Other pets (pics and discussions)

[kibakiba]

Aww... Poor lizards. I like those western fence lizards The blue colour is amazingly pretty. However, I'd rather keep my beautiful garter snakes

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, Male fence lizards in some areas can appear, even from above, to be very beautiful and blue/purple. They can even suddenly appear to change color when a food item presents itself, or another male wanders into his territory. It's so awesome to find a dominant male defending his territory. Of course, they flee and hide. Sit still for a while and he'll come back out, sit on his rock "throne" and give quite a display for the females. Very challenging to maintain in captivity but also very rewarding.

The problem in captivity is the need for lots of UVA AND UVB, a lot of room, and a constant need for live insects. They won't drink from a water dish so forget about that. After several weeks of hot dry weather, they will only drink if you drip water onto a flat rock for example, then they will lick it off.

Not so much of a challenge to "brumate" or provide a winter period, followed by a "spring" and getting them to breed. Lost quite a few females because when it's time for egg laying, they are very picky. Some die if they don't find a site deep enough, warm enough, or just right. If they can't find a suitable egg laying burrow (they often dig several holes to the point of exhaustion) they get egg bound and die.

Thankfully, I only lost very few females this way.

The problem often is, the babies housed together grow up, reach sexual maturity, and if you have 3 males in a small area, the stress alone can kill them. males are very territorial, but are also the most beautiful.

[kibakiba]

Wow I never knew that about them. I used to ant one, along with dozens of other reptiles, but I'll stick to garters... and when I move in with my boyfriend he wants a ball python or 2, a couple tegu's (which I also like) and some geckos. I have a feeling we wouldn't even have a bedroom. Everything would be reptile tanks haha.

[ConcinusMan]

Oh I wouldn't go so far as to say that.. but it's good to have pets of any kind that live with you, and you can both love together. That's awesome.

[kibakiba]

Indeed it is. It was nice to find someone who didn't find snakes ugly and... "Slimy". The only problem is, he also wants a crocodile. It's not happening. Haha, it'd be cool but I couldn't handle something that could potentially harm one of us. Or our kids if we ever had any

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah croc would be a little over the top. Heck, I think 20 foot pythons are a bit ridiculous. Not too many responsible owners out there. One might even argue that owning a croc is irresponsible in and of itself so there would be no such thing as responsible keepers.

[kibakiba]

Yeah... He loves the really big reptiles. He wanted a monitor... I think and Asian Water Monitor. They get as big as me (I'm short and pudgy )... He wanted to put it on a harness and walk it around the neighborhood for its exercise. Lol. It'd be cool, but we'd need a little swimming pool for it. Since for the next 4-5 years he's going to be in college and a rookie game designer... It wont happen

[Holly]

Haha, if my husband wasn't here to stop me I would have a ton more pets! I want a couple more crested geckos and maybe a gargoyle one too!

[kibakiba]

Cresties are cute, I want one in the future. I like their eyes

[guidofatherof5]

Well it's about time. I have my first baby racer.
This is a striking and biting machine.