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| Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 | 1:26 pm
[mokele]
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Rack recommendations?
So, normally I'm not a big fan of racks, simply because my herps are of too many wildly varying sizes and habitats to make them useful. However, I'm starting a long-term breeding project, and racks are definitely the most economical way to store large numbers of offspring. Problem is, which racks? What racks have you used, and which would you recommend? I'm looking into Boaphile, Animal Plastics, and Vision - is there anyone else? The critters are fairly generic colubrids, and the plan is to only keep a few past a year (due to the expense). I do need "plug n play" - nothing customized that take 2-3 months to get here, nothing I have to assemble myself beyond the minimum for shipping. Also, no wood or porous surfaces, since it's for a laboratory setting. Thanks! | | Thursday, May 17th, 2012 | 4:28 pm
[thashizzz]
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| | Monday, May 7th, 2012 | 1:13 pm
[nightmer]
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| | Sunday, May 6th, 2012 | 9:19 pm
[jesusatemeout]
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Gray-banded Kingsnake
This is my 4 year old Arizona Gray-Banded Kingsnake, Alara, enjoying a nice f/t mouse. ( On to the pictures! )Alara is my first snake and I've owned her for about 3 years now. She was originally purchased as a 1 1/2 year old at the Sacramento Reptile Expo. She's the best first snake I could have asked for! | | Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 | 12:25 pm
[littlegraytiger]
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Wanting to try this Frozen/Thawed Thing Again
Alright, here's the background: My snake Voodoo is a six year old healthy and captive-bred female ball python. She may need a deworming as its been about three years since she last saw a veterinarian, though I haven't noted any visible issues of any kind. I'm looking for a vet that will see reptiles in the Clemson/Central/Anderson/Greenville SC areas. She tends to eat large rats from spring through fall every 3-4 weeks and goes off feed during the winter. Unfortunately she has always eaten live and I have -never- succeeded in getting her to eat already dead food. I have zero intention of ever breeding Voodoo and she is adopted herself. She has never been kept with another snake and is the only snake I have(And probably will have for the next three years). She's extremely docile and head shy if approached from the top or front, but not from below or the sides. That's my fault from an experience where I had to remove aspen shavings from her mouth. Voodoo now lives on paper towels. Here's the trouble: I am moving to an area where I will have to travel 10 miles for live feeder rats. Now this isn't horrible and I can do it, but it is a pain to spend the money on gas AND overpriced feeders I can only buy one at a time. I would MUCH prefer to get Voodoo to eat frozen/thawed so I can buy 10-15 rats at a time and be set for the whole year. In addition it means when the snake doesn't eat I wouldn't have to drive back to the store for a return. The last time I tried the long and laborious process of attempting to switch was about two years ago and I eventually just gave up. I tried all kinds of tricks to no avail...chicken broth, freshly killed, stunned, brained, overnight in the cage, overnight in a separate container, chicken broth, gerbil scent... The only thing Voodoo ever took from me was stunned, heart-still-beating prey. I'd like to try switching her to already dead food again between the distance and the fact my husband-after-May would prefer not to deal with live food. What I'd like to do is start over as if I'd never tried before. Is there a particularly reputable and in-depth resource for this process? I'm looking for specific or in-depth information, like whether heating something in water vs a lamp is preferred or answers to things like if waiting out your snake's hunger can help or hurt the process. If anyone has written about switching to frozen/thawed as if it were a science, I need that resource. Has anyone here had luck switching a stubborn and older/grown animal over to f/t? | 7:41 am
[violet_foxx]
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A few macro shots of my herps. ( +3 )-- I was also thinking about using one of my extra 20g tanks for a pair of sandfish. Does anybody here have any? From what I've been reading so far, they seem pretty easy to take care of. | | Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 | 12:14 pm
[aetherdrifter]
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Update on Abraxas
For those of you that may have seen my last post, I just wanted to give a quick update. I noticed that the affected area was spreading -- a spot appeared on the back of his head, as well as on the side of his jaw -- so I had him inspected by a vet. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but suggested that it may be a fungal infection of sorts. I have two mild topical treatments to administer twice a day, and he also did a scraping which he's going to examine under a microscope. He seemed hopeful that, even if it was a fungus, it would may well clear up after his next shed. However, if it gets worse I'll probably want to have a biopsy done. So, still no answer, but I feel better now that I've gotten the opinion of a doctor and I'm at least doing something to control it. Keeping my fingers crossed for him to shed sooner rather than later. | 4:48 pm
[20th_centur_fox]
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Hey there, well, I got that agressive Boa Constrictor and I posted about it some time before... (heres the link http://herpers.livejournal.com/2215099.html) so i ended up changing it to a smaller and more colorful one...so this one time i was petting him and it bit me on my nose out of nowhere....without even hisking at me and this other time it bit my finger..it's small so , no harm done but i am always cautious now that it will strike again :( without a warning! it is my 3rd Boa Concstrictor, the second one was that Boa I changed cuz it was too agressive, but a few years back I had my first boa, and it lived for 2 yars before it died from unknown cause..so when he was alive, for 2 years he never ever bit me... so now having gotten an agressive boa that i had to change , and less agressive but biting out of nowhere boa - i dont think i can trust snakes anymore! and i loved them ever since I was little, i was always facinated and was never afraid to touch and pet them.. how can i now be sure my snake wont bite me in the eye or something...should i take him in hands more often? a few days ago i put him around my neck and kept there for an hour. i was tense not like i used to be...and its weird i think the snake can feel whether im afraid of him and strike... just like the dogs do... any suggestion as to how i can gain the trust again :) ? and one more question, when i get my hand into the terrarium to touch him he imidiately turns his head and uses his tongue very actively and starts moving towards my finger....and i take my hand away so he wont bite me... then i use a glove and do the same thing but he just touches it with the tongue - but i think if it was just my bare hand he'd still bite.. lol am i being paranoid..? why does he have to feel my hand that much :D | | Saturday, April 7th, 2012 | 9:27 pm
[nightmer]
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| | Sunday, April 1st, 2012 | 12:33 pm
[aetherdrifter]
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Blackened scales on snake...what is it? :(
I'm a little concerned about the younger of my two emerald tree boas, Abraxas. He has suddenly developed some black/dark grey scales on his head that were never there before. ( Pic )Any idea what it could be? He is acting 100% normal, eating fine, active at night, doesn't seem lethargic or sick in any way. His temps are right where they should be -- around 80 degrees on the hot side during the day, low-to-mid 70's at night. I mist him heavily in the morning so his tank fogs up, then let it dry out. By evening, it usually has only a bit of condensation, and by the next morning it's completely dry. This should be ideal for an emerald, based on everything I've read. I tried to Google the issue, and could find nothing. The area looks clean and dry, and the dark spot doesn't appear to be spreading. I plan on taking him to the vet, but I wanted to get some input from other herpers first. Current Mood:  worried | | Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 | 5:53 pm
[emirasan]
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Species interaction: cute story
My husband and I were recently out of state for a week and came back to discover a new and tiny turtle* had been added to the tank with Sheldon and Trojan. Both older turtles have taken up with little Sherman and do some of the cutest things I wish I could get photos of. Quite often I will look in and find Sherman sitting on top of either of the other two. This isn't unusual with Sheldon since they are both red ear sliders, but I would think it's a bit different with Trojan since she is a soft shell. I've also seen Sherman hide under Sheldon whenever someone comes in the room, and Sheldon seems intent on keeping him hidden, by maneuvering around to stay over him. I think it's awesome the two have taken to the little one so well since he (she) is so very tiny. Sherman is not much bigger than a quarter, but growing well. *We weren't home to tell my parents they needed to quarantine Sherman first. Red ears are super common around here too so taking them in at any size as pets is fully legal. (selling them isn't though) | | Monday, March 26th, 2012 | 10:37 am
[thothway] |
| | Sunday, March 18th, 2012 | 2:59 pm
[jillofthejungle]
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Found tortoise
While Downtown last night for St. Patty's activities, we came across a tortoise in the middle of the road. It was a pretty urban area, apartments/condos/businesses etc, so not really anywhere you'd expect a tortoise to be. We picked him up and brought him home; I've been checking craigslist and put an ad up stating what we found and where but don't have high hopes. Picks of the guy here: ( Read more... )He's cute and I like him well enough, just not sure if I'm ready for another reptile-pet. We have three dogs and one of them (the Dalmatian) is crafty enough to get into areas we don't want her and she does eat turtles. I turned him loose in the backyard for a bit and he went about as happy as could be eating our weeds. :) Obviously I'd rather find his owner and give him back, but if that doesn't work out, can I release him? We live in north-west Austin and have tons of wilderness area around our place and I can easily find a good spot (I think) to release him at. Keeping him is an option as well, but we (my boyfriend and I) haven't discussed that yet. I've set him up according to the info on http://www.russiantortoise.org/. Is there anything else I should be aware of for the time being? Thanks for any help! | | Sunday, March 11th, 2012 | 3:47 pm
[aetherdrifter]
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Colombian boa enclosure help
So, I recently adopted a Colombian red-tail boa (from Craigslist). For the moment, I still have her in the setup that she came in, which is a glass tank with a sliding screen lid. Since she's close to being due for a size upgrade, I hope to be able to build her a custom enclosure soon. Right now, though, I'm concerned about the humidity levels in her tank but am not sure what to do. Her previous owner had her on aspen bedding, which I ditched because it can't be kept moist (and thus seems like a poor choice for a tropical snake). I was considering switching her over to cypress mulch, since it's mold-resistant and retains humidity pretty well. However, I had an incident with a Brazilian rainbow boa getting mites from cypress (at least I'm 99% sure that's where the eggs came from) so I'm very wary of trying it again. Also, since she's already fairly large (~5'), she makes a pretty big mess when she poops...I'm worried that with wood shavings in general, it would be difficult to get ALL of the waste out every time I spot cleaned. I would have to be changing a third of the bedding every ten days to be on the safe side, which would get expensive. Another solution that occurred to me was coconut fiber, but it would present pretty much the same issue with cleaning. Right now, she's on newspaper as a temporary solution. It makes cleaning easy, but I know her humidity must be nowhere near high enough. I'm considering just putting linoleum on the bottom of the tank in lieu of bedding, and adding a piece of plexiglass to cover about 3/4 of the screen top. She has a very large water dish. What do you guys think? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Current Mood:  frustrated | | Saturday, March 10th, 2012 | 11:57 pm
[emirasan]
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Aquatic turtle behavior
I have two aquatic turtles, a red ear slider (probably male) and a spiny soft shell (probably female). They eat well, get along great and from all I can tell are healthy. The other day I witnessed them doing something that I'm not sure about. I have some suspicions, but I'd like some more opinions on the matter. Sheldon (the slider) was patting Trojan (the soft shell) on the sides of the head with his front feet. Trojan didn't seem the least bit bothered by this and in fact stuck her neck out as far as she could when Sheldon stopped. She had had her head out a normal distance before that. I'm guessing Sheldon is about juvenile age and Trojan will be in another year maybe. | | Monday, March 5th, 2012 | 6:44 pm
[ffutures]
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| 12:35 pm
[winks7985]
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| | Sunday, March 4th, 2012 | 9:21 pm
[neumeindil]
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Dammit.
We just got back from the Cleveland Reptile Show with a couple of new babies (and a new adult) to add to the collection. (I have the COOLEST anery FL Brooks King in my hoodie right now!) But, of course, there's a problem. See, one of the vendors had a pair of hatchling Texas Rat Snakes, a type that Chewtoy (my fiancee) has always had a thing for. So we looked them over and sexed them and decided, "Yeah, let's try it." While we noticed the female is in shed, and it's going badly, we didn't notice what else is wrong. And now we're left wondering what to do until we can get her to the vet, or if we'll even need one at all. I know there are a few readers here that work w/ herps in a medical capacity, so I was hoping someone could point us in the right direction re: what we're looking at on this snake. Cysts? Abscesses? Photos under the cut. ( Read more... ) | | Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 | 2:14 pm
[nakeddementia]
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anaconda in his new enclosure
My fiance and I completed the anaconda project last weekend. Honestly he did all the hard work, I only helped with a little bit of sanding, but design counts too- right? Without further adieu- behold, the finished project!  Now a beautiful animal lives in a beautiful house. Anaconda (who still has no name) is about 6 feet long. He has a 3 foot by 2 foot pool, a hidey box, a loft level with copper back wall, and lucite-pane front doors for a view. The front is all walnut. The wood has been sealed with the same natural oil that is used for butcher's blocks. Safe. Happy. Spacious. ( more & images ) | | Friday, February 24th, 2012 | 1:28 am
[20th_centur_fox]
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hehe...an enexpected bite
Hello again everyone! A while ago I posted an entry about my aggressive boa that I had just got and uploaded some pix as well...so now I changed that one to a smaller and as it seemed like a nicer snake. So i was petting it the other day, since it never hissing at me or anything and it felt friendly and everything....so i was showing it to my friend and it was going up my arm..then touched my nose and OUT OF NOWHERE, ridiculous as it sounds, it just struck me and BIT MY NOSE and let go of it in a sec...and carried on as if nothing had happened! Well, my friend and I both had a good laugh but then i'm kinda afraid of it, my very first boa had never done anything like that before, I was wondering, folks, if your pets have ever done something like that unpredictable... lol now I seem to have this trust issue with mine haha |
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