I'm using the dome from my corn snake's tank for the turtles until I get another one of those crappy snake kits just for the domes and locking lid tank. Will the corn snakes be alright without that for a while? House temperature is about 70 throughout the day, at night it drops to about 65. I've had them without it for a few days before (when our power went out during a thunderstorm and blew the bulb), but I want to make sure they'll be fine too.
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Jan 1, 2013 15:14
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Basic dumb question because I am a nub at everything but the most painfully basic when it comes to snakes and I don't want to gently caress up. That redtail I got (such a nice, healthy, fat baby and not nippy at all, she struck at my dog once when he barged into the room uninvited but I don't blame her ) refused her last feeding. She (I have no idea, I'm calling her a she until I figure it out) took a mouse with no problem on the 11th, and another on the 16th. On the 23rd she took a very small mouse (too small really, but it was one I needed to cull) and then Sunday refused a mouse. I was going to try her on a different one today and see if she'd take it, but then realized that she's about to shed- her eyes are blue and she's all itchy. It's normal for snakes to refuse meals when they're near/in shed, right? If so, how long should I wait before feeding her again? Also, I keep getting conflicting info on how often to feed her. Her breeder said every 10 days was fine, but I've been reading on reptile forums that since I have her on mice and not rats, I should feed her every 6 or 7 days because mice are not as nutritious as rats. Then people bicker about it for 10 pages and I still don't know how often to feed her. I don't want her to grow too fast and screw her up or make her fat, but I don't want to undernourish her either. She is about 4 months old now, and has been on prekilled since she hatched. She's one of those lazies that is all casual about food and doesn't even constrict anything except to maybe half-heartedly throw a coil over it. She seems like she is going to be an easy snake, and I'm really liking her a LOT more than I thought I would. Also: She has a big water basin that she can submerge in if she wants to soak (she also loves to poop there it is the best place to poop!!!) but do I need to give her anything else to help with her shed? She's got some slightly rough branches she can rub on if she needs to, but does she need anything else? A moist hide? I know this is all so basic but I want to do snake right and reptile forums confuse me because everyone just argues
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Jan 1, 2013 16:25
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Yeah, I've had the corns go off their feed when they're in blue pretty often. Some snakes just don't wanna eat if they're about to shed. Dunno about the rats/mice thing but I wouldn't worry about a week off when she's about to shed. Shedding: Only thing I'd say is to make sure your humidity's on the higher end of comfortable for her species so it's an easy shed.
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Jan 1, 2013 16:32
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I've offered both my corns their normal food in shed, and they both take it. Offer it anyways and see if they'll eat? If not then you can always try again after they've shed. Snakes just won't eat, sometimes. More finicky than cats. I also used to feed my corn snakes twice a week (since they're getting a bit bigger and it's pinkies) but I found feeding them more often makes them have less of a food response next time I feed them. So I went back to once a week and they eat more enthusiastically than on a every 5-6 day schedule. Personal anecdote though, don't know much about redtails.  e: If you feed f/t you can always inject vitamins into the abdominal cavity of the mice before feeding if nutrition is an issue.
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Jan 1, 2013 16:47
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Does anyone know how long a bearded dragon can go without food? All I can give mine are pellets (which he barely eats) because crickets are expensive and for the past couple weeks my mom has been too lazy to go buy some proper veggies. She rolls her eyes and tells me to be more "flexible" but there's nothing in the fridge I can actually feed him. I haven't fed him in three days and I'm getting really paranoid. But given that she put him in the backyard and he almost escaped, I'm kind of not surprised.
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Jan 3, 2013 00:08
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Celery Face posted:Does anyone know how long a bearded dragon can go without food? All I can give mine are pellets (which he barely eats) because crickets are expensive and for the past couple weeks my mom has been too lazy to go buy some proper veggies. She rolls her eyes and tells me to be more "flexible" but there's nothing in the fridge I can actually feed him. I haven't fed him in three days and I'm getting really paranoid. Walk to the store, buy some collard greens and mustard greens. Six dollars at most. If you cannot do that, you really shouldn't own any sort of pet.
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Jan 3, 2013 05:25
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Ape Has Killed Ape posted:Walk to the store, buy some collard greens and mustard greens. Six dollars at most. If you cannot do that, you really shouldn't own any sort of pet. Yeah...hate to say it but this is pretty much how I feel. Get him some real food or find him a home that can provide for him.
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Jan 3, 2013 05:29
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Celery Face posted:Does anyone know how long a bearded dragon can go without food? All I can give mine are pellets (which he barely eats) because crickets are expensive and for the past couple weeks my mom has been too lazy to go buy some proper veggies. She rolls her eyes and tells me to be more "flexible" but there's nothing in the fridge I can actually feed him. I haven't fed him in three days and I'm getting really paranoid. dandelions are free.
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Jan 3, 2013 07:10
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Greycious posted:Yeah...hate to say it but this is pretty much how I feel. Get him some real food or find him a home that can provide for him. Ape Has Killed Ape posted:Walk to the store, buy some collard greens and mustard greens. Six dollars at most. If you cannot do that, you really shouldn't own any sort of pet.
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Jan 3, 2013 07:27
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Celery Face posted:I kind of just wanted to know how long they could go without food. I can't drive yet but my mom has been getting him veggies most of the time for months. I'm not getting rid of him all because she gets busy/lazy from time to time. gently caress that. It's not my fault I'm a kid. There's a pet store right across the street so I guess I could just snatch some money and buy some crickets. I hate those stinky loving things but I guess it will do. quote:I guess kids shouldn't be allowed to have pets. Buddy, when you saunter in here and straight up ask us how long you can starve an animal before it dies because your family is too lazy to get food for for it, you aren't allowed to take up a high an mighty attitude over your right to own pets.
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Jan 3, 2013 08:03
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I'll go buy some crickets tomorrow since it's too late right now. I can't get dandelions because they'll probably have pesticides and the grocery store is too far to walk. I thought my mom was going to buy veggies today but she just handed me some wilted out kale and told me to pour water on it. I'm sure Waffle will be fine. It's not my fault that my mother's been lazy for the past few days. I'm really sorry.
Celery Face fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Jan 3, 2013 |
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Jan 3, 2013 08:32
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Celery Face posted:I'll go buy some crickets tomorrow since it's too late right now. I can't get dandelions because they'll probably have pesticides and the grocery store is too far to walk. I thought my mom was going to buy veggies today but she just handed me some wilted out kale and told me to pour water on it. You know, I keep some frozen green beans around for when I have "gently caress I forgot to pick up greens yesterday" days. Frozen isn't quite as good as fresh, but they're hell of a lot better than pellets. Just wrap them in a damp paper towel and nuke then for 20 seconds or so to defrost them. You can use whatever frozen veggie that isn't on the do not feed to a bearded dragon list, I just use green beans because my beardie really likes them. Also blueberries. Little guy goes nuts over blueberries.
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Jan 3, 2013 08:49
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Ape Has Killed Ape posted:You know, I keep some frozen green beans around for when I have "gently caress I forgot to pick up greens yesterday" days. Frozen isn't quite as good as fresh, but they're hell of a lot better than pellets. Just wrap them in a damp paper towel and nuke then for 20 seconds or so to defrost them. You can use whatever frozen veggie that isn't on the do not feed to a bearded dragon list, I just use green beans because my beardie really likes them. Also blueberries. Little guy goes nuts over blueberries. I'm pretty glad that I bought a bearded dragon instead of a corn snake even if they are more work. They've got a lot of character and mine has been pretty mellow. He's only bitten me once and that was probably an accident. E: I forgot to mention that we haven't been able to find mustard and collard greens at the store so we gotta make do with kale, cilantro and watercress when it's not winter.
Celery Face fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Jan 3, 2013 |
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Jan 3, 2013 09:07
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Celery Face posted:Thanks, a lot of vegetables that are great for beardies aren't usually kept in the fridge and can be difficult to find at the grocery store. Green beans aren't on the other hand so that's good to know. I haven't really given him any fruit for treats that often but one thing that Waffle goes crazy for is shredded carrot. I can't give it to him too often because of all the vitamin C but he just chows it down like a pig. Yah, green beans aren't a staple green, but it's fine for a day or two. I keep collard greens and mustard greens as his two staples, the rotate in various fruits and veggies. Little guy just loves his green beans though, whenever they're in the mix he digs them out and eats them first. quote:I'm pretty glad that I bought a bearded dragon instead of a corn snake even if they are more work. They've got a lot of character and mine has been pretty mellow. He's only bitten me once and that was probably an accident. I know, they're awesome. My bearded dragon is super chill, he's never so much as flared at me. He will however flare at the lights when they turn on in the mornings. He doesn't like waking up any more than I do, it seems. He sits and huffs and puffs at the lights like he's trying to scare them away, then after a few minutes of that he drags himself to his basking spot for about an hour, at which point it's time to go sit at the food bowl and wait for breakfast.
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Jan 3, 2013 09:33
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So here's one of the turtles enjoying the UVB lamp: The glass is really dingy, whoops. There's enough space in that area for all of them to bask, plus a bit of water. But, as we were setting it up, I asked my boyfriend if he knew whether his turtles were males or females and he was like UHHHH I DUNNO so when we took them up to the vet, we got them sexed as well. There's a male and a female.  So next month (or sooner if finances will allow) we're getting another container and separating them. I know the market is absolutely saturated with RES(es?) so I'd hate to produce some on accident. Can anyone post their own aquatic turtle setups? I want to radically change the way the tank is now and do away with all the lovely gravel, but I'm not sure where to start.
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Jan 3, 2013 14:18
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They can't lay their eggs on land unless you give them substrate and a space to do so, so you'd actually be fine leaving them together. If you happen to find eggs, smash away, but it's unlikely that they'll breed for you. Especially since the female is underdeveloped and waaaay too small; she's using all available calcium for her carapace, not eggs. I don't have any pics of my old setups, but I would make it pretty bare and easy to clean since turts are so messy. You really don't want much to get in the way of your gravel vac when you change their water. My basic layout for rescue temporary tanks was a haul-out dock or pvc pipe glued to the side, with pvc pipe for underwater exploration and maybe a big rock for rubbing their scutes on. I had a fully sculpted 55 (still too small for RES, but I was a teenager and trusted the experts who helped me) with built-in pvc tunnels on the sides and bottom and a built-in haul out dock, for my own personal turtles, Willow and Tara. I tended to give mine floating plants to destroy, since I could just scoop duckweed from the herp society's pond, but it's not neccessary and it can get pretty messy. You can replicate the same effect by shredding some of their greens and leaving that on the waters surface for a day or so before clean up, but I would normally recommend feeding them in a bucket or a smaller tank, since they're usually inclined to poop right after they make a mess of their food, so it makes it easy to contain the mess.
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Jan 3, 2013 15:37
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