alanmin4304

Fish with poison glands and/or stings etc are not encouraged to be imported.

I think there are some strains popping up and also a lot of claims popping up. some of the claims in my opinion are bollocks. A small orange blotch on the tail is not a carrot tail even if with selective breeding over many generations it may get there.

Not in 3 generations. Don't confuse fat with large and healthy.

Unlikely to develop a GENETIC giant in the three generAtions they have been available in NZ

Sting rays would probably fail at the first hurdle. The name says it all.

It is more likely just fat. Feeding too much or the wrong food tends to mke them fat and it causes fatty liver and damage to internal organs so it is not good. They are movement stimulated feeders so if you wiggle food in front of them they will eat it even though they don't need it. It is a bit like waving chocolate in front of a child.

With the changes to the importing requirements some species require a lot more work and expense so it is likely that importers will not bother bringing them in. Even though they are allowed they will not be here.

The funniest thing to watch for the first time is them pulling it off and eating their overcoat.

If the water source to the pond is through trees, peat or organic material it may just be stained. Many of the streams on THE west coast run brown with tannin.

Coming along nicely.

That is the problem with dropsy. It is only the signs that arise from water retention caused by kidney problems. These problems may be very infectious or not at all and can be from a number of causes. By the time you spot the pine coning it is very advanced. Curring the cause is then just hit and miss and I can't see the point in treating fish when you have no idea what you are treating them for.

The left looks like Hygrophila corymbosa stricta grown emersed, centre hairgrass grown emersed (looks like it is in seed), right I don't know but grown emersed and probably a marginal. The first two would do better if split up a bit and spread out so they get more light.

If they definately have dropsy my advice would be to euthanase them as I have never seen a fish cured of drops ever, with magnesium sulphate or anything else. The chemical may help release some of the fluid but will not treat the cause of the build up and you are really just prolonging the agony.

I agree with watching and responding to what you observe. I sold this reptile to this guy, and have answered 26 Emails from him, mainly about this feeding issue. I have previously explained that it was feeding perfectly well when I had it and have explained exactly how I reared it when I had it. My point was by Email and on here to explain how it was raised and that it was eating fine at that stage not that this is the best way to do it. This guy argued that it was a male, then that it was too young to sex and now admits it is a female, which it was sold to him as. I have advised him to use a thermostat and he is still asking if he should use one. I advised to lower the temperature and he still seems to ignore that. I advised on suitable salads and suitable sized live insects and which ones are best. I also said if he sent it back to me in the same way that I sent it to him I would give him a complete refund and he fluffed around for that long that I became unsure that I could rescue it if sent back so withdrew the offer. I will withdraw from this post in the hope that he may take advice from other people before he manages to ruin the health or kill this animal.

Put the fish and the water from the bag into a container then slowly add water from the aquarium, then when aclimated remove with a net into the aquarium. Don't add anything.

Get a blackworm (lumbriculus) culture going and feed that to condition them.

Michael, please let us know how much of this advice you have taken on board so that we can help you help the beardy. Do you turn all the lights off at night and have you connected the heaters to a termostat and if so what sort and at what temperature is it set? What sized insects are you feeding? If this problem is not sorted soon it may be too late. There are some very clever and informed reptile keepers on this site that can help you help this beardy if you wish to take and implement their advice.

Welcome

Please don't think that a fat lizard is a healthy lizard or because they eat food they need it.

My understanding is that some people have been feeding really high protein like oxe heart. The problem is that they are movement stimulated feeders. If you put mealworms in there 24/7 they will eat some then move away. Locusts and crickets move a lot more so if you keep feeding them they will keep eating. Some people even hand feed mealworms by wriggling them around in front of them so they keep eating. I don't try to retard the growth but I have seen too many obese reptiles and I try to avoid that. I have been told by a large American breeder to feed 7 crickets (the right size) every second day. We tend here to feed heaps every day.

With no thermostat there is no control over temperature. Heat lamps also produce light so at night time there is light that you don't want or no heat. Lowering the temperature with a clutch of babies is one of the things you need to do to stop them eating each others toes and tails. You only need a ceramic heater at one end along with a uv light and the latter can be turned off at night to give natural conditions. There is a school of thought (or lack of thought) that thinks that if you raise the temperature they will eat more, grow more quickly and therefore breed quicker. They usually feed the wrong food (high protein) as well and end up with reptiles with fatty liver and all sorts of other problems that frequently means they cannot breed at all. This is what happened to the very red dragons that were around a while ago. and I have been seeing it more frequently in leopard geckos of late. This person has had all this advice before and I hope will do something about it now for the sake of the reptile if it is not too late.

I can only give you the same advice that I gave you in the 26 Emails that you sent me and I replied to after you purchased it and I hope you take more notice this time than you seem to have in the past. Reduce the temperature from 45 degrees C to 25-30 degrees C (As I told you it was raised at 25 degrees C and was eating OK) Stop feeding large chunks of carrot and stuff and feed more suitable salads like dandelion leaves, nasturtium leaves, pea leaves, bean leaves etc all chopped up finely. Feed suitable sized mealworms in the dish you were using and dusted with calcium powder but they should be 1/3 mature size not mature ones like you were feeding. Feed locusts dusted with calcium powder in the enclosure but they should be no bigger than the distance between its eyes. Avoid handling until it feels secure and is feeding properly. Stop feeding wax moth larvae. I am pleased to see that it is a female as I said it was when you bought it.

Is this the one you bought from alan4304 on trademe?

Well done.

I had a 4 ft aqarium cabinet for many years built from mdf but the joints were sealed with marine epoxy glue and the inside was painted with lots of coats of white car two pot paint. It took the earthquakes to get to it but before that not a problem. The aquarium was completely enclosed except the front so it looked like a living tv set.