Post A Picture Of Your Pets.

[Revolver]

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[davey1991]

Chichilla is called dusty.

I've had him for almost a month and he's already tame enough to sit in my hands without even concidering biting me.

He shits like a machine gun though!!!

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

Meet Ralph!

What breed is he? Looks like a Herman?

[Nic84echo]

All new level of boredom, posting a pic of my pet on TF.

Thats Benson. She's a collie/whippet cross. Always looks a bit skinny but thats just the breeding, she eats like a horse, is massively fluffy, lazier than me, but much much faster.

She comes out on most of my rides and puts me to shame. Bunnyhops things I cant. Front hooks riverbanks. Is a master of up to fronts. Last week I saw her perform a particularly impressive gap from a park bench into a dirty puddle.

[NVWOCI WVS]

The cat belongs to a very elderly neighbour, so we help her look after it, and we've kindof adopted her now. We also have a few chickens.

The chickens always attack the cat.

[Tom Booth]

What breed is he? Looks like a Herman?

Hes a Russian/Horsfield tort. There the most active by day really, which is what I wanted. There fairly hardy and not as demanding for tempretures compared to the leopards/sulcata breeds.

They dig like a monster thou, he's already trying to tunnel!

[Tom Booth]

Yeah I'l deffinatly watch out if i do; I've got 2 Vivs at the minute, one for Banjo and One for Lizzie but I'm having another 2 built at the moment so I'll probably house them together at first and watch them closely, see how they get on and if they start fighting I'll house them seperately.

Upto about 5ft sometimes aren't they I just don't have the space at the minute for it, and it's going to be difficult enough to convinve the army to let me have Banjo, never mind a Monitor

I looked into turtles/tortoises/terrapins last month, I like the idea of them but i think i'd get pretty bored after a while and that wouldn'tbe fair on it.

I'm still considering it though .

Turtles - Massive tank/massive space for external filters, people don't realise just how much turtles shit and polute their own water, so the need for external filters is esencial. They also require a hella big tank to live proper and full lives, even when there about 2-3" long, they should still be living in something 36"x15"x15" at a MINIMUM. Water perameters have to be perfect too or you get one sick turtle, maturing the filters to break down the crap the turtle puts into the water. Plus there pickier on food/its more difficult to get there UV requirements sorted up as the UV dissapates through the water, giving the chance of Metabolic Bone Disease if it's not basking enough.

Torts after a year or so need to be outside really 8 or so months of the year. Like you say, it'd be unfair on the tort if you can't provide for them. Another trouble with torts is ensuring you have the weight/length right. Dispite the fact they will sit and beg for more food, you have to resist or you could be forcing your tort to grow, leading to deformation in the growth.

Monitors Lizards are meant to be fairly cool to keep, they show affection like beardies after a few months but you have to introduce yourself to them carefully over a few months to ensure you don't startle it or make yourself a threat to them. When handling thou your best off to keep a bottle of vinegar near by. When they bite they can lock their jaw, so its a case of pour vinegar into the mouth untill its off! Its a preety big undertaking with a Monitor thou, looking at care sheets, a sutible viv needs to be atleast 8foot x 3foot then whatever height to accomodate the heat needs.

[forteh]

Monitors Lizards are meant to be fairly cool to keep, they show affection like beardies after a few months but you have to introduce yourself to them carefully over a few months to ensure you don't startle it or make yourself a threat to them. When handling thou your best off to keep a bottle of vinegar near by. When they bite they can lock their jaw, so its a case of pour vinegar into the mouth untill its off! Its a preety big undertaking with a Monitor thou, looking at care sheets, a sutible viv needs to be atleast 8foot x 3foot then whatever height to accomodate the heat needs.

Would like a monitor, certainly only one of the smaller such as ackie or tegu, cant afford the space/food/electricity bill though

Friend in london has got a young bosc (savannah) monitor that should be heading for 4-5 foot long and needing an 8x3 tank

In associated news, my tokay gecko is now pretty much hand tame, almost as much as the leos, hardly tries to bite me now

The boa constrictor has now tripled in weight since I got her (day after the DJ ride this year), almost 32" long and already strong enough to pin my hands without any hope to escape. Got up to another 6 foot of growth in her yet

[Tom Booth]

That Tokays nice Ed, I was suprised at how cheap they are when I looked the other day!

My local reptile store has a Bosc in, they've had it for comming upto 6 months now, and keep needing to rehome it around the shop!

Monitors don't need UV thou do they? I could be wrong but I'm sure they can develop D3 without the need for additional UV. So, technically, there cheaper to keep then a beardy/gecko! No excuse now Ed!

[forteh]

That Tokays nice Ed, I was suprised at how cheap they are when I looked the other day!

My local reptile store has a Bosc in, they've had it for comming upto 6 months now, and keep needing to rehome it around the shop!

Monitors don't need UV thou do they? I could be wrong but I'm sure they can develop D3 without the need for additional UV. So, technically, there cheaper to keep then a beardy/gecko! No excuse now Ed!

Pretty sure monitors need UV, theyre diurnal lizards so require the UV to synthesize D3 I think. That said, a 25w UV strip is considerably cheaper than 3 x 150 heaters needed for a bosc; 150*F basking spot, bloody electrics through the roof already

None of our reps need UV (17 cresties, 3 leos, 1 tokay, 1 corn, 2 royals, 1 boa and 500 locusts) just heat, water and food

[Sprog!]

i seen this topic and i knew straight away what picture to put up. It was taken a while ago though :/

He is my twin RUSTY!!!!!

[anzo]

I'm sure I've seen this photo before? I remember that your dog looks like you, haha.

[club_card]

puppydog! it's not a picture but it's still my pet little puppy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom Booth]

Sister was getting abit down having to leave her Beardie at home some nights and worrying about her house mate having it out and making sure she was feeding him right.

Buuuut, mum and dad didn't want a viv kicking around the house which was going to be used once a week and just get in the way. I've just finished making his second home, this way he can come over for christmas too for a few nights...... Not many beardies have 2 homes

[Revolver]

Aren't you a handy chap!

[forteh]

Awesome, home made vivs rock

Made 3x 30x15x12 for the gfs leos, made a 3x2x18 for my corn, made the locust breeding box, making a 6x2x2 for the boa and either a pair of 30x24x18s or a rub rack for the 2 royals.

I would drop that UV strip though, looks to be a bit high unless youre going to be putting basking perches right up close to it. Needs to be 8" reach of the beardie I think.

[Adam-Griffin]

I was tempted to build my own, decided to get it done pro in the end just incase i f**k up

Forteh, could i possibly see some pics of these locusts and there box? I'm considering farming my own after hearing how easy it is but would just like some ideas Also, do they ever escape?

[Tom Booth]

I would drop that UV strip though, looks to be a bit high unless youre going to be putting basking perches right up close to it. Needs to be 8" reach of the beardie I think.

Theres some branches and quite a few rocks for him to climb an bask on in there now. I thought the 10 UV bars were effective upto 20" Ed?

[forteh]

Forteh, could i possibly see some pics of these locusts and there box? I'm considering farming my own after hearing how easy it is but would just like some ideas Also, do they ever escape?

To be honest, unless youre getting through 100 or so a week its not really worth breeding them for food, however it is really cool to have some and watch them grow up and make little babies

Fortunately there are something like 23 lizards in the house that eat locusts so no problems there.

There are pictures of my setup here and a description of how I do it is here, costs £1.50 a week in spring greens and the cost to run a 60w lamp and 4 heat mats. I hatched 300 last week and got another 3-400 in the incubator, currently got about 80 adults in the farm right now, got massively overrun cos a couple of bulk bags moulted through to adult before being eaten. In my 1st month of hatching 30 breeding adults produced 900 hatchlings

Escapee locusts arent a problem, in general they dont hide away, they seek warmth and can quite often be found sitting on the wall above a heater, on the outside of a vivarium or just on the floor; if I dont see them and return them to the farm the cats usually get em Adults have a tendency to fly in leaps of up to 10 foot or so, not to keen on handling them myself, usually use a set of tongs, think the wings freak me out

Theres some branches and quite a few rocks for him to climb an bask on in there now. I thought the 10 UV bars were effective upto 20" Ed?

Coolies, Im not sure on the effective range of UV strips but I know they produce next to bugger all in comparison to sunglight AFAIK most people use the 12% arcadia strips for beardies, some searching on rfuk will tell you what sort of distance you should be looking at

Edited December 10, 2009 by forteh

[Tom Booth]

Yeah I knew compared to the sun they don't even hold a candle to it, I'll have a browse an see whats what.

[Matt Vandart]

Bumpy the Dog!

[davey1991]

I know these are irrelevant but he looks so cute i had to take them

Dusty being a soft baby.

[Adam-Griffin]

This is mainly aimed at Tom/Ed/Dave or people who have experience with Beardies;

I noticed last week his 3rd toe on his front, left foot is really swollen and orangey, as is the back 2nd right one and he kind of flinchs when you stroke it and pulls it away from you. He doesn't seem to have any trouble walking on it or anything though.

I'm just wondering if this is a common problem or is it serisous? I don't mind taking him to a vet/specialist atall if it's a big issue but i'd obviously prefer not to unless i have to. I can get a photo if needs be. I've also noticed that the big back toe on the left, where the nail is it's crooked Like, instead of pointing down it almost points outwards to the left handside. Have i just got a broken dragon ?

I've looked on various forums and caresheets but can't seem to find anything specific to this, any help is REALLY appreciated, i'm starting to worry about him now

[Siders77]

Could be a bit of stuck shed thats been there for a while, I've read that it cuts the circulation off to the toes.

Pics would help for people that know more than me about beardies.

[forteh]

Not sure on that one to be honest, Im not sure if it would be stuck shed though, have a look round his toes and see if there is any. I know with leos if the shed is left on the toes they go black and fall off (through lack of circulation), not sure if beardies are the same as theyre bigger, still go pretty spindly toes though. To me it sounds more like soft tissue damage or perhaps hes broken a couple of toes from falling/jumping, take him to a rep vet; chances are you will just end up with a course or antibiotics but better safe than sorry

On another note, my locust farm has blown up, in the 3 days that the most recent tub has started hatching its produced 6-700 hatchlings, there is no way I can use all of them so if someone wants some baby locusts you can collect them from lichfield :D