# help please



## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

right...im writing this because since joining this site i have become very worried that i am keeping my reptiles wrong.
please dont shout at me and suggest that i havent done any research into keeping reptiles- cos i have
i have read several books, have friends that own a reptile shop, (whom i constantly ask advice) and constantly searching for new information online and have them vet checked each year. but everything seems to be conflicting. and i now would like some helpful advice from you guys cos you all seem to know what you're talking about.
what i will do is write down each animal i have and how i am keeping them, and if you see anything wrong can you tell me and give me ways to correct this?

leopard tortoise- now 3-4yrs. was brought very lumpy apparently cos the breeder fed the wrong foods. she weighs 2.5kgs and is quite large. i am currently keeping her in a vivarium (which i have now found out from here that is is wrong), so i am in the process of building a tortoise table. she is kept on beech wood chippings, and fed- dandilines, spring greens, curly kale and sometimes tortoise dry food complete she also has a large block of chalk. and the occasional treat (strawberrys etc.) large flat bowl of water at cool end. her viv is 5ft by 3ft and im plannin on building tortoise table the same size? is that ok? what should i have in there to keep her happy? i let her out to have a run around once a day and she has a warm bath (which she loves) once every 2 or so weeks. i keep the viv at about 85f in day and dispite her being in a viv there is very little humidity but this might be because i have cut a large section out of the top of the viv. is this ok?
two beardies adult- male and female, age 2yrs and 2-3yrs. they are in a viv (converted tank) aprox size 5ft by 2ft by 2ft. this is temp. tank cos we again are building a better one. they are kept on calci-sand (again i read on here that this is a no no) but i have kept beardies on play sand before and they used to eat it! i have had no problems in the last year with calci-sand. they are kept at about 40c at day time? they have fresh greens, sweet potatoe, peas, dandilions and dried flower mix everyday and locusts or crickets every 2-3days. they also have dried beardie food sometimes with mealworms in there tank everyday. what can i add to tank to make it more interesting to them, i do have a large bridge in there atm, and so wood to climb on and a reptile hammack. but what else can i put in there?
2 baby beardies- similar conditions but fed more live food and they have a cave.
2 uromastyx- tank 5ft by 2ft by 2ft, kept on calci-sand and given fresh greens, sweet potatoe, peas, dandilions and dried flowers daily. they are kept at 100f during day by a powersun combined bulb and have climbing areas. i give them a bath once in a while. i do try offer live food occasionally but they dont really touch it.
berber skink, stelio agama and turnip tailed false uromastyx all kept in same conditions; 4ft by 1.5ft by 2ft. temperature about 40c. on calcisand, have bowl on water. they have high climbing areas and a cave each. they are fed some greens but dont tend to eat it. they have live food readily available to them.
yeman chameleon- adult male- 3ft by 3ft by 4ft wire and glass terranium thing exoterra. plenty of climbing area, water fall, wet bark on floor. fed locusts daily. 
horned dragon- kept in same conditions as above.
3 baby water dragons- kept in converted tank, 4-5ft, by 2-3ft by 3ft. heated water area with pump. lots of climbing space, basking area. humidity kept about 80% and temp. about 84f. fed crickets and locusts daily. veg and fruit readily available.
1 adult male water dragon- kept in vivarium, about to build a new one. 6-7ft by 4ft by 4ft. kept same as above but he wont eat locusts or crickets for some reason. only recently got him. previous owner didnt know how to keep him. 
1 african pygmy hedgehog. kept in 5ft indoor rabbit cage, wood shavings on base, log roll thing that you can shape, currently shaped in an 's' shape, water bowl and bottle, cardboard box with shreded paper. heat mat to keep temp at 23c.
all animals have uv bulbs the length of tank and all food suplimented by calci-powder (nutribol).
please help me and tell me how to improve these. i am really confused and worried now. 
thanks in advance.
sarah x:blush:


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## w33connie (Sep 21, 2008)

You have an impressive brood...... If you've had them a while and they're doing well then why change anything??? Sounds to me like you've got it sorted 
Everyone on here have different opinions and all very valid most of the time but your book reading, internet trawling and experience is a good way to go. I'd stick with it......


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## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

thank you ever so much.
should i move tortoise to a tortoise table then?
the viv shes is does have loads of vents and has a large area cut out of the top? wb x


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

i only know about beardies, but it all sounds good, temps are good viv size is great, and feeding sounds great too. decor wise, logs, rocks and bridges is what i have. a big bridge going all the way across the back, i have a cave i made, but she usually just sits on it that in it, and i have some big rocks i go from the beach, i have slate tiles with sand at one end so its more interesting. i think people have problems with calci sand in babies, so make sure u dont give your babies the calci sand, but if u have had your adults on it for a yr and you know they dont eat it, then i dont see a problem, my beardie has plany sand and she doesnt eat it so i have no problem. some beardies are rubbish aim at catching locusts and get a mouthfull of sand, but my beardie is spot on and never eats the sand.

just checking u have a 10% uv strip light for your beardies, both adult and babies? if so then your doing a good job and im sure your beardies are happy and healthy.

oh also do u dust your food with calcium and nutrobal? if not then i would recomend getting some, it really boosts the beardies overall health. here the 2 products u need, the first one is calcium, which u dust either the live food or the veg once a day for about 5 days of the week. he smallest tub will last you a good year or maybe longer.

Triple 8 Reptiles - Feeding Solutions Calypso Cricket Dust 120g

and this is nutrobal which u use on the other 2 days of the week.
Triple 8 Reptiles - Vetark Nutrobal 100g


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## chiltern.reptiles (Nov 18, 2008)

w33connie said:


> You have an impressive brood...... If you've had them a while and they're doing well then why change anything??? Sounds to me like you've got it sorted
> Everyone on here have different opinions and all very valid most of the time but your book reading, internet trawling and experience is a good way to go. I'd stick with it......


I very much agree with this, you've obviously had them for some time and know what works for you. 
What is good for my guys may not be the best for someone else's pets...


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## Anna89 (Sep 18, 2008)

I think you'll find everyone will say different things! if what your doin is working for you (and your zoo!) (haha sorry) then i'd say your doin fine! apart from the calci - sand, impaction can take a while, it may never happen, but its better to be safe than sorry!


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## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

hey sounds like your doing a great job and ur little loverly are very spoilt, i wouldnt change anything.

Also every body has different ideas when it comes to tortoises i preffer to keep mine in a viv as i had trouble keeping the temperature up when i had i table for my guy but it sounds like ur doing it right so if ur happy keep it that way.xxxxx

id love to see some of ur set ups.xxx


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## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

wow- thank you everyone for replying.
as for my 'zoo' lol- thas not all my animals, i have 2 chinchillas, another beardie, kitten and a dog.
lol
i will get some of that calcium, cos i only use nutrobol atm. so thank you for that advice.
what substrate should i use for the baby beardies? i really dont like sand?
i will take some pictures of my set-ups and will post them on my profile. i would post them on here but i dont know how 2.
thanks to everyone for being so nice and helpful. 
xxxx


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## LauraMartin (Apr 15, 2008)

for baby beardies no loose substrate, so either kitchen roll, newspaper, slate tiles, or them plastic tiles u get from B&Q work well. personally i think kitchen roll cos its cheap and when they poop u just pick the kitchen roll out and put a new bit down, easier that way. babies tend to have a sloppier poop lol, so kitchen roll is good to absorb it lol. good job tho, would love to see some pics of the zoo


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## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

aww cool thank you.
they are 5months now- lol just they the babies of the group.
sorry to hear about ur loss. 
ill take some more pics tonight and add to my profile.
there are some on there atm.
xx


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## rat506 (Mar 26, 2008)

Hi, looks like your doing a great job, just one thing i would like to say and that is about the uro's, they shouldn't have live food too often as this could cause kidney problems, aslo i wouldn't bath them too often as its not something they would do in the wild, they do like a Very hot basking area temps of around 130 with surrounding area of around 90, good luck and your doing a great job :2thumb:


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## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

thank you
i tried uro with cricket but didnt touch it so i dont really bother with them now,
they seem to love reb cabbage tho.
their basking spot is about 110 and i use a pwersun bulb- is this enough?
i give bath once in a while- prob about 4 a year.- is that too much?
do you have uros?
if so what do you feed yours?


p.s. will upload pics of setups soon but my laptop is broken so im using some1 elses atm


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## mike12 (Aug 30, 2008)

I agree with what others have said if it works then why change. do you have uv for your beardies??


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## sarah24601 (Nov 20, 2008)

yer everyone has uv- full length of tank.
need to replace them soon tho.
thanks for all replies xx


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## SamP (Nov 23, 2008)

If all of your reptiles are perfectly healthy then how can you be doing something wrong? haha

I also have two adlt beardies which are on calci sand and there absolutely fine. Keep up whatever your doing.
_________________________
1.1.2. Bearded Dragons


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## kailogan (Oct 22, 2008)

maybe i read it wrong and sorry if i did the only thign i see is keeping to beardies together for any long lengh of time.but fair play for standing up and asking.i see ur quite new of havnt post much so :welcome:


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## dudley.hoskison (Oct 18, 2008)

*Uromastyx*

Hi I keep 9 Uromastyx and I use this site to ge me started as they are the best people in the world for advice on uromastyx
Deer Fern Farms Uromastyx Care Page

Your Temp is to low for Uromastyx 120 to 130F is a good daytime temp for about 14 hours and 65F at night not higher. do check deerfernfarms website as all the info you need is on the site.

Dudley


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## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi

I'll try to answer your question about tortoise tables!

The reason for using a table and not a viv is humidity. As a vivi is closed in there is normally greater humidity than you would get on a tortoise table. 

If you've cut enough of your viv away that humidity is not a problem, then the main reason for moving to a tortoise table is gone!

Get a hygrometer(measures humidity) and stick it in the viv(they cost less than a pound). If your humidity is low you're OK!

My only other comment is that leopard torts naturally eat a lot of grass so including this in their diet would be good for them and cut your feed bills!

But as others have said, you seem to doing fine and as long as your animals are healthy I would be cautious about making any major changes.

Nice to see another keeper who's concerned about getting it right!


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## rat506 (Mar 26, 2008)

Hi, sarah24601 i have 3 Uros and i feed them on a mix of cabbage's and bird seed they love it, i too use a power sun and it gives them a basking temp of around 130 and i have a ceramic heater on a thermosat to keep a surounding temp of around 90, i have 1 male and 2 females they live in a large viv together the male goes by the name of Hades but i've not named the female's yet, trying to think of good names but want them too be named after Greek goods, hense the name Hades.


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