The Herp/Reptile Thread

[Dan Z Man]

OMG YES! Thank you for starting this thread Warm! herps for the win

here's my lil buddy Leo

[Red__Zed]

My little brother is really into herping. I think he's got about 30-40 snakes right now, scaled down from whatever he had in the past.

He's filming some awareness film (I don't know much about it). Here are some things they're doing if anyone is interested...

"Alterna Rush" Movie Trailer on Vimeo

Current Projects :: Small Scale Films Inc.

[Jeffblue]

cool snake, what kind is that?

Warm, how difficult is it to regulate the temp/humidity of the cage/aparatus. obviously, if i'm in my own house i can control the temp and humidity easily, but once i move out of my parents place, i'll likely be in an appartment and that makes things a little more difficult. is it easy to regulate the conditions in the cage if you have the right setup, or is it going to be really hard in an appartment situation in which it can get a bit cooler/warmer/dryer than you may want.

[Dan Z Man]

It's a ball python, One of the more common(probably most common lol) snakes as a pet, this is my first Herp, so i wanted to get a ball python, they are on the easier side to take care of, now don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm lazy and don't want a challenge with the snake, but since it's my first and they are pretty hardy, i just want to make sure everything is right before i buy a 2,000 dollar show snake lol.. My tank is at a consistent 88.8 degrees with humidity between 45-60% so he's doin pretty dang good

[SmoothZ]

I wouldn't mind it if my environment was at a constant 88....

[Dan Z Man]

ah no way, i'm a 60's degree weather man ...lol hey, you don't really drive a Zonda R....do you? lol

[NYBladeZ]

I have a male red eared slider who I've raised since he was the size of a quarter, his name is Alvin. Pretty simple setup to keep things clean with minimal maintenance. 40g long tank, fluval 6 and 2 submerged filters (those babies are awesome), a floating island and the necessary UVB and standard heat lamp. I'll post pics when I go home this weekend.

[WarmAndSCSI]

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

Warm, how difficult is it to regulate the temp/humidity of the cage/aparatus. obviously, if i'm in my own house i can control the temp and humidity easily, but once i move out of my parents place, i'll likely be in an appartment and that makes things a little more difficult. is it easy to regulate the conditions in the cage if you have the right setup, or is it going to be really hard in an appartment situation in which it can get a bit cooler/warmer/dryer than you may want.

It's relatively difficult for a chameleon since they are arboreal creatures and need 360 degree airflow through their cage - i.e. they need a complete screen cage. I have a small fountain right now which helps introduce humidity - but you must make sure to keep it clean because a clever chameleon will learn to drink from it. A constant water drip introduces a bit more humidity if you allow it to drop near your light/heat source. Manual misting (I try to do this 3x daily) does the rest. But since our heater is kicking on now (it freaking snowed all night ha!) I have a humidifier on right next to his cage (but not blowing through his cage) that comes on and goes off with his lights so he has extra humidity during the day. When it gets real cold, I'll be leaving it on 24x7.

I'm able to maintain his cage humidity to about 60-65% doing all of this. Without any measures, it would be about 25% which is dangerous to a chameleon.

[Jeffblue]

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

It's relatively difficult for a chameleon since they are arboreal creatures and need 360 degree airflow through their cage - i.e. they need a complete screen cage. I have a small fountain right now which helps introduce humidity - but you must make sure to keep it clean because a clever chameleon will learn to drink from it. A constant water drip introduces a bit more humidity if you allow it to drop near your light/heat source. Manual misting (I try to do this 3x daily) does the rest. But since our heater is kicking on now (it freaking snowed all night ha!) I have a humidifier on right next to his cage (but not blowing through his cage) that comes on and goes off with his lights so he has extra humidity during the day. When it gets real cold, I'll be leaving it on 24x7.

I'm able to maintain his cage humidity to about 60-65% doing all of this. Without any measures, it would be about 25% which is dangerous to a chameleon.

so seasonal changes, requiring heat and AC to be used a lot make it more dificult to manage the conditions in the cage?

[WarmAndSCSI]

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

so seasonal changes, requiring heat and AC to be used a lot make it more dificult to manage the conditions in the cage?

Yes, heating and refrigeration-type AC reduce the humidity in the air that travels through the system. We use swamp coolers in Utah for the most part due to the low humidity, so I don't have to do much during the summer since it's like 80% in the house anyway.

[tomnavone]

Getting ready to hibernate my tortoises. They go into the garage fridge (4 males and 5 females) for three months. During this time the temperature is at 40 defrees f and they do not eat,drink or really move. The picture is the individual boxes that they will be in for the next three months.

[tomnavone]

Picture 1. Ten different babies from the three i showed before hatched this year
Picture 2&3 My females Testudo hermanni hercegovinensis (smaller sub species of Testudo Hermanni Boettgeri)
Picture 4 My females Testudo Hermanni Boettgeri (The female on the left was wild caught and if u look closely u can see fire damage on the top of her shell. Basically she didnt dig down deep enough during a wild fire.)

[WarmAndSCSI]

Those are awesome!

I think it's so cool that you have to artificially hibernate them come winter... that's so nifty!

[tomnavone]

I x-rayed my tortoises today like i do every year to make sure none of the females are holding eggs before they go into hibernation and this is what i found.

[SmoothZ]

Originally Posted by Dan Z Man

ah no way, i'm a 60's degree weather man ...lol hey, you don't really drive a Zonda R....do you? lol

Why? Are you looking to buy one?

I like it hot. I hate cold weather.

Originally Posted by tomnavone

Getting ready to hibernate my tortoises. They go into the garage fridge (4 males and 5 females) for three months. During this time the temperature is at 40 defrees f and they do not eat,drink or really move. The picture is the individual boxes that they will be in for the next three months.

I'm amazed that you have to go through all of that for tortoises. I think that would prevent me from starting that hobby.

Originally Posted by tomnavone

I x-rayed my tortoises like i do every year to make sure none of the females are holding eggs before they go into hibernation and this is what i found.

Again, that's amazing. Do you take them to the vet for those x-rays?