terrence

Is that when sent via any courier that they go by air? Everything not explicitly labeled airmail or next day delivery etc is sent via truck between the islands over about 2 days isn't it? I don't use mail/courier much so I don't actually know :oops:

Alright thats good to know, thanks again. With any luck I'll manage it as best I can, and just top up with other food sources probably.

Haha the mental picture of this orderly march of locusts towards freedom is quite something! :lol: I've been reading more, but one thing I haven't seen covered is how quickly locusts are able to multiply their numbers? I'm thinking specifically here about many hungry baby dragons eating many locusts every day each. What sort of numbers of locusts in the locust colony would be needed to keep up with them, as the baby dragons begin devouring everything they can get their little jaws on? Is this even possible? (Without filling an entire garage with locusts!)

Has anyone dealt with "kritta krates" ? They offer NZwide transit of pets apparently...

Yup exactly. Just another reason that its a dam shame that things like that go on, I'd hope its not too widespread an activity. Consequences such as emergence of potentially lethal and generally debilitating viruses in a small breeding community would be severely felt I'd imagine.

That nutrition chart is a keeper alright... What a bonus that dandelion greens are rich in nutritional value! They grow like, well, like weeds If you've got a corner of your property to devote to them, it might be worth sowing a bed of dandelions to help add to the diet - they mustn't need much convincing to run riot...

Gotcha. So how can you package them securely, so they don't get bashed around in transit (despite fragile label etc), without the risk of suffocating them?

Ah yup, don't suppose you recall the price off hand? I think I've seen them for around $25-$35? Sound about right? I'll check it out tomorrow - maybe bunnings might have them cheaper than a garden centre. Want to get a couple at least Any ideas on the lamps/UV tubes etc?

Ok, in case anyone is interested, it sounds as though the adenovirus hasn't yet hit NZs dragons to any extent, or at least hasn't been picked up as having arrived and widely spread. Sounds to me as though we're pretty lucky in that regard, as its become a very real issue in the US and some other well established dragon breeding communities around the world. I'd imagine its only a matter of time before it arrives however, as viruses generally speaking don't tend to stop spreading.

Any advice/experiences you'd like to share on sending reptiles via courier between north and south island? Input from breeders and single reptile owners alike is welcome. Particular courier companies or package systems which are kindest to the reptiles? A lot of soft breathable padding material of some sort I imagine would be vital... and a good misting before they leave? A snack for the journey?

Can anyone recommend affordable Christchurch shops to go to for basking lamps/fittings and UV tubes? Just wondering if theres one or two places which are known as "the" place to go for this stuff? Also digital thermometers with wired probe? I guess these are all over the place... cheers

Ah right I see. Still presumably it would be preferable to get the male/female from different lines, while the general NZ beardie population might well all be fairly related as you say, that would surely be preferable to direct siblings?

Ok thanks for that. If anyone else has any info on this subject please feel free to chip in

As well as this forum, I've been reading up as much as I can on overseas bearded dragon forums, and one thing I keep seeing mentioned is that you must always get your dragons tested for Adenovirus, especially if wanting to breed them, due to the transmission risk? I haven't seen it mentioned here, and was wondering what the situation was in NZ regarding this virus?

Doh! I don't know what to suggest in that case.... never encountered a PC with the latest Flash that couldn't play google videos before... You could always try clicking the Download button on that google video page, and watch the video file with something like VLC media player? (free video file player that plays virtually any video file type - i would guess it can play whatever format the google video site allows you to download...) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Hey thanks for the replies folks. Varanophile - hey that sounds great, I'll be sure to keep you in mind when I set the wheels in motion for this project Only thing about that is that I've read when setting up a breeding pair, you want to buy from different breeders to ensure they're not related? Or do you have several different genetic lines going in parallel?

If determining the sex of baby bearded dragons isn't possible for most people, how can I go about buying 1 baby male and 1 baby female? Is this possible to do, or is it generally luck of the draw?! I'm wanting to rear a breeding pair, as I can't afford the full grown breeding pairs at this stage...

Ok that sounds fine then, just wanted to make sure I wasn't in for a nasty surprise!! I guess the only thing once they're breeding like crazy is to make SURE they don't all escape and devour my neighbors exquisitely maintained gardens!!

Hey are these locusts noisy or smelly if kept in a large cardboard box? I take it they won't chew their way straight out of a cardboard box either?

Cool thanks! My little flat/property is going to run out of space FAST at this rate hehe. Time to reorganize everything I own...

Yup gotcha... so the theory is all there, thats a start I suppose there'd be a few decent online guides out there on the subject. I guess you're right about trial and error though. Alright, thats going on my to-do list as well. If anyone would like to share any tips on how to do this successfully, I'm all ears If not, then thats no biggie, I'd rather experience major trial and error with crickets, than with Beardies, for obvious reasons!

So I just wondered what the story was with breeding live crickets or other insects for feeding bearded dragons was? Is this practice fairly common? How straightforward is the process? Is it possible to just buy a bunch from a petstore, put them in a tank with some small airholes, provide some leaves, water, and let them multiply? It would tend to be waay cheaper than continuously buying live feed right?

Just in case that continues not working for you, heres another 212 Bearded Dragon video clips, of varying quality/usefulness These are mostly between 4-10mins each http://video.google.com/videosearch?num ... um&start=0

I'd guess that if your PCs have an old version of Flash, google video mightn't work? Also google video / youtube etc are often blocked by businesses IT dept, but obviously this would only be an issue if you're at work ? (I should clarify, I watched it via streaming online, not clicking the Download button on that page...)

Played fine for me in Firefox2 / XP / with Adobe Flash 9 Do google videos usually work for you?