hypnotoad posted:

I (and most everybody else in this thread) use shredded aspen for snakes. I love it, it lets my snakes burrow, and I also think it smells good.

Greycious posted:

Took some more pictures of some of my critters yesterday/today that needed some update. And uploaded some other random ones I had.

Have to share this picture of my favorite girl garg:

Cookie just has such a great personality, eats good, and I love her short and wide bulldog-like head. She's also a good layer, and had roughly 8 offspring last year. Hoping for another successful season with her this year.

Greycious posted:

Took some more pictures of some of my critters yesterday/today that needed some update. And uploaded some other random ones I had.

Have to share this picture of my favorite girl garg:

Cookie just has such a great personality, eats good, and I love her short and wide bulldog-like head. She's also a good layer, and had roughly 8 offspring last year. Hoping for another successful season with her this year.

Scary Ned posted:

Is there any reason firebelly toads didn't make the easy beginner pet list?


They're hilarious, active, and like being kept in groups. Most pet stores seem to keep them terrestrial with a water dish, but they really like spending all their time in the water. In my opinion an aquatic setup is easier to clean, and makes a nicer display, too.


These are more cast-offs, they were given to me right before I started teaching a summer class for kids about animals. Some of the kids would spend the entire 45 minute class just staring at the frogs.


The kids could tell the three frogs apart. At feeding time I would throw a few dozen crickets in the tank, and the kids would each pick a frog to cheer for and count how many crickets it ate. It was like a tiny, bizarre gladiator match.

Bash Ironfist posted:

I didn't know they could smile

I love the coloration and texture of her skin, is it as pebbly to touch as it looks? That's a very nice photo, by the way.

Scary Ned posted:

Rescue herps need love too! Easy beginner species can be hardy enough to survive years of poor husbandry. This is Ramses von Niblick the Third Kerplunk, Kerplunk, Whoops, Where's My Thribble? at 7 years old, a day after starting intense rehydration therapy:


He had chunks of dead skin the size of peas under his eyelids, covering his eyes, and had been that way for a couple of years before I got him. It took a week to work them loose, and after a year and a half he is still totally blind.


It took him a while to learn to eat out of a bowl, and he gets lost in anything bigger than a ten gallon tank. He lost most of his toes to retained shed skin cutting off the circulation and can't climb, so his tank is pretty bare. He eats anything though, and he can feel people walking near his tank and comes running out to beg.

Cassiope posted:

Where did he come from? I know it happens all the time but it still boggles my mind when I see evidence that people keep animals in near-death conditions and think everything is fine

Malalol posted:

Wow I think I am in need of gecko slurry. I dont know if they are past that and in dying mode but, tails are pretty much skin and bones (they look like http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2514/3833652711_7892c334ea.jpg )

Buuutt.. those ingredients...ugh >_> Can I somehow get an alternative? Like another type of canned food that won't require a vet and I dont want to go out and buy thistle/acidophilis and just...use 2 pills. Or blend mealworms. : | Everything else looks easy enough to get...

Suggestions? The disclaimer also says to not use it for fattening up but.... looks like it works well..?

Captain Foxy posted:

I own seven Crested Geckos currently, and am beginning to develop breeding goals and stock for eventual gecko BYB'ing.

Cresteds are among the easiest reptiles to keep, and I would highly recommend them for all ranges of keepers, from novice to advanced, because though their care is minimal, they're brightly colored and easily handleable, so they make a no-fuss gorgeous display animal as well as a docile pet.

The best diet for them is the Repashy CGD (crested gecko diet) which you can order online, or you can pick up the T-Rex CGD from specialty pet stores. I supplement with dusted/gut-loaded crickets, dubia roaches or waxworms once or twice a week. Be careful to not dust your feeders with a supplement containing D3 calcium, as the Repashy already has a lot in it and you don't want to overload them!

For housing, I keep mine in 18x24 ZooMed cubes, or in 20L tanks that I turn vertical to give them more climbing space, as they are arboreal and need height versus width or depth. A 20g is sufficient for an adult for the lifespan, babies should be housed in smaller containers like sterilite bins or a 5g or 10g, to ensure they're feeding and pooping. Heating is best provided by a UTH on the back or sides of the tank, not the bottom. Cresties can tolerate drops to 50F, so if your house stays relatively warm you may not even need a heat source! As long as they have a gradient of 60-80F, they're fine, but above 80F is dangerous. It's debated as to whether or not they require UVB; being nocturnal, they probably do not need it, and most breeders/hobbyists don't keep them on UVB and have great, healthy animals, so it's probably not necessary. Just to be on the safe side, though, I periodically take them out in the sun for a few minutes to a half hour at a time. Even if it's cloudy, the exposure to UVB is better from natural sunlight than from a strip light.

Mist them once or twice a day, and offer a water dish for in between misting. If you have a live potted plant or planted viv, your geckos will appreciate the added humidity and natural surroundings. Good, non-killable plants include pothos, dwarf ficus, birds nest fern, etc. If getting your plants from Home Depot or Lowe's, etc, be sure to wash them thoroughly before planting or putting them in the enclosure. You can also use fake plants from Micheals or etc, but personally, I think a planted or potted viv is lovely to look at, and I think it's less stressful and more healthy for the geckos to be in surroundings that mimic their natural home. I often find mine asleep in their ferns, just like they're supposed to in the wild.

They will drop their tails if stressed, pulled too hard or dropped, and unlike other gecko species, the tail won't regenerate. Because most adult cresties in the wild lack tails, it's suspected that they actually evolved to drop their tails, so a tailless crestie is no less healthy than a regular one, though they are less desired and usually sell for less.

Morphs vary hugely in this species and are complex and difficult to regulate. Here, have a link to a guide:http://www.forums.repashy.com/tutorials/11066-crested-gecko-morph-guide.html

Some crappy iPhone pics of my collection (I'm focusing primarily on high contrast pinners and yellow phantoms or brindle):







And I'm expecting to pair my adult yellow gal with this handsome fella by the end of the month, for my first clutch!

nesbit37 posted:

Before you put animals together remember you are doing it because you want to, not because it is better for them. Make sure you do it right. they need a large amount of space and ample hiding spots.

The key for housing multiple cresteds is size of the animal and size of the tank. You can (not necessarily should) house multiple male or females together. The most important factor in preventing fighting is to monitor weight. The geckos should not be more than 1 or 2 grams apart in weight. If there is a disparity greater than this there will be bullying and you will have an unhappy and unhealthy gecko(s).

Shy Retirer posted:

Oh, poor things. Have you tried them on different kinds of food? Crickets or waxworms instead of mealworms? (waxworms shouldn't really be their main source of food, but if they're that skinny then it's worth trying, my gecko can't get enough of them!) Are you offering live food or canned food? My gecko isn't interested in anything that isn't moving. Is it warm enough in the tank? Are there ary signs of impaction?

If you've covered all these things, then slurry is the next thing to try. Surely it's worth the effort and cost to try and save their lives? Getting them to a vet would probably be a good idea too.

Scary Ned posted:

Are they actually eating the mealworms and crickets and still look like that? Or are they being offered food and refusing to eat? The slurry works well as an appetite stimulant and a way to get calories into an animal that is not eating at all. If you're low on funds I would skip the supplemental ingredients, I don't think the recipe I used even included acidophilus or thistle.

5er posted:

I live in the Portland, Oregon vicinity. This past weekend, there was a reptile expo in Wilsonville, one that happens on a semi-annual basis. I've been to a few of them (this time last year, I posted pictures in the previous herp thread of the normal and pastel ball pythons I picked up at one, I can post fresh pictures of them later), this past one was kind of lame. There was more stuff than reptiles available, and to my chagrin, not very many turtles. I was in the market to pick up a turtle, because my son was talking about how cool it would be to have a turtle. The show this past summer was just swamped with baby turtles of all sorts, in buckets and bins all over. This year, all I saw were the tiny assed loggerheads that spent most of their time in the water, maybe a handful of northeastern boxes that seemed like they may've been overpriced, and one young sulcata that was probably reasonably priced for its size but I still didn't want to pay about $250 for it.

If anyone can advise me of a good turtle breeder they know in my vicinity, I'd appreciate it if you could make me some recommendations. I'm not a fan of Petsmart or Petco, as they overcharge for unhealthy, heavily stressed herps any time I look in their store.

Malalol posted:

I don't actually know specifics because I dont take care of them. Ive seen one of them go for a tiny cricket some time ago, and I assumed they were eating a little bit because they are still alive. And there is poop. One did die in the past month. How long can they even go looking like that? I figure that this recipe (with some omissions/substitutes) better than nothing...)

her0n posted:

I use Aubiose which is very similar to Aspen. It's a Horse bedding and doesn't contain any ingredients that are harmful to snakes. Very cheap too, less than £10 for a GIANT bale

5er posted:

I live in the Portland, Oregon vicinity. This past weekend, there was a reptile expo in Wilsonville, one that happens on a semi-annual basis. I've been to a few of them (this time last year, I posted pictures in the previous herp thread of the normal and pastel ball pythons I picked up at one, I can post fresh pictures of them later), this past one was kind of lame. There was more stuff than reptiles available, and to my chagrin, not very many turtles. I was in the market to pick up a turtle, because my son was talking about how cool it would be to have a turtle. The show this past summer was just swamped with baby turtles of all sorts, in buckets and bins all over. This year, all I saw were the tiny assed loggerheads that spent most of their time in the water, maybe a handful of northeastern boxes that seemed like they may've been overpriced, and one young sulcata that was probably reasonably priced for its size but I still didn't want to pay about $250 for it.

If anyone can advise me of a good turtle breeder they know in my vicinity, I'd appreciate it if you could make me some recommendations. I'm not a fan of Petsmart or Petco, as they overcharge for unhealthy, heavily stressed herps any time I look in their store.

hyperhazard posted:

Apologies in advance if this is a stupid question...

When you use this bedding, do you transfer your snakes to a substrate-free tank when feeding them? I can't imagine ingesting any type of bedding is good for them, but if this doesn't have harmful ingredients, then it's probably better than aspen.

(I gave my sister my 10 gallon over x-mas, and am trying to decide whether or not to buy another separate feeding tank for my BP)

Pardalis posted:

Have you been to House of Reptiles in Tigard? They are one of the few shops that sells animals and does a great job of it. As a bonus, it is better than going to the zoo. They always have several species of turtles and torts available and they carry mostly all captive bred animals. They are priced as a retail store would be expected but you get what you pay for and most of their animals come from carefully sourced local hobbyists.

lwoodio posted:

Any wood is a harmful substance in a snake's belly. Also, feeding them outside of the cage is said to make them less likely to bite because they associated the cage with food. My snake goes into a paper grocery bag with chip clips at the top to eat. He has a habit of making huge watery poops immediately after he eats, so I just dump him back into the cage when he's done and throw the bag away each time.

lwoodio posted:

Any wood is a harmful substance in a snake's belly. Also, feeding them outside of the cage is said to make them less likely to bite because they associated the cage with food. My snake goes into a paper grocery bag with chip clips at the top to eat. He has a habit of making huge watery poops immediately after he eats, so I just dump him back into the cage when he's done and throw the bag away each time.

Big Centipede posted:

coconut coir

hyperhazard posted:

Thanks, I'll try that. He's a messy eater, so it'll probably help to be able to dispose of the entire mess at once, without cleaning another tank.

He's never struck at me so far, but he knows that when the microwave goes on, it's time for food.

_{(Heating the water for the rat, not the rat itself)}


edit: drat, varying opinions.

Big Centipede posted:

If feeding in the cage makes them associate the cage with food, wouldn't removing them to feed make them associate NOT being in the cage with food?

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Why are you microwaving the rat? I've always been told to avoid doing that since you can cook parts of it or get parts too hot or whatever.

hyperhazard posted:

_{(Heating the water for the rat, not the rat itself)}

hyperhazard posted:

spixxor posted:

I've always fed in cage and never noticed any cage aggression from any of my snakes, but then again I've had them all for years. My guys will occasionally go two or three weeks without really being handled beyond a bit of cleaning/water changes. My retic will get a little more alert around feeding day and also tends to bang around his cage as if to say "OK, I'm hungry here, feed me or no sleep for you" but that's about it.

It always seemed to me that, particularly for problem feeders, being pulled out and moved and fed and then moved again would be more stressful for the snake. Also seems like it'd be easier to get bitten handling a snake that's still in "feeding mode". I guess it depends on how quickly your animals calm down after eating, though. Riley would probably take a nip at me if I tried to handle him right after he ate, he stays in food mode for a good 24 hours after a rat.