# Most contraversial move?



## SinisterWeasel (Jul 1, 2007)

What rules have you broken? For example, have you kept 2 species together which may have been a bad idea, but have been fine? I don't want to hear stories of bad herp keeping, but sometimes the rule book can be interpreted differently to suit new situations :whistling2:....just like the bible :diablo:
I have kept a sand boa with a LG, and sandfish skinks with a LG temporarily with no problems. I have also kept various skinks etc for years together with no problems. Yet this is deemed to be a sin most of the time in the herp world...or have things changed? I have been laughed at for suggesting a praying mantis can be kept free in the house...but i did it and was very successful. It lived on my lamp shade, i swapped the bulb for a heat lamp bulb and it caught moths all evening. Theres a photo on my intro thread

So be honest, what have you done? But please note there is a huge difference between judement and luck


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## ukgeckos (Apr 11, 2007)

Ive kept standings day geckos in a planted huge viv with white tree frogs and that was fine 
I also kept a chequered swift with a 1.3 of leos for about 3 years back in the 90's


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## Tops (Apr 26, 2007)

this one time, when i was a little boy and before i realised just what a crime it was, i wore socks with sandals.


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## leogirl (Oct 1, 2006)

Tops said:


> this one time, when i was a little boy and before i realised just what a crime it was, i wore socks with sandals.


LMAO!!! dear now that IS a crime!!


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I keep adult corn snakes together in groups which I've been told is a crime :Na_Na_Na_Na:

In the late 90s I also kept a trio of king snakes together as the shop didn't tell me they were cannibalistic... lucky they were never hungry :smile:

When I bought my first leopard geckos again in the late 90 sprivately there was a white spotted gecko in the viv with. It was vicious and evil and it lived with them for 2 years before it died.. moving it out would have been more trouble than it was worth :lol2: They seemed happy enough.. of course I know better now and wouldn't take the risks.


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## weeminx (Oct 28, 2006)

Tops said:


> this one time, when i was a little boy and before i realised just what a crime it was, i wore socks with sandals.


now thats just the worst crime of all:lol2:


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

the only one that springs to mind with me is I kept a pair of male leos together for over a year until one was sold. (the other is still for sale if anyone wants him!) never had a problem with them, but I think the reason I got away with it is that they were together, along with others, right from the start and grew up together. probably more to the point, once they were no longer hatchlings anymore, it was just those two in the viv, with no female to fight over.


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## gaz (Oct 5, 2005)

have done it all,the long an short of it is that there are no rules,what works works and what doesnt doesnt,simple as that.
some things are sensible and some not but there are no hard and fast rules governing any aspect of reptile keeping,not on what can be housed together orr on temps,humidity or anything else,every animal is an individual,so we cater for a lot of individuals,what works with one wont work with another,but the idea of having a recipe book and following steps one,two and three is becomming entrenched now and almost certainly followed religiously by the majority.
use your powers of observation and free your mind,your reptiles will benefit and you will learn more.
regards gaz


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## LeeH (Jan 26, 2005)

you have to make a few mistakes to progress your understanding of keeping animals 
ive done a few things..nothing that would endanger animals lives though


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## punky_jen (Feb 22, 2007)

I keep my two female corns together, no probs.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

I feed ALL my snakes in their Vivs!

I have put my Iggy and BD in the same room in view of each other a couple of times.

:biteme: :lol2:


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

Crownan said:


> I feed ALL my snakes in their Vivs!
> 
> I have put my Iggy and BD in the same room in view of each other a couple of times.
> 
> :biteme: :lol2:


i feed my snakes in their vivs too...

i find if i tub them to feed they dont always feed as well.. i always strike feed them and watch them carefully... i always use tongs and a glove when feeding so they dont smell my scent...

and i never put my hand in the viv just the tongs....

ive not had any problems so far but if i ever do then i guess i wil chastise myself and reconsider viv feeding.


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## miffikins (Feb 25, 2007)

I think the only thing I've ever done that may be deemed bad is letting my monitor see my leo's and swifts. Hes only a lil' guy but he never seems interested in the others, just likes to sit on top of Maxi's viv coz its warm!

I never understood why it was deemed so bad to feed your snakes in the viv. As long you're careful so they don't assocaite you with the food wheres the problem?? But hey, I know nothing about snakes!

: victory:


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## Dave_D (Apr 4, 2007)

I kept 2 beardies together, that was a wrong move as I know have a stumpy tailed beardie! Wont do that again

I feed both my snakes in their vivs, I do this as my Royal wont eat unless he is in his hide, but when I get him out I take his hide off so he must know the difference as he has never struck at me....although he wont eat unless I dont touch him or remove his hide, if I do he wont eat!

So I need to feed him in his hide or I will have an annorexic snake

Oh, and I dont use tongs for my Royal, he dont fight for it, he prefers it for me to drop it in front of his hide and he will take it that way...sometimes before it even hits the floor!


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## Incubuss (Dec 19, 2006)

I often feed in the viv, but I always strike feed them and keep a close eye on them. I do this as some of mine won't feed out of the viv.

I keps 2 leos in a glass tank for 3 or 4 months

when I first got into spiders I bought a P. regalis without knowing much about them.


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## skimpy (Nov 22, 2006)

I was asking for trouble for a while by using an unregulated heat source. Felt guilty every day and it was the best thing i eer did getting that sorted. i can sleep easy now!!


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## LiamRatSnake (Jul 3, 2007)

I have to feed my ABR in the viv cos he always strikes if anything goes near him after he's fed. More often than not he gets me lol.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

i keep to royals together there came in as rescues and there had always been together. i also feed in the vivs


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## eeji (Feb 22, 2006)

2 corns in one viv (both adult female!)
all snakes fed in the viv (apart from the 2 that share - 1 comes out for a feed)
used tape to secure a viv lid, then learnt the hard way why its a definate no-no


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

ok looking at some of those, there are probably more I have done. I too feed all my snakes in their vivs, whats more I hand feed them, I don't use tongs. I used to have 2 boas that lived together, but they too were rescues that came in together. I have a trio of leos that have lived in a fish tank for about 11 years. I have a couple of others in tanks with converted tops but this one still has the original fish tank lift up lid. only problem with it is that the crickets escape.


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## Karl_1989 (Jan 19, 2007)

*1, I always feed in the viv (with paper over the substrate)

2, Put my young corn into a 3ft the day i got him (he's never been scared to come out)

3, And i probably dont handle as much as i should 
*


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## balthazar196 (Jun 1, 2007)

I guess the biggest nono ive ever made is leave stroodle without a uva strip in his cage for a day when the starter broke BUT i took him outside ((which he hates)) so that he got some source of UV rays. And can i ask why feeding your snake in their viv is a nono?


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## Karl_1989 (Jan 19, 2007)

*Some think anything that moves in the viv is food.
And they mite swallow something other than the food.
*


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## balthazar196 (Jun 1, 2007)

Oh right i see thanks


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

- I feed most of my snakes in their vivs - and have had, in 30 snakes' worth of keeping, only 3 strikes resulting in a bite - two of these were strike/releases. We do have a feisty little sand boa who takes a poke at everything that comes into his space, but his aim is really, really bad.
- I only handle on feeding/cleaning day unless there seems to be a problem (I check daily. I don't pick up and handle daily). This does not mean I have loads of really wild snakes - conversely, my snakes seem quite calm when I do handle because they expect that dinner will be shortly.
- I keep my rats, mice and multimammates in the same room as the sand boas, one corn, one rat snake, one house snake and my tegu. The mice sure don't seem to notice and breed like rodents.


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## basky (Dec 11, 2006)

at the rescue centre i used to work at they had a boa constrictor in with 5 corn snakes and a rat snake. never had any trouble, in fact we ended up with lots of babies. (was in a room too, not viv)

i keep usa green tree frogs with green anoles, fire bellied toads and yellow bellied toads. my whites tree frogs keep getting into my water dragon viv too. they seem to love it in there. 

good to see a thread like this, it drives me mad that people think what the books say are always right. :no1:


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## Khaos (Jul 9, 2007)

When I got my scorp, my mate promised he'd give me his spare heat mat - but gave it to someone else instead. For 24 hours, I set up an elaborate heating system using a fan-heater on top of a safe, a thermostat and lots of wires.

Was a nervous day, though...


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

balthazar196 said:


> And can i ask why feeding your snake in their viv is a nono?


Its mainly because the snake can *possibly* ingest some substrate which could* possibly* cause impaction :idea:


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

eeji said:


> 2 corns in one viv (both adult female!)
> used tape to secure a viv lid, then learnt the hard way why its a definate no-no



I did that too.......complete nightmare! :banghead:


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## Andy b 1 (May 14, 2007)

i havn't given my tortoises any artifical heat or uv for 4 weeks.

i keep them outside most nights even if its cold


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## Tops (Apr 26, 2007)

i feed all my snakes in their vivs/tubs. Not had one so much as strike in my general direction.


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## darkdan99 (Dec 28, 2006)

nothing that is particularly dangerous but i guess these are rule breakers!

1, i starve my snakes for 5 years between feeds to make them stirke more.

2, i have pythons for their skin and food. 

3, i somtimes poke them with burning sticks so they strike at my brother

4, i grow bob marley plants in their vivs and once one ate some and got high.

Alll jokes aside, i stick to the rules fairly well! Some of them are my rules, but there is no "right" way of keeping herps!


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## Nick417 (Apr 19, 2007)

Tops said:


> this one time, when i was a little boy and before i realised just what a crime it was, i wore socks with sandals.


This is what happens when they abolish capital punishment, bring back hanging I say!

On topic, I kept a little corn in a viv on a heatmat with no thermostat for over a week (mind you was up all night every night checking temps and nipping home from work during the day, god I was knackered!). Also fed my little Paraguayan Rainbow in her viv (only the once, but she wouldn't feed out of it).


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## gaz (Oct 5, 2005)

2, i have pythons for their skin and food

fried or boiled???????????
regards gaz


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## E.Crassus (Jul 20, 2006)

Ive kept corns, rainbow boas and pythons together, all same sex of course without any problems, except i was twice as likely to get bitten :smile:
Ive also kept beardies with tortoises before, again no problems at all, viv was a monster though, was one corner of my room basically, 3 female beardies with 2 female tortoises without any problems.
Now im a good boy though  :lol2:


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

I keep a trio of Texas rats, a pair of trinkets and a trio of house snakes together (obviously splitting up for egg laying/recuperation), I hand feed most of my snakes (not stupid enough to hand feed the Bismarcks!), I have a planted viv of Reed Frogs, Yellow Head Dwarf Geckos, Red Back Salamander and a Blue Tail Skink - all together and have been for ages.
I keep my mice, lizards and snakes all in the same shed - never had a problem!


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2007)

darkdan99 said:


> nothing that is particularly dangerous but i guess these are rule breakers!
> 
> 1, i starve my snakes for 5 years between feeds to make them stirke more.
> 
> ...


:lol2::lol2::lol2:


> but there is no "right" way of keeping herps


have to agree there


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## asm1006 (May 5, 2007)

The more experience I get with snakes the more I have learnt to trust my own instincts.
I have housed same sex corns together no probs, they curl up very happily together.
I feed in vivs and each of my snkes have there own likes and dislikes of where, how etc...my royal has his dinner just outside his hide on a dolls plate of all things! But it works, no stress and no eaten substrate. I get them out on feed night anyway, and when I put them back their dinner is ready and waiting. So no feeding related bites have happened.
One of my corns adores to strike feed, so holding mouse by tail she gets it every time dead on.
The rest of them have their dinners on either a fav log or hide. I feel they are less stressed as they can eat in peace in their own environment. With corns housed together I get one eating before I put the other in and observe...always ok, always finish about the same time. So I know who eats what...thats it really


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

I house 4 female corns together and my rainbows together.
I feed in the vivs, except the ones who share, then only one is in the viv and the others go in tubs. I don't always leave the same one in the viv it's first come first served.
I have Giant African Land Snails in my toads tank with her.
We found our Iguana, this morning, in my son's bedroom with the cats. She has her own room but must have got lonely and escaped.


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## Solo (Dec 23, 2006)

I once kept two baby Boas in the same viv....until they tried to eat the same mouse! I had to cut the mouse in half to stop the boas trying to eat each other's heads! :shock: Never kept two reptiles together again!!


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## redeyedanny (Feb 16, 2007)

my mate keeps usa green tree frogs, redeye tree frogs, clown tree frogs and fire bellied toads in the same tank.

no problems in 20 years tho


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