ExotherMan

Yea but will take years to get completed! :lol:

Probably falls into the big grey space in between :lol: ..... hopefully As long as it doesnt reach the 'unwanted organism' list

It would be safe to say they are not.

They quite often only go for life foods when very young. And it very much depends on what they are already used to. Just feed whatever it will take and gradually try to introduce new things, definately try to get them only fruit/vege particularly leafy greens as soon as they start to take notice. Otherwise just make sure that whatever you are feeding, the dragon is getting adequate calcium supplement.

Bearded dragons have genetic sex determination, however at a certain point temperature overrides this and temperature sex determination does occur. This is still widely studied (for beardies & other species) and papers regularly come out saying one thing or another, generally speaking the above is true. However i was under the impression that the higher temperature results in more females, i could be wrong as i havnt bothered to check this. But i was of the understanding that the higher temperature affects the W chromosome that is related to the males development and so in a sense changes what would genetically become a male into a female embryo. As i said though, many people still put out papers and many still believe that no, under no circumstance is the bearded dragons sex determination as a result of temperature.

Most pet shops can order it in if they dont already stock it, i order mine straight from petware myself. It can get expensive at retail cost.

I would definately go for a canister filter, takes up less room, easier to maintain, and generally is more suited to the sort of waste produced by turtles. I prefer eheims or fluvals but overall it just depends on what is the best price at your local suppliers. One size up from what is normally advised for your tanks litre volume is always advised too, it saves alot of cleaning later on when your turtles start to get bigger and produce more waste. Heater guard definately advised. And i often try to hide the heater behind tank furniture to keep it out of the way.

Ive had mine on quite a range fo substrates. Dirt, sand, large river pebbles, leaf litter, woodchip, grass...combinations of several, each with their pros and cons. Depends what look you want, how you want your blueys to display and how much time you want them to spend digging and re-landscaping the enclosure. I tend to prefer to deter mine from digging up the enclosure too much so i use a denser subsrate with a lighter one is the places i want them to dig into, such as packed dirt or sand as a base with leaf litter inside the hollowed out logs etc. Tends to be easier to clean up after them too. My large enclosure now has mostly topsoil with vegetation, and a sandy area. My young blueys are now on only desert sand. After digging through sand mine often come out with their heads coated in sand, hasnt once caused an issue as they soon go about rubbing it off on the various objects around the enclosure or washing it off in the water bowl. Unfortunate that yours had such an issue, one of those things you just need to keep an eye on i guess.

Mine do that all the time My male beardies, blueys and water drags all come out of brumation 'hyper' and hasle the girls to no end... which is kindof the point Its really noticeable with the beardies and blueys as they arnt near as active as my water dragons normally anyway

Totally agree, the park doesnt make much in the way of revenue, what you see is the effort of Ivan and those willing to lend a helping hand. Well done for making the effort to give him a hand Chris, a little goes a long way up there and im sure you not only enjoyed yourself but were happy with what you accomplished. Those capuchins are left over from the days when the park was a zoo, like everything else in nz zoological institutions the animals have a very limited gene pool. They can't reproduce (one or both are fixed) so the pair at the park are simply in retirement... and what a view

Ti Point Reptile Park - near Leigh http://www.reptilepark.co.nz/

I was intending on visiting Ivan this sunday, hope the weather is good for it Its a shame theres no mate... maybe one day :roll: those chameleons are doing well now though! so thats something to be happy about. Went from 2 pairs to... well quite a few

Yea i have no doubt it can cause probs in young lizards, especially hungry little beardies. Anyone seen an example of chronic compaction? (gradual build up over time, usually resulting in death)

That background does look good, beats the fishtank garbage from the pet shop :roll: Anyway, seen as the sand issue has been brought up :-? Has anyone here actually seen or heard first hand of anyone who has had a serious problem as a result of a lizard eating sand?? I have brought this topic up many times with many people, some very well regarded in their field (whether herpetofauna or veterinary care) and they all say the same thing. They have not seen it themselves but have heard of people saying so. I tend to agree with a few friends over here in Nz that it is probably a mis-diagnosis, perhaps by a reasonably new or inexperienced enthusiast. Can anyone comment on this? It would be great if this could be confirmed once and for all?? Leps though, i have heard of swallowing all sorts of odd things that have required surgical removal. I guessed perhaps being that they are nocturnal maybe it happened while they were trying to catch food that had been given to them during daylight hours?? I know from experience their accuracy during the day can be rather limited. Varanophile, have you anything like this??

I generally agree with Tonka on this, the only instance of impaction i have ever encountered was with someone who came to me with a young (5 wk old) bearded dragon that was kept on...can you believe it... silica sand. Sure it looked good in the enclosure but yikes. I did a pm on it and it wasnt so much that it had 'blocked up' but the fact it simply was everywhere throughout the digestive tract and there was alot of heamorraging. Other than that i have only heard the odd story, mostly just where a lizard has injested quite alot of sand accidentally as it was covering its food etc but still passed it through the faeces. I dont tend to allow baby lizards to go near sand though, as just a small amount can be hard to pass, and they certainly will eat it. I now have my blue-tongues on the red desert sand and have not had any issue, they dont even try eating it and by using a food bowel theres little risk of it being injested with food. Some reptiles just dont suite sand though, I would never use sand with leopard geckos for example. That comment reminded me of an associate who was doing a study on the thorny devil several years back and whilst he had a number of captive subjects I took the opportunity to go ‘play’ with them . They are a good example of an animal that specialises on feeding on a single prey item. Not supplementary calcium there, interestingly enough though the young do injest their egg casings after birth, obtaining what calcium remains there. So in answer most lizards obtain the majority of their calcium via the food they eat. Particular emphasis on the fact that the quantity of food is often different to what they would be presented in captivity, particularly ratio of calcium/protein etc, as too a better control on the phosphorus intake. A note I thought to mention. Reptiles living in the outback are surrounded by sand, and alot of it. I believe one is even called the 'sandy desert' :lol: Seriously though, what composite makes up the sand you are using is what is important.

Argh... the dreaded sand debate... *shudder*

Ofcourse there are the native geckos/skinks also, although you will require a permit for those. Shinglebacks are also around, but rare... as are cunninghams.

Anything in moderation. Ive seen water dragons feeding down by the shoreline, going for crabs and all sorts. Blue-tongues can be rather partial to them also. Opportunists in nature are never too picky :bounce:

I will post some up when its done :roll:

I totally agree, you'd be surprised what a little sun can do! 1hour a week will do far more than any uvb bulb can provide, and no matter what lizard you have they will get much more enjoyment basking and be more animated than just being under a terrarium lamp. All my reptiles get natural sun and by the end of christmas i will have everything housed outdoors in a new purpose built enclosure.

Nice pics, looks very similar to one of my female yellows.

Just keep you bluey warm, and encourage it to drink. As long as he is eating, hasnt injested a foreign body and hasnt been on a course of antibiotics, there shouldnt be a problem. How old is it btw?

Yea so can humans No seriously there is nothing to worry about, unless you start laminating your bluetongue to ensure ectoparasites never reach it there will always be a small chance. The chances of a gastropod passing it on to your vertebrate pet is highly unlikely whether endo or ectoparasitic, and besides could easily be treated. Blueys love snails and slugs, dont go depriving them of that :roll:

Was your bluetongue given antibiotics?

Turtles do shed skin, especially noticable when they are going due to the rapid growth. If you are having problems (as above either too frequent or starting to rot) then try drying your turtle out for abit. If the excess skin is getting 'fluffy' looking you can always dry the turtle off and administer a small amount of iodine to the problem area. Leave it for about 30mins then rehydrate.