|
Guess what I just purchased in a parking lot through craigslist?!? It's a female Dumeril's ground boa! I'm going to use her to do meet-and-greets with the local herp society hopefully also breed her. She's not big enough for that yet, but with the fancy enclosures and Herpstat 4(s) I have coming, it will be really easy to temperature cycle properly. She's got a mustache and angry eyebrows. :3 Deciding to use my new furniture budget for snakes and snake accessories instead of furniture was the best idea I've ever had.  I've got a bunch of large enclosures coming in next week and it will be so nice not to have to deal with aquariums anymore. Plus, they stack so I can have some space back. 
Silver Nitrate fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Aug 14, 2014 |
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 01:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 13:45 |
|
|
Silver Nitrate posted:Guess what I just purchased in a parking lot through craigslist?!? Dums are great animals. If I were ever going to get larger boas again they're definitely the ones I'd keep again.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2014 04:06
|
|
|
Does anyone go to the FIRExpo in Lakeland FL? Looks like it is next month and the second year in that location. I haven't been to a Repticon show, so don't know if it is worth the drive
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2014 14:57
|
|
|
Need advice, the former owner said about 7 months ago this skink had a cyst on its mouth that subsided. I have been noticing this on the animal the last few days. Should I just go to the vet to be on the safe side? Its very active, will make circles in its cage until I pull it out and let it explore my bedroom, and eats like a drat horse. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2014 23:09
|
|
|
Seeking some advice, my girlfriend's 2-3 year old king snake hasn't ate for 3 weeks now. She feeds him small size frozen mice every week usually. I don't know that breed, but my old ball python only ate every 3 weeks and that worked for her. Much appreciate help on this.BarqueCat posted:Does anyone go to the FIRExpo in Lakeland FL? Looks like it is next month and the second year in that location. I haven't been to a Repticon show, so don't know if it is worth the drive Just moved to Lakeland, I'll have to check it out. Only place in the state I've been is this great reptiles store up in Jax, called the House of Reptiles. Would highly recommend.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2014 14:40
|
|
|
RealDeadTom posted:Seeking some advice, my girlfriend's 2-3 year old king snake hasn't ate for 3 weeks now. She feeds him small size frozen mice every week usually. I don't know that breed, but my old ball python only ate every 3 weeks and that worked for her. Much appreciate help on this. It's odd for kings to go off feeding, although when it does happen, it is usually caused from husbandry problems. What are the temps (cool and warm side) and humidity at? Is he having problems shedding, or stuck on eye caps by chance? About how long is he, and how long is the terrarium? Sometimes having too large of an enclosure can cause stress. If all environmental conditions are correct, it could be a sign of illness, especially since kings are notorious for being great eaters.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2014 19:27
|
|
|
Is the king a California king? If so, welcome to the club! For some reason it's not uncommon for individuals of that subspecies, whether cb or wild-caught, to go off feed from late summer thru mid-February. I've never had this issue with Florida kings, Eastern kings, etc. Just California. Check other herp message boards over the next month and you'll see other folks chiming in with the same concern for their cal. king. So if your husbandry conditions check out, as MrConfusedTurkey mentioned, then it's your California king being its usual  self. My female did it for the first 5 years of her life, shutting down in early Sept, actively fleeing from f/t mice until mid-Feb, whereupon she'd pounce on them as her usual black-and-white tornado of coils. She grew out of it by her 5th or 6th year. She's 12 years old now and none the worse for wear, at a measly 66 inches.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2014 19:57
|
|
|
Nevermind, apparently he ate yesterday. Who knows. Thanks for the replies anyways, I'll know what to look for now if it happens again.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2014 03:36
|
|
|
If I get a young ball python (9-10 months) is it okay to use 50 gallon tank? Should I cut down the size by using some sort of partition in the aquarium? Or just give it several hides. I don't want to buy a smaller aquarium now and then another one later when the snake outgrows it. Binary Logic fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Aug 24, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2014 14:24
|
|
|
If you have lots and lots of cover it can work out fine. I keep my juvenile blood python in an adult sized tank and he does fine but almost the entire floor is covered in cork flats, fake plants, hides, leaf piles etc. The issue with larger enclosures isn't necessarily the size itself, it's feeling exposed so if you take measures to prevent that they will usually be ok. You could also just keep him in a RUB until he gets bigger though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2014 18:57
|
|
|
Thanks I'm sure I will have many questions over the next few Should all the hides and foliage be in place from the start? I'm asking because while the local store is happy to sell me everything right now, there's a reptile expo in 2 months and I was hoping to wait since there will be a lot more choices and variety there. Maybe the snake doesn't care about aesthetics but I'd like the tank to display a nice habitat.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2014 00:29
|
|
|
You're probably better off having the tank decor set up beforehand, changing the environment a lot can really stress out sensitive snakes and make them go off feed. Plus if everything is set up before you move your snake in you'll be able to spend some time making sure your temps and humidity are stable beforehand rather than having to scramble to fix it after the fact.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2014 00:43
|
|
|
You'll also get better deals at an expo, and you'll be able to buy directly from a breeder, supporting them, and you don't have to deal with animals that may or may not have been taken care of properly by the store or along the supply chain.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2014 16:24
|
|
|
If the expo is a couple days long, maybe you could go in the first morning and get all of your supplies, get it set up in the afternoon and check the temperatures/etc. Then the next day you can grab the snake and pop him in? You definitely want to have the shortest wait/trip between purchasing your ball python and getting him in the tank so he can acclimatize with as much stress avoided as possible.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2014 21:45
|
|
|
OneTwentySix posted:You'll also get better deals at an expo, and you'll be able to buy directly from a breeder, supporting them, and you don't have to deal with animals that may or may not have been taken care of properly by the store or along the supply chain. This might be obvious but I just wanna throw in: Expos definitely have breeders there and you can definitely have a better experience directly dealing with the source of an animal. But they also have retailers and there are plenty of them at expos who have poorly handled/treated animals for sale. My experience at expos in California has been a mixed bag for sure. Of particular issue (with dart frogs in my case) is the sale of animals that are too young. The tendency with frogs is to sell them as soon as they've grown their legs and come out of the water, but these adolescents (they are technically "adults" because their metamorphosis is complete) are still very weak and vulnerable to stress. A good, conscientious breeder/retailer does not sell dart frogs until they're at least a few weeks out of the water and clearly eating fruit flies well, have good body mass, and showing no signs of MBD. I've also seen lots of reptiles being kept in too-small cups and tubs, under hot lights, being sifted around and handled by dozens/hundreds of expo-goers, and very obviously getting way too much stress from it. Being transported long distances to/from expos can add on to the stress of being put into whatever new environment the customer is introducing their animal to. So by all means bypass the retailers - especially the big retailers like Pet[smart/co/depot/etc.], but don't assume that everything you see at an expo is a good breeder providing better-kept healthier animals. And conversely, there are reptile-specialty retailers who do an amazing job and are worth supporting. For my own part, I won't buy at expos (or big-box pet stores) any more. I know a few breeders in my area that I've met through local meet-ups and if I want another frog I'll buy one directly from the breeder, go and pick it up at their home, and put it into a well-established vivarium at my home, with ideally no more than an hour or two spent being shaken around in a non-climate-controlled deli cup with a wad of moist sphagnum moss as the only cover. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Aug 25, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2014 22:40
|
|
|
^^^ That's very true, I didn't even think of mentioning some of that, so thanks for filling in what I didn't think to say. For me, expos are a way to get animals without having to ship them, but I buy from people I know/know of. I've seen a lot of crappy poo poo at expos, though, and all the WC animals drives me absolutely nuts. I've never seen anyone selling dart froglets that were that young before, though - typically, animals are 2-3 months old before you start selling them, though you can go a bit younger at shows since they don't have to be shipped. I can't imagine selling a froglet that's just out of the water - MBD aside, the stress of everything is probably going to end up with a lot of deaths - they really need those fat stores to manage the stress of everything and then adapting to a new environment, plus any minor mistakes a keeper might make. It's disappointing that you've seen that kinda thing at your shows.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2014 00:27
|
|
|
Triangulum posted:You're probably better off having the tank decor set up beforehand, changing the environment a lot can really stress out sensitive snakes and make them go off feed. Plus if everything is set up before you move your snake in you'll be able to spend some time making sure your temps and humidity are stable beforehand rather than having to scramble to fix it after the fact. Thanks for the advice, I didn't even think about that but it makes sense to get everything set up first, check the temps and stability and then get the snake and place it in the terrarium. And probably leave it alone for a few days to get accustomed to its new surroundings. edit: the local store is Menagerie. They have a pretty good rep and have been in business for a very long time. Binary Logic fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Aug 26, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2014 12:05
|
|
|
OneTwentySix posted:^^^ It's been a few years but I saw this stuff at Sacramento. I guess probably 5+ years ago now, I haven't felt the need to go in recent years. I've not seen one so young that its tail wasn't absorbed, but I've seen plenty of froglets that were in my opinion way too young to be sold. I'm sure the motivation for breeders is to not tie up space and labor any longer than they have to on taking care of morphed-out adult froglets; it's a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to just rear tadpoles en-masse.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2014 20:35
|
|
|
I've only bought one animal from an expo and he was kind of an impulse purchase and has one eye bigger than the other so I won't be breeding him, but he's otherwise healthy and a good pet. So, if you go that route bring your phone with you to check the BOI or other things about who you are buying from and get a really good look at the snake because otherwise you will be like me and go, "OMG I've always wanted one and it's the right price, sold!" and end up with a wonky eyed snake. There are also a billion people online who sell animals and snake ship pretty well, but that's for later when you are okay with getting an animal that isn't as tame/small/big/whatever as you had hoped. It is really best if you can get your enclosure set up and temp/humidity adjusted before hand. Also, figure out where you're going to get your snake food from and look up an vet that does herps in your area. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2014 06:02
|
|
|
I'm looking to making my own small dubia roach colony for a leopard gecko. I don't have the gecko yet, as I'm making sure I have exactly everything I need, including some live food, before I get the little guy. All the leos I've ever kept in the past have been super chill adults and have been housed in sand. Thus, I bought an Exo Terra glass terrarium, heat mat of appropriate size, some superfine sand, and some little hidey-hole rock thingers. I still need a thermostat and some little flattish dishes. (Any of you UK goons have a spare thermo I could buy off you? Haha. They run about £40 everywhere I'm looking. They weren't that expensive back home in Canada!) I read though that younger leos can suffer gut impaction from sand and I don't want to risk anything if I end up getting a baby. I'm moreso looking to get an adult who already knows the score and is pretty chill, but I'd like to be open to getting a baby one too. In that case, what's the best substrate I should get for a younger/baby leo? Also, in your learn'd experience, do dubias need a heat mat to live in the average UK apartment? I've been looking around and seeing varying reports. (I'm not resorting to horrible smelly loud houdinis if I can at all avoid it!)
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:43
|
|
|
They don't NEED it persay, but to get them breed like well roaches you need it around 30C. My set up has them sitting ~2 inches below the heat pad of a snake tank and that seems to keep the temps fine. So you may or may not need one depending on if you can put their tub somewhere where it'll be warm like next to a pc or something. Make sure to not let it get too moist in their tub otherwise you will end up with mites that will probably end up killing a huge chunk of you colony. (I made this mistake once. I bought some more to supplement what was still alive and to add some genetic diversity and it is going strong again.) As for substrate a lot of people like to go cheap and use paper towels. It does have the advantage of being really easy to clean up. I like using slate tiles. Bought like 3-4 of them from a hardware store. Smash em up a bit. Arrange the pieces and put a little sand to fill in the cracks so the tiles don't slide around and possibly pinch toes. Cless Alvein fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Sep 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 23:06
|
|
|
I kept my dubia colony on top of my cable box in a rubbermade with a screen cut into the lid. They bred like crazy. One thing to think of with substrait is that roaches will bury themselves in sand. I fed them to my tarantula and had to crush them slightly or else they'd just vanish
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 02:37
|
|
|
Probably a stupid question, but I read that you can feed a box turtle cat food. I gave a little bit of wet cat food to my turtle and she went nuts on it. The type of cat food that my mom buys has cheese in it, though. Is it okay to give this to a turtle?
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2014 18:22
|
|
|
I'm not a turtle nutrition expert, but while I'd guess that it isn't going to be too harmful in and of itself, it's probably way too much protein with little to balance it out, when they should be eating a lot of vegetables and things. I'd say maybe a little as a treat, but it's not a complete or balanced turtle diet. Also would depend on the food content, too. Someone who knows more about turtles might completely contradict me, though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2014 18:49
|
|
|
OneTwentySix posted:I'm not a turtle nutrition expert, but while I'd guess that it isn't going to be too harmful in and of itself, it's probably way too much protein with little to balance it out, when they should be eating a lot of vegetables and things. I'd say maybe a little as a treat, but it's not a complete or balanced turtle diet. Also would depend on the food content, too. Someone who knows more about turtles might completely contradict me, though. Thank you! To clarify, my question isn't about the cat food itself but the cheese in it. I'm worried that it might have too much fat/cholesterol for a turtle, but if it's okay for a cat to eat it, maybe that isn't the case? It's this crap, and the ingredients on the back list real cheese. Action Yak fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Sep 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2014 19:24
|
|
|
I got a leopard gecko yesterday, a 4-month old female.  When she was delivered home, she had a good mooch around her new tank, and started basking. She also ate the one mealworm I put in there, just to reassure her there would be food in this new environment. Today, she is hiding a lot. Today I put in a dish with a few more mealworms in it. At first, she looked interested in one, looking like she was about to strike, then just closed her eyes and looked away. She has ignored all the worms since then. One or two have managed to get out of the dish, and she's ignored them. Licked one, then let it be. She's been moving around a little bit from hide to hide even while I'm sat around, which is a really good sign, even if she's not comfortable eating just yet. As I type this, she is dozing with her head poked out of her hide and is looking at me occasionally through slitted eyes. Temp range seems pretty good, at ~30C at warm side, ~22C at cool side. The mealworms have had a small bit of orange for moisture since I was out of carrot. Could that be a deterrent somehow? I'm pretty willing to dismiss her refusal to eat as being nerves, but it'd be good to know if I should make sure they never have orange again.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2014 22:37
|
|
|
Pics soon, as long as mommy Luna doesn't crush them...but eggs were loving good! All five eggs have babies, all albino ball pythons. First one pipped on the fourth and was out today, the other four remain in eggs in the eggbox. Luna has been in and out of the box, hope the eggs aren't too smushed. Yay Luna! Her first clutch with us!
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 03:59
|
|
|
Action Yak Police posted:To clarify, my question isn't about the cat food itself but the cheese in it. I'm worried that it might have too much fat/cholesterol for a turtle, but if it's okay for a cat to eat it, maybe that isn't the case? I'm no turtle expert, but they aren't mammals, and are not built for properly digesting dairy. Honestly, I would just stick to the usual box turtle diets with fresh foods. If you're worried about diet variation as far as meats go, box turtles will eat crickets, mealworms, wax worms, supers, and even angler and earthworms. They can even eat snails and grasshoppers/locusts. Some can't be found in stores, but all are readily available online. If you're experiencing feeding problems, canned cat food can get them out of it, but really isn't a great choice, especially the crap cat foods like fancy feast. Edit: The more I read, I have actually found a few sites that state the amount of protein and fat in it can deform their shells. Stick to maybe a bite-sized bit as a treat maybe once a month (if you really want to), or if he goes off feeding. Otherwise, definitely avoid it. MrConfusedTurkey fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Sep 7, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 07:59
|
|
|
Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't give dairy or any food they would not encounter in the wild (so no meat). I would just get him small amounts of sweet fruits as a treat. I hear they like berries: Grain mites! Do you guys have them? How do you control them? If I cover any container of worms or beetles they start breeding like crazy, and only a long stretch (week+) of bone dry container seems to help. Beetles handle that fine (bottlecap water dishes) but I don't really want cannibal worms. The one thing I started to do is use (non-medicated) granular poultry mash for beetles instead of any sort of dusty grain and so far so good. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad idea nutrition wise, but superworms seem to be growing faster (which I don't want since they stop shedding their skins after they reach some max size). Is this an issue with roaches too?
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 10:11
|
|
|
Noricae posted:Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't give dairy or any food they would not encounter in the wild (so no meat). I would just get him small amounts of sweet fruits as a treat. I hear they like berries: i have colonies of 10 species of roaches and i have a ton of grain and soil mites too. they dont seem to do any harm, so I've never tried to control them, Phorid flies however are a pain in the rear end.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 11:13
|
|
|
Cowslips Warren posted:Pics soon, as long as mommy Luna doesn't crush them...but eggs were loving good! All five eggs have babies, all albino ball pythons. First one pipped on the fourth and was out today, the other four remain in eggs in the eggbox. Luna has been in and out of the box, hope the eggs aren't too smushed. MANY PICTURES NOW PLEASE.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 15:43
|
|
|
Oh, wow. Thank you guys, I will definitely stop feeding her that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2014 22:31
|
|
|
Cowslips Warren posted:Pics soon, as long as mommy Luna doesn't crush them...but eggs were loving good! All five eggs have babies, all albino ball pythons. First one pipped on the fourth and was out today, the other four remain in eggs in the eggbox. Luna has been in and out of the box, hope the eggs aren't too smushed. That's one drat good mom snake.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2014 00:41
|
|
|
She is insanely good. Pics here! http://m.imgur.com/a/BNokk Would post direct but to tide you over for now.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2014 17:21
|
|
|
Omgggg adorable. Simply adorable. Do you intend on selling any of them once they're a bit older? They are complete beauties.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2014 22:45
|
|
|
Oh god, they are way too cute. Look at those snoots.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2014 04:04
|
|
|
They are loving amazing and cute! Now comes the next step, first shed and meal. Fingers crossed! No idea how many we will keep. Hopefully at least one!
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2014 09:33
|
|
|
A friend's kids caught this little guy and they seem to be intent on keeping him. Any help with an ID? They're in Minnesota.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2014 00:38
|
|
|
Paging OneTwentySix, Newt-ologist
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2014 00:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 13:45 |
|
|
I'll go with Eastern Tiger Salamander, per the Minnesota Herpetology guide. Appears to be common, hardy, large, and voracious. With some luck it might actually survive being owned by kids. It wants to be underground, mostly, so it needs a hide/burrow. I'd offer a variety of insects. Also, keep cool, no warmer than low 70s, keep the substrate moist, and clean regularly. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Sep 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2014 01:07
|
|