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I've always been partial to skinks.

Just making sure, Milk Snakes have similar needs to Corn Snakes except they grow bigger, correct? Because I was just looking around at things, and then I saw this:



It's a Honduran Milk Snake, and it's goddam beautiful.

 Alfndrate wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
I'd pick the corn snake over the bearded dragon, but I'll choose either one over turtles. I've owned both corn snake and bearded dragon for several years and they're awesome pets.

Except for bearded dragon poop. That stuff STINKS.

In my experience, everything that poops poops out smelly stuff...

Gerbils. Your argument is invalid.
Never been much of reptile man myself, but those milk snakes do look awesome. If you got a Corn Snake, you could call it Kelloggs. Kelloggs Corn Snakes, anybody?

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Desubot wrote:

 Grundz wrote:
sorry dudes but these guys are the best

Im sorry, what is that, and where can i get 50?

and, can I get one with wings... and the ability to breathe fire?? seriously, looks like a right proper dragon, minus those things... and it's size

Ah but what you don't realise is that that's actually a statue of a hand, and it's 3m across

 4oursword wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
I'd pick the corn snake over the bearded dragon, but I'll choose either one over turtles. I've owned both corn snake and bearded dragon for several years and they're awesome pets.

Except for bearded dragon poop. That stuff STINKS.

In my experience, everything that poops poops out smelly stuff...

Gerbils. Your argument is invalid.
Never been much of reptile man myself, but those milk snakes do look awesome. If you got a Corn Snake, you could call it Kelloggs. Kelloggs Corn Snakes, anybody?

My neighbor had gerbils... those cages stunk to high heavens, it might have had something to do the fact he was a terrible pet owner... so like when I said, "In my experience...", which doesn't make my argument invalid... because I wasn't arguing, I was stating my experiences...

Meanwhile, next door to Alf...

I've decided what I'm going to work to get.



It's a Mexican Black King Snake.

Also, if anybody was going to give me some critique, I was planning to get the Basic Corn Kit here replacing the Corn with the Mexican Black King and maybe swapping the substrate.

Also, for anybody in the Dorset area, I would highly recommend this shop.

Aren't most of the world leaders supposed to be reptiles?

 Alfndrate wrote:

 4oursword wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
I'd pick the corn snake over the bearded dragon, but I'll choose either one over turtles. I've owned both corn snake and bearded dragon for several years and they're awesome pets.

Except for bearded dragon poop. That stuff STINKS.

In my experience, everything that poops poops out smelly stuff...

Gerbils. Your argument is invalid.
Never been much of reptile man myself, but those milk snakes do look awesome. If you got a Corn Snake, you could call it Kelloggs. Kelloggs Corn Snakes, anybody?

My neighbor had gerbils... those cages stunk to high heavens, it might have had something to do the fact he was a terrible pet owner... so like when I said, "In my experience...", which doesn't make my argument invalid... because I wasn't arguing, I was stating my experiences...

Sorry, Alf! Posting without thinking strikes again!
They're usually almost odourless if they're actual gerbils though.

 Alfndrate wrote:

 4oursword wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:
I'd pick the corn snake over the bearded dragon, but I'll choose either one over turtles. I've owned both corn snake and bearded dragon for several years and they're awesome pets.

Except for bearded dragon poop. That stuff STINKS.

In my experience, everything that poops poops out smelly stuff...

Gerbils. Your argument is invalid.
Never been much of reptile man myself, but those milk snakes do look awesome. If you got a Corn Snake, you could call it Kelloggs. Kelloggs Corn Snakes, anybody?

My neighbor had gerbils... those cages stunk to high heavens, it might have had something to do the fact he was a terrible pet owner... so like when I said, "In my experience...", which doesn't make my argument invalid... because I wasn't arguing, I was stating my experiences...

Out of curiosity, were they in glass aquariums or wire cages? Wire cages give better air flow and keep things drier and less stinky in my experience. But yes, even gerbils will get rank if you don't keep their cages clean.

if you DO decide to get a Bearded Dragon, you're really going to need to have a wire door or at least some element of wire in the build. I've seen a few people keep Beardeds in large fishtanks, and this is not at all advisable; they are far too inclined to humidity for this dry and somewhat hot lizard.

Gruntz, if you're gonna link an Armadillo Lizard, do it right.

 Ouze wrote:
if you DO decide to get a Bearded Dragon, you're really going to need to have a wire door or at least some element of wire in the build. I've seen a few people keep Beardeds in large fishtanks, and this is not at all advisable; they are far too inclined to humidity for this dry and somewhat hot lizard.

For desert lizards like a Beardie I would do a glass tank, a wire top, and a small fan sitting on top to pull air out and keep it circulating.

Also randomly, partially bury a cave type of structure and fill it with sand for the Beardie to dig out. Mine always liked that.

 Soladrin wrote:
Gruntz, if you're gonna link an Armadillo Lizard, do it right.

I am Gordor the Dragon Lord!

I'd like a nice Iguana or such (lizards are cool), it would have to be a big mother or Rodney will eat it. Snakes-no way dude. Too many poisonous things here and it gives me the heebie jeebies. Plus we've had small rattlers get into the Austin house before and thats bad day at black rock. Plus Rodney is a snake killing machine O Death.

4oursword wrote:Sorry, Alf! Posting without thinking strikes again!
They're usually almost odourless if they're actual gerbils though.

It's all good man pets are just as varied as the people that keep them

AduroT wrote:Out of curiosity, were they in glass aquariums or wire cages? Wire cages give better air flow and keep things drier and less stinky in my experience. But yes, even gerbils will get rank if you don't keep their cages clean.

It was a plastic cage... very little air flow

AduroT wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
if you DO decide to get a Bearded Dragon, you're really going to need to have a wire door or at least some element of wire in the build. I've seen a few people keep Beardeds in large fishtanks, and this is not at all advisable; they are far too inclined to humidity for this dry and somewhat hot lizard.

For desert lizards like a Beardie I would do a glass tank, a wire top, and a small fan sitting on top to pull air out and keep it circulating.

Also randomly, partially bury a cave type of structure and fill it with sand for the Beardie to dig out. Mine always liked that.

We did everything AduroT did but the fan for ours, but I had a humidity gauge, a temp gauge, a ceramic heat bulb, a night bulb, and a daylight bulb. A nice rock so sit and bask on, a little cave/sand area that she would dig out. We had 2, Rosie (a Sandfire morph German Giant), and Kavu (shut up I was big into magic at that time!). Kavu was skinny, Rosie was fat... We introduced them to each other, and they didn't mind playing, basking, etc... but man she would steal the food from his mouth She was greedy as feth...

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Also, if anybody was going to give me some critique, I was planning to get the Basic Corn Kit here replacing the Corn with the Mexican Black King and maybe swapping the substrate.

That's a good starter kit, just make sure the rock that comes with the kit IS NOT a heating rock; herps have a tendency to burn themselves on those. Also, another log for climbing/shedding would be a good idea. And some kind of hide (tupperwear dish, small hollow log, store-bought cave) would be a great idea also.

 mega_bassist wrote:

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Also, if anybody was going to give me some critique, I was planning to get the Basic Corn Kit here replacing the Corn with the Mexican Black King and maybe swapping the substrate.

That's a good starter kit, just make sure the rock that comes with the kit IS NOT a heating rock; herps have a tendency to burn themselves on those. Also, another log for climbing/shedding would be a good idea. And some kind of hide (tupperwear dish, small hollow log, store-bought cave) would be a great idea also.

Also, in pretty much every case I would advocate for ceramic heat bulbs over under enclosure heating pads for the exact same reason, as they can burn themselves with the heating pads...

Also it simulates "real life" much more.

If you're planning on breeding your snakes, look up on how to properly put them into hibernation and care for them that way. Though if not, don't worry about it

 Alfndrate wrote:

 mega_bassist wrote:

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Also, if anybody was going to give me some critique, I was planning to get the Basic Corn Kit here replacing the Corn with the Mexican Black King and maybe swapping the substrate.

That's a good starter kit, just make sure the rock that comes with the kit IS NOT a heating rock; herps have a tendency to burn themselves on those. Also, another log for climbing/shedding would be a good idea. And some kind of hide (tupperwear dish, small hollow log, store-bought cave) would be a great idea also.

Also, in pretty much every case I would advocate for ceramic heat bulbs over under enclosure heating pads for the exact same reason, as they can burn themselves with the heating pads...

Also it simulates "real life" much more.

If you're planning on breeding your snakes, look up on how to properly put them into hibernation and care for them that way. Though if not, don't worry about it

I also recommend the ceramic heat bulbs, also. They cost more, but totally worth it!

I personally love monitor lizards, those things are smart, like Alien or Raptor smart. Mrs Stompa worked at a reptile zoo for many years and we got to know some of them, the black tree monitor was a clever little bugger, far more cunning than most mammals it's size.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I personally love monitor lizards, those things are smart, like Alien or Raptor smart. Mrs Stompa worked at a reptile zoo for many years and we got to know some of them, the black tree monitor was a clever little bugger, far more cunning than most mammals it's size.

Real men go for the biggest and baddest monitor lizard...


Honestly, I'd love to see one of these guys hunt... They're fething fast when they need to be, eat a whole water buffalo, and then like not move for a month

 Alfndrate wrote:

Real men go for the biggest and baddest monitor lizard...

Yes, they got them as well, only recently. Babies, which are arboreal, to avoid being eaten by their parents...

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

Real men go for the biggest and baddest monitor lizard...

Yes, they got them as well, only recently. Babies, which are arboreal, to avoid being eaten by their parents...

Oh I know 6th grade science fair I did a study on the Komodo, won 1st place in my section (life sciences), and narrowly missed placing in overall.

They're really cool creatures, and I would love a Nile Monitor if I had the space for them, and they weren't so damn temperamental.

 mega_bassist wrote:

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Also, if anybody was going to give me some critique, I was planning to get the Basic Corn Kit here replacing the Corn with the Mexican Black King and maybe swapping the substrate.

That's a good starter kit, just make sure the rock that comes with the kit IS NOT a heating rock; herps have a tendency to burn themselves on those. Also, another log for climbing/shedding would be a good idea. And some kind of hide (tupperwear dish, small hollow log, store-bought cave) would be a great idea also.

It's a cork hide and a water dish. No rocks here. Although I'll probably get a few extras from the shop to climb around on.

Anyway, I know it's better to get a ceramic heat bulb, but I was almost definitely going to get a thermostat for the mat, like I use with my Gargoyle Gecko currently. Minimizes the chance of burning significantly with it, and doesn't cost as much as a ceramic and dimming thermostat combo, although I may move up to it when it moves up a Viv.

I've worked in a reptile zoo for a few months too ( though it was rather tiny ).

We had these buggers, who will frenzy when anything remotely edible comes close. Thus the bite marks in my army boots.

That said, they are monitor levels of smart and can be trained. (they aren't monitor lizards despite the appearence btw)
It's a Black Tegu for those wondering.







Though we also had this monster at around 1,75m, Rock Monitor.

Wife says Tegu are much more docile and better behaved than monitors of similar size... and less likely to eat the family cat or small dog.

Argentinian Black and White Tegu is the full name I think.

Anyway, I think people often underestimate the intelligence and minds of animals, which I find quite depressing. Like when people get annoyed when they can't see an animal at a zoo.

Aye, it's just that the 3 we had we're pretty much feral and not that used to humans. (one of the reasons I hated the owner, she had no fething clue what she was doing)

Once picked up they didn't mind hugs though.

I never owned a reptile though.

Did have a Orchid Mantis, Emperor Scorpion (and 20 offspring because I unknowingly bought a pregnant female, who delivered 2 days after getting her) and a Bell's Horned Frog, who sadly died pretty quickly.

I do have fond memories of the Scorpion though, named her Freya because of the whole being a mommy thing. Sold the young ones, but it was amazing to watch them grow up, hell, mom only ate one! Also, having a 3 day old scorpion that's like 1cm trying to sting you is hilarious. Can't pierce skin and you don't even feel the pinch, but boy did they try.

I am tempted to look into rainbow and other small, beautiful colored boas. Unfortunately, any space they were in would be space I'd regard as suitable for a fish tank and my love of mbuna cichlids means it's more likely to become another aquarium...

 Soladrin wrote:
Aye, it's just that the 3 we had we're pretty much feral and not that used to humans. (one of the reasons I hated the owner, she had no fething clue what she was doing)

Once picked up they didn't mind hugs though.

Why did she have Tegus if she had no idea what she was doing? That's something I hate about the current exotic pet trade. There's quite a few individuals who just get hold of rare, expensive and often threatened animals through "breeding" then sell them off to the public with no other information, denying responsibility or any degree of the care for the animal by making sure the owner knows what she's doing and then disappearing.

Admittedly, there is a huge fault on her part for not researching either, but I feel it's just too easy to get some creatures. Either way, I don't want to deal with private breeders at all. I trust reputable pet shops more.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I am tempted to look into rainbow and other small, beautiful colored boas. Unfortunately, any space they were in would be space I'd regard as suitable for a fish tank and my love of mbuna cichlids means it's more likely to become another aquarium...

Rosy Boas are supposed to be quite good and small.

Yeah, just researched, only grow to about 2-3ft. It's so deedee!

Just found some care sheets if you were interested.

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/snakes/-/rosy-boa/

http://www.anapsid.org/rosyboa.html

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:
Aye, it's just that the 3 we had we're pretty much feral and not that used to humans. (one of the reasons I hated the owner, she had no fething clue what she was doing)

Once picked up they didn't mind hugs though.

Why did she have Tegus if she had no idea what she was doing? That's something I hate about the current exotic pet trade. There's quite a few individuals who just get hold of rare, expensive and often threatened animals through "breeding" then sell them off to the public with no other information, denying responsibility or any degree of the care for the animal by making sure the owner knows what she's doing and then disappearing.

Admittedly, there is a huge fault on her part for not researching either, but I feel it's just too easy to get some creatures. Either way, I don't want to deal with private breeders at all. I trust reputable pet shops more.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I am tempted to look into rainbow and other small, beautiful colored boas. Unfortunately, any space they were in would be space I'd regard as suitable for a fish tank and my love of mbuna cichlids means it's more likely to become another aquarium...

Rosy Boas are supposed to be quite good and small.

To put it very simple. The boss of the place was a dumb old-ish woman who should've never been allowed to start a business, much less a mini-zoo. The reptiles we're mostly there because "I LIKE ANIMALS SEE?!". The old bitch couldn't even train a fething jack russel. I'm glad I was there for a bit because I think I saved quite a few reptiles who we're quite simply in the wrong fething set up. She probably wasn't even capable of keeping an anolis, much less a tegu. Not to fething mention a 6 foot rock monitor quite capable of ripping you a new one.