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Jesus, I hope your friend will be okay soon. Edit: Oh, new page! I set up my first dubia colony today. Hoping the little buggers grow and breed successfully so that I can stop shopping for insects from said PetSmart and other places.
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Nov 18, 2021 20:50
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my cat is norris posted:Jesus, I hope your friend will be okay soon. She just had her second surgery today lol. Basically replacing all the shattered bones with metal at this point. PetSmart is paying for ALL OF IT as they should be and she's up for a nice settlement. The pics are not mine to share but imagine a big toe that is flat like a pancake. Feels like not requiring steel-toed boots should have been a thing and after this they probably will be.
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Nov 18, 2021 21:05
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Yeah, gently caress, it's stupid to ask people to move such heavy items without requiring appropriate protective gear. At least she'll get a nice settlement out of it; it's the least that she deserves, and the least that the company should have to pay out given the nature of the accident and how it could have been prevented. Poor girl. Poor toe. 
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Nov 18, 2021 21:46
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Hi everyone, I need some help. I've been pushed into lizard ownership. I ordered some Spanish Moss from Florida. Took a week to get here from Florida to Michigan. While unraveling the moss I found what looks like a brown anole. I thought he was dead, but he moved when I tried to take him off the moss. I stuck him in a crisper drawer from my old fridge, tossed in some moss, a cap of water and set it under the light hanging over my fish tank. There's no pet stores within range for me, so I ordered some food and an actual container for him. Meanwhile what can I do for food? 
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Nov 20, 2021 22:21
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SocketWrench posted:Hi everyone, I need some help. I've been pushed into lizard ownership. You’re gonna want to get some live feeders. He seems like a small guy, so whatever the smallest mealworms/etc your local chain pet store has on hand. Crickets and roaches and wingless drosophila are gonna be a pain, I wouldn’t even try with them.
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Nov 20, 2021 23:15
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https://twitter.com/TheGr8Aspie/status/1482923251760340995 This dude is lucky she had her fill for the night.
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Jan 17, 2022 05:19
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my cat is norris posted:Haha yay, that's great news! what heat do you use for them? i use two small heat emiter bulbs because i dont trust most bottom tank heat stuff and they don't seem to mind but i am curious.
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Jan 23, 2022 23:59
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I was using undertank and also a ceramic emitter for the night time. Unfortunately, Sand Baby passed away for reasons unknown. Maybe I had the temps wrong or maybe she had an issue I couldn't see? Fragile little lives.
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Jan 24, 2022 05:05
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my cat is norris posted:I was using undertank and also a ceramic emitter for the night time. Unfortunately, Sand Baby passed away for reasons unknown. Maybe I had the temps wrong or maybe she had an issue I couldn't see? aww, sorry. yeah thats why i always use over tank heat emiters so they can have hot spots without burns. meanwhile mine is doing ok though she is weird about feeding sometimes. i always have issues with cresties. 1. just died because i was an idiot. 2 died because it ate dirt after i helped heal it from other problems, 3. died of idk. meanwhile my skink has been doing great in a 50 gallon or so and i have 4 thriving frogs and 2 thriving leos.
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Jan 24, 2022 15:58
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Sorry to hear about your crestie woes, what a tragedy. https://twitter.com/localghost666/status/1484944197824094211?t=fYHelhAsHq1davlue0udDw&s=09
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Jan 24, 2022 16:14
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my cat is norris posted:Sorry to hear about your crestie woes, what a tragedy. yeah. i always feel bad for my skink. id love to get here a 75 gallon and ad more stuff but right now its mostly those wood chips they reccomend, a variety of hides that are switched out and "heat rock" aka giant over turned water bowl that she lives under/basks on/shits on. and a water dish she doesnt drink from. she is like 3 now.
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Jan 24, 2022 16:43
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It sucks losing a reptile, because while dogs and cats will hide signs of illness, they're usually a lot easier to read than a snake or a lizard. I can think of at least two snakes that have died on me in the past decade where there were absolutely no warning signs, they were both just dead when I went to check on their cage that morning. That skink picture reminds me of a foster cat we had named Lumie. For some reason our other cats who get along with the fosters fine usually, all decided unanimously that they hated her. But it took us a few days to notice that they were keeping her away from the litter boxes, and the food. We tried to keep her in one room which didn't work for her, we tried to feed her all kinds of different foods away from the rest of them but she wouldn't take anything. All of that changed one afternoon when she saw my lunch bag. I had Burger King spicy nuggets and had a few left over, and I remember watching her pull open my lunch bag, very very slowly pull out the little paper wrapper, and then pull out a chicken nugget to eat. For a while she would only eat spicy chicken nuggets from Burger king, and I distinctly remember having to go one morning to buy a bag just for her. It still broke my heart when she found her forever home, but we did tell her new family exactly what had happened, and that they might want to have some on hand for the transition. They listen to us, and actually had a few bags of the spicy nuggets because when they did take her home, she wasn't too sure about the new place but quickly settled in when she was offered her favorite food. Last I heard she's no longer eating them because she definitely prefers cat food to whatever's in that stuff.
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Jan 24, 2022 23:35
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Bilirubin posted:Thanks! I love the look of the carpet but have noticed him hooking his claws in it from time to time. I'll take a look at some slate options and that contractor's paper because paper towel just doesn't do it. I'm also trolling through photos on reddit for inspiration. Its weird how polarized opinions are on the use of reptisand. Update: he is now ensconced in his new 20 ga long tank of luxury and seems pretty chill with it. Today I got natural slate tile cut to fit and will install that tomorrow. Looks great and I will use the trimmings for extra features for him to climb over. I assume the thermostat sensor is applied directly to the tile above the heat pad? Now we will have some fun with properly pimping his crib out.
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Feb 1, 2022 05:47
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Bilirubin posted:Update: he is now ensconced in his new 20 ga long tank of luxury and seems pretty chill with it. Today I got natural slate tile cut to fit and will install that tomorrow. Looks great and I will use the trimmings for extra features for him to climb over. I assume the thermostat sensor is applied directly to the tile above the heat pad? if that’s going to directly control the temp of his basking spot, then yes. Just remember that basking spot temp =/= ambient enclosure temp. Also it’s good to have thermometers in various places (bask, hot hide, cool hide, shade, etc) if you can. It’s nice to be able to see at a glance what the range of temps in the enclosure is like.
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Feb 1, 2022 06:04
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Ok Comboomer posted:if that’s going to directly control the temp of his basking spot, then yes. Just remember that basking spot temp =/= ambient enclosure temp. I have an ir handheld thermometer for that, works wonders
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Feb 1, 2022 06:51
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So my elderly Egyptian uromastix died 6 years ago and since then my local bulb place shut down so UK goons where are we buying them now and what brand? Setting up a table for a tortoise, taken me 6 years to find a actual honest to god breeder in this country who will let me go check out his set up in home then come home with my pick.
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Feb 3, 2022 23:03
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If you are interested I can try find the details of the breeder in Germany who sold my friend his cb uromastyx ornata. Judging how successful he breeds them, I would say he knows his stuff too. He knows how to handle all the paperwork for cross border trading of protected species (He did Germany -> Switzerland) for my friend. Not sure how picking one up would work for you tough, since the UK is a bit further.
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Feb 4, 2022 09:31
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Thanks  but I don’t think I could have another as it would always be “the replacement”What happened there is 15 years ago I was bemoaning the lack of herbivores in the pub and a week later a friend who worked at Manchester airport showed up with the uromastix in a box with the paperwork and went here take this. He was already elderly and had accidentally snuck himself in on a flight from Egypt. Basically a cat, would sit sunning himself and fall asleep then topple sideways off his wood. He’s lay there still on his side like “this was a plan” and then the moment you left the room scuttle back on his wood.
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Feb 4, 2022 09:50
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learnincurve posted:Thanks That’s an interesting perspective, albeit not one that I really share as an animal keeper. Reptiles and birds and some fish might be the outliers in this regard but most of the animals we keep as pets, particularly mammalian ones that are arguably the most capable of emotionally bonding with their humans in complex ways, don’t live all that long. Like it would be really difficult for me to have a dog or cat for 15 years, lose it to old age, and then just grieve it for the rest of my life without getting another within the span of a few years
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Feb 4, 2022 10:16
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I get different breeds and types when my animals die, it's more that there is such a wide range of birds/dogs/herp out there, and I've never been a breeder or specialist in one single type, so you get the fun of learning all over again. Like my uro liked a dry vivarium, the tortoise will have a table and likes the damp which is a whole new thing for me.
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Feb 4, 2022 10:28
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learnincurve posted:I get different breeds and types when my animals die, it's more that there is such a wide range of birds/dogs/herp out there, and I've never been a breeder or specialist in one single type, so you get the fun of learning all over again. Like my uro liked a dry vivarium, the tortoise will have a table and likes the damp which is a whole new thing for me. wtf? you mean you keep a reasonably small number of animals at a time instead of building out a menagerie, thus providing your pets with a much higher standard of care and resources than they would get if you had a gorillion of them? wtf???? Next you’re gonna tell me that you have no desire to start a YouTube channel. Also what kind of tort is it? Even “damp loving” torts will want a humidity gradient and access to dry air. Chelonians are very susceptible to respiratory and fungal infections as a result of uncontrolled moisture.
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Feb 4, 2022 10:50
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This is what I'm going to be talking to old man breeder about, he's got a couple of different kinds and we'll go through pros and cons - setting up a table for "tortoise" and then we'll adapt from there. e; getting solid information out of northern old men breeders of any animal is fairly pointless till they see you have the cash in your hands, and then if by magic the infomation flows. learnincurve fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Feb 4, 2022 |
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Feb 4, 2022 11:05
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learnincurve posted:This is what I'm going to be talking to old man breeder about, he's got a couple of different kinds and we'll go through pros and cons - setting up a table for "tortoise" and then we'll adapt from there. Chelonians are tough animals to really do husbandry well for. They live forever, they’re tough as nails, they don’t vocalize (for the most part) and they will hide when they feel bad, and they often mature about as quickly as humans do—meaning that you can keep a turtle or tortoise very badly for years and years before you start to really see the effects (and by that point it’s too late). It’s very easy to keep a turtle alive and even get them ready to breed in the wrong kind of enclosure, eating the wrong foods, with the wrong light or supplementation for 10-20 years before you notice them going downhill or displaying poor, irregular, or stunted growth. Because turtles live so long and grow so slowly, the knowledge base of the hobby has likewise grown and changed substantially in the ~50 years that contemporary herp keeping has really been a mainstream thing. As a result, a lot of the established wisdom from old guys in the hobby, even guys who have been doing this for 30, 40 years, can be incomplete, outdated, apocryphal, or flat out wrong. I have a book from the early 90s/late 80s written by a professional turtle breeder and expert that recommended things like electric heat rocks and feeding dog food (depending on which dog food it is and what’s in it, this may not be a bad thing as a treat or even regular meal component but this dude was like “feed them the cheapest canned dog food the store’s got”) and tons of other outdated advice. Another good example is egg laying/egg binding in (mainly aquatic species) adult females, which is still a very new and somewhat controversial topic in the hobby. The TLDR is that it’s not entirely uncommon for somebody’s 15-40 year old female turtle “who was super healthy and happy and doing great for years and years” to become distressed before dropping dead for mysterious reasons. Turns out that in many cases it’s because the turtle started ovulating and her digging/nesting instinct kicked in (meaning that she won’t release the eggs unless she can haul out onto dirt and dig a proper nest hole for them). When no suitable dig site is provided (ie, 99.99% of captive turtle enclosures) in time, the turtle becomes egg bound and dies a painful death. Given the relative age and evolution of the hobby, that means that there were turtles that had been hatched in like the 1970s and 1980s (ie the Old School Days) displaying these issues for the first time years into the development of the contemporary scene. TLDR- old breeder guys know their poo poo (as they should), but don’t blindly take their advice as gospel. Always get second, third, fourth opinions on things that sound iffy or weird to you. Also worth pointing out that many breeders keep their animals in enclosures that prioritize keeping/producing many of them, easy cleaning, etc—which is to say “generally more small and bare than you would ever want to do at home”. Just because your retic breeder keeps his livestock in rack units doesn’t necessarily mean that you should, etc.
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Feb 4, 2022 16:38
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solid advice thank you I will never not make an involuntary scream at the mention of heat rocks and the first enclosure will be plywood with a separated bedding area and I got enough tortoise soil so it can bury and hide. I'm going to get a custom table built so how high would you suggest the sides be?
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Feb 4, 2022 21:04
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learnincurve posted:solid advice thank you as high as necessary that’s something the breeder will be able to tell you some torts can climb
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Feb 4, 2022 21:12
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learnincurve posted:solid advice thank you I don't have a lot of experience with turtles or torties but imho the higher the better. 18-24"? minimum, they look slow and placid but they can and will rearrange stuff to get over the walls. A 8" tortoise will just see a 12-16" wall as an obstacle it wants to find a way past to see if life is better on the outside. Longer and deeper are more important. The bigger the footprint of the table the better.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:16
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Ok Comboomer posted:as high as necessary THIS yes lol
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Feb 4, 2022 21:17
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I have had African leopard tortoises for about 30 years. And there is so much poo poo I don't know. But there is a reason the ponywall that divides our backyard is four feet tall: they can and will climb or smash into anything they want to. Anyone else's snakes decide that they want to peek out for food, maybe even actively look, and then decide nah, back to bed, when offered? I know ball pythons are picky but damnit guys, you act hungry, eat!
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Feb 4, 2022 21:18
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Cowslips Warren posted:I have had African leopard tortoises for about 30 years. And there is so much poo poo I don't know. But there is a reason the ponywall that divides our backyard is four feet tall: they can and will climb or smash into anything they want to. I had Eastern Box Turtles years ago, and like, that fence you sunk 18" deep? lololol they will dig under it overnight or they will just find some way over it? They seem slow and placid but they are persistent. These are not animals you can say NO to or hope to keep in line. Tiny little bulldozers. Part of the charm but get ready to pull it out from under your bed someday.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:29
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This tortoise is 100% going to end up being given my (adult) son's room when he leaves home, I can see it now. Even the place where the sand pit would fit.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:37
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learnincurve posted:This tortoise is 100% going to end up being given my (adult) son's room when he leaves home, I can see it now. Even the place where the sand pit would fit. Drywall and plaster will not stop them in the slightest.
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Feb 4, 2022 21:41
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so what you are saying is that I need to construct some sort of metal escape room?
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Feb 4, 2022 23:14
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Desert Bus posted:I had Eastern Box Turtles years ago, and like, that fence you sunk 18" deep? lololol they will dig under it overnight or they will just find some way over it? They seem slow and placid but they are persistent. These are not animals you can say NO to or hope to keep in line. Tiny little bulldozers. Part of the charm but get ready to pull it out from under your bed someday. Box turtles dig. Sulcatas dig. So far my leopards only dig for egg laying. Our largest female Portal will slam against the side of the house, but she hasn't figured out how to climb cinderblock walls. Speaking of, their outside hut is heated, but I am wondering if I can reuse a large metal shed for a secondary outside hut. Think an oversized doghouse. The shed has no floor but it's metal; I'd set up heating lamps but would we need insulation or something else to keep it warmer? Their current hut is wood but about half filled with straw.
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Feb 4, 2022 23:59
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Cowslips Warren posted:Box turtles dig. Sulcatas dig. insulation is good, especially if it’s going to be heated. Even if they don’t dig, you’ll want to keep them from forcing themselves between the bottom of the structure and the ground, of course. But otherwise yeah, go for it.
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Feb 5, 2022 01:57
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Cowslips Warren posted:Box turtles dig. Sulcatas dig. Climb the wall? Nah? Just gonna bash through it, even if it takes decades. I'd be worried about them eating any foam/whatever insulation though? Maybe frame the inside with wood and fill the gap with hay or something not foam/fiberglass that isn't bad for them? At least give it a wood floor to keep it from being bare ground underneath. Edit: even if they burrow under the floor it's still a lot better than no floor? Maybe I'm crazy I dunno. Desert Bus fucked around with this message at 05:57 on Feb 5, 2022 |
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Feb 5, 2022 05:54
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Desert Bus posted:Climb the wall? Nah? Just gonna bash through it, even if it takes decades. Your best bet is to pour concrete I don’t think they’re dumb enough to eat insulation. I wouldn’t use soft or blown insulation obvi. Hay doesn’t sound like a great option- anything that didn’t get eaten would rot, and anything that’s treated so it doesn’t rot is probably something you don’t near your pets. Kenan Harkin’s turtle houses/boxes seem to be insulated with foam board insulation and it seems to work well.
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Feb 5, 2022 06:34
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Well I'm not getting chickens. Spoke to original breeder about types and my potential set up, he then went to speak to a friend and it has been decided that I can be trusted with a leopard and they are going to give me a young one. I had the space cleared and permission for this big chicken run with greenhouse, so that's now going to be an outside tortoise enclosure with electrics layed on for the summer day time while it over winters in the house (I know they don't hibernate). Be on a small table while young but what I'm going to do is get a whelping pen and convert it into a tortoise enclosure right in the middle of the living room because I'm 42 years old and this is my house and I can. I know it's not a beginners pet by any means, it's that the stuff I was prepared to do, anyway is suited to a leopard.
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Feb 5, 2022 18:12
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Update: been running the baby room for two days and I got the temps and humidity under control (and adjustable at night time), got some slate coming tomorrow for that food area and I got fresh grass to put in a pot in the corner. Picture taken just before lights out so humidity higher than day.
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Feb 9, 2022 22:05
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I haven't given an update on Otachi in a long time! She's doing great, we want to move her to a bigger aquarium soon, about twice the size.    Someone not here had noted that her gills are forward, but they've been that way nearly her entire life. Is it something to worry about, or is this just how her gills are? She hasn't seemed stressed outside of moving her to clean the tank. Edit: Her temps and parameters have been really consistent, I just realized that I won't really know if she's super stressed and that's something that sorta worries me.
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Feb 14, 2022 07:31
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My axolotl's gills have always been a bit forward in a similar way. If the temps and levels are fine I wouldn't worry unless you see a change. What a cutie!
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Feb 14, 2022 22:48
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