Enough of the cute & fuzzy: the Reptile & AmphibianThread

[blindpig]

Any herptofiles out there? Enthralled by the beauty and mystery of serpents? Awed by the magesterial bearing of the testudines? Got a thing for frogs? Put your cards on the table!

[Rainbowreflect]

1. I love snakes. My brother has over 25 snakes as well as

numerous lizards. My husband does not like snakes, otherwise I would have them.

[radwriter0555]

2. BOOMER. My 30 lb african desert tortoise. He comes when he's called...

eats 2 - 3 heads of romaine per day, along with an apple, papaya and an ear of corn -- if he can get it away from the dogs...

Boomer is large and amusing. He poops a lot too. And watch your toes. He thinks they make great taste treats.

[mmm]

5. Can you hand feed him? Can you pick him up for a big hug?

I've had hands-on interaction with many a wild animal, never a tortoise. Boomer sounds like a very good boy.

[radwriter0555]

12. Oh YES. He's completely domestic, comes in the house, hangs out

with us when we're outside. We can indeed pick him up for a hug, but since he's more like a ROCK, we rub and thump his shell more than anything.

He also gets a bath every few weeks, and to do that, we load him on a skateboard to get him through the house to the tub... see, he doesn't drink water and needs to soak to get re-hydrated.

But WATCH YOUR TOES!

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. Somehow...he sounds kind of cute.

As long as he's at your house. :hi:

[radwriter0555]

29. Oh he's ADORABLE!!!! I woulda never thunk that a giant tortoise would have

so much personality...

And he's just SUCH a novelty, to have this prehistoric type critter cruising the yard, trying to break down the guesthouse door.

He has his own condo. I bought one of those doghouse igloos for him to sleep in. He needs heat as much as possible, so he has a heater in his condo. It's just an ultra-violet light, but it keeps him warm n toasty.

A tortoise' method of pooping is perhaps one of the strangest events I've ever witnessed. We all saw it one day and have remained permanently scarred.

[blindpig]

32. what does he do that's so strange?

I've kept a bunch of tortoises and nothing has caught my attention...
Although I've been the target of numerous projectile defecations by various beast that I've picked up.........

[radwriter0555]

34. His method of pooping is freaky. Biologically freaky. This alien-like tube

thingy slides out from his behind between the upper and lower plates, and the poop slides out from it.
Now, biologically it makes SENSE since his poop can't come from an unprotected orafice being that he has no defenses other than his shell.

So to see this alien life form-like thing slip out and leave a load of poop is REALLY REALLY STRANGE.

It's freaky. I hope to not witness it again any time soon...

[blindpig]

35. I think what you're seeing...

is his penis. Does the feces come out of the "tube"? If not, I nailed it, if so it must be his anus prolasping as he craps. Is he able to get it in ok? If not apply some vasoline and contact your vet!
First time I saw a turtle johnson it freaked me out too!

[Tripper11]

3. I am not a snake fan, but....

we have a little northern alligator lizard...indiginous of the Pacific Northwest (who knew?)..named Lizzie our kids found him at our front door and wanted to give him a home. Now he has a Frog (Spotty) roommate and 2 Hermit craps sharing his enviroment..they all seem to enjoy it.

[Gato Moteado]

4. hermit craps

:D

[Tripper11]

9. Yeah...they are actually pretty cool...

one guy when we take them out for a romp goes like crazy...the cats get a kick out of them. They have beautifully painted shells and we continue to buy bigger and bigger as they grow.

[mmm]

6. the large snakes I have worked with

have had the brain of a snail and absolutely no sense of
affection or loyalty whatever. They will eat you if you let them.
Terrible terrible pets.

[blindpig]

14. I've got dogs for buddies

I consider my herps specimens, though I am attached to some of the old timers.

[Edge]

7. Hermit crabs own.

:thumbsup:

[Gato Moteado]

8. i lived close to everglades national park for several years....

....and was a captive breeder of a myriad of colubrids, mainly in the genuses elaphe and lampropeltus. my favorites are the 29, or so, subspecies of Lampropeltus triangulum...in particular L.t.hondurensis, L.t.campbelli, L.t.gageii, L.t.caelenops. i also really liked some of the Lampropeltus getulus...in particular L.g.brooksi and L.g.goini.

iguanids are also a favorite of mine. i've kept Ctenosaurus similis and Ctenosaurus pectinata as well as the commonly seen Iguana iguana. another species i had a lot of success breeding in captivity was Basiliscus plumifrons, a lizard known in latin america as the jesus christ lizard because it can run upright across the top of water.

and, of course, living in south florida i was exposed to all sorts of crocodillians, both native and exotic. that's the thing about miami...any animals that escape from the pet trade end up naturalizing there because the climate is perfect. you wouldn't believe the stuff i saw near miami international airport in the areas around some of the animal import warehouses. hell, i didn't believe half the stuff i saw.

[RebelOne]

10. I lived in Miami most of my life.

I have a funny story involving an alligator. My brother was driving down the road which ran along a canal in Miami Springs. Suddenly, there was this alligator in the middle of the street. Well, he loaded the thing into the trunk of the car and drove to the police station, went in and said, "I have something for you." The police in Miami Springs were not his biggest fans.

[blindpig]

13. bred plumifrons, good work!

years ago my pards had a group, gave them up as too flighty. I'm currentlt breeding brooksi but you can't hardly give away the babies. Also bred gulf coast box turtles, flat musk(grandfathered), texas maps and jungle carpet pythons last year.
I've been wanting to do an exotic hunt in south florida for years, good way to beef up the old life list!

[Gato Moteado]

17. i knew if i was cryptic enough.....

...and spoke in binomial nomenclature then some other zoologists would come slithering out of the woodwork.

sounds like you're having fun with some interesting species.

i sold my entire collection in 1997 and it helped me put together a down payment for my house. haven't dabbled in herpetoculture since.

[RebelOne]

11. I love snakes.

At one time, when I lived in South Florida, I had 2 boa constrictors. They are great pets. They don't bark, bite or mess on the carpet. But I got rid of them when they got to big to eat mice and rats anymore. There was no way I was going to feed them rabbits.

[Lizz612]

15. I love turtles and frogs

My sister has a red eared slider at home named Mr. Twinklestar, shortened to Mr. T. And I'm thinking of getting a frog for my dorm room. Any recommendations?

[blindpig]

16. recommendations

get an animal that will suit the habitat that you can provide and your lifestyle. I'll assume a 10 ga aquarium would be the caging. For low maintainence a horned frog, often known in the pet trade as the pacman frog is good. They are pretty but not very active, eat crickets and mice. Treefrogs are very nice, you can set them up in an attractive terrarium and watch their activity in the evening.
Whatever you decide, be sure it's captive bred, healthier and no drain on the environment!

[Gato Moteado]

23. pacman frogs are pretty neat....

....the females get huge. i had a male that got pretty big. they have quite an appetite. it ate everything you put in front of it. and at night it was loud.

[Redleg]

18. Had a Green Iguana for 14 years until she died.

She was about 4.5 feet long and weighed close to 15 pounds. Loved bananas and grapes.

[geniph]

19. Currently have an iguana named Tastes Like Chicken

technically, he's my stepson's, but since my stepson lost interest in him within about a nanosecond, I feed and care for him. He's a nice little fellow, about 3 feet long.

I kept amphibia for years; I was particularly bonded to one tiger salamander that I had for nearly 10 years, which is a fairly long life for the species. He got quite large. I also kept leopard frogs, wood frogs, dwarf clawed frogs (not the African clawed frogs, the little aquarium frogs), various species of toads, aquatic newts, Pacific Giant Salamanders, and one beautiful Oregon Ensatina that sadly, died when my house got too hot one summer. Toads make the best pets, because they're brighter than other amphibians; they learn to come to you for food. Plus they're fairly hardy - they don't succumb as quickly to problems with the water (some species don't need more than an infinitesimal amount of water in their habitats anyway), and they'll eat a wider variety of foods.

I kept garter snakes as a kid, but snakes don't do much for me these days. I don't dislike them, but most are so sedentary that they don't make very interesting pets.

Oh, and I've kept a number of species of small lizards, too - the little green anoles, things like that.

[blindpig]

21. thats jungle chicken in the neotropics..............

I was staying at a jungle lodge in Peru bout 5 yrs ago and while poking around for critters one night we found an iguana, tailed and eviserated, out behind the staff quarters. Sad, but they were common enough there and being herbivores could probably sustain some harvesting. Probably tasted better than the water buffalo that was being passed off as beef too!

[radwriter0555]

30. Tony Bourdain, the NY Chef had an iguana tamale in Mexico and said

that is was definitively THE worst tasting meat he had ever had.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. We had a pair of these

fire belly frog

Their names were Amp and Hibian. They lived about 5 years.
We've also kept red ear slider turtles, leopard geckos, green anoles, and a fence lizard.

[geniph]

22. I used to name my newts

mostly because it was easy to come up with funny names for them - I had Sir Isaac Newton, the big fat one was Newt Gingrich, the darkest one was Fig Newton, etc.

I named the big tiger salamander that I had for years, but for the life of me, I no longer remember his name. This getting old business sucks.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. My Gecko was El Gecko.

I love your newt names...Very clever!

[scarlet_owl]

26. Yup. I love herps!

My father raised us around his extensive collection of reptiles and amphibians. I remember having to clean out snake cages as a child, and getting paid in "character" for it. Now, I sometimes take care of the snakes at our community Nature Center, and I take snakes and turtles on school tours and give talks about them. I'm not able to keep reptiles, as I don't have the room, but I enjoy visiting my father's herps.

[Mrs. Overall]

27. We have a Corn Snake and a Schneider Skink

and a tarantula (not a reptile).
They are great pets! Low maintenance, live long, make a great show and tell at school, and are a great conversation piece when people visit.
A Christian Fundamentalist came to my house one day, however, and looked at our interesting creatures, then said in a shaky, shrill voice, "Why do you keep Satan's animals?"
I still get upset when I think about that!!

[blindpig]

28. satan's animals

don't know whether I want to laugh or cry. Speaks volumes about those narrow minded pricks. It's been my practice when visited by missionaries(twisted concept!) to answer the door with something large and scaly in hand and make references to the old gods........

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[jean]

33. I have a ball python upstairs