ExotherMan

I had a chat with Jack Craw (ARC) a few weeks ago during a discussion about the current RPMS. Interestingly when I questioned him about the Blue-tongues 'special treatment' in the strategy he responded telling me that they are not restricted and that they are only considered a pest when not in containment just like the other reptiles. :-? Good to know they know what they are doing... protecting us from all those nasty Salmonella spreading reptiles :facepalm:

MAF are moving towards being more advisory focused, but solely approval authorities? No. They do actually do plenty of research, see Technical papers. Usually literary reviews but none the less research used to develop policies. Absolutely the forms and other work needs to be put forward to them in order for new policy to be developed in the area we would want (ie. a herptile IHS), meanwhile they have plenty other areas to tackle and many other IHSs for which there is demand. I don't think its fair to say MAF are lazy, our wants are just not a priority.

Well put varanophile. Its all economics and this just simply isnt anywhere near a priority for MAF to invest resources in. More support is really the only way to change that. And CrunchBang... university and research is good enough, but there is only so much that can be taught in a classroom... life experience being a factor often lacking from graduates especially when their current opinions are often limited by the environment for which they have based their learning. Your not wrong though, ecology and environmental science are still largely poorly understood fields and incredibly complex particularly in terms of making predictions around environmental systems. The more knowledge gained in such a field the better.

or someone who just didnt care (lets hope not :-?) a tortoise is definately a popular novelty still, worth even risking several court offenses it seems. And if people are still willing to risk getting one regardless of where it came from (or how they get it) then I guess they'll spend $$$ on any they see on trademe too.

Disagree. Firstly the exotic species needs to be capable of establishing, there are records of many species simply failing to do so and a number of those that are now established required a great deal of human assistance to do so. Secondly once established there is no guarantee they will have any effect at all on endemic species, due largely to the fact that as we know most of our endemic species are now resticted to offshore island or mainland sanctuaries. Thirdly, goodluck to them. As stated above those mammalian 'pest' species that are already established have done a good job of consuming large quantities of endemic and exotic species since they arrived. In short they will be entering a very competitive ecosystem. Don't get too swept up in the overexaggerated anti-exotic view, yes some exotic species can be detrimental to endemics but our countries economy is also based on them. Its all a practical balance. Yea can't agree more. I would like them to have a suitable system for exotic herps to try and swing away from the $$$ motivation... in fact a registration fee I would think would be an added incentive for MAF to do so???

i find trying to reduce attractants more practical. The neighbourhood cats help too, which is why my enclosure was built more to withstand them... :roll: At any rate any mice my lizards have had weren't wild And the disease vector risk etc is often way overexaggerated, always worth considering don't get me wrong, but as far as a disease vector is concerned, the many birds that would bypass and deficate as they go in any given day, a prowling cat, or even the cloud of dust caused by a neighbour mowing their lawns could just as easily and probably more likely cause such harm... more to the point the damn things just stink! :lol:

I've seen my waterdragons hunt mice numerous times...they never last long... completely destroy logs feeding on whatever was burrowed into them... they are good fisherman too... I don't know about birds, although there was one stray dove that entered my enclosure one day and never escaped although i couldnt tell who actually dealt to it...all i saw was a bluey dragging it away to its cave

They mostly only get females, harvest the eggs from them each year for embryonic research and then they eventually get euthanized. They are kept within a containment facility. I don't believe there are any left currently at the uni but i have heard that auckland zoo had some reproducing.

:lol:

I share a similar opinion. Very much in support but am not all that optimistic of an improvement. As said, we can't produce the level of public pressure needed to create/force results.

Sorry about that, basically what i was trying to say is that the whole idea behind calcium supplementation is that you are providing extra calcium to be absorbed by your reptile to ofset the natural inbalances that may result due to diet selection/deficiencies or inhibition as a result of oxalates or phosphorus etc. Too much of either one (calcium included) can be just as disastrous or even worse than not enough. I was simply clarifying something i felt required more input. You can go overboard with bits and pieces of information and whilst it is handy to know what properties the food has to assist providing a suitable diet, to start being too selective would be more likely to result in an overlooked/unknown problem arising where there otherwise wouldnt have been. I could hear voices of people saying "well ive always fed them that without any problem" :lol: and for good reason ... that and i know how difficult it can be to get blueys to eat what I want them to eat :roll:

Great to see peoples opinions about the diets they feed out :bounce: But i have to disagree with this, whilst its true to keep in mind oxalate levels as it does inhibit calcium absorbtion by binding to calcium it is easily remedied by increasing the substrate inhibited, secondly oxalates do not only bind to calcium so the effect on calcium absorbtion is only significant if prodominant in the diet. I have also seen plenty of data showing that infact carrot overall increases the calcium absorbtion levels in several reptile species as a vitamin A source through the conversion of Beta carotene (something that is otherwise scarse in most diets). As with everything there is an obvious equilibrium constant to take into account and with any reptile keeper the calcium ratio should be high as a result of food selection and supplementation. In other words in most cases by dusting your food with supplementary calcium your reptile would still be gaining that much needed calcium through the diet regardless, and with anything... Couldnt agree more Brocolli & Cauli do actually have other properties more of concern than oxalates. Members of the cabbage family contain goitrogens that inhibit iodine absorbtion which can cause goiter, these I tend to avoid. Oh and when you give carrot out if you can get them, the carrot tops make good eating (for the reptile i mean :roll: ) .... i grow my own as much as possible

Yea I feed grated carrot alot too, as said already on here everything in moderation aye. Fruit&vege is the best way to go as a staple Wouldnt worry too much about insects, see what they go for. Depends how old they are too, young bt in my experience will take anything that moves and will do so even faster than beardies (infact if a baby beardie was to cross their path... ) but with the exception of snails, other than the odd invertebrate amoungst their other food older blueys dont tend to seem to show much interest to them. Mealworms still get a good go from them though... lazy buggers :roll:

Parthenogenesis is also seen naturally in several snake and monitor species and probably many more. Really it is likely to have been going on for centuries without really being widely acknowledged. Whether as an important role in evolution or as a means for a species to colonise an ecosystem is really still debated. Invertebrates ofcourse seem to have mastered the art rather well, particularly social arthropods where the very social structure is built by the different fertilised/unfertilised offspring. None the less its now regularly utilised in the laboratory environment in almost all vertebrate species and in particular seen as a useful tool in maintaining genetically consistant reptilian populations. Artificially ofcourse.

Just containment facilities no doubt, as usual. And probably only imports from australia, like most others. Otherwise 1st dibs on a kamodo!!! :bounce:

Thanks , I shouldve said to pm huh :roll:

Damn, seem to have mis-placed gregs number!! its been a while since i had a tank made. Does anybody have his number handy?? thanks

Yea very soon, so i understand. There are native birds and reptiles overseas already. I dont know about the frogs but there are definately tuatara, kea etc that are bred overseas but as far as DOC species management is concerned, they dont exist.

i hope you get it back...and that it hasnt had too much of a toll on an already unwell animal What sortve size/age is it?

very true, asuming you know you have a homologous 'normal' (i'm no geneticist though although i do work with one)

very true, asuming you know you have a homologous 'normal'

Also depends on whether it is homozygous or heterozygous. Which you wont know unless you got it genotyped.

Either, just take into account that they like to consume vegetation, and climb. Depends entirely on ambient temperatures, diet and overall food consumption. You'll be lucky when they are young, and its best to either look up pictures to sex young adult or ask someone who can show you. Once adult they are usually rather obvious to sex.

Allow for 3 years commonly for blue-tongues, Dragons can easily be made to reach 'breeding age' earlier, although I will never recommend it. My first breeding produced 19... Records show anywhere from 5-25 would be more precise. Your simply talking about a population of animals that is still growing to meet demand in New Zealand, and in many cases the level of knowledge is still catching up.

Ive been abit reluctant to reply to this as the pictures werent too clear. So far i would agree with it being a male. How old is it?