Much of the reptile requirements are similar, particularly in relation to metabolic bone disease.

Also Shirley Vet in Marshlands Road have a reptile specialist from Uk locuming at the moment but Hornby is where a lot of "exotics" get treated at the mo.

hi donna would you like to start a turtle care sheet off, pwetty pwease

mmm will do... but wont be in a hurry.. 50+ turts at the moment...not much time for typing :roll:

Hi, great info. nice to have it all in one place. I have take Doza to Seaton Butler at Kelburn Vet Practise in Wellington, was recommended to me by Wellington Zoo. Hope this may help.

just asking about alans previous post. Where can we get pinky mice with out breeding our own.

are there any shops that sell them? a link to a website?

(Sorry to derail the thread)

I am working on a care sheet for axolotls if it is any help.

They sell them frozen overseas for animals we can't keep here like snakes but here I think you have to breed your own. Not hard but smelly compared to rats.

if you clean out daily and keep the males seperate and outside the smell is greatly reduced

snakekid are you going to post the axy care sheet here?

on here or the website

in the rep and amphib section

and invite others to add points just like this thread

as people have raised points that others agreed on i altered or added them to the original care sheet

it is good to get different peoples perspectives and experiences on their care in nz

if housing indoors, during summer you can have an enclosure outside for your lizard to have access to natural sunlight. Just make sure they can get out of the direct sun if need be, and provide a water dish as per normal.

could add somthing along those lines if it hasnt been said already if you like.....

anyone else...any thing....even the smallest things you may of observed or what ever maybe a big help to others?

have added it I.D. thanks

anybody or thing else?

I understand that the eastern Bearded dragon is happy at lower temperatures, are hardier and able to take higher humidity than the other species.

Facts sheet excellent so far. Though my dragons do not seem to agree with the sexing details at the moment.

have you let them read it dougstark?

Might have to, they may need some educating. My biggest dragon has the wider head, darker beard, more dominant, but under the tail says female :-?

fa'a fafene?

fa'a Dragene?

shhhhh....eeeeee

It puts a new meaning to the words drag on

I thought 40-45 degrees was too hot? obviously I was wrong :lol:

we forgot impaction and brumation

i have added a bit to the care sheet, anything further to add

if not and you are happy with it let us know

Should we add something about feeding too much rich food until the beardie gets too fat and that they will be OK fed only six days per week. Because reptile maturity is more to do with size than age I think sometimes there is a tendancy to overfeed, particularly with rich foods and this can cause problems like obesity or metabolic bone disease.

be nice to have input from some others on feeding....even temps?

anyone else?

if you agree with the caresheet at the start of this thread or can suggest a change please let us know

maybe different ones can be created for all the exotic reps and amphibs found in nz

Just noticed these on trademe

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=442346433

are these cacti all good for beardies, just want to double check even though they're being advertised as beardy food.

Should we add something about feeding too much rich food until the beardie gets too fat and that they will be OK fed only six days per week. Because reptile maturity is more to do with size than age I think sometimes there is a tendancy to overfeed, particularly with rich foods and this can cause problems like obesity or metabolic bone disease.

Just my opinion...in nature beardies (like many other species including leopard geckos, bluetongues, water dragons, frogs, box torts) are feast or famine.....that is the very reason why reptiles exist and thrive in harsh environs.

Provided you offer the right foods then it is impossible to over feed. Obviously don't offer your dragon 500 waxworms in a session (extremely high in fat and not an insect the dragon would eat in nature), but offering as many locusts or crickets or mealworms as they can eat as often as you want is not an issue. The only thing I have noticed is that dragons well fed on bugs are less likely to eat greens. Alanmin: Metabolic bone disease can only be caused by not enough calcium, or no UVA/UVB to convert it into body tissue.

The only probelm I see in terms of overfeeding is over supplementation of vitamins or calcium- so as I said earlier do it once a week for calcium and no need to even bother with the vitamins provided you feed a variety of foods.

If your dragon is fat then it is as the result of inactivity ( have you brumated it) or lack of exercise....which is why you need a large enclosure or give your dragon the ability to have a wander round in a large outdoor cage or deck or balcony or supervised run on the grass at least once a week.....they run ALL over the place non-stop.

The way people like Repto or Sneaky or ReptileNutt keep their animals is the right way- lots of room and the animal regulates its own body. If you want to have a pet whereby you can control every aspect of its life then get a mouse.

Too many people adopt methods or create theories that are over complicated (big trend in American reptile literature) and melodramatic...applies to food, temp, incubating, bathing, humidity, substrate, 'my dragon turned black this morning because I was late feeding him :facepalm: ' etc.

As Repto said earlier don't over think it (temperatures), just imitate the environment where the animal evolved. According to the US 'experts' basking spot needs to be within a 4 degrees celsius range and you can't drop temps under 65 fahrenheit- CRAP!!!!!!!

Inland Bearded Dragons are found over a truly massage range. They can tolerate heat/cold, no food/lots of food, no water/flooding....they are hugely resistant to insect venom (bees and wasps) and have the ability to eat almost anything....if it moves and it fits in my mouth I will try and eat it.

For example if a beardie comes across a large food source in the wild he will pig out, and often there will be massive numbers of locusts for several weeks in a row. He won't think, 'hmmmm maybe I should watch my weight'. You must have all heard about only feeding young prey items that are less in length than the width of the dragons head- OMG...you really think that a baby beardie in the wild uses this method to assess whether it eats a bug??????

Just feed the right foods and offer variety. Give the animal an environment that allows it to exhibit its natural behaviour...simple.

I know some of you have become involved in this hobby after being involved in other hobbies that are very technical- breeding discus/horticulture etc and that it makes sense to want to be as technical as possible but you can over do it.

A dragon in a large outdoor cage that is fed once a week on bugs and finds it own greens has a way better quality of life (and they live longer) than one in a 4 foot tank that gets exactly 14 hours of fluorotube and a basking spot that is exactly the perfect temp, is fed locusts every second day and crickets every third day and has its food dusted with vitamins on Mon, Tues, Wed and gets to wander round in the lounge during Coro Street twice a week......you get the drift.

Just adopt basic common sense and observe your animals behaviour.