pogona1

I dont usually make impulse buys but have been waiting for these to come up for years... Feeding as soon as I got them home.

Testing would probably be in the form of swabs and faecal samples. I imagine that the list of diseases would be open. As these animals are almost certainly going to have their own unique bacterial flora, they could simply pick any microbe not known in NZ and lable it as unwanted. Whilst the risk form these would probably be minute, the onus would be on keepers to prove it. I did know of two of these tortoises in private hands many, many years back. As to what happened to them and given the limited success of tortoise breeders I won't be holding my breath.

Heres a pic of my eggs in same incubator to give you an idea....

Hi, Temp of around 29 degrees should be fine. As far as humidity goes my advice to avoid the trap of adding water to the incubator - far too difficult to acheive reliable humidity for reptile eggs this way. Put the eggs in air tight containers with a 50:50 by weight water to perlite ratio. Open once a week to allow air circulation. Should not have to add any water for entire incubation.

Nice looking beardies. Looks like the colour morph is known as leucistic in the states, although the ones in the states are not genuine "leucistic" (i.e. lacking mealanophores (brown & black) and xanthophores (reds and yellows), and only having a few iridophores (white & reflection). see www.dragonsdenherp.com for pics. Would be great if these were genuine leucistics as this would be the first example in beardies that I'm aware of.

Hey guys, its a lacey (varanus varius). By the colour I'm guessing the pics were taken in Queensland in the northern part of their range. The last photo is also a lacey but is not a bells phase - hatchling colours. If you want pics of sandys then google Varanus gouldii and Varanus panoptes. There are several (sub)species in this group collectively known as sand monitors.

I am sorry the last post was written in reply to Hans at 7:56 before i had a chance to read your reply. You make some valid points and a apologise for the mistakes I made in my previous posts. I was more annoyed with the replies that were being received. As I said earlier I know you have good intentions and that this was probably a mistake. I still stand by my statement though that these fish do not belong in home aquaria. I think there should be a permit sytem with native fish as there are with most other native animals, but they unfortunatly mostly go ignored (I do accept the irony that this is what you are trying to reslove yourself). I stand by my statement that these do not belong in a community tank. I appreciate that this makes for an impressive display, but fish as valuable as these need to be treated as such. I would also like to point out that gaint and banded kokopu are not actually being captive bred. The young are being raised from whitebait.

Somehow I dont think a permit for mudfish covers a short jawed kokopu. I mean I have a permit to keep common geckos, but it doesnt mean that I am going to try and keep tautara on it. The display is in a private home. Again I say that I dont think the research being done here is a good enough excuse. There are plenty of common species that are much more suitable to write about. As a member of a conservation society there is a responsibilty to ensure this species stays where it belongs and not in the home aquarium. I do not mean to condescend, but keeping these fish in a 23 degree tank with many other species is amateurish.

This is a joke. To quote - Note bold "PROTECTED SPECIES Species that fall in to this category are just that; simply those that are either legally protected or carry a Department of Conservation (DoC) rating of Category C or higher (Molloy & Davis, 1992; Tisdall, 1994). These species generally include the following fishes; Category (A): Shortjawed kokopu Galaxias postvectis), Spotted mudfish (Galaxias sp. aff. diversus) Category (B): Giant kokopu (Galaxias argenteus), Dwarf inanga (Galaxias gracilis), Brown mudfish (Neochanna apoda), Canterbury mudfish (Neochanna burrowsius) Category ©: Black mudfish (Neochanna diversus), Banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus), Koaro (Galaxias brevipinnis), Longjawed galaxias (Galaxias prognathus), Tarndale bully (Gobiomorphus alpinus) These species should only be collected from the wild if they are to be used for demonstration purposes e.g. public displays to the end of increased public knowledge, or for research. Legally, any collectors of these species are also on shaky ground; as they should be! Most of us wouldn’t dream of taking a kokako or takahe from the wild; why then do we make excuses for ourselves when we simply want to possess a rare fish as a novelty 'pet' or conversation piece? " Taken directly from website. Given that stella is writting abook on natives as pets this would also go against the above. I reiterate - THIS IS NOT A SPECIES THAT SHOULD EVER BE A PET.

Im sorry but that is not an excuse. If anything that simply shows that she should know better. Not to mention that the way she is keeping them is amateurish at best. Why people dont apply the same regard to endangered fish as they do to other animals I cant work out. I have an interest in reptiles and would like to write a book on their captive care. This doesnt mean that I would help myself to some tuatara if I found them. I must admit that I have little experience with keeping these fish but know many who do. To keep a fish a special as these in a community tank that is not chilled and claim that this is legitimate research is insulting. These fish should be kept at no more than 18 degrees max. They are from a genus that is notorious for doing poorly in captivity. I know people who have years experience with natives who wouldnt dream of touching a short jawed kokopu. From what I understand the book being written is about natives as aquarium fish. As I have mentioned several times this is an endangered species. This is one of the only fish species listed in the red data book. This fish should not under any circumstances be considered as an aquarium fish. Please follow the following link from the NZ fresh water societies web page. http://www.nzfreshwater.org/index_aquaria.html From what I can see these people in the society are hypocrites. They have gone against their constitution and have collected 2 species from the Manawatu area that they state should not be touched. Are these people genuine about protecting native species, or are they simply a collection of aquarium hobbyists? I have never heard of people from Forrest and Bird finding rare and endangered species and taking them home to put in with the budgies. Nor would anyone from the Herpetological society touch an endangered reptile without a permit. Lastly I would like to point out that despite your approval as amateur hobbyists it would seem that a law has been broken after reading the above page. If she has obtained a permit then I stand corrected but stand by my above statements. Are the people on this forum more interested in simply having pets, or do they have a genuine interest in the conservation of fish species?

Hi Stella, I must say I was very disappointed to read that you had removed an endangered species from a wild breeding population for your home aquarium. When I read that you had found Short Jawed Kokopu on your recent trip, I was sure that there would be no way any member of your group would take them. You are a member of a society that promots the protection of native species are you not? This fish is listed in the international red data book of endangered species along side pandas and tigers. There are very few breeding populations of these left and those populations are thought to consist of only a few specimens. It astounds me that these are not illegal to take from the wild. You seem like a nice person with good itentions, but what you have done is the equivalent of someone stealing banded iguanas from sanctuaries or buying baby gorillas, then claiming ignorance to any wrong doing. To make it worse I have a feeling that the stream you took these from is within national park boundaries. I know everyone makes mistakes and may not think things through. I would like to see these fish released, but I think you should contact either MAF or NIWA before to check about the possibilty of disease introduction. If release is not a possibility then these fish should be donated to a zoo or public aquarium as they do not under any circumstances belong in private hands.

If it was immediatly after then I doubt it has anything to do with the plant. Is there any chance your beardie has low calcium (i.e do you keep him under UVB lights etc)?

Yeah, they are ridge tailed monitors (V. acanthurus). From what I understand they are at least 10 years old.

Thought I'd share a few pics of my latest additions, taken before I put them in their enclosure... http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310855.jpg http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310834.jpg http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310847.jpg http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310810.jpg http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64 ... 310813.jpg Actually I wish they were mine :oops: I'm babysitting them for a friend of mine. He's had them for quite a few years now and even had eggs, but has never incubated them. Going to be difficult to give them back I think... IMG Tags removed. Your pics are wider than the specifications listed in the guidelines. Please go to the NZ Website section and read about posting pics. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/postin ... t2406.html Mod. Bill.

Hi, That sized tank would be perfect for many of the smaller lizard species available such as bearded dragons or blue tongues. Try reading old posts and google to get some general info, then if you have more directed questions come back and I'm sure people will be happy to help. Sorry if this is not the answer you were looking for, but this type of question tends to get asked alot and have been answered many times. It is usually more helpful to do your own research first so you have a better idea of what to ask.