Reptiles - Geckos, Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles!

[Crum]

Started my custom 20 long habitat for my leo Hes been in a boring 10 gallon tank for 6 years and I feel its finally time to give him what he deserves


Any tips from people who have built these before?

[Lepisma]

Any suggestions for easily maintained staple feeder insects for an adult Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)? Mine doesn't eat her superworms and mealworms fast enough; they outgrow her size range long before she eats them and now I'm drowning in bugs since I can't order fewer than 20-some (and nowhere local carries them). I can keep the mealworms in the fridge for the most part to slow them down, but they have to warm up and eat sometime. I've been told not to put superworms in the fridge, and they're almost all huge now anyway. I'm chopping them up and throwing them to my fish occasionally instead, hah.

• She will not take dead items.
• She doesn't seem to like crickets, although I plan on trying some again if my last 3 pinheads survive past the 1/4 inch stage.
• I've had luck with Phoenix worms in the past, but she doesn't seem into them lately.
• Same with Waxworms, which I've heard aren't that great nutritionally anyway.
• Attempting to let some of my excess waxworms pupate to see if she'll like the moths, but I'm not holding my breath. They've been in the fridge a long time, lol.
• The hornworms kept escaping the terrarium, and she didn't want them anyway.
• She might have eaten a blue bottle fly, or else it managed to escape, but I'm hesitant to do fast-moving things with wings and I had a poor experience with the rest of that shipment.
• Tried flightless fruit flies.... never again. I think I still have some in my kitchen and I got rid of the culture months ago.
• I refuse to do roaches. I've dropped crickets in the house and that's bad enough

Is there some bug I haven't tried yet?

Here's a picture of the little goober. Her name is Felicia Smalls.

[Katara Fernandez]

Anyone know of any good vegetarian reptiles?
I love them I just don't want to have to feed them animals... even crickets ha

so far I have thought of
- some tortoise (dunno witch specific breed turtle though) (and I really want a lizard...)
- iguana (they just grow soooo big ahh)
- blue tongue skink (but they are more omnivorous right?)

uromastyx are similar to bearded dragon but much higher temps, but ambient and hotspot (150), and while vegetarian they should be supplemented with bee pollen. For size, they need larger enclosures then bearded dragons, and most are not as friendly and sociable as beardeds, as well as not able to be out of their enclosures as long since they need much higher temps. Humidity must also be kept consistently very low, or respiratory infections may develop.
ALSO just a tip to anyone thinking of owning or currently owning, while play sand is a fine substrate for them, be careful with decor. They WILL dig, and will dig under decor, so make sure decor is resting on the bottom of the enclosure or secured, and sand filled in around it. Digging under decor may cause it to shift and fall onto the uro.

tortoise are great, I babysit one for the summers and I love him. He's more active and ambles around constantly, and eats so much. The bigger the better for enclosure size for these guys, and some like to dig as well. But typically low basking temps are easier to obtain. Not super expressive or interactive, although they're super fun to watch eat. The one I babysit gets to run around my apt for significant amounts of time during the day since I don't have air conditioning so it's typically very warm, and their required ambient temps are low

I would not recommend an iguana unless you are a very experienced reptile owner/hobbyist and have owned other large lizards. They can take a LONG time to tame down and you run the risk of having a VERY angry six foot lizard on your hands for many months of the year during breeding season. Males often become aggressive and can cause serious injuries. Not to mention they eat so much and need very large enclosures with expensive lights

I personally would recommend a blue tongue skink. Compared to my beardie my BTS is more interactive, more inquisitive, and more friendly. They're also super fun to just sit and watch. They are omnivores, however, they can receive their protein in the form of high quality, grain and fish free dog or cat food instead of live bugs, which are a good supplement but not required. Fresh greens can/should be mixed into their wet cat/dog food in small amounts and they can also be given raw or cooked egg, raw or cooked (without seasonings) meats like chicken, and things like canned snails. As far as I know they do not require these things, although they are a good supplement and I provide them to mine. They can also be supplemented with repashy mixes and arcadio omnigold or their specific BTS mix. They can be given fruit as treats
They need slightly larger enclosures than bearded dragons and depending on the species you get need higher humidity than beardeds, and typically lower temps. I have mine in a 50g wide that's 4 ft long and he's full grown, I have the lid taped with foil and it keeps the humidity at about 80%, he's got a single low wattage basking light and a relatively low wattage RHP for ambient, pretty simple. They do actually need mental stimulation as well.
unfortunately, they are rather expesnive to get from a breeder and mostly become available as babies once a year. There are also certain localities that are not establishes breeding populations in the US, and if they are available are wild caught imports, and if they say captive bred, are babies from a wild caught female. They are cheaper, but require vet visits to make sure no parasites, etc.

Wow. I'm totally amazed by all the nice help *-*
Thank you all so much!
I've read articles about how to Design this fish tank as Terrarium for ballpythons, but never anyone said, that they don't want to share a tank! Thank godness I know now. I was thinking of making a water hole about 50 l. But then I got some confusing tipps, which often say the complete opposite. Do your ballpythons love water or are they not using it at all?
And LeHolibomber: Your Python looks absolutely stunning! I'm glad it has a owner who really cares for it!

I provide water for all my snakes in a dish large enough for them to submerge their entire body. BPs enjoy taking a soak every once in a while, but them sitting in the water for extended periods of time (like a blood python would) would indicate to me that there's something wrong (mites, temps too high, humidity to low). If your humidity is spot on (as it should be), you shouldn't really find your snake hanging out in the water bowl for days on end. A larger water bowl may help keep the humidity in the tank up though.
BPs also aren't really an aquatic snake and I would think would prefer to have something solid to be resting on in the water, rather than having to go swimming to be in the water, as 50L is quite large. There's also the issue of cleaning- often a water dish also becomes a place for poo. If the water dish will be permanently in the tank, how will you clean it?

I thought of the water as Form of reaching the right humidity and if the snakes is healthy and wants to bathe, thats great. If not, thats fine too.
I didn't think about the feces yet. Good Point! I really have to think this through again. But better now than later

[maninkari]

My corn baby is getting big! Also, is anyone here good with morphs? This is my first cornsnake, lol.

[catra]

My corn baby is getting big! Also, is anyone here good with morphs? This is my first cornsnake, lol.

so beautiful!!
i'm alright with ball python morphs, not corns though, sorry!
check this out
also this for explanations
good luck!

[Crum]

I might be rescuing a 1 year old bearded dragon from someone. Any tips? I currently have a russian tortoise and a leopard gecko, so basically I just mix their diets for it or so it seems. Does something like 'salad' every day and a few crickets/mealworms a few times a week work for diet? Also how long should they really be out of their cages, is a few hours a day okay? from what i hear he enjoys being held much more than being in there.

[rose;]

I might be rescuing a 1 year old bearded dragon from someone. Any tips? I currently have a russian tortoise and a leopard gecko, so basically I just mix their diets for it or so it seems. Does something like 'salad' every day and a few crickets/mealworms a few times a week work for diet? Also how long should they really be out of their cages, is a few hours a day okay? from what i hear he enjoys being held much more than being in there.

Yes, that's a good feeding schedule. A few hours a day is a little much to have a bearded out though, I'd limit it to no more than 20-30 min at a time. They need to be able to thermoregulate at all times, and while they're our they can't do that. My viv is on the floor so I just leave the door open so she can go back when she wants
Also, make sure you have the right UVB bups and the right strength, it is very important for a bearded. Coil UVB bulbs that a pet store will recommend do not put out strong enough UVB for a bearded, only the tube lights. Arcadia is the best and is guaranteed to last a year, and I think reptisun is an alright brand which lasts 6 months. The hood for the light needs to be mounted in the enclosure, not over mesh, which blocks most the UVB, and the hood also needs a reflector, or you lose most the UVB. These can get pretty pricey

[gecko]

Hey if you guys like chickensmoothie and reptiles, you might be interested in this new reptile breeding simulator game. ovo
http://www.reptilebreedergame.com
If you join, please say that I referred you! My code is 0to2


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Hatched my first crested gecko. ;v; Clutchmate didn't make it sadly </3
We have named them Dipper <3
Excuse the bits of shed in the pictures. It was their first time shedding EVER so give the wee baby a break XD <3 I helped them get the last little bit off after pictures

[kivr & fireflii]

[center]Hey if you guys like chickensmoothie and reptiles, you might be interested in this new reptile breeding simulator game. ovo
http://www.reptilebreedergame.com
If you join, please say that I referred you! My code is 0to2

:O That's so cool. I'm going to join! :D
-fireflii

[maninkari]

Hey if you guys like chickensmoothie and reptiles, you might be interested in this new reptile breeding simulator game. ovo
http://www.reptilebreedergame.com
If you join, please say that I referred you! My code is 0to2


--------

Hatched my first crested gecko. ;v; Clutchmate didn't make it sadly </3
We have named them Dipper <3
Excuse the bits of shed in the pictures. It was their first time shedding EVER so give the wee baby a break XD <3 I helped them get the last little bit off after pictures
[img]snip[/img]

He's so pretty! I love cresties <3