Lotte! I read some where that in Paris is one of the biggest reptiles shops in Europe, also with several frogs species. Im going to France in June /2010 and would like to visit this shop, but I dont remember the name. Do you know some thing about? Webpage? I hoppe to get a way to go to Jersey and visit Durrell this time. Cheers
Hi Eduardo, the shop is called La Ferme Tropicale, as with all businesses it has many, many good points but also some things you might not like personally It is a huge shop with lots of interesting things, you may need to arrange with Karim (the owner) to see some of the very peculiar things there. LA FERME TROPICALE - Le professionnel du reptile depuis 1993 A flight from Charles De Gaulle to Jersey is very easy, only 1 hour Lotte***
A mate of mine had a Mangrove some years ago - almost tagged him on the face when he was trying to help it shed! It remained 'titchy' it's entire life. Unllike the psychotic anacondas that seemed to calm down somewhat as they got larger. Hix
Ah! Titchy as in small, tetchy as in quick to strike Or that's how I'd say it! I expect them to be rabid forever haha! I have to use a hook and tail method when moving them around, anything like removing skin etc they have to be pinned. I had to give one of them a bath recently when he had a pathetic attempt at a shed, it was a bit hairy to say the least letting him swish around in the bath all puffed up and ready to strike. I'm absolutely in love with them though, the character, their beauty, their feistyness and that they test my skills each time
Yeah, I think that's why Pete liked his Mangrove! When it was having trouble shedding he put it in a garbage bin with some tepid water in the bottom, put the lid on and left it for a little while. A bit easier than a bath (then again, his was a fully grown individual). Hix
i currently have only one Victorian Carpet Python, Cecil. Very friendly. and some scorpions. the other day i had a lone scorpion in a cage and it gave birth, i thought it wasn't pregnant.
I added a blue tegu to my little collection a month ago. I don't know if they can be found across the pond, but this is possibly the most tractable lizard I've owned. He's naturally flighty when approached from above, but calms quickly once in hand and required no restraint to stay on my arm. Not bad for a hatchie. His appetite is staggering. He'll polish off a couple of dozen crickets/lobster roaches in the morning and then eat some turkey and berries five hours later. He grows about an inch a week. At this rate, I'll be assembing a custom enclosure by the end of January.
reptile wise, i currently have 2 butterfly agamas (m/f) 2 hieroglyphic river cooters (m/f) 2 spur thighed tortoises (f/f) 1 crested gecko (m) 1 madagascan day gecko (f) amphibs: tiger salamander inverts: flame knee tarantula pink to tarantula giant train millipedes striped legged millipedes
Carolina Anole Longtail Grass Lizard Rainwater Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko Kenyan Sand Boa Eastern Garter Snake and my Amphs: Firebelly Toad (x2) Green Tree Frog Rice Frog (AKA Asian Bullfrog) Firebelly Newt x7
I am a reptile keeper. Here's our list of herps. 2.0.0 Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman 2.2.0. European Legless Lizard 1.1.0. Gila Monster 0.0.2. Aldabra Tortoises 5.10.0 Marine Toad 0.0.1 Fire Salamander (To many to count) Axolotls: GFP, Leucistics, White Albino, Golden Albino, Half Albino, (To Many to count) Madagascar Hissing Cockroach 1.1.0 Leucistic Ball Python 0.0.7 Fire Ball Python 1.2.0 Burmese Python 1.0.0 American Alligator 0.0.1 Alligator Snapping Turtle 0.0.1 Iran Jayan Blue Tongued Skink 0.1.0 Northern Blue Tongued Skink 0.0.5 Eastern Box Turtle 0.0.2 Wood Turtle 0.0.2 African Spurred Tortoise
Snakes are the most misunderstood and unjustly maligned creatures on the planet! I have a number of snakes of several species and they have taught me a LOT that I never knew before about snakes! At present, I have several corn snakes, garter snakes, a california kingsnake (Newport variety), a black rat snake, and a ball python. In the past I've also had two different species of watersnakes. Some of the things my snakes have taught me are: Snakes have individual personalities just like individuals of other species. Snakes are very aware of what goes on in the world outside of their enclosures. One of my corn snakes, when she is hungry, instantly recognizes when I carry the particular box that her mice are in, into the room where her cage is at, even though TV may be on, computers may be on, cats come in and out of the room, etc, I can walk in and out of the room, but it's only when she is hungry and sees the box that she will rush to the spot in her cage where she knows I will open the lid to give her her mouse and start bobbing up and down in a particular way she uses to tell me she wants to eat. I have a yearling caramel morph corn snake who amazes me because when I give her a live mouse, she will come right up out of the cage when I open the lid and strike the mouse precisely on the head and start constricting it before I get it into her cage, SHE NEVER ONCE HAS BITTEN ME OR GOTTEN MY HAND INSTEAD OF THE MOUSE IN HER COILS. She never once has tried to strike when I open her cage lid to clean her cage or change her water or take her out of the cage. I used to feed f/t rodents until I acquired a few individual snakes who would only eat live mice and about the same time, the f/t I bought were in a dried out condition resembling rawhide with fur stretched over bones. The snakes wouldn't eat them. When I feed live, I feed one mouse at a time and watch the snake eat. The snakes taught me that they have some strategies for catching and eating a live rodent without getting bitten, that I was unaware of. In all the multitude of times I've fed the snakes live rats or mice, the snakes ALWAYS have struck and coiled around the rodents with the rodents in positions where they were unable to scratch or bite the snakes. The corn snakes, rat snake, and cali king all have one strategy where they hide underneath the substrate and maneuver themselves very slowly to the point to where their heads are hidden directly underneath where the rat or mouse is sitting. Then suddenly up out of the substrate comes their version of a "Jaws" strike. Most of the time they accurately strike the head. They ALWAYS have managed to strike and coil the rodent in such a way that the rodent's mouth is either held firmly closed in the mouth of the snake, jammed against the bottom of the tank, or in one case, held so the head of the rodent was underwater and aimed away from the snake's body, in the snake's swimming pool. Another behavior I've observed the corn snakes do a number of times, is the act of wiggling the end of their tail to attract the attention of a rodent while the snake moved its head into a strikinig position behind the rodent. Incidentally, many, maybe all, species of snakes rattle their tails when they are warning another snake to stay away or when a threat becomes scary enough to put them into a defensive mode. They will vibrate their tails against objects just enough to make an audible rattling sound. When I feed one of my cornsnakes, the snake in the cage next to his will go over to the side of her cage that's right next to his when she's hungry. When she does that, he will rattle his tail (while also dealing with his mouse!) until she "backs off" usually when she sees me coming to feed her (and when I feed her, I open the lid on the opposite side from where the two cages adjoin each other). If she's not hungry, she doesn't even bother to come out of her den when she sees me feed him. All the snakes except the ball python who is a shy reclusive individual, have a particular behavior of catching my eye and bobbing up and down to tell me they are hungry and want me to feed them. I don't know if the shy reclusive "just leave me alone in my den in peace" attitude of my ball python is just her individual personality or if it's a common species attitude, because she's the only ball python I've ever had. She also doesn't show the curiosity or interest in inspecting things around her when I take her out of her cage, unlike the other snakes who when carried around the house, all busy themselves looking around at things and reaching out to inspect whatever interests them. Garter snakes and corn snakes are fascinated by bright contrasting colors and will bring their heads close to pictures that have bright colors in them and move around looking at the colors. When they flick their tongues during their inspection of bright colored pictures or objects, their tongues never actually touch the object. There are times when well fed garter snakes or corn snakes become restless in their enclosures and when I put such things as a magazine cover or even the Sunday comics on the top or sides of their enclosures, they would calm down and start inspecting the picture through the glass (or through the screen top). This has happened enough that it's led me to believe that snakes can sometimes simply become bored! All of my snakes except for the ball python, including newborn baby garters!, clearly have a cleanliness instinct and relieve themselves in areas of their enclosures that are farthest away from their den boxes. It amazes me that a litter of 38 newborn baby garter snakes manage to keep their den box clean, "housebreaking" themselves right away....compare that to the average litter of puppies when they are at the developmental age of being aware of when they need to relieve themselves and have enough physical control to start searching for a spot to relieve themselves in! The newborn snakes compared to the puppies, are far cleaner but we all know which species is considered to be the more intelligent of the two!!! One of my cornsnakes occasionally visits the pet shop so people can see what a fully grown BIG female cornsnake (she's over 5 feet long and NOT fat!) looks like. She loves visiting there, looking at all the brightly colored objects on the displays. The most surprising thing that ever happened when I visited the petshop with her was an incident just three weeks ago when I was carrying her around. Suddenly she stiffened and clearly intentionally extended her tail out AWAY from me and relieved herself so the waste fell several inches away from me instead of on me. That surprised me because it showed she clearly was aware she needed to "go" and she clearly made intentional effort to avoid eliminating on me. In fact, she opened her cloaca long enough before actually going, that I had time to alert one of the employees. who ran and got a paper towel and caught the mess in the paper towel. None of the snakes that I've taken to the pet shop to visit have ever relieved themselves in their travel containers (ExoTerra Explorarium-I've found they are an ideal travel container, escape proof, and also ideal for taking a snake outdoors safely when weather permits. I set the container down in tall grass and watch (and usually also take pictures!) as the snake inside enjoys nature safely) Garters are very alert, playful, and curious. If I put a new object into a garter cage, the snakes will always run over to the new object and check it out much like children who see a new toy on a playground. I've seen baby garters try pushing each other off of a rock or off the edge of their swimming pool into the water, much like children playing "king of the hill." When I clean their cage, I put cardboard boxes such as Ritz Bitz boxes in their cages for den boxes, with the box on its side, one end open for the front and holes cut in the opposite (back) end and in the sides and top so the snakes can crawl in and out of the box and also look at the pictures on the box. I put cardboard paper towel tubes in the garter cages with a hole cut in the center of the tube for snakes to enter, exit, or stick their heads up out of. I put the cardboard tubes from toilet paper into the baby garters cages for them to play in. The garters (and corns, ratsnake and cali king) love to make tunnels in their aspen substrate and when I put enough substrate in the cage to cover the tubes except for the entrance holes, the snakes really enjoy playing in them. Garter snakes like looking at themselves in the mirror, the only snakes species I've kept so far that shows interest in their own reflections. This is not "just because they see another snake", I keep garters in groups because they are social and like the companionship of other garter snakes, and often there will be four or five snakes crowded around the mirror together all looking at themselves. It can be hard to photograph the garters too because they often keep trying to get close enough to the camera lens so they can look at their own reflections. I have a mirror in each of my garter cages, just because the snakes get so much enjoyment out of a mirror. Garter snakes WANT the company of other garter snakes. In the wild, I've rarely ever seen a garter snake alone. In the wild, whenever I've seen a garter snake, I've come upon two or three garters coiled side by side, sleeping under something or looking for food along the edge of a small stream of runoff rainwater right after a hard rain and reminding me of fishermen standing side by side on a bridge talking as they fish. When I had only one garter snake and she escaped her cage a few times, she would go to the top of the cage of a Florida Banded Watersnake I had at the time and the watersnake would be in the top of her little tree and it would look like the two were holding a conversation through the screen top of the watersnake cage. This same gartersnake once escaped and I was unaware of it until I came back in the house from outdoors and she came out from under a chair and followed me across the living room. I turned around, saw her, picked her up, and took her back to her home. She clearly was eager to get back home, going inside of her own volition as soon as I lifted the cover enough for her to get in. This garter, my first, also responds to her name. I have her with several other garters now, yet when I say "Hey JC" she will stick her head up and out in my direction in response. She loves for me to hold her by the computer keyboard, she's fascinated with the keys and will move her head from key to key and intensely gaze at them one at a time like she's trying to figure out the letters!+ There are more things I've learned from my snakes, and I'm sure they plan more surprise lessons for me to learn. Humans are supposed to be far more intelligent than snakes. But...it's the snakes and other pets who have us humans well trained to be the animals servants, feeding them, cleaning up after them, meeting their needs, while they enjoy their royal lifestyle and let us humans just keep on thinking we are the most intelligent species!!!!!
My current collection consists of; 0.1 - Argentine rainbow boa 0.1 - Savu island python 1.0 - Bairds ratsnake 1.0 - Florida kingsnake 1.1 - Red eyed crocodile skinks 0.1 - Leopard gecko Tarantulas 1.0 - Xenesthis immanis 0.0.1 - Brachypelma vagans 0.0.2 - Avicularia versicolor
Are the crocodile skinks easy to handle or do they not like it. Also do they swim in the water much like a caiman lizard or crocodile?
I don't know if we can extend 'reptile keeper' to amphibians (but the magazine Practical Reptile Keeper does) - so I shall say anyway that I have 1.2 Chinese fire-bellied newts that I acquired in January. I have plans to get more things as and when I have the money, including ball python, bearded dragon, axolotl, any form of tree frog and something that is simple to care for but a little more on the unusual side. Oh, and I would love a pair of blue-tonued skinks. One of my favourite herps (Emerald tree boa) is going on my wishlist at some point, but certainly not for a good few years yet
Thought we might add to this. I have a male Argentine Tegu, called Sid who is a real softy and very very healthy. The wife has a pair of Leopard Gecko's which she breeds on request and me to look after, don't ask her who is the most trouble. Not sure if that makes us keepers of sorts?
