Animals
The Beardies Have a Name!
24/10/09 21:05
The beardies have a name :)
The Male (center) is
Harvey (after Harvey Wallbanger - he is very
protective of his females and keeps head-butting the
glass when we go near the viv to watch him).
One female (foreground) is 'Penelope' - she has quite
a pointed face and quite definitely looks French! The
other female (background) is Lu-Lu (don't ask me why,
that one was chosen by my wife, and who am I to
argue?).
I also had suggestions from one of my grandsons:
Jenny, Penny & Bum-Bum. I have no idea why he
suggested those names, but he is only five!
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New Additions
23/10/09 08:34
Three new additions to the collection today!
I picked up three Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps) today:
These guys are beautiful! One male and two females (no names yet!) and in prime age and condition for breeding.
I'll let them get established and settled in, then write more about them.
I picked up three Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps) today:
These guys are beautiful! One male and two females (no names yet!) and in prime age and condition for breeding.
I'll let them get established and settled in, then write more about them.
Catching Up...
04/10/09 16:20
It's been a long time since I updated this blog -
nearly 4 months!
That's not because I'm not interested, but I've been too busy. Anyway, here's an update... Read More...
That's not because I'm not interested, but I've been too busy. Anyway, here's an update... Read More...
Very Active, Very Hungry
09/06/09 23:55
Well, the title says it all!
I have been letting her roam around for an hour or two every evening - it seems to stimulate her and get her moving around the viv a lot more than she had been doing.
Read More...
I have been letting her roam around for an hour or two every evening - it seems to stimulate her and get her moving around the viv a lot more than she had been doing.
Read More...
Back on form!
07/06/09 23:52
She eats!
She has been very active tonight, both in the viv and roaming round the living room. So, I tried her with a small mouse and she struck and took it right away. Silly girl tried to swallow it backwards and had a little trouble with the tail and back legs getting in the way, but she managed it eventually.
I have to admit that that’s a huge relief. There’s hope that she may pull through
She has been very active tonight, both in the viv and roaming round the living room. So, I tried her with a small mouse and she struck and took it right away. Silly girl tried to swallow it backwards and had a little trouble with the tail and back legs getting in the way, but she managed it eventually.
I have to admit that that’s a huge relief. There’s hope that she may pull through
Active, but still not eating
04/06/09 23:49
Victoria is active enough, but still not eating. I
showed her another small mouse today and while I got
a little interest, she’s still not taking it. I am
seriously worried now. I thought a few days after
sloughing she would be eating again.
Injury?
31/05/09 23:44
I got a look at her new skin today, and there’s been
some sort of injury. On either side of her body,
there is an injury that appears to have been
bleeding. It is not an open sore, and the scales are
formed over it, but there has been blood forced
through them and it has formed a hard scar. It could
be a heat burn, I suppose, or it could be a crush
injury from her getting trapped in something. I
haven’t seen her be trapped any time, but with the
injury matching on both sides, it has to be a
possibility.
Tried a small mouse tonight, expecting her to be hungry now, but no interest at all. This is worrying.
Tried a small mouse tonight, expecting her to be hungry now, but no interest at all. This is worrying.
A tough time
30/05/09 21:33
Since my last post of 3rd May Victoria has been off
her food. I have presented her with a mouse several
times, but with declining interest. Her eyes were
slightly clouded, so I didn’t worry at first,
thinking that she was getting ready to slough.
However, as the time passed by without any sign of
it, I started to worry.
The temperature has been fine, I have been spraying the viv occasionally to keep the humidity up and hep her slough, but nothing came of it. She became very listless and I really thought I was going to loose her.
Then, last night she started to slough!I had her out of the viv, trying to find out if anything was wrong and she started to rub her nose against the rough fabric of my jeans. She kept it up for a good couple of hours and managed to break the skin on her nose and work it back over her head. I went to bed and left her to it, but in the morning found she had had a very untidy slough. The skin was still stick to the top of her head and along her back and sides for about 8 inches. The rest of it had come off in tiny pieces - the largest was barely an inch long.
Tonight, I let her rest up. I think she was exhausted with the effort. There are some white patches on her sides I’m not altogether happy about, but we’ll look at those tomorrow.
The temperature has been fine, I have been spraying the viv occasionally to keep the humidity up and hep her slough, but nothing came of it. She became very listless and I really thought I was going to loose her.
Then, last night she started to slough!I had her out of the viv, trying to find out if anything was wrong and she started to rub her nose against the rough fabric of my jeans. She kept it up for a good couple of hours and managed to break the skin on her nose and work it back over her head. I went to bed and left her to it, but in the morning found she had had a very untidy slough. The skin was still stick to the top of her head and along her back and sides for about 8 inches. The rest of it had come off in tiny pieces - the largest was barely an inch long.
Tonight, I let her rest up. I think she was exhausted with the effort. There are some white patches on her sides I’m not altogether happy about, but we’ll look at those tomorrow.
Rearranging the Furniture
03/05/09 00:43
I wasn’t happy with the setup of Victoria’s vivarium.
First, I wasn’t convinced that the 11watt heater mat
was large enough for the tank size (an 11” square
heater under a 24” square tank). The heater seemed to
be on almost all the time and, unless the lamp was on
as well, it couldn’t maintain an adequate
temperature. So, I rearranged the tank today,
replacing the 11w mat with a larger, 20w one. That
seems much better. There’s still plenty of space for
Victoria to escape the heat, if she wants to, but now
the mat is able to maintain temperature when I put
the lamp off.
While I was at it, I also put in a larger branch, with several off-shoots. This is about 5” wide at the base, with the offshoots between 2” and 4” diameter. I have wrapped some artificial vines around it and it looks quite effective. i know that Royals are not often found off the ground, but it has also given her a much wider range of ground level hides as well. All in all, a good improvement.
As if to celebrate, some 12 hours or so after the rearrangement she struck at a mouse as soon as it was offered. i bought some smaller mice to try her with, since she had refused the last two medium mice offered. I’ll thaw another one tomorrow and try her again tomorrow night.
I haven’t weighed her tonight, but while she was out of her viv during the rearrangement, I measured her length. i had previously estimated it at 20-24”. I turns out that she’s a healthy 39”!
It must be time to find her a mate.
I also called in at Norwich Reptiles today, hoping to pick up a couple of beardies and a couple of Emperor Scorpions. Out of luck on both!. They are growing on some Captive Bred beardies, but they aren’t quite ready yet. Another week should see them ready. They’re also down to their last Emporer - expecting more in next Wednesday. They did have an absolutely gorgeous Cayman Island Iguana there though. A fantastic beast that I fell in love with, but at £1,500 I’m not so sure that I could have convinced Margaret that it really needed a new home with us!
Anyway, it seems I just happened to call in a few days too soon! I had the viva set up ready for them as well. Ah, well. Maybe better luck next time.
While I was at it, I also put in a larger branch, with several off-shoots. This is about 5” wide at the base, with the offshoots between 2” and 4” diameter. I have wrapped some artificial vines around it and it looks quite effective. i know that Royals are not often found off the ground, but it has also given her a much wider range of ground level hides as well. All in all, a good improvement.
As if to celebrate, some 12 hours or so after the rearrangement she struck at a mouse as soon as it was offered. i bought some smaller mice to try her with, since she had refused the last two medium mice offered. I’ll thaw another one tomorrow and try her again tomorrow night.
I haven’t weighed her tonight, but while she was out of her viv during the rearrangement, I measured her length. i had previously estimated it at 20-24”. I turns out that she’s a healthy 39”!
It must be time to find her a mate.
I also called in at Norwich Reptiles today, hoping to pick up a couple of beardies and a couple of Emperor Scorpions. Out of luck on both!. They are growing on some Captive Bred beardies, but they aren’t quite ready yet. Another week should see them ready. They’re also down to their last Emporer - expecting more in next Wednesday. They did have an absolutely gorgeous Cayman Island Iguana there though. A fantastic beast that I fell in love with, but at £1,500 I’m not so sure that I could have convinced Margaret that it really needed a new home with us!
Anyway, it seems I just happened to call in a few days too soon! I had the viva set up ready for them as well. Ah, well. Maybe better luck next time.
A slight problem
29/04/09 07:13
I’m going away on business for a couple of days, so I
wanted Vicky to have a feed before I go. So,
yesterday I thawed out another mouse and tried her
with it last night. Only at that point did I discover
her heat lamp had died! I had a spare bulb, so tried
that, but the whole fitting seems to be
non-functional.
So, I spent an hour scrabbling round to put together another heat lamp - a ceramic heater this time. that seem to be working, and the temperature is climbing again.
However, either because of the reduced temperate (her viv went down to 24°C/75°F in spite of an under-floor heater mat) or the disturbance of me sorting out the heater lamp she wouldn’t feed. She showed a lot of interest, as usual, but couldn’t be tempted to strike.
The temperature is now back up to normal. and I’m back tomorrow night so well see what happens then.
So, I spent an hour scrabbling round to put together another heat lamp - a ceramic heater this time. that seem to be working, and the temperature is climbing again.
However, either because of the reduced temperate (her viv went down to 24°C/75°F in spite of an under-floor heater mat) or the disturbance of me sorting out the heater lamp she wouldn’t feed. She showed a lot of interest, as usual, but couldn’t be tempted to strike.
The temperature is now back up to normal. and I’m back tomorrow night so well see what happens then.
Progress Report - Victoria
25/04/09 22:34
She took another mouse today. Still not taking them off the floor, but as soon as I moved it she struck and held it, then disposed of it without any fuss or messing about. Interestingly, I saw her taking a drink of water from her drinking bowl shortly after eating the mouse – not something you see very often.
I’ll have to think about getting some larger mice next time. She seems to have no trouble at all with these ones.
Weight now 540g
Progress Report - Victoria
24/04/09 08:53
Checked Victoria all over, 24 hours after feeding.
She’s looking fine, still bright and alert. Weight
490 grams.
I’ll try and get some new pictures of her.
What’s next for the collection? I’m hoping to pick up a pair of ‘beardies’ (Bearded Dragons)next week. they have some at Norwich that they are growing on in readiness for sale. Future additions planned include Giant Millipedes (for our youngest son) and Imperial Scorpions for our next eldest. I have always had a fascination for imperials - under a UV light they look fantastic and are one of the few scorpion breeds that can be easily kept in a community.
I’ll try and get some new pictures of her.
What’s next for the collection? I’m hoping to pick up a pair of ‘beardies’ (Bearded Dragons)next week. they have some at Norwich that they are growing on in readiness for sale. Future additions planned include Giant Millipedes (for our youngest son) and Imperial Scorpions for our next eldest. I have always had a fascination for imperials - under a UV light they look fantastic and are one of the few scorpion breeds that can be easily kept in a community.
Third Attempt - success!
22/04/09 23:43
Second Feeding Attempt
21/04/09 08:29
Over the weekend some additional hide materials were
added to the Royal Python’s viv. These took the form
of rough split logs. the log was retrieved from a
tree trimmed by the council - I baked the logs for 5
hours in the oven to kill off any mould or pests
first, then removed all the bark and loose material
before splitting the logs to form a new hide. This
because she has taken to hiding behind the backdrop
to the viv and I am concerned that she will be
getting chilled behind there - it is away from all
the heat and insulated from the tank by the foam
thickness of the backdrop. She seems much happier in
the main area of the tank now.
Tried her with a second mouse last night. As soon as I lifted the mouse in to the viv, she struck at it, but unfortunately missed! She caught both the mouse and my thumb (drew just a little spot of blood!) this made me jump and her as well. I think this put her off because, although she looked over the mouse for a good few minutes, she was very wary and didn’t take it. It was still there this morning, so I had to remove it again. Disappointing, but still not a major worry. She is taking an interest in the food, so I am not deeply concerned yet.
Tried her with a second mouse last night. As soon as I lifted the mouse in to the viv, she struck at it, but unfortunately missed! She caught both the mouse and my thumb (drew just a little spot of blood!) this made me jump and her as well. I think this put her off because, although she looked over the mouse for a good few minutes, she was very wary and didn’t take it. It was still there this morning, so I had to remove it again. Disappointing, but still not a major worry. She is taking an interest in the food, so I am not deeply concerned yet.
First Feeding Attempt
19/04/09 11:21
Well, she’d been settling in for over 24 hours last
night (my still nameless Royal Python), so I thought
I would try her with a mouse.
I thawed one out and made sure it was not still chilled before introducing it to her viv. While she showed some interest and ‘sniffed’ at it for about 3-4 minutes, she didn’t take it. i moved it into the door of her hide and dimmed the light for the night to see if she would take it when all was peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately, it was still there this morning, so i had to remove it and dispose of it.
I would have been nice if she had fed, but I’m not worried - yet!
I thawed one out and made sure it was not still chilled before introducing it to her viv. While she showed some interest and ‘sniffed’ at it for about 3-4 minutes, she didn’t take it. i moved it into the door of her hide and dimmed the light for the night to see if she would take it when all was peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately, it was still there this morning, so i had to remove it and dispose of it.
I would have been nice if she had fed, but I’m not worried - yet!
Settling In
18/04/09 23:00
Well the Royal Python seems to be settling in well.
what follows is a few lines on how she is housed.
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