DU Reptile Pet Owners- Check In!

[slj0101]

Show pics if you got them. Tell stories if you'd like.

Here's Hurley (aka "The Dude"), my little red-eared slider. These were taken with the camera phone just now:



I got him about 5 months ago. He's a trip. Much more fun than I ever expected. He recognizes me when I come near the tank, and starts frantically swimming, hoping for some chow. Watching him catch some "sun" is funny, too. He does yoga stretches with his legs when he's sitting on his Turtle Dock.

I did my research before getting him, so I knew that keeping a turtle was going to be a lot of work. It's been worth it. He's a cool dude. :)

[dropkickpa]

1. I love turtles and lizards and snakes

But my house is so drafty and radiator heated, I would be fighting a massive battle to try and keep them alive, so I just have to admire from afar.

[slj0101]

4. I would think that with adequate light and a heater,

you should be fine, as long as you get the right type for the terrarium/tank. :thumbsup:

My place is pretty drafty, but his tank stays in the 80's.

[dropkickpa]

8. I'm too much of a scaredy cat to risk it and tempt fate

I would love to have a Mountain Horned Dragon, but space (and cost) don't permit it right now either. But they are so awesome!

[XemaSab]

2. Jasper. He's a rat snake. I've had him for 4 years or so.

:P

[slj0101]

5. Sweet! Any pics?

[XemaSab]

7. nope.

sorry. :(

[Kali]

3. not currently, but the last "guest" was a Western box Turtle and

before that a Gila Monster. Just kept for a short time and then returned to the "wild".

[scarlet_owl]

6. We have a bearded dragon named Tinkerbell.

I don't have any pictures of him, though.

[crispini]

9. All of my reptile pets live in the yard.

I enjoy meeting up with skinks, grass snakes, and toads as I work in the garden.

This guy was spotted outside in high summer and let me take his pic. Quite a big skink!

[InvisibleTouch]

10. Too many stories to tell, but...

...I've kept snakes since the age of 8. Also other reptile and amphibian species over the years, but snakes are my passion. Expecting tricolor and albino Nelson's milk snake hatchlings this year (yay!!) - erm, if the parents choose to cooperate, of course.

And you guys thought I only had dogs. ;)

[Jamastiene]

11. Awwww, I love reptiles.

My aunt would never let me have one here, but I have always loved snakes, turtles, toads (I know they are technically amphibians, but still), lizards, and all those little creatures like that. Please keep the pictures coming, people. I love this thread, so far. I still want a pet iguana or a pet snake one day, just not a snake like a python that will grow to be so big. I prefer small snakes that stay small ( 3 feet or less) after growing up. Any information anyone has or a recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Ball pythons are small (about 4') and very friendly.

I used to have one.

[Jamastiene]

13. Do they stay small for sure?

I hear these horror stories of how people got a pet snake and it grew to be too large to handle. I want one I can for sure trust around my cats. Thanks, H. I love talking about them. Who knows? I may just get to keep one as a pet in my jungle room I plan on building one day.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. They stay small for sure.

And they're not aggressive. They get their name because they curl up into a ball when they feel threatened. They're one of the smallest of the pythons.

[InvisibleTouch]

14. A snake is the ideal pet...

...and a much better choice than an iguana, for most people. Iguanas actually are pretty difficult and delicate - they need ultraviolet light and a specialized diet that gets the calcium/phosphorus ratio just right, otherwise they're subject to metabolic bone disease. While they can be very personable, some can be nasty-tempered (I've had one of each). You have to prepare fresh vegetable food for them daily. They really are quite a bit of work.

A snake, on the other hand, is easy. They don't need UV light, they don't need too much fuss about their diet if you get a medium-sized rodent eater, and all they really want is a nice hidebox and a source of warmth. Feed once or twice a week to once a month, depending on age and species. Many of them will get tame and personable also.

I'm a little wary of ball pythons because they sometimes don't eat well (but maybe that's been bred out of captive-hatched generations by now). I love Burmese pythons - good eaters, and friendly if you get them as babies - but they get bigger than a lot of people want to deal with. My advice would be a mid-sized colubrid like a rat snake or milk snake. (I'm not big on king snakes either, because I find most of them skittish.) You'll want to look for a species that's hardy, easy to keep and feed, friendly, sized according to your available space, and that you find visually appealing. There are a lot of species that will fit those requirements if you just do a little reading and digging on the web.

Have fun! :)

[Jamastiene]

18. Thank you for the heads up about iguanas.

I would hate to spend all that time and energy on setting up for one only to have my heart broken because I missed something so important to my baby's health. I'm a nut for my pets when it comes to making them as healthy and as comfortable as possible. I will look up more info on the rat snakes and milk snakes.

I know a person is not supposed to take wild snakes as pets, but I have to admit I was tempted. Where I used to live, there were worm snakes in the yard. I was outside one day cleaning my cat's water dishes in their big playpen I had built for them and one of the worm snakes must have gotten too much water in his burrow. He wiggled out right between my big toe and my second toe. I was barefooted at the time. I stood there and watched him wondering if I was going to get a nip on the way out. At the time, I didn't know what kind of snake it was. I looked all over the place until finally I found out. I started watching them and once even found a bed where a bunch of them were mating, I think. They were certainly all hooked to each other's tails in my little garden. There must have been a dozen "couples" there. I quit gardening there when I saw that. I even thought about trying to videotape them when the babies came out later to learn about life above ground, but I found out they were a threatened species(protected). After I found that out, I tried to leave any areas where they were alone so they could try to survive in peace. My neighbors and my family would have freaked if I had told them they were out there, but I kept the worm snakes' secret. They would have killed them all if I had told, so I didn't ever tell.

[InvisibleTouch]

19. How very cool! :)

You're lucky, because worm snakes are so secretive that not many people get to see them.

They'd qualify as a difficult pet, though, because they're a lot more problematic to feed than a species that will eat rodents. Most snakes will learn to eat frozen/thawed rodents, too, so you don't even have to buy live. There are suppliers online (I use RodentPro.com) who will ship frozen rodents if you can't find a local source. See what I mean about snakes being easy? :)

[Qanisqineq]

15. I have a red-eared slider

Had her since either 1992 or 1993. She's a monster. Her name is Tuesday ('cuz I got her on a Tuesday and couldn't think of a good turtle name).

[slj0101]

20. What a beauty.

15 years? Nice! I know they can live something like 25-50 years in captivity, so I may have to put Hurley in the will. ;)

[Qanisqineq]

23. Thanks

She has a mind of her own and is quite stubborn. Unfortunately every winter she goes through a stage where she will not eat anything for weeks. I am hoping she comes out of that soon. Then in the summers she can't eat enough!

[Jamastiene]

16. Kicking for more cool pictures.

Any more reptile pictures out there? I love the ones that have been posted so far.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. Mine...

The Leopard Geckos:






The Bearded Dragons:

[RebelOne]

22. I at one time owned two boa constrictors.

I had to finally give them to Miami Dade College Environmental Center. They were getting too big and rats and mice were just not enough for them anymore. No way was I going to feed them rabbits.

[Call Me Wesley]

24. Some years ago, my ball python and I:

[ET Awful]

25. My gf's iguana, Angelo