Some of my other pets

[jejton]

My 6 month old female Veiled Chameleon.

Now you see me

Now you dont.

My app 6 y/o ( I adopted him about 1 year ago and the former owner believed he was about 5 y/o ) male ball python.

Excuse the bad photos. I still have not gotten the hang of digital photography. More to follow later.

 

[Domboski]

Awesome Eric! I miss my ball python

 

[jejton]

You could always get a new one - they are always being given away for free or cheap on CL and it would definately be your most low maintanence pet.

 

[DrCooper]

Ahh I also miss my ball python, was great. I had a savanah monitor who was great.

Love the Chameleon!

 

[jejton]

I'd like to get a monitor or tegu but only when I have the space to properly house one and not just in a tank. I was just offered a Sulcatta tortoise rescue for adoption but have to turn it down because I dont feel comfortable adopting it at its current size without a large space devoted to it. But it would be a nice addition.

 

[Domboski]

I used to have a Sulcatta too when I lived in Florida. It actually came with the 75 gallon tank you have now I used to keep it outside most of the year but when I moved to Manhattan that wasn't possible. I had to give him away.

Have you ever had a water snake? I used to keep the local water snakes once in a while. I had one in a 125 for 3+ years. It was awesome watching them eat fish and the occasional frog.

 

[jejton]

When I was much younger I had a couple of black or brown watersnakes that I bought but I used to catch small snakes in an undeveloped field down the street ( in southeast Brooklyn! ) which the LFS owner told me were also brown water snakes but who knows. They were cool to watch. The only snake that ever bit me ( though others have tried ) was one of those I bought.

 

[jejton]

Some new shots. These turtles were adopted from Domboski. The brown one is a Scorpion Mud Turtle ( correct me if I made a mistake Dom ) and the other one is a River Cooter which I call Stumpy since one of his back feet is missing. Any thoughts for a name on the ther one? These guys have lots of personality. For a treat I get thtem live crayfish. Watching them hunt 'em and eat them is pretty wild. Enjoy.

This is Stumpy.

He's the more skittish one. Probably Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Any thoughts on a name for him ?

Time for a close up.

Here's the DIY screen top I made. I wouldnt use it on anything that can climb up to the top and push against it, like a snake or largerer lizard, but it works great here and I'm going to make one for my overflow to keep that pesky percula out of it.

Their tank is a 75 gallon standard ( thanks Dom ) with a layer of river pebbles from HD, two Turtle Docks, a combo lamp with one UV bulb and one heat bulb, and a Fluval 404 canister filter ( this was a freebie from DJ Orion - thanks! - that finally was fixed and put to use ). They get turtle sticks as a staple and various greens ( mostly for the cooter ) including human food and aquatic greens, along with meaty items like feeder FW fish, snails, crayfish, worms and whatever I'm feeding my other insectivores. No feeding problems here.

 

[NYreefNoob]

only water snake i knew growing up ya didnt want for a pet, water mocassin :bigeyes:
http://www.oplin.org/snake/fact%20pages/moccasin_water/moccasin_water.html

and our other local snakes were reg garden snakes, black snakes and timber rattlers. couldnt see having a snake for a pet as i am scared of them lol. well not if they are in a cage, had some not so nice run in with snakes as a kid, guess thats why at 8yr old i got a snake gun a 22 gauge for when i went out in the woods

 

[Domboski]

Looks great Eric! I couldn't get the mud turtle to eat anything but silversides and shrimp. Great job!

They have a lot more swimming space now

 

[jejton]

Really? This guy eats the turtle sticks and everything else ( not much of the plants, but the species doesnt each much vegetation ) and would taste my finger if I wasn't careful! He's like a crayfish terminator. They dont last the day in that tank and the cooter has to be fast to get a taste.

 

[Domboski]

I primarily fed them reptomin and the mud turtle would bite them but not really eat them. In fact, at one point, I bought all different kinds of turtle pellets to see if he would eat any of them . The person who had him before me only fed him the shrimp turtle treats. The turtle's skin used to be very pink! The shell was opened so much at the top I could fit my finger in the space. I felt bad for the turtle . He is doing much better now though of course :biggrin:

 

[jejton]

Just out of curiousity, do you have any idea as to their age? His shell problem was most likely due to a calcium insufficiency and/or fungal infection ( which can take hold in a shell thats damaged to insufficient calcium, or poor water conditions, temperature ) which is why I asked about the UV lamp. It'll take time to completely heal but its getting there. Its amazing to see out the cooter gets by without one of its bag legs. Its completely compensated.

 

[jejton]

I've been trying to find a plant that they wont eat, or at least too much, to help naturalize the tank but they eat everything I put in. Even the duckweed was eaten within one day. Any ideas?

 

[Domboski]

I have no clue on the scorpion mud. It was kept in a small tank (at most 20 gallons) with a local snapping turtle. They had no heat lamp. I assumed that the snapper caused the damage. I didn't even ask. I knew if I kept them in the right conditions the turtle would be fine. The cooter was pretty young when I got it. I got the cooter from some women who had no heat lamp. I can't remember what she told me happened to the turtles web on the back foot. It was healed up by the time I got it so it never was a problem for him as far as swimming around . He used to try and entice my lizard to mate with him LMAO.

 

[Domboski]

I've been trying to find a plant that they wont eat, or at least too much, to help naturalize the tank but they eat everything I put in. Even the duckweed was eaten within one day. Any ideas?

I gave up on live plants early one. Even if they didn't eat them they chewed them up. I used fake plants for a while but eventually went plantless.

 

[jejton]

How are your mossy's doing? Are you going to the show next weekend? I'm debating since I have exams that week and am not really looking to get any animals, just some plants and supplies.

 

[Domboski]

How are your mossy's doing? Are you going to the show next weekend? I'm debating since I have exams that week and am not really looking to get any animals, just some plants and supplies.

I lost one of the two small ones I bought at the last show. Not sure what caused its death :scratch: I'm probably not going to the show. I'm not looking to get anything at the moment. I'm waiting for the small tree frogs I got at the last show to grow large enough to be put in the 40 gallon tall tank.

 

[duke62]

if you can remember the name of the big turtle from the never ending story that would be perfect..looks just like him....just looked it up its MORLA

 

[Keith P]

That is such a cute face!