Should I Buy a Pet Green Iguana?

Warning: If you are thinking about buying a baby iguana in the petshop please ask yourself this: Will I be able to take care of it when it is 5ft or more long?. A freind of mine gave me his juvenile iguana because he was getting too big for his cage. I kept it for a summer and it began getting to big for the cage I had! I promptly gave him to a gentleman who had been keeping large reptile for many years. Iguanas are nice pets, and I truly enjoyed iggy (not the most creative name, I know) but they are not for everyone. If you want a lizard try a leopard gecko or if you wan something larger, a bearded dragon. Both are easy to care for.

Vivarium Substrate Recipe: Great for Poison Dart Frogs

Today I was looking at the terrarium I keep in my room. I've been caring for it for 5years, and I thought "wow the plants are growing beautifully". Then I thought that I should share my substrate ratio so here it is:

3 parts coco-fiber (those bricks they sell)
2 parts tree fern fiber
1 part crushed leafs like oak
1 part compost
1 part peat moss

I sprinkle some top soil from out of the woods on top of this once its in the tank to "seed" it with beneficial organisms like springtails.

Green Tree Frogs Make Great Pets

Green Tree Frogs make great beginner pets. They are enjoyable to watch and easy to take care of. Green tree frog come from the southern united states and grow to about 2 in in length. They can change there color and are usually brown or green. Like all amphibians they love crickets, and tree frogs in general relish moths. Mine would grab moths out of mid-air. you can catch moths from a porch ligh or grow your own by letting wax worms mature. Green tree fogs ae fully nocturnal. The ideal daytime temp. for them is in the low to mid 70s, dropping slighly lower at night. They are aboreal and like alot of plants and sticks to climb on. Pothos works perfectly. It was a plant I used in most of my tanks. I got two green tree frogs at the same time. The smaller one died of a cloacal prolapse, and the other one I had for 5 yrs.

Fire Salamander Basic Care

Fire Salamanders are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa and make great beginner amphibians. They may be striped or spotted. Like most colorful amphibians their markings serve as a warning to predators that they are poisonous (don't worry about touching them. Just don't put them in your mouth). They are terrestrial and like moist substrate with plenty of places to hide, and a shallow water bowl . For mine I used eco-earth and cork bark. A 5 or 10 gallon tank is perfect for an adult. They love worms and insects. Fire salamanders can become quite tame. Mine would often eat out of my hand. They do not need added heat, and are mostly nocturnal so no added light either. The above pic is of my fire salamander. I had him 5 years before giving him away.

New York Metro Reptile Expo

Just so everyone knows the New York Metro Reptile Expo is Sunday, Jan 25th at the Westchester county center. I usually try to go bu can't mak this one. They have them numerous times during the year and they are always alot of fun.

Pet Shops!

Disclaimer: This will be somewhat of a rant. Everytime i go into a petshop I make sure to see how their reptile section looks, and honestly I'm usually dissappointed. Numerous species crammed into he same cage, improper substrate, to dry, too wet, wrong food, sick and dying specimens next to healthy ones, etc. I could write volumes on the list of grievances. Perhaps there logic is that the anmals wont be their long so why bother caring for them properly, or maybe its money, or just plain stupidity! Whatever the reason it's sick. Many of these animals can live decades, but aren't likely to survive 6 month from the petshop. I ask everyone who is searching for one of these exotic pets to either get he shipment when it first comes into the petshop, or better yet buy them at a reptile expo!. The private and small time breeders at these shows are knowledgeable and their animals are likely to be healthy (and getting a healthy animal is half the battle).

The Herper Introduction

Hello everyone. You can call me BAM. I'm a lover of science and nature. For years I have been interested in vivarium design and the care of reptiles and amphibians. They are truly wonderful creatures. My collection included newts, salamanders, lizard, toads, tree frogs, and many other creatures over the yrs. One southern toad I had for 13 years (amazing right?). This blog will be about anything and everything in the herpetological hobby. Enjoy!