The Herp/Reptile Thread
 

Figured I'd start one up since I've seen at least 3-4 guys on here who have herps of some sort.

This is our favorite guy; he's a 11-month-old Nosy Be Panther Chameleon, over 12" nose to tail tip now. This is his new cage setup.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3556.jpg

Close up:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t..._3559_edit.jpg

I have more photos of him if anybody would like them.

Our other lizard is a 6-month-old bearded dragon who has some pretty nice orange coloration, even though he's just a generic beardie and not any kind of fancy hybrid. Pics of him to come later.

lol @ having "herps" :rofl2:

:icon18:

Assholes :rolleyes:

Herps = reptiles or amphibians

*sigh*

Herps=Hermerphidites?

^ :roflpuke2:

Awww....he needs a pal...or would they kill each other?

Yeah, I get it. Nice Chameleon. Don't worry about the funny guys -

I was waiting for someting else...herp? :roflpuke2:

Oh c'mon guys. :rolleyes:

When an OG starts a srs thread, we should respect it and be srs too.

I'd like more details about the terrarium. Size, places to get one, lighting, plants, etc. I think it would be cool to have a bearded dragon or chameleon. Pics of the dragon, please.

warm i'd like to see some more pics of the chameleon. i'm thinking of getting one. everyone i talk to makes it seem like they are really difficult, but it seems like more of having the right aparatus/setup and doing things right is important. i can deal with that. does yours change color?

Some baby tortoises that i just hatched last week

thats so cool. but did it hurt when you laid the eggs? :roflpuke2:

LISTEN BRO, NO HOMO, BUT THOSE ARE SOME PRETTY CUTE TORTOISES :roflpuke2:

OMG those are fuckin awesome!

A little bit older baby maybe a month old on top of one of my females she is about 15 years old

i had a toy when i was little that looked just liked that. except they were turtles. and they had white eggs for feet..... i know... wtf

It's a Zoo Med ReptiBreeze XL size screen reptile cage - 42 in x 24 x 24. You can get one of these from pretty much any good pet store.

Lighting is a simple 60 W (need to upgrade this one to 75 W) basking bulb in a housing, and a 24" housing with an 18" Zoo Med Repti-Sun 5.0 UVA/UVB bulb for UV exposure.

Plants are 1 ficus tree and 1 pothos plant - both of which are chameleon-safe, along with umbrella trees and other select species.

Lots of good info here: Screameleons - Panther Chameleon Care Sheet

Pics of the beardie will come soon - just took some nice macros that need some editing.

It's really not that bad - proper lighting and feeding pretty much makes for a happy, healthy chameleon. Check that link above for more details. They're definitely a pet for an advanced hobbyist, but they're not really that hard.

He changes from a turquoise color with no striping, to a bright blue with black bands and a bright white stripe, and to nearly white when he's in deep sleep. Panther chameleons can vary from their bright colors to brown, plain green, and almost black/grey if they're really unhappy.

Some more pics:

At 5 months old or so

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3406.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3415.jpg

A few weeks ago

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3455.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_3451.jpg

I have some cool videos as well. Will upload those right now since I only have them on facebook.

:tiphat:

Awesome! Those are sweet. How long does that variety live for?

awesome pics warm, i'd love to see the videos. what made you get panther over the other varieties?

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...6_478880_n.jpg

This is spike. I just fed him a cricket, obviously.

I know it's an arthropod, but it's the closest thing I got.

Are they like other reptiles in that we have to clean our hands after handling them? I know with some reptiles, we have to worry about salmonella. I used to have anole lizards for the kids, and they loved handling them. Then the kids decided they wanted to add salamanders to the mix. That didn't end well for the anoles.

Thanks dude. I don't have the other copy of 1 video (he was 4 months old or so in that one) but I do have 1 of him eating a cricket that I'm uploading right now.

I was split between a Veiled (Yemen) chameleon and the Panther, and we chose the Panther because of the bright blue color variation and general temperament. He's VERY friendly for a chameleon - never hisses or gapes his mouth at human handlers, never tries to bite, tolerates human activity around his cage, seems to enjoy being handled, and enjoys being outside of his cage.

There are some beautiful panther chameleon varieties. Check out Live Chameleons For Sale, Panther Chameleons For Sale, Buy Chameleons, Panther Chameleon For Sale - that's where I got our guy from.

Males are brightly colored, whereas females only display vivid green at best.

Sweet scorpion frost. Don't think I have the balls to keep one of those, even though they're generally harmless. :tiphat:

Chameleons are generally cleaner than other lizards. I still wash before and after handling since they do harbor disease. The bearded dragon lives in an arid environment so I'm not as careful with him since there's no moisture to promote the growth of various bacteria.

I had anoles at one time, they're pretty cool little guys. Bearded dragons are the best for kids (once they're full-grown and hardy). They're very friendly if handled regularly.



Here is a vid of our chameleon eating a cricket, and a "walk around"

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...h_100_3449.jpg

i like the panther ones, they look cool. seems lke based on what i'm reading they have the best temperment. does a chameleon bite hurt?

No clue. I assume it's similar to a bearded dragon bite, and those aren't bad. He's never drawn any blood.

They ought to never bite if you get one that's been handled regularly for its entire life.

He's a bark scorpion, so he's the most venomous scorpion in North America. Which I didn't bother to find out until after I found him in an elevator shaft at work and brought him home :roflpuke2:


Good video!

I didn't realize it cost so much to have a chameleon. I do like bearded dragons.

When I lived in New Mexico, I had all kinds of lizards and scorpions and spiders. Black widows are cool.

I just don't like reptiles, PERIOD!

OMG YES! Thank you for starting this thread Warm! herps for the win :D

here's my lil buddy Leo :)

http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/IMG_0528.jpg
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/IMG_0532.jpg
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/x...0/IMG_0564.jpg

My little brother is really into herping. I think he's got about 30-40 snakes right now, scaled down from whatever he had in the past.

He's filming some awareness film (I don't know much about it). Here are some things they're doing if anyone is interested...

"Alterna Rush" Movie Trailer on Vimeo

Current Projects :: Small Scale Films Inc.

cool snake, what kind is that?

Warm, how difficult is it to regulate the temp/humidity of the cage/aparatus. obviously, if i'm in my own house i can control the temp and humidity easily, but once i move out of my parents place, i'll likely be in an appartment and that makes things a little more difficult. is it easy to regulate the conditions in the cage if you have the right setup, or is it going to be really hard in an appartment situation in which it can get a bit cooler/warmer/dryer than you may want.

It's a ball python, One of the more common(probably most common lol) snakes as a pet, this is my first Herp, so i wanted to get a ball python, they are on the easier side to take care of, now don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm lazy and don't want a challenge with the snake, but since it's my first and they are pretty hardy, i just want to make sure everything is right before i buy a 2,000 dollar show snake lol.. My tank is at a consistent 88.8 degrees with humidity between 45-60% so he's doin pretty dang good :)

I wouldn't mind it if my environment was at a constant 88.... :D

ah no way, i'm a 60's degree weather man :D...lol hey, you don't really drive a Zonda R....do you? lol

I have a male red eared slider who I've raised since he was the size of a quarter, his name is Alvin. Pretty simple setup to keep things clean with minimal maintenance. 40g long tank, fluval 6 and 2 submerged filters (those babies are awesome), a floating island and the necessary UVB and standard heat lamp. I'll post pics when I go home this weekend.

It's relatively difficult for a chameleon since they are arboreal creatures and need 360 degree airflow through their cage - i.e. they need a complete screen cage. I have a small fountain right now which helps introduce humidity - but you must make sure to keep it clean because a clever chameleon will learn to drink from it. A constant water drip introduces a bit more humidity if you allow it to drop near your light/heat source. Manual misting (I try to do this 3x daily) does the rest. But since our heater is kicking on now (it freaking snowed all night ha!) I have a humidifier on right next to his cage (but not blowing through his cage) that comes on and goes off with his lights so he has extra humidity during the day. When it gets real cold, I'll be leaving it on 24x7.

I'm able to maintain his cage humidity to about 60-65% doing all of this. Without any measures, it would be about 25% which is dangerous to a chameleon.

so seasonal changes, requiring heat and AC to be used a lot make it more dificult to manage the conditions in the cage?

Yes, heating and refrigeration-type AC reduce the humidity in the air that travels through the system. We use swamp coolers in Utah for the most part due to the low humidity, so I don't have to do much during the summer since it's like 80% in the house anyway.