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I went to Repticon in Orlando a few weeks ago and I took a bunch of pictures. I tried not to focus too much on ball pythons (even though I love them) but they were all over the drat place. I ended up getting a lovely 3' male pinstripe bp from Joe Rollo (BCI Joe). He hasn't been keen on f/t but he eagerly snaps up live mice. 
snake and bake fucked around with this message at 14:18 on May 29, 2013 |
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May 29, 2013 14:13
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Speaking of balls....how good is their memory? I ask because our female spider ball, Crackle, went from a decent and docile snake until last year, when her clutch of eggs went bad, and we had to remove them. Since then she has turned aggressive, to the point she has struck at me through the glass, several times, and can only be handled with a snake hook and gloves. The drat snake isn't even four feet long and acts like she's a loving Burmese python at 20 feet. Part of me wonders if she remembers my smell from taking her eggs; she did hunt for them for a while after they were gone.
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May 30, 2013 00:45
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Cowslips Warren posted:Speaking of balls....how good is their memory? How well did you clean her tank after? Also when she is angry do you put her back in right away possibly showing her that is how you ask to be left alone? Is she angry only while in her tank? How is she after you pull her out?
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May 30, 2013 09:52
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Anyone with experience with Sand Boas? Ive had kings, corns and milks for years, and Im looking into trying out Boas. The red tails of course have their appeal, but something about Sand Boas are appealing to me. Ive been doing some research, and it seems that many sand boas wont take F/T. The city I live in is tough to find feeders, so I stick to having frozen rodents shipped. Any pros/cons with the separate subspecies?? (Once again, Ive mostly been browsing kingsnake.com and haven't found a whole lot of really specific info.)
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May 30, 2013 19:42
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Little_Viking posted:Anyone with experience with Sand Boas? Ive had kings, corns and milks for years, and Im looking into trying out Boas. The red tails of course have their appeal, but something about Sand Boas are appealing to me. Ive been doing some research, and it seems that many sand boas wont take F/T. The city I live in is tough to find feeders, so I stick to having frozen rodents shipped. Any pros/cons with the separate subspecies?? (Once again, Ive mostly been browsing kingsnake.com and haven't found a whole lot of really specific info.) I breed Kenyans, and they are some of my favorite snakes. I currently have two adult breeding pairs, a subadult male albino, and 3 anery females from a clutch a year or two ago. One of my females doesn't care what you feed her; in fact she prefers prekilled. The other wants to kill a mouse, eat it, and then will eat a train of prekilled mice. The young ones prefer live. I did have a pair of Russian/Pakistani sand boas, and they would only take live. quote:How well did you clean her tank after? Also when she is angry do you put her back in right away possibly showing her that is how you ask to be left alone? Is she angry only while in her tank? How is she after you pull her out? I'm pretty sure I cleaned out the cage well. I don't put her back into her cage when she gets all pissy either; she has yet to bite me, but there are times when I leave her for a few minutes to calm down before trying again. When she actually hits the glass and the noise is loud enough to startle cats across the room, I figure if I keep pushing the issue, she might actually hurt herself. Even if it takes 20 minutes, I always get her out eventually. She is somewhat the same when she's out; I usually have to give her a mouse to latch onto before I can fully get her out of the cage.
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May 31, 2013 00:39
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Little_Viking posted:Anyone with experience with Sand Boas? Ive had kings, corns and milks for years, and Im looking into trying out Boas. The red tails of course have their appeal, but something about Sand Boas are appealing to me. Ive been doing some research, and it seems that many sand boas wont take F/T. The city I live in is tough to find feeders, so I stick to having frozen rodents shipped. Any pros/cons with the separate subspecies?? (Once again, Ive mostly been browsing kingsnake.com and haven't found a whole lot of really specific info.) They're great little snakes  I had one before that was poorly bred and wouldn't take any food no matter what I tried (she eventually died) but I have a little Kenyan boy now that I got from sandboamorphs.com while at a reptile show and he chows down on f/t pinkies like a pro! He also is terrible at hiding and I like to play "find the Petri" with my boyfriend and I would highly recommend them they have a lot of personality and are very curious and try to dig through your hands with their dopey shovel faces!
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May 31, 2013 03:00
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Olive Bar posted:I love how bearded dragons always look either smug, condescending, or super proud. Nope. 
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May 31, 2013 05:42
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Oh my god, you totally proved me wrong. So one of my recent additions is a very pretty king snake. She is completely unpredictable. One handling session she is a joy to work with. The next, she will freak the gently caress out. She often bites me and herself. She is healthy so I guess she just has an attitude problem. I named her Bipolar Betty.
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May 31, 2013 06:10
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Another Vivarium question, sorry. I should be getting all the stuff I need to get my viv going tomorrow, but I somehow managed to overlook the fact that many places advocate letting it settle in for a couple weeks before introducing any animals to it. Is this a "must do" thing or will I probably be OK without it if I keep a close watch on it? I unfortunately don't really have anything worthy of being a habitat for her for more than a day or so, really just a sterilite bin without much to put in it, though if need be I could buy a couple Pothos to stick in there and just use them as houseplants afterward. If it isn't going to doom my viv I'd much rather have the gecko back in her real habitat as soon as possible for her sake. If it's at all relevant the plants I will have in there are a Dracaena, some Lucky Bamboo, a ZZ plant, and a small Golden Pothos and moss. I probably should have looked more thoroughly into this stuff earlier sadly.
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May 31, 2013 07:13
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So my bearded dragon has taken to sleeping wherever he happens to be when the lights turn off. Before a couple weeks ago he would drag himself to the nearest hide, but now not so much. Next to the food dish, in the basking spot, clinging to the driftwood, doesn't matter, he just clocks out right there. I'm not sure if this is because he feels safe, or if he's just found a new way to be lazy.
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May 31, 2013 07:33
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Our beardie is a little over a year old and does the same thing, flopping down wherever he feels comfy and going to sleep whenever he want. He used to have a pretty good schedule but now he seems to enjoy eating like a pig, basking for a while to digest, then plopping himself in whatever corner is nearest and nuzzling his nose into the glass in a clear "okay, I'm done standing up for the day" sign. Lazy butt.
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May 31, 2013 12:54
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Cowslips Warren posted:Speaking of balls....how good is their memory? I'm not sure about their memory, but it seems to me that your smell would be so ubiquitous that she wouldn't specifically associate it with having her eggs being taken away. You could try upping her prey size, if possible; I've heard that can curb aggression in ball pythons.
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May 31, 2013 15:16
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How Important is it to use dechlorinated water in a vivarium? I just use tap water on my potted plants without issue but I have heard people say to use dechlorinated for a viv. Does tap water kill the bugs or something? or is it just people being overly cautious?.
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Jun 3, 2013 23:36
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Bruc posted:How Important is it to use dechlorinated water in a vivarium? I just use tap water on my potted plants without issue but I have heard people say to use dechlorinated for a viv. Does tap water kill the bugs or something? or is it just people being overly cautious?. Chlorine will evaporate overnight. That said, overnight is a long time if you are a bug or a frog with permeable skin and you suck in the poo poo. Chloramine is a killer too and that does not evaporate. Best bet is to spend the $10 on some Prime and dose accordingly.
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Jun 4, 2013 00:26
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Thanks, I wasn't even aware of primes existence so that makes it very easy. I'll pick some up tomorrow.
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Jun 4, 2013 04:14
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I need some advice for my two young YBS since I'm still a bit of a newbie after a year: They're both a little over a year old, with one about 5" long (Angry) and the other 4" long (Hangry). Angry has always been bigger than Hangry, and her front claws are all short, she's rounded, she has a flat belly - so I'm 100% sure she's female. Hangry has always lagged behind in growth, so I assumed he was male... But "he" seems to be steadily catching up. His front claws don't seem to too much more pronounced than Angry's, I can't tell if his plastron is concave or not, and I'm not sure what a male tail/vent is supposed to look like. I'm wondering if I actually have two girls (which would be nice).  Here's a few pictures; sorry for bad quality - he kept squirming and I really bugged him and I probably stressed him out by picking him up like a piece of pizza, but he never likes to be polite and pose for pictures like his tankmate and I'm going to give him extra treats tomorrow so please don't chew me out oh god     I was also wondering if it'd be good to begin feeding them veg and fruits along with their pellets, and if so, what kind? My friend feeds her tortoise pumpkin, squash, chard, and strawberries, but she's 50 years old and a completely different species, so I'm not sure what the protocol is with youngster YBS. I want to check in with knowledgeable goons before looking up info on google that may be "feed them hot dogs and cat food and iceberg lettuce hurr!"  And if anyone is curious/worried, the two share a 50gal aquarium with a UVB light on a timer for 14 hrs of light, a heat lamp, a filter, water heater, two basking docks, and no gravel/sand/rocks to choke on.
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Jun 5, 2013 04:46
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Yes, definitely give your YBS something other than pellets! The pellets, despite what the label says, are not a complete diet and you should always supplement them with other foods. They're basically there to provide protein and calcium in the right amounts, but they're underwhelming compared to actual fresh foods and meats. They can and will eat just about everything, excluding raw potato, onions, eggplant and yams, but dark, leafy greens are generally the best choice. Pumpkin and squash (cooked, not raw) are better for tortoises than turtles, really, but they can have a nibble every now and again. No iceburg lettuce, but chard, green leaf, romaine and mustard greens are awesome. They LOVE berries and fruit and should get some often, but not a heavy portion since they're full of sugar and turts tend to get obese. You should also offer some dusted/gutloaded crickets or superworms, and the best food of all is a nice fat earthworm or nightcrawler; you don't even have to dust them, since they're packed with calcium already! They'll also take turkey scraps or other deli meats in a pinch, but these are fatty and should generally be a treat, not a staple. Same thing goes for pinky mice. Don't give them goldfish; they're nasty and full of parasites, they pollute the water even more than the turtles do, and they have no nutritional value anyway. White cloud minnows are a good stand-in for goldfish, since they're a hardy, cold-water species, but they're generally tank-raised rather than farm-raised and are healthier for it. Plus, if your turtlets are jerks and don't eat them for a while, the minnows are an attractive tankmate. Cute little turtlets. I'm always bad at sexing over the internet, but if your suspected male is over 4" and has heavy, long foreclaws and a vent that's further down the tail from the other one, then it's probably male. The concave plastron thing can be really hard to tell until they get to be of a larger size, imo, but some males do have a really pronounced dip there.In similar turtle-related news, my mom found a littly bitty Eastern Painted turtle hatchling crossing the road by her rural MA home a week ago and was all gung-ho to keep her new little friend....until I had to be a dreamkiller and tell her all the expensive UVB poo poo, food and big tank that he would need. She promptly popped him back into the river on the other side of the road and sent me a picture of him swimming free with the accompanying text basically admonishing me for crushing her dreams. 
Captain Foxy fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 19:20
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Captain Foxy posted:Yes, definitely give your YBS something other than pellets! The pellets, despite what the label says, are not a complete diet and you should always supplement them with other foods. They're basically there to provide protein and calcium in the right amounts, but they're underwhelming compared to actual fresh foods and meats. They can and will eat just about everything, excluding raw potato, onions, eggplant and yams, but dark, leafy greens are generally the best choice. Pumpkin and squash (cooked, not raw) are better for tortoises than turtles, really, but they can have a nibble every now and again. No iceburg lettuce, but chard, green leaf, romaine and mustard greens are awesome. They LOVE berries and fruit and should get some often, but not a heavy portion since they're full of sugar and turts tend to get obese. You should also offer some dusted/gutloaded crickets or superworms, and the best food of all is a nice fat earthworm or nightcrawler; you don't even have to dust them, since they're packed with calcium already! They'll also take turkey scraps or other deli meats in a pinch, but these are fatty and should generally be a treat, not a staple. Same thing goes for pinky mice. Don't give them goldfish; they're nasty and full of parasites, they pollute the water even more than the turtles do, and they have no nutritional value anyway. White cloud minnows are a good stand-in for goldfish, since they're a hardy, cold-water species, but they're generally tank-raised rather than farm-raised and are healthier for it. Plus, if your turtlets are jerks and don't eat them for a while, the minnows are an attractive tankmate. Thank you so much! I'm excited that I can feed them leafy greens and stuff now - this gives me an excuse to buy more of that for me to eat that too when I grocery shop. I think Hangry is either still too small or probably a girl since it's hard to tell anything on him/her still. I'm hoping within the next few months he'll/she'll grow and I'll see if I'll have to worry about potential egg issues in the future. God I hope not. Fhjahkfahf hatchlings. I remember when these wee ones were even more wee. Then I remember how much my wallet hurt after buying their first round of supplies. I need to find them a better heat lamp on that note. It never ends. 
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Jun 7, 2013 01:37
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So I just got all my stuff to set up my vivarium today and just got done putting it together, unfortunately I may have messed up a bit with the screen layer. For some reason on one of the edges of the screen instead of having it come a bit up the glass like on all the other sides I just have it flush with the side, and predictably a bit of substrate is getting through on the edge. could this potentially be a problem down the line? For what it's worth it's only a tiny bit of dirt making it through on the side, and I've already fully set the thing up. On a related note I got some springtails and isopods as well, but I couldn't actually see any springtails in the rather large container full of substrate they came in, so I wasn't able to verify if they were alive or not. There should be minimal chance that they aren't alive though, right? they were shipped from NEHerp on tuesday and they do guarantee live delivery. Still I'd hate to think I have them in there cleaning away when they are all dead, while all kinds of bad stuff builds up.
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Jun 7, 2013 22:22
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So I've got a random question for more experienced reptile hobbyists. What are your long term goals dealing with reptiles? New morphs? Sustainable captive populations of threatened or endangered species? Availability of captive bred less popular/imported species? Cold hard cash? I posted this question on a reptile forum a while back and got a lot of really interesting responses, so I figured I'd ask here, too.
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Jun 8, 2013 12:36
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A combination of all of those reasons, except you're never going to make any cold blooded cash doing this, and I totally accept that. Spend way too much on tanks, lights, power, and bugs for that, and then when I do have money it goes directly into a new acquisition or a tank upgrade. Since the only species I'm intentionally breeding right now is the cresties and they aren't in need of conservation or captive breeding efforts, the focus for them is mostly nice morphs, good structure, no floppy tail, etc. I want to breed heavy on the extreme harley patterning side, especially focusing on good lateral pattern. Pins would be nice with that, but a full cream back is nicer, imo. I don't ever want to have more than two breeding pairs going at once (unless I magically become as well-known and sought after as JB or AC, and I don't think that's likely) because the market is pretty dense, but there is still a thriving market, so I'm not too concerned about unloading any excess babies. At any rate, placing the cresties is much easier because they require so little in the way of advanced care, but if I had cham babies, that'd be an intensive and exhaustive process of selecting good homes, because 99% of the people who want to buy chams should not actually be allowed to own them. I don't ever want to breed chameleons, period, although I get asked about it a lot now as Photon matures. The expense and high-risk for a pithy low reward doesn't interest me. Eggbinding, fungal infections, premature mortality, etc all do not sound fun to me, even if I had a market for them and even then, that wouldn't be enough of an incentive, honestly. It'd shorten the female's lifespan, produce probably about 30-40 offspring per clutch that I'd need to feed and keep alive for 5+ months before even being able to sell them, and even then, there are plenty of beautiful panthers reproducing so there's no real need for me to breed him. CB populations of panthers and veileds are completely safe, basically, and if I choose to not breed my boy, even with his good genetics and fabulous bloodline, I won't be hurting the conservation or preservation of the species. If anything, the CB breeding of panthers and veileds is somewhat of a good thing, as those species are no longer wild caught for the most part....I just don't want to be a part of it. If someone wants Photon's bloodline badly enough, I'd considering studding him out or bring their female to him, but the care, expense and risk would be on them, not me. I do want to keep chameleons as pets, however, and the motivation for that is pretty much rescue or conservation based. ChameO rescue in CA is a good friend of Pardalis', and we're on the line to get another cham from her when she has a species that needs an experienced home. I want to keep rarer, more specialized animals like jacksonii, quadricornis, melleri, etc, because I'm vain enough to think I'd be a pretty good hobbyist to have those animals, considering how paranoid and obsessed I get over my two 'easy' chams, and the simple fact that I don't insist on handling them. Most people with the rarer species bought them on impulse from a wholesaler at an expo, and the poor WC animals don't do well under novice care. I'm advancing to a level where I'd feel comfortable helping out with rescue, but it's a slippery slope, and I don't want to find myself shelling out $$ to save every battered cham I see on craigslist. There is one species I want to breed simply because more people should appreciate their hilarity, and that is my Madagascar Giant day gecko. I'm going to be a nervous Jewish mother over her and find the prettiest Blue Blood or Crimson line that I can find, but I do intend to breed her. I just think they're so underrated as pets, and yet there definitely is enough of a demand for even the normals that I wouldn't worry too much about placement. I may also breed my black blood, for similar reasons. I think they're on a par with keeping a ball, just with slightly lower temps and higher humidity, and are better feeders and take handling well. There's a slowly expanding market for them, and I may want to dip my feet in, but we'll see. Snakes are a whole different ballgame (albeit somewhat easier) in terms of breeding and I'd need to rethink my current setup and spring for a big Boaphile rack system to house my adults. I suppose I could get into a smaller snake, but bloods are mostly what interests me, so I don't feel the need to breed something I'm not already crazy about. Basically, my long term reptile goals are to be cautious, reasonable, and not get my head below the waterline. It's easy for me to see myself having a reptile room and a collection for the rest of my life, but that's for my own personal satisfaction, not necessarily to get gung-ho into the murky world of breeding imports and trying to establish CB populations. Captain Foxy fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Jun 8, 2013 |
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Jun 8, 2013 19:44
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People who breed for the purpose of 'conserving the species' must be kind of clueless as to how conservation works. No one is ever going to contact some random joe-schmo and ask them about breeding to re-introduce a species into the wild or assistance with it. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mind. I breed a small variety of reptiles, mostly geckos and some (well currently one species) of snakes. Bottom line is, I do it because I enjoy the hell out of it. I love caring for my geckos and trying to improve my pairings and offspring and try to offer great quality to those people that purchase them from me, if it is for a pet or a breeding animal. I also love teaching/introducing people to the animals I love. I really enjoy selling to first time owners and love being able to assist them in discovering how awesome these animals are, and how to care for them etc. I don't make any money off them, anything I have made has pretty much gone right back into the reptiles, or has just pretty much been negated by all the expenses I've paid towards their care.
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Jun 8, 2013 20:39
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Greycious posted:People who breed for the purpose of 'conserving the species' must be kind of clueless as to how conservation works. No one is ever going to contact some random joe-schmo and ask them about breeding to re-introduce a species into the wild or assistance with it. It's a bit of a pet peeve of mind. I'd think that most people who breed for the "conservation of the species" don't think of it that way. Rather, they look at it as every captive-bred animal sold to another hobbyist means at the very least one fewer animal collected from the wild. Given mortality rates in capture, transportation, and the generally more difficult care of a wild-caught specimen compared to a captive-bred animal, the number "saved" from collection is probably much greater than one per CB animal sold. I have a feeling most hobbyists that are informed enough, and care enough about the animals to want to help conserve wild populations are also smart enough to understand that re-introduction is something best left to people who really know what they're doing in that regard (i.e. the biologists working with whatever species).
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Jun 8, 2013 23:34
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To be fair some of the replies I got on another forum asking about that had a few people who believed that just by owning and breeding rare animals that clearly that will help conservation efforts the world over. Then they get mad when you ask why they're breeding garish morphs that would never survive in the wild. 
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Jun 9, 2013 03:51
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So I'm having kind of a problem. Today I had a friend kind of unceremoniously and completely unexpectedly dump a sulcata tortoise on me. Since I wasn't expecting it (at all, he mentioned bringing one to me once vaguely in passing a few weeks ago but I thought he was joking  ), I obviously had no idea of the requirements, knowing nothing about it and even had to google to figure out the exact species - I kept thinking he was saying sicada. Now, of course, that I've started reading about how difficult they are, I'm not sure we're a great fit, as we've never had reptiles before and we don't have a huge yard (and I live in southern Arizona, so not much opportunity to plant grazing grasses). And basically every single thing he told us about caring for it was wrong, other than telling us 'in 30 years it'll probably be big!'.  If I had only known I would've forcibly told him no, but unfortunately I had kinda of a crazy day and had to take my mom to the ER and while I was gone he went out with my boyfriend and they bought a tank and everything. I don't know what to do? I'm not sure he'll take it back. Or if he even should, since I think he has others. It's just a baby, I don't want to give this poor little thing a bad life, but I don't think we're equipped for this. The tank's not a huge deal, w/e, it's a sunk cost and we can think about getting something more manageable down the road, but I'm lost and I feel bad for the tortoise.
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Jun 9, 2013 08:26
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You'll have to create an outdoor enclosure for him (do a lot of research, as they're incredible diggers) - at around 20, the zoo's were both over 100 pounds. To be honest, 99% of them die before maturity due to improper care, but they're extremely easy to breed in large numbers, so folks keep selling them for $30 a piece. Some won't agree, but if you're not in it for the long haul (it will outlive you), euthanasia is not a horrible option. If we had space for them, we could've had 30 at the zoo within a week. Far too many people have them and can't take care of them.
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Jun 9, 2013 13:17
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Sporkles posted:So I'm having kind of a problem.
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Jun 9, 2013 13:46
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Sporkles, where in South AZ are you? Tucson should have a reptile rescue to contact No idea if you're out Yuma or Nogales way though. Hah, a friend of mine just asked me what we sell our leopard tortoise babies for, because his nephew wants one for his birthday. I asked how old the kid is, thinking maybe 9 or 10. Nope. Kid is 4. Friend 'knows' he will be taking care of the tort, but he wants something bigger than a baby so the kid doesn't kill it (he even told me he remembers playing 'racecar' with his box turtle when HE was that age) BUT doesn't have the room for a sulcata, so he's hoping someone will give him an adult desert tortoise or something like that. People like that piss me the gently caress off. Your nephew is FOUR. Get him a reptile ONLY if you supervise everything, and realize that one slip will kill that tortoise faster than his interest in it.
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Jun 9, 2013 16:28
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I do live in the Tucson area. I briefly googled rescues last night and there's a specific sulcata rescue up in Phoenix and a few generalized reptile rescues around here. The first one (and closest) has a hefty surrender fee which is understandable but unfortunate since the whole thing was so unexpected, but if that's what it comes down to, and big if that they'll even take it, of course that's what I'll do. I messaged my friend late last night and touched on my concerns and got back a 'oh, you'll be fine, they're easy to care for!' message so I'm not exactly hopeful about talking it over with him! Ugh. Uncomfortable situation for everyone involved! Shouldn't have gotten mixed up in it, definitely a lesson learned.
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Jun 9, 2013 19:55
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Hey, if anyone in the baltimore area needs dubias or wants a colony PM me. I got one with some tarantulas off craigslist, and it is way, way more massive than I need/could use. I like roaches, so I don't mind keeping them as pets anyway but figured I'd offer some here if anyone needs feeders.
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Jun 9, 2013 20:03
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Sporkles posted:The first one (and closest) has a hefty surrender fee which is understandable but unfortunate since the whole thing was so unexpected, but if that's what it comes down to, and big if that they'll even take it, of course that's what I'll do.
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Jun 9, 2013 21:23
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I still boggle at the fact in some states, a person can own a gator legally. Well, think my milksnake program is a bust. Three clutches, a total of 20 eggs over a few years, and nothing fertile. I did winter conditioning one year, then not the next, and then did this past year, and nothing. They breed, oh yes, they breed like mad, but the eggs I just pulled are huge and yellow and slightly soft. Nothing white about them. I am guessing they are all infertile. Damnit.
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Jun 12, 2013 00:34
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Sorry about your lack of success CW, and I'm really not trying to rub it in by posting this buuuut.... I got my first crestie eggs today!  They're from Crowley and Amelie, my black/cream male and yellow phantom pin female. I also have a dalmation pair together, Calcifer and Carmine, but I'm only going to keep the males in for two clutches, and then cross my fingers that they don't lay another/only lay one more clutch. I really don't want more than 8-10 babies this year, since it's my first, but I suppose I'll have to learn as I go. All four of these geckos were among the first I purchased for my breeding program, and I'm really stupidly proud ATM. I really need to get better at taking pics of the parents, so I can post a Pangea thread/update my iHerp and hopefully get some online interest going. Any tips on making a lightbox for cresties?
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Jun 12, 2013 02:33
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Cowslips Warren posted:I still boggle at the fact in some states, a person can own a gator legally. Sounds like your female may be infertile. That sucks. What species are they? You might be able to find someone who just wants one as a pet and sell her.
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Jun 12, 2013 06:23
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I was given a baby beardie last week as a birthday present after whining about how I wanted one for like 2 or 3 years. I know the basics of beardie care just from looking them up a bunch during occasional "torture myself over animals I want" google safaris, but tbh I was surprised with him so I didn't really have time to prepare. He's from Petsmart (sorry goons  ) but he seems healthy and is active and eating and pooping well. I set him up in a spare 20gal with a basking light, UVB bulb, and a UTH which keeps the warm end at about 95-100, and the cool end in the mid - upper 80s. I'm offering him as many small, dusted crickets as he wants twice a day, and have been keeping a dish of soaked pellets mixed with greens/fruit/veggies in there for him too (which he only takes maybe a bite or two of per day, but I've read that that's normal for babies.) HOWEVER: A couple of days ago I got him one of those big driftwood branch things to go near his basking spot, because that's what I've seen in most beardie setups. He was eating well before, but since I added it, he's done nothing but sit and climb on it and is mostly ignoring his crickets. I've talked him into taking a single bite of a dandelion, but it seems like all he wants to do now is Sit and Look At Things and I'm not sure if I should remove it to encourage him to eat more, or leave it alone and stop spazzing. Goons?
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Jun 12, 2013 15:38
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Nah he's fine. You just Did A Thing to his environment so now he has to accept the existence of said thing and that process sometimes involves not eating due to mild stress or whatever else. Are you removing him from his enclosure to eat crix? Because if not, start doing that so you don't have to hunt down any excess crickets (and keep your tank nicer since crix are poo poo machines) and try tong-feeding him some superworms or mealworms. Waxies are a good choice too; nothing turns down a waxworm, but they're fat as hell so be limited with them. Removing him to a kritter keeper or a tub or something filled with crickets is a good idea because it should shake his brain out of 'Mmmm yes bask here bask now bask forever' to 'Hey you're picking me up why is this happening' to 'Oh gently caress yeah, this place is full of crickets OMNOMNOMNOM'. If he's being removed every time he gets to eat, he'll get into a routine of doing it and it won't be something he has to adjust to every time you clean his cage/move a light/breathe on him. That being said, though, you could definitely just keep feeding in the tank with little problems (especially if you aren't using a substrate and just have paper towel/tile or something) but I would try tong-feeding for the next few days to get him back interested in his prey again. Something about the worms wiggling from the tongs usually perks them right back up. Sounds like you got yourself gifted a special boy, which is probably something you're used to.
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Jun 12, 2013 17:04
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Captain Foxy posted:and try tong-feeding him some superworms or mealworms. Waxies are a good choice too; nothing turns down a waxworm, but they're fat as hell so be limited with them. I'd recommend against feeding a baby beardie super/meal worms. Their shell has been known to cause impaction, and I had to have a vet give my guy an enema after he didn't poop for a few weeks and was in visible pain from impaction. Undigested shells came out, and he immediately became all DERP again. We had him on tile floor, with no substrata, so that was all meal/super worms. We now feed him exclusively crickets, and tomato horn/silk worms. I'd also get rid of the under tank heater. The basking spot is more then adequate if you can get a spot to approximately 110F, and you don't have to worry about him getting cold at night. They're from the desert, and can tolerate to the low 60s at night, even in the summer.
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Jun 12, 2013 21:00
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Good lord, I did not know that but now I do. Impaction is no fun, I'll have to revise my opinion of supers depending on how they continue to preform for the various things I feed. Most of my guys take them with no problems, but I have heard of similar issues with mealies. Thanks for the heads up.
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Jun 12, 2013 21:46
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Yeah, apparently beardies are delicate flowers as babies and have a lot of trouble with anything that has too hard of an exoskeleton. That's good to know though that he's probably just wigging out because A thing Changed. I'll start feeding him his buggies in a seperate bin too, that's a good idea. Chasing the "leftovers" around his tank twice a day in an attempt to round them up sucks.quote:I'd also get rid of the under tank heater. The basking spot is more then adequate if you can get a spot to approximately 110F, and you don't have to worry about him getting cold at night. They're from the desert, and can tolerate to the low 60s at night, even in the summer. Is it really necessary to get rid of the UTH? I tried several basking bulbs and none of them brought the temps up past 90 without the extra help from the UTH.
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Jun 12, 2013 21:51
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 14:53 |
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Higher wattage bulb???
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Jun 12, 2013 23:59
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