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Hey guys, I need an opinion. I'm getting a bearded dragon soon and have two tanks at the house to choose from. One is a 40 gallon breeder and the other is a 55 gallon aquarium that measures 48"L x 13"W x 21"H. The latter is obviously larger but I wasn't sure if the height and the small width would be a problem.
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Nov 6, 2013 21:59
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Happy non-practicing Hanukkah to me!       Pardalis (my ~irl gf~) bought me this juvenile sexed pair of CBB Standing's day geckos. I've wanted a pair for a while; these are also called the 'grey ghost geckos' because as adults they are a soft bluish grey, with a bright green head and barring down their back. They make vocalizations, live on nectar and insects, and they're one of the few reptiles species that mate for life. If one of the pair dies, they will not normally accept a new mate. They're becoming threatened in their home range, which is a shame, and I'd like to see more of them in the hobby. And this!   Bonus hatchling CBB p. grandis. It's from a blue line, and if it's a male, I'm going to pair it with Petroglyph, my high-red grandis, who is probably the love of my collection. DAY. OF. DAY. GECKOS.
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Nov 6, 2013 22:00
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After nearly two years my leopard gecko is showing weird shedding behavior. Normally when her skin starts to get that whiteish tint to it I throw a small tupperware container with a hole in the lid into her terrarium. I get some paper towels warm and damp, put them in there, and she rolls around for a while and goes to town. I've been doing this since the first time she shed for me. This is the second shed in a row now where she more or less refuses to go in there and I'm not sure why. She's just kind of scraping against her hot side hide instead of going into the damp one. Last time after she was done I had to take a wet Q-tip and fix some of the spots where the shed didn't come off all the way. Is this normal behavior after a while?
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Nov 6, 2013 22:39
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Caught Cubs Posting
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Captain Foxy posted:
That's awesome. And you have an awesome girlfriend.  I'm not super into day geckos, but the standing's sound amazing. I love neat behaviors...and I love my mourning geckos chirps so...I might have to look into those. Or just wait until you have babies!
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Nov 6, 2013 23:16
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Captain Foxy posted:DAY. OF. DAY. GECKOS. So jealous!  I really adore day geckos but I'm kinda running out of space so I'm trying not to acquire any new species anytime soon. I'll just enjoy these guys vicariously through you for now. They are sooo pretty!  Ignore my junk, but tonight I was especially productive and made some grow-out enclosures for some juvie cresteds. Always fun! These sterilite containers were only like $5 a piece at Wal-mart and have snapping lids which I really love.  This little one was eyeballing me through the top of his/her paper towel roll. 
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Nov 7, 2013 03:38
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Does anyone have any experience with collared lizards? I've kept single collareds for over a decade so I know all about the general care, but I'm thinking of trying to start breeding so for the first time I got a few that I'm going to keep together. I ordered a male and female (from different lineages) from a popular online breeder, but then in between when I ordered them and they got old enough to ship an opportunity came up to buy another little one locally and I couldn't resist. It was too young to sex reliably when I got it, and it's still too young for me to be sure, but I think it's turned out to be a male. Then the male and female showed up, then today I moved them all into a 40G terrarium together. I know you can't house multiple mature males together, but these guys are all around three months old so I figured they'd be fine for a while because they're so young. But then this evening I noticed the the male and the potential male kinda posturing against each other. They didn't fight or anything, just some puffing up and bobbing. They can't possibly be getting into territorial disputes at such a young age, can they? I'm hoping it's just some initial communication because they're unfamiliar lizards in a new cage, but the known female seems to be staying completely out of it, and they're not posturing against her, which has me worried there is a sexually-driven element behind it. I didn't plan to keep three in a 40G passed their first year or so anyway just for space issues, even if they did turn out to be a male and two females, but if those two don't get along I may have to break them up way earlier than I had planned. They do have multiple basking sites and hides so they can spread out a bit, but I can't move the basking sites too far apart together without eliminating the terrarium's cool side. Here's some pictures just because:  The dark one on the bottom is the known male, the one on top of him is the one I'm not sure about. I know sitting on top of each other can be a dominance thing, but I don't think that's the case here because even though you can't really tell from this angle the one on the bottom is like 10-20% bigger than the other one. I expect him to end up the dominant one if poo poo goes down.  Here's the female. She found the heatpad before the others, who needs to fight for the heat lamps?
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Nov 7, 2013 06:50
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Clumsy Card House posted:Hey guys, I need an opinion. I'm getting a bearded dragon soon and have two tanks at the house to choose from. One is a 40 gallon breeder and the other is a 55 gallon aquarium that measures 48"L x 13"W x 21"H. The latter is obviously larger but I wasn't sure if the height and the small width would be a problem. For beardies you want more floor space so I'd go with the 40 breeder, but you maaaay eventually want to upgrade to something like a 4' x 2' custom if at all possible later. There are lots of plans online for building your own. Also update on my Megaray! I finally got the drat thing after a delay (I guess they hold the bulbs for testing at first after the debacle with their last supplier) and it works beautifully so far. Takes a bit to warm up but it's giving me 100 uw/cm2 at 16 inches which is perfect. It also doesn't give out as much heat as the Powersun I tried which I like- it means it'll last longer and I can use a seperate halogen on a dimmer to control the heat more precisely.
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Nov 7, 2013 16:34
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I got an apricot Pueblan.  It's really pissed. But so gorgeous. I think I might have a new snake obsession.
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Nov 7, 2013 19:00
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hypnotoad posted:
how do you make the sides?
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Nov 7, 2013 22:40
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Malalol posted:how do you make the sides? Use a wood burner and melt them out, or use a really tough knife and hack it out. Then you can use a hot glue gun to pin down mesh (hardwire cloth works good if you can find it small enough) within the bin. And you're done.
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Nov 7, 2013 23:28
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Malalol posted:how do you make the sides? I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to cut out the square hole, sanded down the edges, and then hot glued a square of fiberglass screen on it.  Edit: Whoop! Beaten.
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Nov 7, 2013 23:29
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Customer Service posted:For beardies you want more floor space so I'd go with the 40 breeder, but you maaaay eventually want to upgrade to something like a 4' x 2' custom if at all possible later. There are lots of plans online for building your own. Thats what I figured, thanks! And building my own terrarium sounds really fun, it'll definitely be something to consider when he reaches adult size.
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Nov 8, 2013 02:57
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Knormal posted:Does anyone have any experience with collared lizards?  it looks like they're wearing little lizard sweater vests
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Nov 8, 2013 03:34
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PK posted:
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Nov 8, 2013 04:46
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hypnotoad posted:I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to cut out the square hole, sanded down the edges, and then hot glued a square of fiberglass screen on it. Just an aside, crickets can and will chew right through fiberglass mesh. Ask me how I know. (we use aluminum screen now)
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Nov 8, 2013 20:28
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Knormal posted:I'm always surprised collared lizards aren't more common in the pet trade, they get really pretty and they're easy to take care of, basically the same care guidelines as a bearded dragon. About their only downside is you can't really handle them, not because they'll get stressed or scared, but just because they're so hyperactive they won't sit still. If you take them out and put them on your lap they'll sit there for a minute, then take off to go exploring. But they still make much better pets than some of the other lizard mainstays like tokays or green anoles. They even look like bearded dragons, only more cuddly seeming
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Nov 8, 2013 23:16
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Knormal posted:But they still make much better pets than some of the other lizard mainstays like tokays or green anoles. I swear I must have ended up with one of the chillest Tokays in the world. I've had him for about a year now and after the first month I've no problems at all with him trying to bite. He doesn't bother to bark at me. At most he might try to run away if I try to grab him and he doesn't feel like being picked up at that moment. He looks so cute at night with the big giant eyes just kinda staring at you.  This girl/guy is growing like a weed and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up surpassing my gargoyle in size in the next few months and the garg is a year older.  Pretty little lashes  Recently hit a growth spurt after sitting at 13-14g for MONTHS. Had me worried.  Princess Fattypants has improved so much since I rescued her a little of a year ago. Has put on almost double her original weight of 40g.  The result of prior lovely owner.  I hate getting images of the snakes because they never sit still for me. Ever. She was sorta agreeable at least.  Him not so much, but at least I did capture this:  Pardalis posted:Just an aside, crickets can and will chew right through fiberglass mesh. Ask me how I know. (we use aluminum screen now) Another reason I got rid of crickets as fast as I could!
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Nov 9, 2013 00:04
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Pardalis posted:Just an aside, crickets can and will chew right through fiberglass mesh. Ask me how I know. (we use aluminum screen now) Ugh that's terrible!! gently caress crickets, dubia forever.
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Nov 9, 2013 04:18
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Cless Alvein posted:I swear I must have ended up with one of the chillest Tokays in the world. I've had him for about a year now and after the first month I've no problems at all with him trying to bite. He doesn't bother to bark at me. At most he might try to run away if I try to grab him and he doesn't feel like being picked up at that moment. One of my first cricket events ever was a few of them chewing through fiberglass mesh and ending up inside strange places - like inside a speaker, behind two panels and mesh, chirping in the area that most amplified the chirp
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Nov 9, 2013 04:53
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Noricae posted:Is he captive bred? Or can wild ones learn to get used to you? I love the look of these guys. :3 My alligator lizard (wild) is similarly chill, hasn't tried running after the first six months, and explores very slowly and calmly most of the time (with the occasional launch-self-into-the-air and pretend to fly event). Yep, he is a CB I bought from Michael Billewicz. I've heard wild caught ones do tend to calm down eventually it just takes longer. A lot of it has to do with handling. He gets handled all the time. His tank is huge and planted so I don't feed in it since the dubias would just bury themselves before he ever found them. Combine that with when I lay on the couch sometimes I grab him and toss him under the blanket with me. He enjoys his dark and warm nap spot.
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Nov 9, 2013 05:21
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Cless Alvein posted:Yep, he is a CB I bought from Michael Billewicz. I've heard wild caught ones do tend to calm down eventually it just takes longer. These geckos sound really awesome personality wise, even the ones that dislike being handled. I asked because I kept reading about how hard they were to get to relax and not be attack-bot (if wild caught), but alligator lizards also have a reputation for being aggressive (but apparently are totally tame-able with handling). Your leopard gecko is very pretty, also.Knormal posted:
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Nov 9, 2013 21:46
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There are a lot of great animals in this thread. I want a beardie and a crestie now. I am not a bug person, but maybe someday I will get a lizard. They just seem more into people than snakes which would be nice. I've kept carpets for 10 years and I finally decided to try my luck with a cousin - the green tree python.  S/he is a sweetie, very docile, handleable and a great eater. S/he was born missing a couple scales on her head, but otherwise is perfect. Here she is luring some invisible prey:  I love this snake. But all things considered, I really do prefer jungle carpet pythons. Give me that black and yellow any day. This is my female, still full of rat from a few days ago: 
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Nov 11, 2013 00:37
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Noricae posted:These are beautiful! How long have you had them? The cuddling behavior seems to be a nervous reflex for a lot of reptiles, so they may just be huddling together because of unfamiliar housing and the stress of shipping. I would watch them closely but I don't think they start relaxing and exhibiting normal behavior patterns for a few weeks (well, apparently unless they find a heating pad and pass out on it).  They get stuck in a loop where they're both trying to eat the other moving thing, in this case the other one's face, until I jam my hand in the middle. I think I'm going to start feeding them individually in a 10g tank off to the side, at least until they grow out of their piggy baby mode. Plus I imagine that'll help get them acclimated to being held, if they start to associate getting picked up with being taken to the food pit. If you're interested in lizards but don't want to deal with bugs check out a uromastyx, the commonly-bred species get about the size of and have similar care requirements to a bearded dragon, but they're pure herbivores. There's plenty of other herbivorous lizards too, but uromastyx are probably the easiest to keep for space reasons if nothing else.
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Nov 12, 2013 10:43
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wikipedia posted:Their spiked tail is muscular and heavy, and can be swung at an attacker with great velocity, usually accompanied by hissing and an open-mouthed display of (small) teeth. Sounds like a fun pet and they are very pretty. I should stop reading this thread, I got one tarantula and now I want more and more pets and some lizard would be nice.
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Nov 12, 2013 11:13
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Knormal posted:If you're interested in lizards but don't want to deal with bugs check out a uromastyx, the commonly-bred species get about the size of and have similar care requirements to a bearded dragon, but they're pure herbivores. There's plenty of other herbivorous lizards too, but uromastyx are probably the easiest to keep for space reasons if nothing else. Don't forget chuckwallas. They're also mostly herbivorous, although you can offer them a worm every now and again, and the common chucks are typically around the size of a beardie as a adults. They're also more communually gregarious than most other lizards and tend to form strong pair bonds, so if the idea of keeping a pair of lizards appeals to anyone, they'd be a much better fit than beardies, who aren't designed to live like that. They're sexually dimorphic, so it makes it easier to be sure of what you have to pair. They make good kids pets because their only defense is to inflate their sides and try to look bigger, but they deflate/calm right down once you pick them up. 40g breeder tank, millet substrate, 105-110F basking spot, 75-88F cool spot, UVB 10.0, fresh veggies daily.
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Nov 12, 2013 16:02
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I am so sick of feeding crickets/worms to the leos and I always wanted a beardie but not all the crickets. Chuckwallas and uromastyx are on my "want" list now. THANKS A LOT. I have a custom made 30 gallon aquarium right now that is split in half with two leos. One of them hasn't been doing too hot ever since I got him, so I am probably going to get him euthed (sucks but that's life when you get a leo off craigslist that was originally from petco!) If in the future I move the remaining leo to a different tank and take the divider out, would that 30 gallon be okay for a uromastyx or chuckwalla while they're younger? (I can get tank dimensions when I get home tonight. EDIT: Also considering any other reptile that can be kept in 15 gallons (half the tank, so no snakes if half the tank...) or 30 gallons (whole tank) EDIT 2: Tell me about HOGNOSES please
cryingscarf fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Nov 12, 2013 |
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Nov 12, 2013 21:22
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Turtle Update! So it's been about 2 and a half weeks since I got my musk turtle dropped in my lap. Since then his tank has been thoroughly overhauled with the addition of several live plants (mostly water lettuce and anacharis since the don't need substrate), a bit of fake driftwood, and some tank-mates that were originally intended to be food, but turns out he's just not quite quick enough to catch fish. The ghost shrimp and guppies do a great job keeping things clean, especially the shrimp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJ0X7VVm9k Video was taken during feeding time. Really fun watching all the shrimp come out of the woodwork when he/she makes a big ol' mess out of the repto-min.
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Nov 12, 2013 21:41
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cryingscarf posted:EDIT 2: Tell me about HOGNOSES please Hognoses are derpy and cute and aaaaa.   This is Ouro. He's a Western Hognose.   Hoggies are the best.
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Nov 13, 2013 03:52
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Captain Foxy posted:Don't forget chuckwallas. They're also mostly herbivorous, although you can offer them a worm every now and again, and the common chucks are typically around the size of a beardie as a adults. They're also more communually gregarious than most other lizards and tend to form strong pair bonds, so if the idea of keeping a pair of lizards appeals to anyone, they'd be a much better fit than beardies, who aren't designed to live like that. They're sexually dimorphic, so it makes it easier to be sure of what you have to pair. They make good kids pets because their only defense is to inflate their sides and try to look bigger, but they deflate/calm right down once you pick them up. Also they're pretty gross. They tend to always have big dead skin patches not quite ready to shed somewhere on their bodies, and they shoot excess salt out of their nose in mucus, and coat the walls of their terrarium in it. I don't want to talk anyone out of a chuckwalla because they're impressive lizards, they're just not as pretty or friendly as uros, as with anything else just make sure you do your research.
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Nov 13, 2013 04:03
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That drat Satyr posted:Hognoses are derpy and cute and aaaaa. Agreed  One of mine is surprisingly bitey for a hognose, but the other couldn't be sweeter. I love the way they "inchworm" across skin.
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Nov 13, 2013 04:55
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cryingscarf posted:I am so sick of feeding crickets/worms to the leos and I always wanted a beardie but not all the crickets. Chuckwallas and uromastyx are on my "want" list now. THANKS A LOT. I'd also recommend blue-tongue skinks if you're interested in a lizard pet that doesn't need crickets, and can be totally tame, interactive, and awesome too.
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Nov 13, 2013 14:33
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Knormal posted:
omg is THAT what it is?! I remember wiping off the glass of the chuck tanks because they seemed to have white whatever drips all over it and then moments later itll be back wtffffffff.
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Nov 13, 2013 20:30
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newts posted:I'd also recommend blue-tongue skinks if you're interested in a lizard pet that doesn't need crickets, and can be totally tame, interactive, and awesome too. I've been considering a blue-tongue for a while now and we have a reptile show coming up next weekend. Does anyone have any good care instructions on them? One guy at a reptile store told me they feed theirs canned cat food and I didn't think that sounded correct. The guy also said they can be bitey unless you hold them every day. Any thoughts would be nice .
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Nov 14, 2013 02:18
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A general recommendation for a good website with caresheets would be really nice. I was looking up some for the lizards discussed earlier and it really hard to figure out which one is correct and not full of terrible advice. The good news is that I might have found a local breeder of uromastyx. Just trying to get way more information now, before making a decision. Maybe a visit to the zoo as well, to see some live.
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Nov 14, 2013 07:26
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For uros, this guy's one of the biggest breeders, so I'd put good faith in his caresheet: http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm He's the guy I got my chuckwalla from back in the day, I picked it up in person since my dad lives like 20 minutes down the road from him, so I can vouch that he has a really nice setup.
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Nov 14, 2013 07:56
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Tahirovic posted:A general recommendation for a good website with caresheets would be really nice. I was looking up some for the lizards discussed earlier and it really hard to figure out which one is correct and not full of terrible advice. Anapsid.org is my usual go-to.
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Nov 14, 2013 21:29
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Sweet CupnCakes posted:I've been considering a blue-tongue for a while now and we have a reptile show coming up next weekend. Does anyone have any good care instructions on them? One guy at a reptile store told me they feed theirs canned cat food and I didn't think that sounded correct. The guy also said they can be bitey unless you hold them every day. Any thoughts would be nice I've got two of my own and a good site for BTS care information is here: http://www.bluetongueskinks.org/forum/index.php There's some back and forth on what is the best food for them, but it's generally agreed on by the many longterm breeders that a base diet of dog food, with added veggies and greens is best and easiest. I feed mine once a week on dog food mixed with chopped yellow squash and turnip greens, though I'll mix it up and add new things here and there. One of mine loves roaches and hornworms, but the older skink is picky about live prey. Food chart: http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html As far as the "bitey" issue, I don't hold my skinks every day, sometimes not for a week, and they aren't bitey. Each animal can vary though, and they tend to be more defensive when they're young and small. One of my skinks is more high strung and defensive than the other, but she's only a year and a half old compared to the other being seven. Usually they just tend to huff and display rather than bite. I'd be happy to answer any questions about BTS, and I think they're awesome pets, but definitely do check out the forum dedicated to them. There are plenty of people there that have owned them for many, many more years than I have.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:00
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So, I saved a snake. I'm not sure it was in danger of imminent doom, but he certainly wasn't doing well. It's a male ball python, roughly 4 years old. When I got him, his cage was a mess, with two sheddings in it, and the saddest tiniest little snake turds. Seeing that and the tiny water bowl (empty) made me wanna rush home and play captain save-a-ho. Thankfully the mother knew the snake wasn't getting the care he needed, so she gave him up with his cage and lamp for nothing. I've had him about two weeks now, he's fully shed again, after some soakings, and he's put back 4 medium rats. He was apparently being fed one medium rat per month. Today though, he took a large rat, and he's curled up in a fat snake ball under his heatlamp, and I can only hope he's happy now. Saving things is the coolest.
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Nov 16, 2013 01:18
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Time for the annual SA Herp Goon Eye Exam. Spot the looney in the first photo. This is a common animal in southern and western AZ.  No fair reaching into the cage and sifting through the sand to find it. It may cost you a finger or hand. A closer view:  This is a captive-bred baby Sonoran Sidewinder. She could coil up on a quarter. A non-feeder from the brood, she was facing euthanization, having never fed in several months. So I took her in. She's now feeding quite well. A scented extra-small pinky fills her quite well. Now that everybody has aced that part of the test, onward we go to the bonus round. Spot this looney.  Ever seen such a gorgeous, yet strange looking animal? Don't quite see it? Let's zoom in a little then.  Wild looking thing, ain't it? What?! You still don't see it? Right. We'll zoom in a little more.  (Hint: look for the green chin). Now you see it! Best of all, it's just as happy to see you! Ain't dat a hoot!  Behold the Brown Vine Snake. One of AZ's gems. It only enters the US in extreme southern AZ, yet is common within its very limited US range.  This is an adult animal. 4 feet long, but hardly as fat as a pencil. Mildly venomous and willing to chew (hence the gloves). Bites in humans only cause local itching at worst. Gaping its big black mouth is its most common defense. These are primarily lizard feeders. Incredible climbers, completely invisible in their habitat, as you may have noticed. Crazier still to find one out so late in the year. A touch of skill, maybe, but still a ton of stupid luck was required. With herping, I find skill is more the art of putting yourself in position to be stupidly lucky than anything. Whatever your adventure, keep your eyes open. This world continues to make our head spin with surprises, if we've the eyes to see it.
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Nov 16, 2013 09:00
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Bobbaganoosh posted:Time for the annual SA Herp Goon Eye Exam. Awesome pics man. Gimme a call if youre still up.
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Nov 16, 2013 09:13
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