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Lungboy posted:Rosy Boas sound perfect actually, but they seem to be very hard to come by in the UK. I'm enquiring with my local reptile shop if they can source them. Sand boas are indeed very similar to Rosy, the main difference is that you won't see a sand boa as often because they like to be burrowed most of the time.
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Aug 17, 2019 19:40
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Khisanth Magus posted:Sand boas are indeed very similar to Rosy, the main difference is that you won't see a sand boa as often because they like to be burrowed most of the time. Hmm, maybe i'd be better off waiting for a Rosy to show up.
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Aug 17, 2019 20:31
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Lungboy posted:Hmm, maybe i'd be better off waiting for a Rosy to show up. I have many sand boas (surprise clutch of 10 babies now) and I do see them out and around when feeding time comes near. But roseys are always more expensive it seems, I see kenyan babies at reptile shows go for maybe $30. Roseys are never under 60.
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Aug 17, 2019 22:59
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Cowslips Warren posted:But roseys are always more expensive it seems, I see kenyan babies at reptile shows go for maybe $30. Roseys are never under 60. Both types of snake are around the £130 mark over here. I figure for an animal that can live 30 years that's not a bad investment.
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Aug 17, 2019 23:33
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Considering a single trip to a herp-knowledgable vet can cost you several hundred dollars, dickering over the difference between a $30 or $60 herp always strikes me as silly.
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Aug 18, 2019 06:10
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Rule of thumb- if the cost of the herp is the problem for you then you probably can’t afford to properly keep that type of herp right now. That doesn’t count rare morphs I guess. Not like a $3k ball or leopard gecko should be harder to keep than a $20 ball or leopard gecko.
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Aug 18, 2019 06:31
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Yeah the cost isn't the problem for me, it's finding the snakes at all. I've now found a store selling a Baja rosy and another selling a Mexican rosy. They are both 5 hours drive, but they will send the snake via courier. Is that ok? I don't want to stress a snake out with transport but I'd hope a proper animal courier would be better at transporting it safely than I would. Alternatively there's the Kenyan Sand Boa I linked that's a 20 min drive. What are people's thoughts on substrates for Rosys? Some things I read say that wood chips should never be used, but then care sheets like https://www.reptilecentre.com/info-kenyan-sand-boa-care-sheet say it's fine. The store that makes that care sheet seems to be well respected and they keep all their reptiles on coarse beech chips.
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Aug 18, 2019 09:42
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Changed out the lights and added to the mountain of rocks on the hot side while he was on the cool side today, then a good meal. Still the smuggest lizard. 
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Aug 18, 2019 14:18
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I realized I probably came out wrong, in Arizona I always see a ton of sand boas but the rosies are little more rare. they also have different locales to them, so when I had the chance to purchase sandies, I went with the ones that were more common and I could easily find mates for as opposed to the rarer rosies. maybe I've just been really lucky with my sand boas, I've never had any of them go nippy on me but my friend who has a Rosie said his is really difficult to handle because it's still nippy after many years. Ymmv naturally. of course trying to find a mate for my Pakistani / Indian sand boa was extremely difficult to the point that I ended up just selling off the single male I had. he was given to me by an old zookeeper friend, was about 15 years old, a sporadic feeder at best, and while he was really pretty, it was difficult to hold him to make sure he was doing okay and wasn't losing weight from his sporadic feeding. Cowslips Warren fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Aug 18, 2019 |
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Aug 18, 2019 14:50
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Is as big a Viv as I can house the best option, or should they reflect the species of snake? Lots of places say a 10gal tank is plenty for even an adult Rosy Boa, but would a bigger viv be better? What about terrainiums for a ground species like a Rosy?
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Aug 19, 2019 11:07
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I'd have at least a 20 for an adult Rosy, a 10 is good while it is growing. We have used a sandy substrate for our rosys, usually a sand-heavy mix of sand and soil, to simulate their natural desert environment, along with a few "caves" to take shelter in. They are very adaptable though, and can live in/on most normal snake substrates.
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Aug 19, 2019 18:09
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Hello there, friendly lizard people. I have a question regarding house geckos. I had a male and female pair of Mediterranean house geckos in my setup, but I lost the female after she escaped during an enclosure transfer a while back. My question is, since the two species are so similar, what are your thoughts on housing a male Med. house gecko with a female common house gecko? I was thinking since the tank is 20 gallons, and has plenty of space and hiding spots that they would get along, even if they don’t crossbreed...though that would be cool too. I don’t even know if that’s possible. Mediterranean house gecko(Hemidactylus turcicus):  Common house gecko(Hemidactylus frenatus):  Current setup: 
ContraBoss fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Aug 19, 2019 |
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Aug 19, 2019 22:02
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Khisanth Magus posted:I'd have at least a 20 for an adult Rosy, a 10 is good while it is growing. We have used a sandy substrate for our rosys, usually a sand-heavy mix of sand and soil, to simulate their natural desert environment, along with a few "caves" to take shelter in. They are very adaptable though, and can live in/on most normal snake substrates. Thanks for the tips. I'm looking at a 4' tank if i can convince the wife that's not too big, otherwise it'll be a 3', both from here. Do you have UVB lamps for your Rosys? Some places recommend one and others say they aren't necessary for Rosys.
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Aug 19, 2019 23:41
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Lungboy posted:Thanks for the tips. I'm looking at a 4' tank if i can convince the wife that's not too big, otherwise it'll be a 3', both from here. Do you have UVB lamps for your Rosys? Some places recommend one and others say they aren't necessary for Rosys. Nah, they don't need UVBs. Just a regular heat lamp to bask in.
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Aug 20, 2019 00:45
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ContraBoss posted:Hello there, friendly lizard people. I have a question regarding house geckos. I had a male and female pair of Mediterranean house geckos in my setup, but I lost the female after she escaped during an enclosure transfer a while back. My question is, since the two species are so similar, what are your thoughts on housing a male Med. house gecko with a female common house gecko? I was thinking since the tank is 20 gallons, and has plenty of space and hiding spots that they would get along, even if they don’t crossbreed...though that would be cool too. I don’t even know if that’s possible. Unfortunately don't have the time to dig fully into it right now, but I found this paper that might help you: Invasive house geckos (hemidactylus spp.): their current, potential and future distribution. It contains some discussion about their behavior and how they interact with each other. H. turcicus and H. frenatus don't seem to have much overlap in their native habitats, but interestingly enough they do appear to overlap heavily in my area (central Florida) as invasives.
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Aug 20, 2019 01:18
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Khisanth Magus posted:Nah, they don't need UVBs. Just a regular heat lamp to bask in. Thanks. I've been watching Corn snake videos instead of working and I think I might go for a Corn just because of how active they are vs Rosys. Plus my wife seems to really like the Okeetees, which will help.
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Aug 20, 2019 16:13
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Has anyone tried Arcadia Deep Heat Projectors? Wondering if they might be a better way to go than ceramics.
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Aug 21, 2019 15:42
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Since when is a corn snake unable to eat corn? It's not like it was popcorn or anything, I'm not an idiot.
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Aug 24, 2019 18:43
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All this talk about Carpet Pythons makes me wanna pick one up at Tinley Park in October. That or finally get off my rear end and do the paperwork required to be able to purchase a Western Hognose. Anyway, sister managed to crack side glass on one of those tanks with the slide on locking lid. Thought about scavaging off the rim to toss on another tank, but instead just bought a sheet of Lexan that I siliconed to both side to keep the glass shards from breaking off. Not like it needs to be waterproof. Is kinda an ugly fix. Maybe I use one of those cheep wraps on it.
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Aug 28, 2019 05:56
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I've been interested in getting a reptile for a pet for a while and I've been reading up on it recently, including both this thread and other places. I used to own rats and loved how affectionate they were, but they were also a big drain on my spare time that I can't maintain anymore. I've been looking specifically into reptiles because I find reptiles just neat and also because they are fairly low-maintenance in that regard. At the same time, though, I also don't want to own a fancy pet rock. I know the general opinion on reptiles is that they just don't really do social or affectionate when compared to mammals, but after reading up on the issue, it seems that there's as much of a sliding scale (pun entirely intended) there as there is about most of animal behaviour. Various herp websites and personal testimonials indicate that bearded dragons in particular tend to take towards handling well and bond with their owners to a stronger degree than is common for herps. I don't want to own an animal that perceives any interaction with me as nothing but needless stress. I want them to at least be able to parse it as something pleasant to look forward to. Thoughts?
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Sep 5, 2019 17:39
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You'll enjoy having a bearded dragon! Easy care, minimal maintenance, can learn minor tricks, and will appreciate interacting with you (even if the appreciation is limited to "hey you bring me food, you're cool").
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Sep 6, 2019 04:48
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Tortoises get pretty drat chill with interaction and people argue that they bond with them. In some ways the appeal of herps is more in the fact that there are lots of different kinds and morphs and expanding a collection is relatively less time and $ investment added on when compared to other pets than it is in interacting with them. Like, it’s a lot easier to have one leopard gecko or beardie and expand into two leopard geckos or a gecko and a snake, and then two snakes, etc than it is to take care of multiple dogs or cats, in my experience.
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Sep 6, 2019 14:59
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Electric Bugaloo posted:Tortoises get pretty drat chill with interaction and people argue that they bond with them.
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Sep 6, 2019 15:41
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dwarf74 posted:Yeah but make sure your kids are okay with inheriting your pet. If you start ‘em young (the kids, not the tort) and bond them properly then your kids should see the tortoise as an important fixture in their lives. Like a dependent nonverbal sibling that eats hay and loves bananas. There’s a really great ep of Judge John Hodgman from, like, exactly a year ago that involved a 35 year old woman and her relationship with her mom, and halfway through the episode it comes out that she has an older “sister” in the form of a 40 year old tortoise named Gretel and the whole thing is awesome and adorable. In other news, I got a small (big for him) bite from one of my Eastern Painteds yesterday morning (or maybe Wednesday? I honestly can’t remember) while I was debriding an injury on his foot and now it’s infected. It’s on the web between my thumb and forefinger and hurts like a motherfucker now that there’s a big pus blister next to the puncture where he broke skin (update- blister appears to have ruptured as I type this on my phone). Anyway, let this be a reminder that pets- but especially herps, and especially mostly-carnivorous/aquatic herps- have dirty little mouths full of nasty bacteria that can mess you up if you aren’t careful.
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Sep 6, 2019 16:29
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We have two adult leopard tortoises that were imported ages ago. Still kicking around and yes, they are in my will. Chip and Jamocha. Unknown full age, but we have had them at least 30 years.
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Sep 7, 2019 01:20
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Cless Alvein posted:All this talk about Carpet Pythons makes me wanna pick one up at Tinley Park in October. That or finally get off my rear end and do the paperwork required to be able to purchase a Western Hognose. What type do you think you will get? I have never been to Tinley but I think it is pretty carpet rich compared to some other big shows. If I had to start over with the variety of carpets that are avialble now, I would probably choose Darwins het for albino. I really can't say enough good things about jungles either, though. If I had the money, I would do roughies but they aren't really carpets.
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Sep 7, 2019 02:56
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Alright, you guys, thanks. I'm definitely not planning on starting a more time-consuming collection and tortoises are just too much of a long-term commitment; both of those are the kind of thing I was looking into reptiles to avoid. A single animal that won't take too much of my attention on a daily basis but that I can still have a healthy pet owner's relationship with is exactly what I want, so with that sentiment in mind:my cat is norris posted:You'll enjoy having a bearded dragon! Easy care, minimal maintenance, can learn minor tricks, and will appreciate interacting with you (even if the appreciation is limited to "hey you bring me food, you're cool").
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Sep 7, 2019 03:11
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Cardiovorax posted:Alright, you guys, thanks. I'm definitely not planning on starting a more time-consuming collection and tortoises are just too much of a long-term commitment; both of those are the kind of thing I was looking into reptiles to avoid. A single animal that won't take too much of my attention on a daily basis but that I can still have a healthy pet owner's relationship with is exactly what I want, so with that sentiment in mind: Anything north of an anole or a chameleon is gonna live at least a decade, often 20 years, and for some species 50+, and soooome species 80+. Most good snake species live 10-25 and beardies can hit 12.
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Sep 7, 2019 03:56
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So it's commitment on the level of guinea pig or your average dog and cat, which is perfectly fine and actually just what I had in mind. Sorry for being unclear, when I meant "long-term" I was talking about things like parrots (or tortoises) that live upwards of thirty years. That's just longer than I'm willing or able to currently plan for.
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Sep 7, 2019 04:03
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Cardiovorax posted:So it's commitment on the level of guinea pig or your average dog and cat, which is perfectly fine and actually just what I had in mind. Sorry for being unclear, when I meant "long-term" I was talking about things like parrots (or tortoises) that live upwards of thirty years. That's just longer than I'm willing or able to currently plan for. 👍👍
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Sep 7, 2019 04:07
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HungryMedusa posted:What type do you think you will get? I have never been to Tinley but I think it is pretty carpet rich compared to some other big shows. If I had to start over with the variety of carpets that are avialble now, I would probably choose Darwins het for albino. I really can't say enough good things about jungles either, though. Honestly I'm open to looking what's there since I know there will be a couple big carpet breeders there including StarPythons. Local indie pet shop actually has a Jaguar for sale bred by them, that I spent a good half hour playing with and contemplated getting. But with Tinley so close, it felt like a better bet to just wait and see. Odds are good they won't sell it before then, so I could just pick it up.
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Sep 21, 2019 00:31
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Jags can have neuro issues like spider balls. Be on the lookout for head wobble and /or weird flipping over behavior before you take the pet shop one home. StarPythons are good. East Coast Serpents makes some great animals - Jason Baylin has been around forever and knows what's up. Psychotic Exotics is also good and as a bonus you can say you got your snake from Slayer. Let me know of you don't find anything you like and want a mostly jungle part coastal baby.
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Sep 21, 2019 01:56
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Fairly sure Psychotic will be there too. Thanks for letting me about wobble! My spider has a bit of wobble, nothing too bad, but don't really want to support the breeding of Neuro damaged animals again.
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Sep 21, 2019 02:30
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First ball python pip of the season happened earlier this week for me. I took a peek in the egg (the hatchling was still inside) and saw it had gotten its umbilicus wrapped around its neck. Not good. Luckily not tight yet. I gently nudged it until it untangled itself. Problem solved! But then a few minutes later the little fucker decided it was ~time to leave the egg~ and came out dragging a huge, swollen yolk sac. The umbilicus was hopelessly twisted up by that point. All I could do was tie off the cord with a bit of thread and snip off the yolk sac. I wish I'd thought to weigh it, I bet it weighed as much or more than the hatchling. The poor thing seems healthy enough otherwise but it obviously missed out on a lot of yolk. Its siblings, who popped out 2 days later after fully absorbing their yolks, are so much more plump. 
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Sep 21, 2019 05:07
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My family are a bunch of allergy ridden problem children so we are thinking getting some sort of tortoise/box turtle. We have an enclosed sun porch where we can set up a secure habitat with a heat source for the mild California winter (perhaps a tortoise table? A pen?) as well as a decently fenced garden for enrichment activities and sunshine time I think we're hoping for something medium to large sized that isn't a terrible digger or unable to be picked up by a single adult (though both of us are pretty strong). A certain robustness would be appreciated since I would like to bequeath the beast to my children. I've kept herps of a smaller stature on and off my whole life, our 8 year old African fat tailed gecko (who was a generic reject who had to be hand fed) passed recently and we're trying to fill the void. Suggestions? My nearest full scope source is the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley CA which is an amazing store with a huge tortoise section.
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Sep 22, 2019 19:22
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East Bay Vivarium rules and is nationally recognized (for me mostly because I’m a John Hodgman fan) I’d look at cherry heads, redfoots, and Russian torts if I were you. Maybe also Hermans and Greeks. Whatever you get, do your homework and try to get captive bred. In 2019 with the internet and reptile shows and breeder YouTube channels and so forth there’s really no excuse to get a wild caught import if you can get an animal from a domestic breeder, unless you end up looking through rescues/rehomes/old torts with dead owners/etc, which you should totally do because torts live for ever, and maybe getting a baby is a bad idea when there are lots of lovely adults in need of homes. But please don’t get a recent import. Did I mention that torts live for loving ever? Make sure you have the habitat and diet/lifestyle stuff down pat before you get a tort, especially if it’s a young one. Tortoises are super hardy and they’re built to survive. Also they age about as fast as humans do, maybe slower. That makes them really forgiving pets in a lot of ways but it also means that they’ll endure years of improper/ignorant/abusive/poor care and not show signs of damage until years later. That’s especially true around matters of shell/skeletal growth and organ/reproductive development. You can keep a turtle in improper conditions and it’ll hang on for a good 15-20 years before croaking. You can think you’re doing everything right and miss out on something important (like calcium intake or UV balance) and not figure it out until you’ve accidentally hosed up your animal permanently. You can also start poorly for a year or two, get your act together and be an exemplary owner, and then still have your tortoise die young on you because of that first year or two where they didn’t develop properly. Turtles in general grow super slowly and poor foundational health early in life can set them up for major problems in adulthood. A friend I know recently lost a tortoise to metabolic issues that manifested in the animal in its teens/twenties because of malnutrition that it endured from a previous owner back in like 1991. All of that said, don’t let that dissuade you. Torts rule and they’re awesome pets for the right kinds of owners and a lot of them bounce back from rough pasts and live loooong full lives even with a bit of pyramiding, so def look at rescues/rehomes if you’re into that. Don’t get a sulcata.
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Sep 22, 2019 20:48
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My mom got leopard tortoises some 30 years ago, when they were all wild caught. We still have Chip and Jamocha and several of their kids, now pretty much adults. They all go in my will too.
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Sep 22, 2019 22:50
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Electric Bugaloo posted:East Bay Vivarium rules and is nationally recognized (for me mostly because I’m a John Hodgman fan) This is an awesome post, thank you so much. What did John Hodgman have to say about the vivarium? My family is me + husband + foster and adopted kiddos, so you can imagine that rescue animals are appealing to us. I have strong feelings about animal husbandry and wild caught herps - my parents had a poor tormented iguana for a good chunk of my childhood and I still feel guilty thinking about it. RIP Rex. Why are there so many sulcatas around? Are they super easy to breed or something?
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Sep 23, 2019 06:07
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Mocking Bird posted:This is an awesome post, thank you so much. What did John Hodgman have to say about the vivarium? Yes, and they get large, which means large clutches of eggs. The ones around me in AZ go for wholesale pricing overall because the market is flooded with them. And people rehome them after they destroy the backyard with digging.
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Sep 23, 2019 14:37
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Also, Sulcatas spend their first decade or so at a manageable size, but they grow a lot more dramatically and quickly than actually-small tortoises, so people get them for that reason without realizing just how unmanageable that becomes when the animal is 15. Like sulcatas get ‘big for most people’ when they’re half-grown, but that’s still doable and appealing for a lot of keepers.
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Sep 23, 2019 15:04
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