For everyone who has a Jam x Whitey Baby hatched on June 29

[Quijibo]

BTW, I've participated in field counts and the impact of non indig species is staggaring. Ive seen areas where entire populations have been decimated in a very short time. A healthy population of nile monitors can whipe out the alligator population.
The ignorant are the ones dumping their animals. These bans are the direct result of these types of counts.

 

[Meg90]

Well, this is how Cleo and I are doing <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-YhT1ufCbY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-YhT1ufCbY</a><!-- m -->

I also would not continue to take your Gu out on errands. Babies do not retain heat as well as adults do, and one reason he's behaving is because he is cooler. While it might seem cool to show him off, you show the wrong type of person, and you can have a major problem on your hands.

All someone needs to know is the species, and they can go right online a buy their very own "tame, sweet, tegu". People want what looks like "fun" and a big, friendly lizard is definitely fun.

What they weren't seeing was the weeks worth of effort you put into him to get him tame, and they aren't seeing that he came from a good breeder, and not from a crappy import pet store.

 

[Zilch]

There's a HUGE difference between educating where invited, and educating where you are not. To think you can "educate" a person when you weren't asked is, at the very least, arrogant, as is assuming that their fears are ignorence. Some people are terrified of reptiles, just like there are some that are terrified of heights. You have as good a chance convincing them they are OK as they have of convincing you they are not. Ignorence also implies that there is no evidence to back up a persons concerns. There is plenty of evidence to show that many of their concerns are well founded. As for the opinion that you can convert someone who is "on the fence", you have just as much of a chance of making that fence sitter an anti. There are many who just don't, and never will, care. We are the minority here. You have no constitutional "right" to own reptiles. Make yourself a nuisance, and those who don't share your passion for reptiles will make it illegal for you to own one.
People have the right to dislike reptiles just as much as you have the right to enjoy them.

You are distorting what I said. I never made any sort of claim that I force my reptile into people's everyday lives and try to coerce them into liking them. I never approach someone, tegu in hand and insist they touch it or listen to a diatribe about reptiles. When I speak of education I speak of people who approach me, and ask me a question. To answer that question is to educate, to see a reptile that defies their perception (vicious, slimy, scary, what-have-you) with a docile curious animal also does go some distance in changing the viewpoint of some.

Ignorance is defined as being unaware, lacking knowledge, or willfully avoiding knowledge. That is what I speak of, to lump every reptile into a neat little "menace" pile based on the misguided ideal that ALL exotic animals are a potential keystone species in the making IS ignorance. It is true, some people have phobias, but those cases are few and far between, and as I said I *never* force my animals on *anyone*. We're also not discussing me having some false sense of entitlement to haul a reptile wherever I want and not expect any fallout, which is why, as I said before it's normally restricted to trips to the local herp supply store.

I do fully understand the ramifications of exotic populations in the wild. I do live in Florida afterall, a place where pretty much ANY reptile can thrive. Fears over people releasing pets into the wild and destroying natural habitats is for the most part well-founded, but the assumption can't be made that every pet owner is going to carelessly release a large carnivorous lizard in their back yard. The problem is, these valid rational arguments are drowned out by the "ignorant" who think anything with scales is "icky".

But... we're derailing the point of this thread, I don't think we really need to argue, I do agree with you on a lot of points, and nothing you've said is wrong beyond semantics. I think we're all passionate about this subject, and I didn't mean for my anecdote to spiral this thread into a battleground over reptile ownership rights.

Now- on with the pictures and cute tegu stories!

 

[Quijibo]

Well said Meg.
Even if he's warm, the cute little python, boid, or lizard that's all curled up in the palm of your hand is not being docile. He's terrified and in stress. Young lizards, even terrestrial species, climb when they feel threatened. Young reptiles sit very still as a defence (camoflage). A reptile at ease is a roaming reptile.

 

[Quijibo]

Reptile Phobia is much more common than you believe. As are those who know very much about reptiles, and would like to see exotics banned. One non-indig species (ex. nile mons) can whipe out a keystone species (ex. gators). Since you're in Fla, ask any biologist what he thinks can happen if the Gambian Giant Pouched Rat gets off the keys. Most likely the result of one breeder dumping his stock.

 

[Zilch]

Well, seems everything I've said has been cherry-picked into making me seem like a horrible irresponsible person

Facts:
- I live in Florida... we're not talking about cold weather, it's still in the 90s most days. (Yes I do realize there's a difference between 85-95 degree ambient and 105 degree basking spot, but that's hardly enough to stress him or put him into an artificial state of tranquility)

- When out of the house he's normally "burrowing" between two shirts, which he's quite adept at getting in and out of based on his temperature or comfort level with people around.

Let me also reiterate, he only comes with me when I'm going to the herp store, it's not about showing off, it's about trying to spend as much time as possible with him in the few hours I have between getting off of work and turning his lights off. Also once again, this trip was an isolated incident, I had to pick up some mice for him, and when I found out the place didn't carry larger light hoods I made a quick stop at Home Depot to pick one up, he slipped out of my shirt and onto my shoulder, which I wasn't planning, and as a result people saw him and asked questions. End of story. It's not like I take him to the mall or to the supermarket, or scare little girls in the park

 

[Quijibo]

Point taken. As a person who's stood in front of others and shared my reptiles and my knowledge of them, I know how fulfilling it can be. If you are not already, join a local herp society and tag along on one of their seminars. Lots of fun, lots of like-minded folk (with a few "nuts" thrown in).
When I take my herps in public they're bagged. To prevent attention, and to prevent harm to the animal.

 

[Zilch]

Point taken. As a person who's stood in front of others and shared my reptiles and my knowledge of them, I know how fulfilling it can be. If you are not already, join a local herp society and tag along on one of their seminars. Lots of fun, lots of like-minded folk (with a few "nuts" thrown in).

I'll have to see what's around here, I wouldn't mind meeting a few like-minded individuals, among my friends I'm normally just the weird guy with the lizards. It feels good to be able to talk to others about something you're passionate about, which is why I think we're all here after all

I do honestly value the opinion of the people on this forum, especially knowing the folks in this thread are sorta like an extended family to my 'gu and I!

 

[Dvdh1]

Not they are a threat, but yesterday when I pulled out of wendy's, a Chinese water dragon ran across the street in front of my car. It one more thing that people can be upset about

 

[Zilch]

Not they are a threat, but yesterday when I pulled out of wendy's, a Chinese water dragon ran across the street in front of my car. It one more thing that people can be upset about

Yeah I've been seeing a number of basilisks near local canals as of late too =/

 

[Quijibo]

As inert as these may seem, they are all a threat to some species, somewhere. Think, Brown Tree snake, Marine toad...
The first Basilisk I saw in Fla was about 20 years ago. In that 8 months period of herping, I only saw 1, and no iguanas.

 

[Zilch]

As inert as these may seem, they are all a threat to some species, somewhere. Think, Brown Tree snake, Marine toad...
The first Basilisk I saw in Fla was about 20 years ago. In that 8 months period of herping, I only saw 1, and no iguanas.

I suppose there's still hope that they don't have any really established breeding colonies... but it's kind of like roaches, if you see one there's normally A LOT more where that came from =(

 

[Dvdh1]

Very true, I now see iguanas everywhere walking down my street

 

[Meg90]

ahhh! The offtopic! Lets keep this on the Gus people.

 

[Quijibo]

among my friends I'm normally just the weird guy with the lizards.

Dude, among my family, I'm still the wierd guy with the lizards.... :roll:

 

[Zilch]

Dude, among my family, I'm still the wierd guy with the lizards.... :roll:

My mother broke this gem out on me a couple days ago:
"How are the tegus doing?"
"Doing great, growing fast... but you've always been kind of weirded out by my lizards..."
"Well, it's the closest thing I have to grandkids!"

:doh

Sorry for the derail Meg! I'll behave from now on!

 

[Meg90]

:-D That was gu related!

What did yall think of my latest Cleo vid?

 

[Zilch]

Very nice as always, she's a looker. I love the black nose, funny how only part of the clutch inherited that

I've really got to measure mine, I keep watching these pictures and videos and thinking "Wow these guys are getting big!". I think I just see mine everyday so I don't see the growth as clearly as you see it in others. He's going into his second shed in 2 weeks already!

I don't know if I mentioned my setup before, they're both in a temporary cage until I finish the big one. It won't last them more than 2-3 more weeks, especially with the red eating like he's supposed to, but I made it out of sterilite tub (Ghetto, but temporary), with a hardware cloth grill for the light on top. While I was building it though I added a PVC tube with a removable endcap on the side. It's sort of my take on the bathtub trick, whenever I'm home at the computer I just pop the cap off and let them venture out on their own (I'm sitting to the right of the cage), they get to lick at me and climb around on my keyboard and onto my hands and eventually they usually end up asleep on my lap or tucked into my shirt. It really is the weirdest thing, if you give them a bit of trust, they seem to trust you a lot more.

 

[Quijibo]

ahhh! The offtopic! Lets keep this on the Gus people.

Who's Gus? And why does he have his own people? :lol:

Anyhoo, here's some pics of Jango in the bath today after eating 3 mice.(NSFW).

 

[Zilch]

Oh I'm SO getting fired for looking at this. 'Gu's gone wild!