Keeping Reptiles and Reptile Cage Plans

Help, newsletter and other stories

2006-10-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

I had a reader send me a fantastic story about a gecko she found upon return from Hawaii. It's an interesting story about animal survival against odds and the strange concurrence of events that sometimes leads to a lucky find. You can read about it all here. Michelle tells the story of finding morning geckos that survived in her luggage.

There are some good tips on injecting reptiles from a vet when they are sick. These are handy. Also, in the previous issue I wrote an article on reptile cage making tips. Hopefully someone will find them useful.

There was also a tribute poem to Steve Irwin in that issue. I'm not going to add anything of note to that saga, so i will just leave it at that as the poem says it better than I ever could.

It's interesting to note that I have a few people contributing articles and I hope that as time goes by I will get some more contributions to the free Keeping Reptiles newsletter.

I have also added a care sheet on Jungle Pythons that was well done and contributed by a reader so the reptile care sheets and other topics are slowly building up in numbers.

Bearded dragon brumation/hibernation

2006-08-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I noticed Gonzo, my bearded dragon, was acting a bit differently. Previously had always sat on a log close to the basking light, up fairly high. Lately had taken to hiding under newspaper. When I first got him he was not interested in a hiding place. I tried hiding dens but he always remained up high.

At first I wasn't sure what has caused his behaviour to change. He was still eating well, but only crickets. Greens, dandelions (his favorite) and other foods did not seem to interest him. The cage temperature had not altered but it was like he has decided to go into hibernation/brumation. When I lifted the newspaper to see him he was generally asleep. I couldn't figure out why.

It is winter at the moment in the southern hemishpere and the other reptiles are hibernating but Iwas surprised he had taken to it, as the internal temperature of the cage had pretty well remained the same. Not having had a bearded dragon before, I didn't quite know what to expect.

It was only just the other day that I realised that I had been shortening the snake cage days a bit here and a bit there and, as they run on the same timer, it has initiated the brumation in the bearded dragon. I feel a bit dumb about this as I should have realised.

My concern was kicked off by my wife, who kept on asking me "Is Gonzo OK? He's hiding. Are you sure he's not sick" I guess my immediate response was one of concern rather than thinking clearly of what had happened to change his behavior. I just adjusted the cage temperature down a bit to suit and let him hibernate.

Some days, the simplest things pass us by. I guess I was fooled by the blue tongues, who will go year round if you let them.

I think I will keep the bearded dragon lizard in the outdoor cage with the blue tongues and the snake necked lizard over the summer. You can see this cage on this page at reptile-cage-plans.com.

Snake shedding and other things

2006-08-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

I received an email the other day that asked me about a young snake shedding.

The question was:
"I was just after a bit of information, we brought my daughter a spotted python for her birthday. This is the first time we have had a snake so we are learning slowly, the snake is approximately 7 months old,we were feeding her 1 pinkie a week but this didn't seem to be enough as by about day 5 she seemed to be hungry again, so we have started to give her 2 pinkie's on feed day. Should we be feeding on just one day or should we stagger it over the week?
Also since we have had the snake which has been just over 5 weeks she has shed twice and on both occasions the skin only seemed to scuff off in sections and not come off as one piece as I thought it would, we did on both occasions swim her in warm water as all the books say to do. But I was wondering if we were doing something wrong?, whit the way she is shedding and the frequency. Because she looks healthy and has increased in size since we have had her."

I replied:
"Feeding her the two pinkies on the same day is fine. In the wild snakes are oportunistic feeders and if they found a nest they would eat their fill rather than go away and come back in a couple of days.

The shedding twice is not as issue as the snake is young and obviously growing. Shedding times can vary and you did not mention how far apart the sheds were so I am assuming a few weeks. I am also assuming from your letter that the soaking worked for the snake and you were able to easily remove the unshed skin.

It may be that the snake's cage is not humid enough. Put another container of water in there and perhaps position it near the hear mat or the heat source so that sufficient humidity is produced. I also do not know what sort of cage accessories you have. For example a nice climbing branch is useful as they like to climb and it also allows a rough surface for the python to help itself shed by catching the old skin.

If you are still having trouble, soaking the snake in water almost always works if you use the following tip. Crumple up some newspaper to make numerous newspaper balls about the size of golf balls, enough to cover the bottom of the soaking container. Wet them and add them to the water. There should still be a small amount of unabsorbed water in the bottom of the container. If you can keep the temperatures appropriate, you can leave the snake in there overnight, but try for at least a couple of hours. Very often the snake will be able to use the paper as it crawls around to pull off loose skin on its own. This is what we want because it's the least stressful to the snake. However, if the skin is still there after soaking, you can GENTLY restrain the snake and use a wet paper towel, wrapped around the snake's tail, to carefully pull off the offending skin."

Shedding is an issue that many owners have trouble with at one stage or another. I have been fortunate with my snakes and have not had any issues. Making sure the humidity is adequate and there are enough rough surfaces in the cage is a major step to reducing shedding problems.

The website reptile-cage-plans.com also has a range of articles that cover many
issues. Some of the the articles include:

Where do you start to build a snake cage?
Materials for Reptile Cages
How to Build an Indoor Land Turtle Table
Ball Python Cages
Examples of Reptile Cages
Snake Cage Size
Lizard Cage Size
Cleaning Reptile Cages - Keeping them healthy
Building an outdoor snake-necked turtle enclosure
Setup for aquatic turtles in small tanks
Converting Cage Dimensions to Gallons and Temperature Converter
Salmonella and Reptiles
How to make fake trees for reptile cages
An approach towards socializing snakes
UV-lamps for Terrariums and their effectiveness
Zen and the art of reptile maintenance
Handling Snakes for the Nervous Folk
Information on Disinfectants Commonly Used with Reptiles
Reptilian Ethology (behavior)

There also others and a range of care sheets and other resources on the resources and articles pages.

Newsletter, odds and sods

2006-05-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I just sent out the latest "Keeping Reptiles" newsletter. There have a been a number of issues since my last post.

The last two have included an article about Black and White Argentine Tegus and there is currently a three part series on Diamond Pythons. While the articles have been published before I thought it worthwhile re-printing Stan Charis's excellent information sheet on the breeding and maintenance of Diamond Pythons. These, in my opinion, are one of the most attractive of the Australian pythons. They are misunderstood as most people see pythons as tropical. Diamond pythons are a temperate python, living down the Eastern sideboard of Australia, as far south as Victoria. This means the requirements for their captivity and care are different from most pythons. They can in fact be kept very easily but there has been a tendency to have the temperatures and humidity too high.

There are a lot of articles to be found in the newsletter, including archives, at
Newsletter Archives.

There are also articles on reptile and snake cage making at Reptile Cage Plans Articles.

I am currently working on some other snake cage designs so these should be ready soon.

Evolution: Fact or Fiction

2006-03-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

I sometimes get replies from people who read the newsletter and fear that I might offend Christian readers of the newsletter with statements such as "While a few snakes do have small spurs, the remnants of hind legs shrunken by many years of evolution...".

As someone firmly ensconced in the evolutionary camp I find it hard to fathom that this may cause offence. The implication being that evolution is, after all, only a theory and an incorrect one at that. The email also went on to contend that it has been proven wrong.

I may be missing something here but I have searched and searched the reputable scientific papers an journals and cannot find anywhere that states it has been proven wrong.

Well, theory it may be. Evolution as a theory has been around for over 100 years. It was contentious when it first appeared and was continuously ridiculed. But it has persisted. Similarly, people have been trying to knock it down for over 100 years, but with no success.

In fact, I contend that most Christians happily live with evolutionary theory and a belief in God. The Roman Catholic Church is not bothered by it, nor are most religions.

The faiths most bothered by evolution are those that believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible and the 6000 years old (or 10000) theory.

I don't think any amount of evidence I provide will satisfy them. I know I should not lump them all into one category but the issue of Intelligent Design is a banner that is held dear to creationist beliefs and one that is put forward as a theory but is closer to a belief.

There should be plenty of evidence for intelligent design if it is true. As Fred Hoyle wrote when talking about the ease at which Helium turned into a stable Carbon atom:

"A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggest s that a superintendent has monkeyed with the physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. I do not believe that any physicist who examined the evidence could fail to draw the inference that the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside stars."

However, from a philosophical point of view David Deutsch says:

"One can take off from that starting point in a variety of directions. One way is to say, ah well, this is providence, this is evidence that the world was designed with the intention of having life in it. Of course, that kind of explanation would bring science to a dead stop because that could explain absolutely anything. And an explanation that could explain absolutely anything is not very good; you canÂt show that itÂs wrong.

And if the only role that the designer is playing in oneÂs theory is to explain design in the universe, then you havenÂt gained anything because the designer is then himself, or itself, an entity exactly as unexplained and complex and with exactly the mirror image of all the properties that youÂre trying to explain, except that itÂs an extra entity. So itÂs philosophically untenable because it simply takes the same problem and projects it onto another layer thatÂs unnecessary."

Some recent correspondence cited a website called Dr Dino. I found these paragraphs below from http://www.drdino.com/articles.php?spec=100 more emotive than rational. They indicate that the writer has neither read or understands evolutionary theory. Evolutionary theorist are not cultists, nor would they ever suggest that snakes ever walked on two legs. To say that it is devolution is also ridiculous as that assumes that the snakes evolved body shape is less suited to its purpose than the one it has eventually formed.

"Furthermore, the bones that have interpreted as remnant legs apply only to hind legs. Are they suggesting that boa constrictors walked upright with two legs and had no arms? This would make for an amusing image. Perhaps the mindless designer of the evolutionist cult failed to provide them with front legs and made the rear legs go away for symmetry's sake. That, of course, is devolution, not evolution. Of course, if this devolution took place, we'd have to explain how a mindless designer determined that there was a problem with the original design in the first place.

This would be like positing that a man that was sound asleep designed and built a watch, and later, while still asleep, altered its design by removing parts that were not necessary. How could a mindless designer be concerned with symmetry, and how could it design anything that worked? These creatures, like the whole universe, were designed by a designer that was an artist and an engineer, not by a chaotic, undefined force, and even the evolutionary cultists imply that in their writings at the exact same time that they are denying it. One might call that an oxymoron, but there are no oxymorons, only morons who posit contradictions."

I also fail to understand the sleeping man analogy. There is not 'design' at work, merely small changes escalating over time that best suits and individuals' circumstances. Yes, it is chaotic but there is no 'force' and no, it's not an oxymoron. But animals that are able to best adapt will survive and procreate more effectively.

I liked this quote from Robin Williams, a science writer, although it is more tongue in cheek...

"With around 5 million and possibly 10 million species of insects on the Earth, the Intelligent Designer must like them a lot.

If made in His, Her or Their image, the intelligent designer or designers may have six legs.

He, she, it or they are sadistic, preferring to design the icumenid wasps with an intricate interdependence on their prey that requires them to parasitise a grub or spider so their
young can eat them alive from the inside out.

He, she, it or they must also have perverse Oedipal tendencies judging from the design of
the button beetle where the mother copulates with her sons before eating them.

That's beautifully balanced by other beetles where the newly hatched males insert their
heads back into mummy's reproductive aperture and devour her from the inside out.

It must take a devoted misogynist to design the Australian seaweed fly, who beats up his girlfriends before raping them.

And then there are the dubious ethics of a designer who put together the female preying mantis, who has to snack on the head of her partner during copulation.

I don't know what this says to you about a potential intelligent designer but he, she, it or they surely don't sound very Christian to me."

Possibly cruel but funny nonetheless.

More recently a fossil was found that shares features with primitive fish fins, but also has characteristics of a true limb bone and one that bridges the gap between fish and amphibian. Creationists have long been hanging onto the fossil records as being disjoint and lacking in intermediary steps. This certainly begins to bridge the gap, although it can never be fully bridged as flesh and bone are too easily destroyed in the harsh oxygenated and thriving environment we live in.

"The transition wasn't all or nothing," said Ted Daeschler, a vertebrate zoologist with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia "It's not that some animals were thrown on land. There were certainly other functions intermediate."

As I see it, Evolutionionary Theory also explains why we can morph animals. We understand the basics of genetics and breeding to change animals and use it to create new roses, different and new bog breeds and various snake morhs over relatively short time frames. Creationist ideas are religious beliefs, based on faith and belief systems. Religion and science come from two different directions. Science asks the how and religion asks the why.

From a breeding point of view we now have more species of dogs, cats and domestic animals than we ever did in the past. In fact some farmers work hard to retain the genetics of some of the oldest breeds. Surely this is evidence of animals (and plants) ability to evolve, albeit more rapidly when human intervention is involved.

I had a look at some other articles on Dr Dino's website. One said the following:

"Creationists already have the Truth; the earth was created roughly 6,000 years ago. Evolutionists wish to construct their own truth; the earth formed slowly over billions of years. Both of these are subject to the same scientific method. When we observe the outpourings of data rendered from the science, we can see that the evidence greatly supports the idea of a young-earth (6,000 years old)."

Three things in this paragraph grabbed me.

1) "Creationists already have the Truth; the earth was created roughly 6,000 years ago."

Scientists do not claim to know the truth. They collect, measure and analyse data to arrive at theories that support the evidence. If the theory becomes unsupportable, then it is thrown out. Evolutionary Theory has not been thrown out by the scientific community and in fact becomes more secure as evidence continues to mount in its favour.

2) "Both of these are subject to the same scientific method."

Not so. Creationism is not subject to scientific method - and in any event they do not need to do so as they already know the truth.

3) "When we observe the outpourings of data rendered from the science, we can see that the evidence greatly supports the idea of a young-earth (6,000 years old)."

Again, not so. It supports the opposite. Creationist theory will tell you otherwise but the weight of evidence, the chemistry, the physics and the overwhelming evidential data, not just radio carbon and the various isotopic dating methodologies but also remnant magnetic dating of seafloor rocks, ice plug sampling, geo-physical data and modern astronomy, including the most recent findings and the rate of expansion of the universe all point the other way.

Aafter visiting Dr. Ken's (Dinos) website and viewing some of his videos and presentations, I came to the conclusion that some of his misinformation is not helpful to the current debates on environment and future understandings of the issues confronting the planet. In my opinion these issues run much deeper than creationism and were my real concern about the sites information.

In one video he discusses over crowding and population issues as if there is no challenges around population growth. I think he uses a ridiculous scenario of 150,000 people per square inch based on non-intervention, non-bottleneck, smooth exponential population growth graphs. On the next slide are photos of open plains etc. Totally spurious evidence and nonsense. The issue is resources - water, energy, food, deforestation, animal populations, plants and raw materials, not people numbers per se. I think he knows this but chooses to twist the arguments to make those who are concerned about these issues look wrong.

Well I've said my bit and got it off my chest. Anyway, on another more cheerful note, I just published another edition of "Keeping Reptiles". It's free to subscribe and I welcome contributions - those that disagree and agree. It's all in the fun.

Conscience and the wild caught snake plus cage building

2006-03-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Someone recently wrote me concerning a dilemma she was having. The issue is thus:

"I have succumbed to my impulses recently and acquired a flying snake from Indonesia. A local distributor had it available for a good price and I just "had to" have it. It is something I have wanted since the first time I learned about them from the nature shows on T.V. I have been feeling just awful about it as it is wild caught and I did not purchase it with specific research needs in mind or to study it's captive breeding needs or something useful... Instead, I just plain wanted it for its "cool" factor.
It's just a really neat snake! I am having trouble coming to terms with this impulsive purchase and am not sure what to do about it. Part of me wants to keep it just because I like it and it's something new and exciting. Part of me thinks I should create a reason to keep it, like I want to breed them so there would be a captive-bred supply of them to protect the wild specimens from being de-populated, and part of me thinks I should donate him to an honorable public organization for education & display, but I just can't decide what to do! The greedy evil herper inside me has struck and I am so torn up about it! Any thoughts? -- and please be honest with me -- no holds barred, ok? "

This was my reply (slightly edited):

"That snake is a really interesting animal. It's a hard question, the one you ask. On the one hand there is a certain freedom that comes from being able to get whatever you want. It also carries with it a lot of responsibility. In theory it should allow for a lot of animals eventually to be captive bred and continue the species domestically. However countries like Indonesia and the surrounding South-East Asian countries, African and South American often decimate their local populations to feed hungry markets across the world. While the US regulates its imports, more needs to be done. Given the scale of animal imports, that is a huge job. "

"The poorer countries themselves cannot do it for the most part. Australia, a relatively wealthy nation, even has difficulties preventing smuggling. Less wealthy nations countries have scant resource for these and often allocate scarce resources towards other priorities."

"I honestly don't know what to tell you. I know Herp lovers all keep them for exactly the same reason. In an odd way we are all as guilty but people have been doing it for as long as we could. Where does the buck stop? If you didn't buy it someone else would. If no one bought wild caught animals that would stop the trade, but that's not going to happen quickly, nor without educating people about the need to buy bred animals and intervention from government. "

"Equally, how can animals be bred if there are no domestic populations from which to breed? They need to come from somewhere to begin with. There also needs to be a suitably sized DNA pool from which to develop a breeding program that will not lead to genetically deficient and in-bred populations."

"As an example, perhaps Australia should begin and develop a regulated export program. There is a demand for Australian herps and as long as they only exported captive bred animals there could be a thriving, lucrative and carefully managed trade. "

"Maybe many of the developing countries could develop markets and internal breeding programs that would help the local population and protect the wild caught populations. This could actually realize better prices for their animals and better care for the animals in transit."

"I understand how your conscience is being eaten up with this. Mine would be annoying me too. I sometimes even question the keeping of captive bred animals. "

"I think donating the snake to an educational institution is fine but it would need to be one that wanted it for research an educational program. I'm of the mind that says you may as well keep it and care for it. It would probably have just as good, if not a better life that way. Maybe you will find another one. Who knows these things? Some things just happen for a reason (and I'm not even superstitious or religious). Maybe you'll find a breeder who is looking for one. Who would you give it to, if you did give it away and how would that be better?"

These are tricky issues. Even as I write about them I'm not totally crystal clear in my mind about solutions That said, I think it is important for people to discuss these issue and continue to tease them out. Currently we are in the fifth great extinction of the worlds animals and, while there is some inevitability to this, I believe we have a responsibility to our children and to grand children and so on to pass on as much of the biodiversity and worlds animals as we are able to.

Whether this involves breeding programs or ultimately protective and unpalatable solutions to herp owners, difficult decisions need to be made. There is a need to discuss this and work through the issues as they are raised.

On another note, lately there has been quite a bit of correspondence between myself and people who have purchased the reptile cage plans.

Some of the questions have been quite interesting and have forced some sections to be added and others to allow correspondence between cage makers. While there are a number of forums available for this, some people are not very comfortable doing this and like to go through a third party or talk to someone who they have established a relationship - business or otherwise.

One example was from a customer, Chris who was making a reptile cage for his turtles. The cage had to be quite water resistant and also resistant to high humidity. After a bit of research Reptile-Cage-Plans.com was able to find how to make cages not only water resistant but waterproof enough to actually hold water should you wish and added these details to the plans.

Another customer wanted to build a snake cage for a Burmese python. The cage had to be 10ft long x 4ft wide x 3ft high. Quite a big cage. With some adjustments to the plans and diagrams plus some further instructions the customer had all that was required to build such a cage. Again, these details were added to the plans and they were updated.

David was making his first ever reptile cage. Having purchase the plans he had embarked on the project. This is part of the email he sent, together with some pics.

Thanks Mark, very useful stuff....
I started my enclosure yesterday - here is where I am up to - The shelf isn't fixed in and the timber holding it up was just for the photo. Pretty proud of myself considering I have never made anything in my life!

Occasionally one has a disgruntled customer but the happy ones sure make up for them!

Newsletter and making an outdoor Turtle Enclosure

2006-01-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

I've just finished writing an article about making an outdoor turtle enclosure. While I write about making reptile cages and spend some time investigating designs and trying to come up with ideas, looking at other ideas etc. It had not occurred to me to write about an enclosure I built in my own backyard.

I built it bout 3 years ago to house our snake-necked turtle, Shelley. She had been living in a heated aquarium and it just looked to small to me. The water was filtered but even so we had to remove the gravel every month or so and thoroughly wash it, drain the tank and put it back in. It was quite a chore and my children, whilst they tried to help, were young when we started and it was not something I ever looked forward to. It was a fairly functional cage but when I thought about it, these turtles were native to the area and should survive happily outside all year round. The best part was putting some live fish in the tank and watching her go nuts trying to catch them. They generally only lasted a few days. She was pretty darn good at catching them by being sneaky and using her snake-neck like a snake striking to snare them unawares.

Shelley has since thrived outside. It does get cold in winter but she essentially shuts down and we rarely feed her during this time. She submerges herself for long periods of time and is reluctant to show herself.

During the warmer months we feed her every couple of days, depending on the weather. You really notice her when the weather is warm. After a feed she will get out of the pond and sun herself on the rocks to help aid digestion.

The cage itself is quite large and allows us to put other reptiles in there during the day, like the blue tongues and the bearded dragon. The snakes wouldn't work - to good at escaping - but the lizards love it.

There are a number of plants in the pond so she can hide herself and for the lizards there is some tin sheet, logs and some low lying plants to conceal themselves with. There is also some bird netting over the top to stop predators like foxes etc. The enclosure is large enough to sit on and it is quite a nice garden decoration. People who come over always want to go and have a look inside at Shelley and whatever else may be in there.

I wrote and article on how to build an enclosure like it for the newsletter and it has a number of pictures of Shelley and the whole enclosure. I was quite pleased at how they came out. If you would like to view the article, it can be found here. The newsletter can be found here.

One of my cage plan purchasers sent me an email the other day with photos of his cage. He as done a nice job of it. Originally he had only a small log but as he had a jungle carpet I suggest he put in a larger log for the snake to sit on. I was pleased when I saw the snake happily sitting on the new branches he put into the cage. There are some nice shots of the cage and the snake here. Rob has really done a great job with the fake walls and the cages is a credit to him.

I'm also currently revising the book and hope to have a new version out within a month or so. I've designed a really nice arboreal cage that is easy to make and has a full frontal viewing area. I'm also putting the finishing touches on a simple to build stand (no cupboards but very functional) and nearly finished a section on making glass vivariums. Looking forward to finalizing all of these sections and adding them to the book. I hope that when it is all done it will be something that herp keepers will want to have.

Raving about some issues

2005-12-07T03:46:00.000-08:00

After I wrote the article on the toxic venomous and the retracing of the evolutionary tree of reptiles to include the relationship between the toxic serpentes and toxic lizards within the new clade of Toxicofera, I got some email questioning the 200 million years at which they estimate the Toxicofera branch diverted.

I just can't have the young earth theory. It's not only incorrect, it's silly. I'm not going to go into some great debate about this. I'll leave that to people like Richard Dawkins and Jay Gould, who, while they may disagree on some aspects, still agree on the fundamentals of evolutionary theory. If you are a lay person but are interested in evolution and adaption and also like a well written and very interesting read then I suggest you read either "The Blind Watchmaker" or "The Selfish Gene". I just purchased Dawkin's "The Ancestor's Tale" but haven't read it yet. I think that will be my Christmas treat if I can find the time.

I really feel like having a rave about this but I know I'll just get a bunch of annoyed comments and such so I'll leave it alone. What I will say is that creationist ideas, I wont give them the cudos of theory, should be in philosophy classes, not science.

What's more important and what I really get concerned about is the rate of deforestation, the immediacy of global warming issues and the lack of foresight of the world's political leaders. There is a lot of chest puffing and wind-baggery but very few have attacked the issues head-on. Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, is a perfect example. He refused to sign Kyoto and Australia has one of the highest carbon emissions per head in the world. We export coal in enormous quantities and use it to power large sectors of our industry. It's cheap and we have massive supplies of the stuff. But we also have only about 15% of our original forests so we cannot absorb what we produce. We do nowhere near enough research into alternative energies. We have sunlight and hence solar energy in abundance but do little to harness it.

We also use one of our most precious resources, water, in ridiculous and inefficient ways. I'll give you an example. We farm rice (yes, large paddocks of water) in some of the hotest and driest parts of the country. Most of the water evaporates and our major river systems, which irrigate these shallow paddocks of water, are choking as a result. We also have some of our biggest dams on some of our biggest rivers near their headwaters. The biggest of these is used to farm cotton. Downstream, the water flow is reduced to a trickle and the farmers who depend on it below can barely scratch a together living. And the mouth of our largest river system, the Murray River, is closed for extended periods of time. Can you imagine the Mississippi being allowed to close? What about the Nile? Yet we do with ours. It's a national disgrace.

I remember the morning after my first daughter was born. I remember going to the front porch of my house, sitting down and wondering whether I had done the right thing, to bring someone into a world where, 50 years on, the world could be in serious economic and ecological decline. I hope those predictions do not happen but I become fearful more and more as decisions, like the drilling for oil in the Alskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge area for perhaps 6 months of oil supply, are taken for what I percieve as reasons of greed rather than genuine need. Expand capacity rather than reduce demand. It's insanity.

I know this has nothing to do with reptiles but I just felt like venting some steam. BTW, the Keeping Reptiles ezine is free from here.

My bearded dragon has rattlesnake toxins in its venom.

2005-11-29T00:30:00.000-08:00

After spending a day researching Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry's work on reptile venoms I am beginning to have some realisation of the impact it will have on our understanding of reptile evolution, reptile venom and even the reptile trade.

Books will have to be rewritten and basically our biology trees for reptiles redrawn. Whilst we have know this for some two years, the more recent work on lizard venoms has highlighted the changes even further.

It's free to subscribe to the Keeping Reptiles Ezine. You can sign up here.

You can read the full article at here

These venoms also offer some interesting medical opportunities.

I had an email today from someone who had photographed his cage making efforts and made a fake wall. While the cage is not finished, it looks good and he informs me that he intends to make some more reptile cages using my reptile cage plans. You can see some of his handiwork with homemade reptile cages here.

Should Reptile Keeping be Restricted to Native Animals?

2005-11-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

This article is also published in the free newsletter (sign up here).

A recent email from a colleague in South Africa (to read what is happening with legislation to restrict the ownership of reptiles, click here) prompted me to consider this issue in a little more depth. I live in Australia, a country with quite stringent restrictions and regulations on the keeping of reptiles in many states. You must be licensed to keep reptiles in my state, although the licensing is not tracked excessively and is readily available to anyone over the age of 10. And you can only keep native reptiles.

In many ways the licensing has benefits for the keepers. Reptiles can only purchased from other licensed breeders or keepers. In theory the illegal trade, both endangered and common, is reduced, although I would not be naïve enough to suggest it is eliminated. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is thriving, at least at the international level.

These regulations have come about through a variety of reasons but I believe primarily for two reasons:

the environmental and economic damage caused by the introduction of invasive and alien species and the resulting high rate of extinction of endemic animals. These introduced animals include cane toads, foxes, cats, rabbits, dogs, pigs, goats, water buffalo, horses, Indian mynas, starlings, sparrows, pacific sea star and crown of thorns star. All have had significant impacts on native fauna and flora – 19 species of small mammals have become extinct from cats, foxes and dogs in the last 100 years;
the high level of endemism among Australian animals due to their isolation, together with threats from settlement and land practices has endangered the survival of a large number of them. This has resulted in Australia passing wide-ranging federal and state legislation protecting both endangered and secure species (although there is still is much more to be done) in an effort to reduce the alarming extinction or endangerment rate.

All of the introduced animals were released in significant numbers (only 24 in the case of rabbits but that is still significant – they breed like rabbits), either to eliminate pests, for hunting, as pets or accidentally. As a result, most have been able to breed extensively and compete with the local fauna for food and habitat (Australia has the only known population of feral wild camels in the world). In many cases they destroy the local animals by preying on them, eg foxes, dogs and cats, some kill through ingestion, such as cane toads and others just compete to the point where there is no available food, such as rabbits in the early part of last century and crown of thorns stars more recently.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of restricting ownership of reptiles to only native species?

Allowing only the keeping of native reptiles has allowed some degree of management of the trade and reduces significantly the number of wild caught animals. There is reduced demand for them and keepers can generally only get access through other licensed keepers or breeders. This should allow native populations to stabilise and grow. The extensive ball python trade had an impact on the ball python population in Africa, although this has been reduced in some parts such as Ghana with the creation of an export trade based on farm raised animals and regulated trading and capture and the increasing number available through breeders. Some parts of Africa are still not regulated and will probably see population crashes unless the trade is managed.

It also reduces the possibility of diseases being imported and spreading from wild caught animals from other countries. Many of the animals that are wild caught have parasites or diseases that can have a potentially devastating impact on native reptiles. The importation and sale of reptiles not properly quarantined, licensed or bred aggravates these risks. Likewise, illegal imports threaten local populations.

Another advantage is educating and enabling people to better appreciate their country’s native reptiles. Creating interest in reptiles unique to their country and their habitats should benefit the animals. Land clearance practices have led to the destruction or modification of large areas of native habitats in Australia. Australians also have a habit of killing snakes as there are, uniquely, more venomous than non-venomous snakes in Australia. Educating people about these animals, their role in the environment and the need to preserve them is vital to their long term viability in the wild.

Not allowing the keeping of alien or exotic reptiles reduces the possibility of these species escaping into the wild and causing damage to an already fragile eco-system. It is sound argument on the surface but any escapes would need to be in significant numbers to have any impact and would in fact have to be almost deliberate or from a large collection. For example a red-tailed boa escaping in Melbourne would not survive long in winter. Similarly, one escaping in Sydney would be hardly likely to meet another that perhaps escaped in Brisbane. Releasing several breeding pairs into the tropical rainforests of northern Queensland, however, would have vastly different effects. That would be a deliberate act of environmental vandalism. These acts do not need to be deliberate. The Red-eared Slider Turtle is cause for concern in parts of the world such as Malaysia where it is beginning to push native turtles from their habitat.

On the other hand, not having access to alien or exotic reptiles has its own implications.

Australia has not allowed native animals to be sold overseas for many years. This has led to issues of genetic diversity in some of the less available reptiles kept by overseas owners in the US, UK, Asia, South Africa and Europe. Some of these animals do not live as long and do not develop as well as they should. Allowing the sale of some animals, even in reduced numbers, would improve the genetic diversity and perhaps even improve the chances of the survival of some species through breeding efforts, such as has occurred already in Australia. It would, I believe, produce benefits for the animals and reptile owners around the world if it was managed in a sustainable and controlled way. It may even reduce the price of animals and relieve some of the illegal trade pressure.

It has created quite a flourishing illegal trade due to the scarcity and consequent high price that these animals command. The animals in turn suffer dreadfully. They are drugged and placed in suitcases, strapped to bodies and stuffed in all manner of containers with little or no ventilation in many cases. The death rate is often very high, but the price realised at the end justifies the high mortality. (there are many cases of people caught smuggling out of the country).

Allowing the keeping of alien or exotic reptiles also has some other advantages.

Our appreciation of exotic animals benefits by having access to them. Of course it should be managed so that wild caught animals are not traded excessively or to the point of being endangered and the available animals are free from disease and healthy. While international agreements are already in existence, these need to be adequately policed and monitored.

I personally don’t have an issue with people requiring a license to keep reptiles. The licensing should not be onerous, should be inexpensive, open to everyone and easy to get. It is really about making a statement. When you choose to keep certain types of reptiles it comes with a responsibility to both you and the animal. Having the licence means you understand that responsibility. As an example the license I have tells me what sort of animals I need a license for and what I don’t (not all require one). I also have to keep records of the animals I purchase, sell or those that die. It’s not a big deal and easy to do.

While this may be contentious I think it reinforces the idea that these animals do need special care and should be looked after in a responsible manner. There is a thriving trade in iguanas in the US but the numbers that die within a very short time of purchase is significant to the point of being unacceptable. Owners need to understand that an animal like that comes with a significant responsibility and has specific dietary and habitat requirements.

As one person wrote to me, expressing it better than I ever could:

“the S. Africa legislation taking place about "invasive" species …. puts a real damper on everyone's fun and hands-on education activities. I love the freedoms we experience here in the U.S. I can have virtually anything that I find of interest and can therefore learn about them and educate others about them. Without the ability to have first hand experience with these animals I doubt I would pursue these interests to the extent that I currently do and that would make for a very boring life - not to mention what a disservice it would be to the understanding and conservation of these animals with fewer people getting to experience how amazing the animals are.”

Overly strict regimes and regulations make it difficult for keen herpetologists and herp owners to legally keep and manage their collections, or in fact own any exotic reptile. While there is a need to manage our reptilian resources and provide the best outcomes for the animals concerned, both locally and internationally, this is not always achieved by draconian measures that take no account of responsible and experienced herp owners. Working cooperatively with the herp community to ensure realistic and enforceable laws and frameworks will produce a much more practical and achievable outcome that provides benefits and solutions for all stake holders.

Roaches on the march

2005-11-04T00:56:00.000-08:00

"You lied"

These were the words that greeted me two days ago.

"You lied about the roaches!!!"

I didn't lie. I just didn't reveal the whole truth. I tried the roaches and "she who must be obeyed" found out. They are bloody fast. They are hard to dish out. And they escape. Occasionally. And they get found. Sometimes. In other parts of the house.

So I was in trouble.

But, and this is the real deal, they last for ages in dark postage tubes without food and water, you can manage to dish them out in small amounts into the lizard cage and the bearded dragon loves them.

I'm very impressed with these beasties. I sometimes dish out too many but you get so many for your money that a little over here and a little under there doesn't matter. And I don't have to do a damn thing to keep them. They're almost indestructible. Quite amazing really.

But, and this is the big drawback, the missus don't like 'em.

I can sort of understand her view. As a kid I was always taught that roaches were bad. Bad roaches, bad.

Well I'm a little older and a little more tranquil on the subject. They are just an insect. A very hardy insect, but, nonetheless, just an insect. So what's the fuss? I can't figure it out, but there is definitely a fuss.

So I'll just have to wear it down and convince her that the roaches are better reptile food because:
1. They are cheaper
2. They can be slowed down (gotta get my act into gear but need fridge permission)
3. They are yummy ( to bearded dragons anyway)
4. They last for a very, very long time with out food and water in a cardboard tube (unlike crickets - no need to replace the carrot)
5. They are easy to breed
6. They keep on growing for 360+ days

I think I might have to write an article on them for the newsletter as I now regard them as a viable alternative food source. I still use plenty of vegies, and in fact I am rather lucky because I have a number of dandelions growing in the front yard amongst the garden plants. I just chop the leaves up, add some celery leaves, a dash of spinach, maybe some lettuce, a bit of bok choi or whatever the green leaves of anything else such as broccoli leaves or cauliflower leaves.

Newsletter, feeding snakes and South Africa

2005-10-25T01:09:00.000-07:00

None of these seem related at all but they are. I just published the latest Keeping Reptiles newsletter and included in it was an article called "What do I do when my snake won't eat". There was also a nice article on reptile genetics that explained in simple terms the genetics behind breeding reptiles for different morphs. This also included a glossary of herp genetic terms and I thought it was a pretty good article. Part 2 will be published next edition.

Another article was developments in South Africa's herp keeping laws. They have proposed legislation that outlaws the keeping of many herps due to concerns about invasive species. The list is quite extensive and realistically restrict them to indigenous species. This is a difficult issue.
On one hand I have sympathy with the keepers of these herps who almost universally are responsible, keeping them housed and secured appropriately. It seems that many of them will now have to kill the animals as they cannot even transport them to other destinations. The number that escape is minimal and the probability that they will meet another escapee of the same species is quite remote.

I can also sympathize with the government position. If there is an accident and a potentially harmful species does take hold, that has no natural predators, the result could be devastating to some local species.

I live in a country that has suffered dreadfully from invasive species such as the cane toad, which kills many native animals, particularly reptiles and birds and now ranges across vast areas of the country with no indication of stopping. Other introduced species like rabbit, fox, northern sea star, crown of thorns and water buffalo to name a few of the animals that have significant impacts on the local fauna and flora. When they do take hold they are almost impossible to eradicate.

The roaches still continue to give me grief. I had about a dozen shoot out today and it took me ten minutes to round them up. The dragon gets good exercise at least. The snakes are also out and about, telling me they want food as the weather warms up.

Roaches don't jump but they run very fast.

2005-10-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

The roaches finally arrived a few days ago. They were shipped in a poster tube, tightly and robustly taped at either end and filled with newspaper and roaches. I think I'm going to have to get serious and get a plastic container with the special paint to prevent their escape if I intend to use them as a food source. Getting them out of the tube, while quite easy, makes it difficult to do a number of things.

1. See how many there are left
2. Put a reasonable number into the cage for feeding
3. Give them food
4. Have some idea of their health

The poster tube has newspaper in the center so I cannot see how many roaches are actually in the tube. When I try to put some in the cage I either get just a couple popping out or I get a flood - there doesn't seem to be any midway point. This morning there was a flood. The dragon was going crazy trying to catch them all. I spilled a few on the floor and I'm pretty certain I didn't get them all.

I know I should put them into a small container and put them in the fridge to slow them down but that requires forward planning. It also requires roaches in the fridge. I'm not much at the former regarding roach feeding and I'm on thin ice with the latter. I get away with rats and mealworms in the fridge but I suspect I need to get another fridge and put it in the garage if I intend to cool down the roaches.

The roaches will just about well eat anything but at the moment I have no idea what they are eating in the tube. All I can see is stuffed newspaper. I tried to pull a bit out this morning, which is where all of the trouble started. A few roaches came out but when I pulled a bit of paper out there was a veritable flood of the bastards. I went into a blind panic as the last thing I want is dozens of roaches running around the house. Crickets at least have some aura of acceptability and 'she who must be obeyed' can have a little chortled with friends etc. She would be hard pressed to find anything remotely amusing to tell her friends about if these were roaches. "We've got dozens of roaches running around the house, haw, haw" doesn't come off nearly as funny as crickets in her circle of friends. Thy run like hell and can climb anything. I think I've secured the perimeter so far but I can see I need to perfect this.

On another matter, the local herp shop has changed rodent supplies. Prices have doubled for the rats and there are now no mice. I'm prepared to give them some slack while they find another supplier but I'm a tad cranky at the prices. There is another supplier who has both and I'll be going to them in the immediate future and chase up the other when they have found their new supplier. I hope they find one soon.

Where are my roaches?

2005-10-16T02:04:00.000-07:00

A while back I talked about using roaches as food for my dragon. Despite the potential for my imminent demise and the danger of this posed by 'she who must be obeyed' I have garnered the courage and order them, along with some spare globes and a ceramic heat lamp to replace the one I bought 3 months ago and cannot find (not a cheap item to misplace).

Well, it's been a week since the order. I know they come by post but I have had to get some extra crickets in the meantime and I'm wondering whether I've done the right thing.

I ordered two units of these that were about 30 days old and I know they live for up to 365 days, although I don't yet know how to keep them alive. The supplier said the postage is the same for up to 250 grams of the beasties. That's a lot of bugs. I thought I would order an extra unit, the postage being the same but now I think I might have an interesting issue. Apparently they can climb anything.

I'm hoping the box they come in has the special coating around the top to prevent them escaping but it does raise some issues about ordering food online. You order and sometimes you are not sure completely what you will get and you hope the supplier has this all sorted because essentially you are bit in the dark if you have never used that supplier before. This is also the first time I have ordered food online. I am hopeful that it is a success as the other supplier is quite expensive and it sometimes difficult to get there to pick up the food. Another problem is that they are sometimes in poor condition by the time you get them. I think the roaches are a bit tougher and hope they travel well. I post the results when they arrive.

Keeping Reptiles Newsletter readers recently asked me some feeding questions on her childrens pythons. I found out today that she put the food in a shoebox and into the cage. It was promptly devoured. This was one of several suggestions I offered her. The full question and response can be read here.

I've also been answering other questions on parasites that I will post in the next day or two as there have been more than one exchange of emails and I would like to finalize it before publishing it to the website.

Crunch goes the snail

2005-10-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of blue tongued lizards is that they keep the snail population down. That's one of my problems also.

Let me explain.

We have around our home a resident population of blue tongued lizards. There is at least one breeding pair that I know of and I found several young last summer. In winter they are mostly dormant, but so are the snails. As the weather warms up, the snails start to come out and so do the lizards. Because we have resident blue tongues, we do not get many snails.

This is a good from the gardens perspective but we also have two pet blue tongues, Banana and Apricot - named because of their predilection for the fruits in question, who also enjoy snails. So we often find it difficult to get snails for them. Whilst they will happily eat lots of ther food, snails appear to be one of their favorites.

So to the rescue comes my father-in-law.

The other day he arrived with a large jar full of snails. The blueys had a feast and we still have plenty left over.

This is quite a bonus all around as he gets to go out and catch snails and we get lots of free food for the blue tongues. There are some blue tongue lizard care sheets and diet information on my site here if you are interested in these gentle and wonderful pets.

Latest newsletter and musings

2005-10-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

The latest Keeping Reptiles newsletter (you can get it from here for free) has just been published . There was a nice reply from a reader:

"Cool stuff Mark-keep it coming. Just put my Texas Indigo snake into a new 72" by 24" enclosure I built with your design book-we're both loving it!
Bill"

It's always gratifying to get feedback like this. The newsletter is always well received and we have quite a few testimonials for it. It's a bit embarrassing as this edition was a bit delayed as I had some work done on my bung finger and the school break also intervened.

I forgot to put in Jeff's story about his Burmese python, but it's probably just as well as I don't think I had yet asked his permission to publish.

The website, Reptile-Cage-Plans.com, has been running for nearly 12 months now and the traffic is still growing. Feedback has been good from customers and there is now a good range of testimonials. There are plans to make some more reptile cage plans and these are being developed in the coming months.

The site is running to over 80 pages (approximately). It may have to have some serious revamping of the backend shortly so it is more navigable. At the same time it is not meant to compete with some of the very large sites such as Kaplan's. It is just a matter of building a mass of useful material over time and trying to address what people's needs are.

"How to build an Incubator from scratch in less than a Day" has been added to the bonus packages, so there are now nine bonuses and they are all really good value. I have some other bonuses I would like to add in the coming months. Reptile Cage Plans.com is also instigating an affiliate program. You can email me if you are interested in this and I will notify you when it is going to be launched.

Every time the newsletter is sent it prompts a range of questions from customers. These are being published on the website. The aim is to have a bank of questions that people can view and wander through over time. The latest one was about temperatures for Bearded Dragons in Winter in New England (I'm assuming New England USA, not Australia). Hopefully the answer was useful. You can read it here if you are interested. There is also a link to a very useful Bearded Dragon Care sheet that is free to download. It's about 14 pages and you will find it a very useful resource if you keep dragons as pets.

Newsletter published and stories therein.

2005-09-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Keeping Reptiles latest edition has just been sent out to everyone (you can subscribe from here). I was delighted at how well it was received. It's good to start getting some more interaction from readers and I was able to publish one reader's story about collecting Apalone spinifera hatchlings along with some pictures.

I got another story in response about a Burmese python that I will publish next edition. It's a pretty funny story really and I think some of the readers will get a kick out of it.

A number of readers told me about their experiences with hurricane Katrina. Thankfully no-one has told me that they lost their animals or similar stories although I got a large number of undeliverable emails and I sometimes wonder whether this has something to with Katrina. I'm sure many folks lost animals but those who I have been in contact with have been saved that misery.

It's been a bit hard getting this edition out as 'She who must be obeyed' has been cracking the gardening whip about my ears. I'm sick of doing the paving and I'm only 1/4 of the way. Oh the pain, the pain. I will look good so I suppose I have something to look forward ie the satisfaction of a job well done.

The critters are all doing well and feeding well, although sometimes Gonzo, the bearded dragon, has been a reluctant starter. Other days he can't get there quick enough. I've only had him a short while so I guess I'll just have get used to his behavior patterns.

The snake necked turtle should start to come out of hibernation soon as the weather is warming up with the joys of spring here. Time to clean out her pond and replace the water, maybe get some new plants. I found some small water plants that grow on the waters surface on the side of the road the other day so I might collect some of them as they seem to have all died in her pond.

That's it for now. Have to off and do some fishing. Yippee!!

Of crickets and dragons

2005-09-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well the Aussies have been roundly defeated by the English and lost the Ashes. I rarely watch cricket but this was one good test series.

It's a funny thing to non-cricket playing nations of the world, cricket. I mean, how many games go for 6 hours a day for 5 days straight and can still end in a draw? How many games congratulate you when you to bowl a maiden over? You can have a full toss if you like but ball tampering is frowned upon. You should vary the length of delivery. You can have a hooker in your side but they shouldn't be a tailender. Then there's rabbits, yorkers, googly, slips and golden ducks. Truly, a bizarre game.

Well, that's not really the sort of cricket I was thinking of when I wrote the title. I was thinking of the crickets I feed the bearded dragon. I want someone to show me how to get them out of the box without having to spend half my time collecting them from the floor and every other crevice they manage to secr. I try putting the whole box into the cage but that's also fiddly and then I have trouble getting them out. Sometimes I take the egg section out and tap it on the floor, but that's just a likely to send tens of crickets flying around the cage, jumping out the opening and the dragon going into a frenetic frenzy trying to eat them all at once.

I don't always manage to get them all and then I incur the wrath of, to coin Rumpold's phraseology, "She who must be obeyed". I really shouldn't be too mean about it but my wife tells me she finds them in the shower, the loo, the family room, I find them in my office and generally the little blighters get in every nook and cranny they can possibly find around the house. And they chirp at night. Chirrrp, chirrrp, chirrping away at 1.00am in the morning somewhere where you cannot possibly find them.

Another thing about crickets that annoys me is trying to get them from the herp shop. They come in on Thursdays so I make the trip down but them sometimes the delivery is delayed so I have to make another trip in. Then sometimes something else happens and my whole schedule is thrown out, like this last week, and as a result I can't get them for a few days. It's quite frustrating. The beardie can still eat lots of vegies but I like to vary the diet and have the crickets on hand.

I'm thinking I might change suppliers and get some local roaches. Roaches can't jump. Apparently they are very good food and easy to breed, although I don't think I'll broach the subject of breeding roaches in the house. I haven't got a death wish.

What I do like about the crickets is feeding time. Gonzo, the beardie, goes nuts. He chases them and stalks some of them and generally has a great time feeding on them. What's really funny is watching him eat them. He suddenly leaps upon the hapless cricket and uses his tongue to sweep it into his mouth. Then he munches down on them, almost smiling. He sort of smacks his lizard lips them like they are a delicacy. I suppose they are.

If you want to know more about keeping bearded dragons you can get some free care sheets, 14 page download and bearded dragon feeding info from my website here. You might have to look around a bit but it's there and along with tons of other articles and information.

Handling Snakes for the Nervous Folk

2005-09-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just wrote and article on that on my website, Reptile Cage Plans. I started writing the article for the blog but by the time I had finished it I thought I would put it on my site.

It's about how my daughter got one of her friends to handle a snake. She went from being fearful of even touching it to handling it fully. I was really impressed how she handled this. I learnt a fair bit by watching this from her and how she gained the confidence of her friend.

I think it's amazing what your children can sometimes teach one if you bother to listen, watch and learn.

I hope the reader (singular - to borrow a phrase coined by Philip Adams - as I know only one person reads this LOL) does not feel cheated but I wanted to make it a resource on my site. Essentially the point of the article is the need to take things slowly and gently and let the snake and new handler gain confidence in each other and how my daughter managed to do this.

There was nothing spectacularly special in the process but I think the putting at ease and the way she was introduced to handling the snake were the keys. Of course this would not work with all people. I have a sister-in-law that will not even enter the room they reside in. Quite pathetic really but she is a drama queen and one must make exceptions. The old adage "You can choose your friends, but not your family" has inescapable truths.

Anyway, go to the site and have a read if you feel so inclined. It was a lesson for me and one that I only realized after I had thought about it some time later.

Zen and the Art of Reptile Maintenance

2005-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

I just wrote an article entitled just that. I hadn't written one for a while and it was quite difficult to start. Once I got going it was OK but I wasn't write sure what I really wanted to say. I know, I know, a fundamental mistake. Well it's not quite true. The title came to me a couple of days ago and that made me think about the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and some of the takeways it had, but more specifically how it would relate to keeping reptiles. The article can be found here. I'll probably refine it more over the coming days as I'm not totally happy with it.

The main point I was trying to make was the need to pay attention to details and do things on a regular basis when looking after your pet. Things like cage cleaning, spot cleaning and examining your snake, turtle or lizard (or whatever) closely and carefully (I know it's a bit hard if it's a rattle snake but not many people keep them LOL). I ignored most of the other philosophical points in the book.

What prompted me to write the article was my brother-in-law asking about the ezine I publish, "Keeping Reptiles", and how it must be hard to write articles. I realized I hadn't personally written one for a while. He can't believe I actually run a web site that sells reptile cage plans. Well, I guess it's not your average web site. It came about from two things really.

One was my interest in having reptiles as pets, something I have been interested in since I was a child, and the other was a desire to earn money using the internet as a medium as I work part-time and run a small home business as well.

It was after doing some research that the idea of using my skills building things and combining it with my interest, that the site came around. I probably should have guessed really, as when I went to make my first reptile cages I had no idea. I also had a lot of help from Corey Rudl's book when it came to building the site and making it work (it's a great resource if anyone is considering building a web-site and get some traffic).

I then went to the local pet shops and spent ages examining the different snake (and lizard)cages. I would then go home a draw up some plans to make the cage. I went back quite a few times. The first cage I built was OK but I made a few mistakes in the design that did not work well for a range of reasons. When I made the next cage it was a lot better and I eliminated many of the design faults. I've actually taken that original cage and changed it to suit my needs and it now houses the bearded dragon. I changed the front of the cage and put in sliding doors. It now has a removable wire mesh roof. I can take this away and close the top down if I need. I think that's one of the big advantages of building your own cages. You can changes them if you want to and add and remove bits and pieces to suit your needs.

The bearded dragons cage needs this mesh lid more that the other reptiles as his cage can really get a smell up if it is enclosed, so having an open mesh allows the smell to go. The mesh was pretty easy to make. I was lucky to have an old flywire screen that I could take apart, cut to size for the cage opening and then put back together. I just use a couple of latches to hold it in place so that beardie can't get out. He has a high artificial tree in the cage that he likes to climb. He's a bit of a devil and can get out of the cage if the lid is open so I had to put the wire mesh on. I could remove the tree but he likes it so much up there that I don't want to do it to him.

Keeping Reptiles Newsletter, Cleaning Cages and other matters

2005-09-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well I've just sent out another newsletter today. Sometimes it's a difficult process, finding material, sorting through it and also trying to make the ezine not too long. I know people's attention spans are shorter these days and they like information in shorter bursts. I'm considering making Keeping Reptiles a monthly publication. I guess I'll ask the clientele what they would like but it is hard to find time amongst a busy schedule. Maybe a longer newsletter published monthly would be better.

I have had some good feedback from the readers and a number have written to me about some of the articles. Some disagreed with Jen Swoffords views of the world regarding Iguana life spans in captivity (you can read the articles here). One of the letters is on the site so you read it and make up our own mind.

Another person wrote to me about feeding frozen mice/rats to their snake. This poor unfortunate person accidentally killed his snake but he lives in a fairly remote part of the world and the frozen food had probably been re-frozen or contaminated by the supplier. It was a salient reminder to make sure your frozen food supplier is a good and trusted source. I'm fortunate in that I have two sources, one of whom breeds his own mice for the local area.

I cleaned out my cages the other day and disinfected them all. Awful task but the consequences can be fairly dire otherwise. They all seemed healthy, but the blue tongued did look like they needed a good feed. They are theoretically my daughters responsibility but I have to step in and make sure things are being looked after occasionally.

I fed the children's pythons the other day. I was thinking that I probably hadn't fed them for about 5 weeks. I was going to feed them a couple of weeks ago but I had cooled down the cages and they had not appeared for a while. Usually they move out and about the cage when they want to be fed and that is my cue. The last time I tried to feed them, they left the food and it was wasted (I do not re-freeze it). No amount of enticing would get them to eat. This time they were really hungry and there was absolutely no hesitation. Bang, straight up after a quick sniff.

I think people are often inclined to overfeed their snakes. In the wild, it's often either feast or famine. The Chappell Island (no relation that I know of) Tiger Snakes off the southern coast of Victoria, Australia, feed predominantly on mutton bird chicks. During the mutton bird breeding season, food is everywhere. Mutton birds chicks are just a matter of moving from one hole to the next. The snake gorge themselves for six weeks, until the chicks are too large to eat and then go for ten months or so without food. It is a remote island, with, to my knowledge, no or very few human inhabitants and mostly tiger snakes, lizards and maybe the odd rat or introduced species. The tiger snakes themselves are amongst the largest of the tiger snake species and also said to be among the longest lived snakes, although this has not been studied extensively.

While these snakes probably have a biology suited to such a lifestyle, many snakes that live in difficult conditions must be able to go without food for long periods of time and then make the most of the food when it is readily available.

Keeping Reptiles August Newsletter 2005

2005-08-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

I just sent out the latest newsletter for August. The number of subscribers is growing consistently and is continuing to grow at about 50 a month. I'm always looking for articles and ideas so you can drop me a line from my contact page (link on home page) at http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com. You can also subscribe from this page.

The latest Keeping Reptiles newsletter (which is free) had articles on Iguanas and top 5 deaths in captivity, care of leopard geckos, some more information on snake nutrition as well as some feedback from readers on various articles in the previous issue.

I had some excellent feedback from another customer who used the reptile cage plans to make a cage by modifying a cabinet he purchased at Akea.

Another reader thanked me and told me a very sad tale about how one of his snakes died (his favorite) from food that was frozen but had deteriorated or been defrosted at some point but was not suitable. I intend to publish his story in the nexdt newsletter.

Another has asked me for some advice on getting her young snake to start feeding. I intend to publish this on the website, together with the outcome.

Geckos and Children's Pythons

2005-08-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

I've just added some care sheets to reptile-cage-plans.com on Leopard Geckos and Children's Pythons. These will also be featured in the coming newsletters. The newsletter archive can be found at http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com/archive/archive.html.

My bearded dragon is doing very nicely at the moment. Full of beans. The children's pythons have been cooled down a bit and I will probably turn up the temp in the next week or two to see if they are interested in breeding.

Welcome and Introduction

2005-08-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to my Keeping Reptiles Blog. This is where I will announce new articles, newsletters and general information on keeping reptiles. I have a range of pets, notably Children's Pythons, a wonderful and gentle, small python from Northern Australia, some Blue Tongued Lizards, a Centralian Bearded Dragon and a Snake Necked Turtle. I will be adding to my collection over time and as my partner adapts.

I also have a website to help herp owners build their own reptile cages, called Reptile-Cage-Plans.com. This site has lots of other resources 'below the bonnet', which means behind the home sales page.

I also publish a magazine, or ezine, called "Keeping Reptiles". This is a fortnightly ezine that is free to subscribe to. I am always looking for herp articles, so if you have a reptile story, care sheet or just want to cummicate with other, feel free.