Other Stuff
Sudan Plated Lizard
My sudan plated lizard was given to me in 2019 by a local who could no longer keep him/her. I have yet to verify the sex on it, but have tentatively named it Juggernaut after the Marvel Comics character. Juggernaut is not overly fond of being handled at this point but has come a long way since I first brought him/her home. He/she no longer runs and hides when I enter the room or even when I open the enclosure. On a good day I can even reach in and touch him/her without him/her immediately trying to hide. Juggernaut has learned to associate me with food, and that's a step in the right direction. He/she will even take food from tongs, but will only take certain things directly from my fingers which is the next step in trust building. I feel like if I can get him/her to a point where he/she isn't afraid of my hands the journey of trust will be halfway complete. Currently Juggernaut is on a diet of grain free dog food mixed with chopped greens once a week, repashy grub pie once to twice a week, fresh greens alone one day a week, and live super worms or hisser roaches every other week. The dog food brand and/or recipe changes every two feedings, and the greens are usually either chopped spring greens, dandelion, or mustard. I also mix in a little MINERALL Indoor with the dogfood/greens blend. I tried offering canned grasshoppers, but he/she will eat one or two and then have nothing to do with them. He/she is particularly fond of the Repashy grub pie. If anyone out there can send me pictures of male and female pores so I can get a positive sex on Juggernaut I'd be very appreciative. I'd love to try at some point to produce captive bred plated lizards and see if cb babies can be socialized more easily than wild caught ones. You can email me directly at [email protected]
Bearded Dragons
I'm finally getting back in to bearded dragons after several years of not keeping them. I initially stopped keeping them because I felt like I wanted to step away from lizards altogether because lizards, especially bearded dragons, are just so much more maintenance than snakes. However, the pull was too strong and a few months ago I found myself browsing the bearded dragon classifieds once again. Above on the left is Dahlia a hypo het translucent blazing orange female from Dragons Den Herpetoculture; in the middle is Meatwad my male red translucent het hypo, unrelated to Dahlia, but also produced by Dragons Den Herpetoculture. On the right is Starfire my reddish orange hypo translucent female produced by Bucket List Reptiles who is also unrelated to the other two animals. Yes they are housed together full-time and I am not worried about them fighting. I have kept bearded dragons for the better part of 20 years now and I understand the basic needs that are required to do so safely and successfully. If you are new to keeping bearded dragons I recommend against cohabitation until you talk to someone who has done so and can explain what's needed and the risks involved. If you have questions about this you can find me on facebook at www.facebook.com/thebeardedherper where I'm always willing to have a friendly conversation about such things.
Tarantulas
First up are my Socotra island blue baboon tarantulas (Monocentropus balfouri). These guys have been very secretive since I got them in May of last year and just about the only time I see them is when I transfer them to a new enclosure. They are a very fast old world species which means they don't have the urticating hairs to kick off that many new world species have. However they do have a particularly nasty bite as a deterrent from what I've been told. That's okay because I have no intention of ever trying to handle them. I am hoping that as they mature and gain some confidence they will venture out more. They are very prolific web builders and they can be kept communally which I am doing. They are also drought tolerant and able to get by with very little water or humidity. That said I still mist them about once a week. Below are the best pictures I've been able to get. The first one is from March of this year (2020), and the last from just a few days ago June of 2020. They grow in leaps and bounds. They can appear not to be doing much and then all of a sudden they molt and they nearly double in size. I've been feeding them on superworms and roaches primarily. I also want to note that they look incredibly soft in person, but it's difficult to capture a picture of that quality. I acquired these from https://jamiestarantulas.com/
My other current tarantula is a Venezuelan suntiger aka (Psalmopoeus irminia). This is another secretive species spending most of the day hiding in a cork tube, but at least this one comes out at night to hunt. Still, it's hard to get a decent picture through a piece of plastic that has water spots on it from misting. These guys being a rainforest species are more sensitive to drought and need a higher humidity. Again, this is a very fast species, but it's a new world species. However this is one of a few new world species without urticating hairs so instead they have a stronger venom. I'm really hoping this one will turn out to be a female and I'll get to keep her for a very long time. My last several tarantulas have turned out to be males upon maturing and males don't typically live for long once they mature. She (hopefully) is a sight to behold when hunting. Sometimes I throw flies in her enclosure just to watch her pounce on them even though they're small meals she goes after them with all the same gusto as a large roach. She too has grown in leaps and bounds seeming to double in size every time she molts. The first picture is shortly after I got her in 2019 and the second picture is more recent May 2020. She too was acquired from https://jamiestarantulas.com/.