repto

don`t worry,they probably said the same sort of thing to noah???

good one sneaky

standard acrylic paint should be fine?let it dry out as long as you can before putting any animals in there.

or am i over protective and a nutter? i`ll go with this one.

would not risk using treated timber for a gecko enclosure.Toxins like that work on a body weight per exsposure to said chemicals......light weight animal = more toxicity(sp?)

the early breedings were not intentionally all male.just a case of using primative incubation methods such as hotwater cupboards etc.The same thing happened with a man from Tauranga who hatched and raised some 23 Herman`s that were later sold around nz.They did not even know of their mistake till some years later and Temperature determined sexing was just a rumour?It did not matter much to breed them as they would just go out and catch more(england at least but alot of animals came to nz in the early 60`s before controls were placed.

whats with your comment on the other site about female not having spurs?I thought they both had them?Why you selling your future breeding stock?impatient or what?

probably alot of guesswork?The main thing they seem to go by is the larger size.The wide range of areas they come from with eastern and western races etc and various localised populations with distinctive differences and features makes this a hard thing to prove or disprove for that matter.Couple this with the millions!!! that were caught and exported to england over the years prior to the banning of this practise,we could have alot of hybrids here?Most of these tortoises that were imported did not last long in captivity with the climate difference,but thats another story.

I think they simply did not know about TDS or even have the technology to hold steady temps?

not sure about that V.You would have to do some travel and checkout the local populations in their home range,tortoise trust in england may be able to help you out?

whats 80% as a number? 8 out of 10 forsale or 16 out of 20?? most spurthigh breeders I have heard of have huge fertility issues?herman`s seem to hibernate better in our country and the fertility is much higher ,they also seem to multiple clutch better.The main inhibiting factor is the lack of females??

yes,they came from england but anyones guess where before that?I have seen some of hers that were that olive green,not that pretty compared to some I have seen.Why do you say there are more than Herman`s?I know of alot more sucessful herman`s breeding than Spurthighs?

A bit hard to say,but most originate from barbra wiltshire who imported 6 in 1965 and bred some 84(mostly male) from them.These were all sourced from the pet trade which were no doubt wild caught imports from who knows where?Yugoslavia,morroco,tunisia. ivan had a big huge female his place for a while and we summised that by its colour and size could be an ibera?There are also others around from various origins??

blueys are born,leo`s hatch??

in my experience even though they have extended light hours with artificial lighting they still seem to want to brumate and will do so regardless,even if not as deeply they still stop eating and have long sleeps.

not necessarily,usually they do a deal with the other zoo for something they want.

also catch the train out to gosford to the reptile park,well worth the trip.

don`t know about chytrid but I remember back in the 70`s poplar rust crossed the tasman via wind and decimated various species of poplar trees,spreading across the country from there in a couple of short years?Also giardia supposedly arrived via tourists who came here infected went for a nice bush walk and were caught short at some point, relieved themselves near a waterway and infected the water which then the local animals became infected and so on?probably easier than we would think for these things to establish.If their is some sort of opening nature will soon take advantage?

I think so,leopard geckoes for example.How hard do you think it would be for me to sell a dozen breeding age males of any colour morph?

i`m not saying deter but rather the opposite,and as for people wanting to do the right thing......it all comes down to the price ,more so with families,mortgages etc etc?

also even if there was a list and such and such was on it,do you really think that would deter smugglers from targeting that species to bring in when they could source them overseas at bargain prices?

ok jc,so your restating alot of what we all know and has already been said apart from your fixation with the austraian market?Personally would not touch a harmless snake with a bargepole and monitor lizards not any interest either?They in fact would have more constraints than us if it wasn`t for the wide range of reptiles that were there already?Try and get a red ear or tortoise over there? "can they afford to prosecute offenders"? well one would hope so when the whole basis of our country`s economy is agriculture based.

let them do their own job.They have access to plenty of govt funding.Stuffed if I want to pay annual fees for permits etc and let them know what I have and where so they can change the rules and come tick off the list I supplied them with and take away any or all my animals at their whim??can`t see any improvement happening .Don`t mind registering my dog but thats where I draw the line!

not me,others that did not believe when I said from a maf point of view you were a marked man. so you are back home then?

basically they can do what they like to us.with our agricultural based economy we don`t stand a chance.I don`t agree with this myself as it just tends to make smuggling more viable and would drive the `hobby` further underground.