Posted by Sarah on June 27, 2009
Legless Frog Mystery Solved
It turns out that the deformed frogs and toads aren’t caused by chemical contaminants after all, or at least they aren’t all caused by them.
Scientists have discovered that some species of dragonfly nymphs eat the limb buds off of tadpoles, which results in frogs with missing or deformed legs, if the tadpoles survive to adulthood.
A parasitic flatworm, Riberoria trematode, which burrows into tadpole’s hindquarters, rearranges the limb bud cells while it’s in there, and that can result in extra limbs.
Although this has been going on for years, I don’t remember reading anything saying that natural predators might be responsible for the deformities, all I’ve heard is that it was due to chemicals, so I think it’s really interesting that it is something natural that’s causing the problems.
What do you think about this?
Posted by Sarah on April 30, 2009
Sully the Nosy Be Panther Chameleon's Eye
Those are definitely not words that I want to hear in public, especially when they’re coming from my husband.
My three year old niece loves looking at the roaches when she comes over.
The last time she visited she even asked to look at the “aliens” or “ants” twice.
I went and got Jeff and let him do the dirty work, I really don’t play with the roaches that much.
I’ve had enough experience with Palmetto bugs, so I don’t ever want to deal with a roach again.
Anyways, we were at the zoo, and my niece kept calling Jeff to look at the roaches they had there.
Twice I hear Jeff saying “They’ve got roaches, just like us!” from across the room.
I was so embarrassed.
Most people probably aren’t going to think “Wow, I bet they have roaches to feed their reptiles,” they’ll probably thing “Eww, they must be dirty if they have roaches here and it ’s this cold outside.”
Seriously, what would you think?
Posted by Sarah on February 12, 2009
Pet Python Attacks Toddler; Parents Charged With Endangerment
If you haven’t heard about this before, an 18 foot long python attacked a three year old at his home.
The mother stabbed the snake to get him to release – I guess she hadn’t heard that pouring alcohol in the snakes mouth will trigger a release, or she didn’t have alcohol available, or was too flustered to remember it.
I’m sure I would be too frantic to remember anything in that situation.
Do you think the snake’s owners/child’s parents should be charged with endangerment?
There have been enough stories in the news about about pythons killing their owners or keepers lately that if the parents allowed the snake to roam freely, or to be out of the cage without the recommended two adults present to control the snake then I think they were endangering the child.
It seems that most large snake owners seem to get a little lax after caring for their snake for a while, but that’s something that you can’t do when children are involved.
I know one snake owner who’s gotten to the point that he cleans his snake’s cage without help, even though he knows he should have two people in the room in case anything happens.
But he still won’t let his dog in the room with the snake, even though he puts the snake in a bag, because he doesn’t want the dog to get eaten.
I think children are worthy of much more protection than that.
I think in certain circumstances the parents shouldn’t be charged with endangerment, but it’s hard to come up with a scenario that fits those circumstances.
Maybe if someone came to the house and let the snake loose without the owners knowledge – but wouldn’t you check to make sure the snake was safely secured if you had a 3 year old, a 3year old, and an 18 foot long snake?
What do you think about this situation?
Related Posts: Burmese Pythons
Posted by Sarah on January 6, 2009
Over the past few weeks I’ve seen several ads saying “I’m willing to take all of your unwanted reptiles” or other animals on community message boards at local stores, and on internet message boards.
While there are a lot of people who are willing to take in unwanted reptiles, and a lot of people who want to get rid of their reptiles, how do you know if the people who are willing to take in “all unwanted reptiles” are going to take proper care of them?
Reptiles have a variety of different temperature and humidity needs and they often need a heat gradient, where one end of the cage is cooler, and the other is warmer.
If you have different species of reptiles then you’re going to need several different cages with different humidity and heat gradients in each, and most reptiles should be kept individually to minimize fighting, and to keep one of the reptiles from eating more of the food while the others don’t get enough.
If someone really is willing to take all unwanted reptiles then they’re going to run out of room pretty quickly, unless they have a huge house, and most of it is devoted to the reptiles and their care.
We have two ball pythons, a leopard gecko, and one chameleon – and their equipment takes up a whole room.
The cages have to be far enough apart so that each one gets the proper heat and humidity levels, and the chameleons have to have a UVB light to make sure they don’t get metabolic bone disease.
New reptiles should be quarantined for 30-90 days in a separate room, using separate equipment before they are moved into the room with your other reptiles to minimize the transfer of diseases and parasites to your other reptiles.
And have you seen the price of crickets and feeder rats and mice lately?
They’re expensive!
Do you really think that someone who’s willing to take all the reptiles that everyone in the city or state doesn’t want is going to be willing to do this?
There may be some who have the knowledge, the equipment, and the time, but I really don’t think all of them are going to be willing and/or able to provide the best care for the reptiles that they get, unless they place limits on the amount and type of reptiles that they take in.
That’s another thing to consider if you happen to come across any reptile adoption agencies.
A few months ago I was trying to find out if there were any reptile adoption agencies in the Fargo/Moorhead area, and although I got a ton of emails from people saying they were willing to take in unwanted reptiles nobody that I talked to actually adopted the animals out – they kept them all.
That may be a rescue, but without restrictions on the number and type of animals that are taken in, it could easily turn into a hoarding situation.
And if you don’t have any procedures to adopt the animals out then it’s not an adoption agency.
The reason that I decided to write this article is because I read a forum post by someone who had “rescued” a bearded dragon and accidentaly ended up with bearded dragon babies.
Now the poster is looking for more free bearded dragons so that she can open up a business selling bearded dragon babies.
Studies have shown that people value things more if they pay for them – that’s why most rescue agencies charge a fee.
They want to make sure that adopters value the pet they adopt, they aren’t just adopting the one that’s the cheapest.
If you have to get rid of your reptiles, or frogs, or dogs, or cats and there isn’t a reputable rescue in the area, don’t give them away unless you know the person that you’re giving them to will take care of your pet properly.
Charge something to make sure that the adopters will value your pet, and make sure they know what the care requirements are for that species, and that they’re willing to give the pet the appropriate care.
I just read an ad where someone said that they would visit the potential adoptors home, to make sure they approved of it.
Although this does sound farfetched, it’s done routinely by most dog and cat rescues, and it’s one way to ensure that your reptile is more likely to go to a good home.
After all, it’s pretty hard to borrow a 55 gallon tank that’s suitable for a bearded dragon, or to borrow a reptile setup just to look good for someone who’s considering giving you a reptile.
If you had to sell your reptiles or any pet what would you do?
What would you look for in a potential adoptor?
Where would you look to find someone who knew about reptiles and their care?
Do you have any experience with selling or buying reptiles from people who had to get rid of them?
Posted by Sarah on October 21, 2008
Yup, the Northern Lights Reptiles Blog is getting a face lift.
Things might be looking a little funny around here for a while, so if you notice any bugs or anything wierd, please leave a comment and let me know so I can fix it!
Thanks, and I hope you like the new look!
I love the new reptiles for adoption on Petfinder – it can be hard to find places that actually adopt reptiles out, although there are many people who will “adopt” reptiles or take them for free and keep them forever, but it’s worth a look to see if you can find what you’re looking for on Petfinder if you’re looking for a new reptile.
