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Eggs
Jul 2, 2010 13:02:43 GMT
Post by viridis on Jul 2, 2010 13:02:43 GMT
To be sure of the eggs hatching you will have to remove them and incubate them artificially.They may possibly hatch outside but I am sure that the young would be eaten by the adults if they hatch. Can you dig them up early in the morning before it gets too hot ,and therefore before the adults get really active?Obviously you will have to be careful not to crush the adults or eggs when you are moving the rocks.
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Post by viridis on May 12, 2010 16:58:39 GMT
Hi Chis, To answer your question on price ,vaguely.......... We use 6mm laminate and 6m toughened glass for work in office partitioning.We work on the figure of between £25 and £30 per square metre depending on quantity and area. Please bear in mind that this is the net cost plus V.A.T. and would be considerably more for the retail market.This would make these vivariums expensive. Unfortunately you are so far away.
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Post by viridis on May 10, 2010 15:23:35 GMT
The height of the walls depends on you. Normally 18" or 24" but bear in mind how easy you need access into the vivarium.Obviously the higher the wall the more difficult it is to get into the vivarium. I would also say the height of the wall depends on the size of the vivarium.Unless your polycarbonate is clear you will create a shadow along the walls and obviously with high walls the area that is in shadow will be greater.I have spoken to some experienced keepers and they tend to bank the soil into the middle of the vivarium.Shadowing is not problem in high summer but during spring and autumn with a lower sun this can be a problem. Most people tend to bury their walls about 24" again to try to deter rats. I have used fine sand in my vivariums without problems but I have been advised to use a sharper sand to prevent any eye problems. I hope this is of help,there are plenty of people more qualified than me on here,but no one seemed to answer you.
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Ants
May 9, 2010 10:42:18 GMT
Post by viridis on May 9, 2010 10:42:18 GMT
I have bee checking through my outddor vivs earlier and have found brown ants nests.This is not suprising as the vivs are mostly sand.Should I be worried?
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Post by viridis on May 8, 2010 9:44:53 GMT
I have been advised to buid my outddor vivaria from galvanised metal.I can certainly see the advantages of it as the lizards are unable to climb smooth surfaces,but I am put off by the finished look. This site isn`t very active I guess that there are not many people keeping herps outside.Most of the people here are from the British Isles so our climate limits the number of species that can be kept outdoors.I guess if we could keep Royal Pythons or Leopard Geckos outside it would be different. ;D
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Post by viridis on Apr 24, 2010 13:31:48 GMT
I dont think that they are kept over here.On the continent the Dutch and Germans keep and breed many more species than we do.I had a pair of strigata which are similar to media but I lost them this winter.I believe it was the dampness and not the cold as they come from areas that have cold winters and hot summers. Of the smaller species muralis and usually subspecies nigriventis and sicula are often available as youngsters in the late summer.Keep your eyes peeled on the various for sale forums.
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Post by viridis on Apr 22, 2010 16:56:31 GMT
If you were keeping herps back then there was a far more diverse list of species available.Animals were still being imported from Italy,Spain and Turkey.These days it is captive bred and tends to be Wall Lizards,Green Lizards and Eyed Lizards,although you will sometimes find the more obscure animals on the continent.
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Post by viridis on Apr 19, 2010 7:44:25 GMT
Looks good.Certainly use a top both to prevent escapes and predation from birds and cats.The only other thing I would do is add more cover whether this be plants,rocks or bark for the newts to hide under.
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Post by viridis on Apr 12, 2010 18:31:13 GMT
I agree with Killian,aged tapwater is fine.It is also a good idea to have a water butt so you can provide good ,clean rainwater.
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Post by viridis on Apr 8, 2010 14:37:13 GMT
I am not too well up on Australian temperatures but from what i understand the Water Dragons are found on the coast in south east Australia where it is cooler and more temporate but the Bearded Dragons are from the hotter,drier inner regions.would it not be possible to put them outside during the Spring ,Summer and Fall and bring them in during the winter? As far as I am aware over in the U.K. people do generally keep lizards outside from central and southern Europe.Even so there are vast climate extremes within this area. At a show in Germany I was talking to a man who claimed to keep Uromastyx outdoors{under glass] all year in Northern Germany .I was with an Uromastyx expert who seemed quite surprised by this.The German assured him that it was possible because the weather in Germany is bright and cold in the winter thereby allowing the vivaria to heat up.In Britain we usually get warm dull winters which would have a detrimental effect on the lizards.I only offer this as a theory and it might apply to your Bearded Dragons.
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Post by viridis on Apr 7, 2010 16:54:27 GMT
As above wanted in Southeast England to join lovetorn males
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Post by viridis on Apr 6, 2010 16:08:44 GMT
Hi Fluxlizard I have not measured the hibernating temperatures but I would say that the lizards need to be able to bury down to frost free soil I do have doubts as to whether Bearded Dragons will survive through a winter.As far as I am aware they are a desert species that require high temperatures.Bert had good success with Australian Water Dragons and Argentine Tegus but these are more temperate species.He also bred Lacerta strigata and timon Lepidus,I would have thought that these were more suited to your climate.if you can get any Lacertids they are generally very active and often brightly coloured.Species like L.bilineata,viridis or agilis.Even some of the smaller " Wall Lizards" genus Podarcis are good but they are escape artists.I believe there are feral colonies in various States of P.sicula.
p.s. your posts leave me with a warm feeling inside as they remind me of Lauel and Hardy !!!
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Post by viridis on Apr 6, 2010 7:01:36 GMT
Welcome Fluxlizard you raise some interesting points.I was never lucky enough to meet Bert or see his enclosures first hand but read his articles avidly.He was really ahead of his times in breeding Lacertids and his theories about calcium and vitamin D3. I live in the south of England and we had an exceptionally cold and prolonged winter with temperatures getting down to minus 5 or 6 celcius [sorry dont know the fahrenheit].I thought that I would losemost of my animals with the cold and damp but most of the adults have come through.However they are Lacertids from Northern and Central Europe so in their natural habitat it gets very cold and conversely hot in the summer.Most temperate lizards will hibernate naturally and mine were able to dig down in damp sand to about 450mm or 18".The sand had plenty of rubble and stones in it to break it up and allow the lizards to find their own depth.On top of this I put another thick layer of leaves about 300mm or 12" deep and half covered the tops of the vivaria with glass.This seemed to work for me. I dont think you necessarily have to build tunnels or special hibernacula the lizards should be able to sort this out for themselves if you have a frost free patch of sand or light earth.It isinteresting to note tat the losses I suffered were lizards that had been previously overwintered indoors and therefore probably didn`t know how to hibernate properly. I would think that you could probably keep Sandfish outdoors.Remember that they come from desert areas of North Africa so nightime temperatures are cold.You would have to ensure that the substrate warms up and even gets hot during the day which would entail a covering of glass and I am guessing that the hibernation period would be very short.Remember that you are unlikely to see them for very long as they do burrow a great deal,Now to contradict myself you are probably better keeping them inside in vivaria for this reason.
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Post by viridis on Apr 5, 2010 18:57:48 GMT
I haven` seen them befre,I have seen the melanistic ones.Do they breed true ?
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Post by viridis on Apr 5, 2010 17:23:04 GMT
Very nice.Does this mean in a few years time we will have morphs like Leopard Geckos
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