repto

sand is in fact a pain to know where they have layed,i use it now but constantly vow to change it but never do as it is such a mamoth task.A friend of mine did the layer of limesand trick but it only worked for the first year.I used to have river silt at my old place and it was ideal as you could just hose the surface and it would dry to a hard crust,once disturbed you could tell at a glance.Now with the sand I just get what I can and after a while dig over the whole area slowly,a bit embarassing when you find 80 eggs,plus you don`t know how old they are etc etc.

eggs in the sand would be better??

keep the temp of his water quite warm,say 29-30ish.this will boost his metabolism and they eat more and do alot better in my experience.The deformed shell of the other one means nothing and is quite normal,have seen them come out really mishapen but they soon flatten out to normal,have even had a few that got the egg shell stuck on and the shell appeared to be hardened in that shape but a few days in the water you could not tell which one it was.You cannot ever think that the eggs will come out in a certain number of days either,I have had them from 65 days to 120 days.Some even in the same batch can vary alot.Patience is something you need when breeding reptiles,if it can`t hatch on its own it was probaly no good anyway.

as mincie says common salt at one teaspoon /4.5 litres water will clear it up in no time,heated tank,I presume?

leave them in the hatching container till the belly button is gone,cover them with a damp paper towel to prevent dehydration,usually they come out and bury themselves into the medium,then when they are ready surface and start looking for water.The yolk sac is very prone to infection or rupture if you put them in the water too soon.As for the other egg,if its clean and white just wait,there is no fixed time even for eggs of the same batch,tampering will result in tradgedy.you probably could put some acrflavine or similar in the water,but i would advise take it out paint the area with some dilute iodine etc after a day or so.

I would say go for gold but keep the size down to what you know he/she can handle easily.I would use discretion with some of the spiders but there are plenty of things that you can offer safley,grass grub beetles which come out late october/november are plentiful and eagerly eaten by most of my critters,katy dids,praying mantis,moths ,earwigs ,slaters.I actually try not to spend any money buying bugs if I can help it.

I have some young ones here and someone wanted a female and turned them all down as males for that same reason,now two years later they are all girls??

have you not got a local hertological society or reptile club?I have a brother over there who is into snakes and seems to have a large network of contacts and fellow enthusiasts?

the gisborne ones from here have that smell but have never seen any reaction from the beardys while eating them.They will eventually cover all of nz I reckon,especially after seeing a really big sucker crawl out from under the bonnet of our car while sitting at roadworks just north of wellington and jump off!!also the in laws have found the odd one after visits from us,they crawl into any little cracks they can find and hitch a ride.

they won`t be gisborne cockroachs then will they?just auckland roachs?

thats an interesting theory on the smaller gene pol resulting in mutations popping up?livingart?Funny how they all seem to" popup" at the same places time and again??I could put a different theory forward,but won`t,ha ha.

there are a few with varying degrees of redness around(in NZ)

as long as it is warm enough and gets a balanced and varied diet,greens etc as well?it should be fine.They do seem to go through phases of losing interest in a particular type of food but generally they are eating machines.If its on its own as you say it may just be getting lazy through no more competition from siblings?How often does it shed?

looks good but the first photo his eye does not look quite right??

I have a typical exkiwi brother who went over there like bd and was overawed by all the reptiles wildlife,result was a rather hefty fine for doing precisely what BD is doing.

you can do it but it takes abit of thinking that alot of people can`t seem to manage or think that fish are disposable goods?Give the pleco plenty of places to hide from the turtles such as a bank of short lengths of alkathene pipes of the apropriate size,hollow logs etc etc.Plecos are by and large nocturnal and turtles arn`t so if you have plenty of darktime with your light cycle each will have time to do what they have to when the other is not around.As for them becoming friends?I don`t think so.

i have also used them without problems despite heaps living under rocks etc in the tank.Mainly use locusts now and they are easier for the beardies to catch.

I can tell you how big it is.It is the one out in my garage that is going to taupo tommorrow.??

I think put her on a diet might be a good idea???what a fatty!!!

your pretty well running out of choices then?Go find a desert and get some from there?

everything is over priced and usually undersized.Go it alone and it will add a whole new dimension to your hobby.Try this bloke,Mark ph crickets/mealworms Personal Info Removed See Guidelines Mod BIll tell him I recommended him,sends tuesdays I think.

come to my place you can have whatever you catch,there are heaps of the buggars!!!hows them beardies going?

a red eared slider would be the best choice for a beginer as they are freely available at a reasonable price year round these days.They are fairly hardy in the right hands and given the correct care will have a long life.You need your tank which you have ,a heater /thermostat and a reptile uv light which if your turtle has acess to natural sun or a regular basis you may not need.As for them having a walk,I personally think it is not necessary,sure they will walk if you put them out but thats just a natural thing to remove themselves from an unknowen environment.Turtles in the wild in a pond spend all their time in the water,they eat,sleep mate everything.They come up to sunbath on a log etc but don`t get alot of exercise while doing that.The only time theyleave the water is to lay eggs or if the pond was to dry up etc to find more water.They get plenty of exercise swimming.I have heard of more lost turtles than anything through being let out for a walk??

I have a hinged lid on my baby tank with the light etc in the back half,and the ceramic emiitter at one end over a rock.You lose a bit of heat but its not too bad.The adult female has wooden `tank` with a glass front and a lid,the male and water d`s are in another large tank that has half glass half gauze top an emitter and an heatpad underneath.Thats just the way it is in my garage it gets cold as in winter and in summer the opposite so all the heaters are connected to a thermostat so when roof temp hits 30 they all shut off.So what you gain in summer you lose in winter.?at the moment the heaters are working overtime to keep the temps up