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Today:
On the way to work, i get run-over my a 3-wheeled car (A "Reliant Robin" - suffered lots of bruises nothing serious), how embarassing/painful.
At work, we get really busy in service, tables booked in where they shouldnt be etc, really busy, crappy, argumentative shift. (im a Chef)
Finish work, meet girlfriend. argue with girlfriend over me spending all my weeks wage on one pair of rare geckos.
Go home. Find most loved gecko has bitten/broken through mesh and escaped.
Look for gecko. No gecko anywhere. Realise gecko requires uv light and a temperature in the tropis. I am in England.
I am very upset.
James

Im a better herpetological guru than a fish one , been at it practically since birth. Name your species and ill type you out a complete care /diet guide. Tell me what the vivarium setupp is like or post a pic of it, and i'll be able to help you turn it into something a bit more appropriate.

(Fellow english herpetoculturalist used to our crappy climate.)

not to float my own rubber dingy but im not bad either
am pickin up a pair of picus gecko tuesday or thursday.
Male is a xanthic, female het for xanthic
Might get an adult tokay again. had one before but had to give everything up when moved house..standard diet was adult locasts and fuzzies!
James
edit:
longhairdgit: gecko was an adult female phelsuma standingii. Find me another then

Im actually not kidding , I used to have four, and two males.Try aztec reptiles cheltenham, they keep them in stock on and off. I used to breed them myself along with other phelsuma,senegals, flat tales and madagascan giants

They arent that rare and cotswold wildlife park sells off the babies regualarly, theyve had breeding pairs there since i was about 4 years old! Around here they about the 5th most available species! Nice geckos all the same now, especially as babies, very pretty. Keep putting crickets , nectar mix and papaya pieces in the tank and odds, on youll catch them near the tank in the end.

i'm going to hijack this thread and ask which would be easier to keep, some brand of gecko or some small snake, like the milk snake or smaller?

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Hijack at will! Small snakes are easier. No uvb range needed, easy to feed with frozen thawed mice, they dont really need such good attention to the provision of heating,(although obviously all reptiles should be given a thermal gradient) they associate heat directly rather than associate it with light as many diurnal lizards do,(although they should still be given a photoperiod toregulate their behaviour) and are more likely to tolerate human handling, which most lizards other than bearded dragons and thai water dragons hate. Plus unlike with the geckos , you dont end up with crickets roaming round the house eating the carpet.

Any of the cornsnakes are easy, milksnakes (california and florida) and kingsnakes (hondurans , pueblans, etc) are easy , (as long as you avoid the mountain kings who are really fragile). Most can be kept in a low or long equivalent to a 30 gallon container or bigger(im not even gonna start on how many people keep snakes in shoeboxes- its like the goldfish in a bowl thing, dont even think about it unless you want me on your case 24/7!) Its easier to keep dry scrub and desert species rather than jungle tropicals, cos then you dont have to worry about spraying cages with water and fungal infections and stuff.

Basically choose species , commonly available and captive bred, under 5 feet long, rodent eaters, from dry habitats, and snakekeeping is really a doddle. If you want them to live a long time and avoid cancer, dont choose albino, piebalds or leucistic specimens. They are often highly prized by fools, but it does nothing for their health, just like all the other worst excesses of selective breeding. IMHO natural colours are much nicer anyway.

Id recommend anyone with a mind to get a reptile have a good thorough read of this site first, its about the best free information youll find.It covers everything you will need to know, and if theres anything it doesnt, try asking me!

My personal preferences are for lizards, as their behaviour is far more interesting than that of snakes, which frankly bore me a little. A good beginner species that can handle a few mistakes and a few cagemates is the leopard gecko eublepharis macularius. Avoid mixing species unless you have massive vivaria, and a lot of experience under your belt. Generally retiles are worse than fish for community settings. They spend most of their time trying to kill each other. Dont think of them like fish, and at least to begin with, treat every vivarium as a species vivarium. Reptiles are actually generally more territorial than fish , and will try to eat each other too. territorial space for a green iguana for example might be as much as well...a football field!

With all species, make sure you are aware of the nutritional requirements, and are well versed with hypervitaminosis A , and all of the symptoms of metabolic bone disease, and how to prevent them. Dont ever take the mickey on the temperatures, and youll do fine.

Learn the basics of diet in relation to vitamins and temperature, and them make sure you know about relative humidity and how to achieve it, and controlling temperature before you ever go in the shop.

And a final heads up, is that reptile keepers have among their ranks, casual abusers, and ego driven idiots much the same as the fish field does, so make sure you screen the people you take info from.

Excellent references for reading are basically anything written by members of the american federation of herpetoculturalists, the works of people like phillipe de'vosjoli , bob mailloux. R,G.Sprackland,Sean keown. They are masters of the field , and if people give you info that contradicts theirs- ignore them !

Most of the tfh literature in reptile keeping is complete tat, and as such id also go for any papers or books produced from german or american organisations over british guides, which tend to be awful.


http://www.anapsid.org/

I hope this helps , and gives you a sound place from which to start. Have fun researching!

i had a red tail boa a couple years ago but had to give him away when my ex wife and i split up. something about moving a 9ft snake across the country just didn't appeal to me somehow so i'm pretty familiar with snake care and handling, at least for a big snake. but i've been looking at getting another one, preferably one that won't grow up to start eyeing my cats as dinner

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

longhairdgit - they're rare up here at least
- pictus havent come due to cold weather, looking at next wednesday now.
Snakes are easier, but i say geckos are more rewarding.
Though, i'd also tell you to get a Tokay

Only herp that has bit me in my life was a Tokay gecko when I was working at PETCO. They're really cool-looking, but I don't think I'd ever keep one for that reason.

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James... that is the demon day from hell you describe.

Any sightings of your little houdini? Sometimes they are hiding in the human's greater abode (aka behind a bookshelf)



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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Tokays are tough, ill give them that, I had one escape on me for about a year, and when I got it back it was still in a-ok condition. Good for a beginner with one small problem- vitually unhandleable in most cases, and their bite hurts like hell! I had a near footer and I had to dunk him underwater before he would let go! Big ones could conceivably cause tou a visit to hospital for stiches and crushed muscle damage.

Funniest thing though, is the call. Late at night it sounds like someone pressing a car hooter like you get on vintage cars, and slowly running out of finger power. honk-honk-honk- honk- errrrgh. Too funny.

Aww Mezzy, you poor bugger

And a Reliant Robin of all things! I mean if you are going to be smacked by a car I guess that'd be one of the better ones to pick, but its not particularly good for bragging about at parties

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Well i found her today!

Big ones could conceivably cause tou a visit to hospital for stiches and crushed muscle damage.

bah, i wouldnt go that far. my adult male was touching 16" and had an open-mouth display as big as my closed fist. i dont think they could cause crush muscle damage, maybe a few stiches if they are left twisting long enough.
hopefully if this weather clears up i'll get my pictus next week!
James