The Dangers of Irresponsible Roommates

So it's just recently come to my attention that my roommate somehow managed to "lose" my 3 ft long corn snake. I know it may have seemed a bad idea to leave my animals with her while I was gone for Christmas Break, but rest assured, I am not nearly that bad of a pet owner. I had planned to pack up my reptiles and bring them home with me for the month I was off, which I know causes animals some stress, but I had thought it would be better than leaving them. However, I was assured time and again by my roomie that she could handle their feeding and upkeep, and that I shouldn't worry, so me being the nice person that I am took her word, got the necessary food and supplies for them, and left them in her care. Not two weeks after I had left did I get the phone call...with her first words "now don't freak out but..." failing to reassure me that she had done the job she'd promised she could do. My 3 ft long corn snake "Shae" had dissappeared. The roommate didn't waste any time in telling me that she had accidentally let it out while feeding it, and it had gotten away to the far reaches of my bedroom. Now, you would think one could find such an animal in a relatively minimalistic bedroom as I maintain, although the poor-quality apartment I live in does have several decently-sized holes and cracks in various corners of every room, which I reckon a snake of that size could slip through. Now my roommate is tasked with checking daily at dusk and dawn (Corn Snakes are crepescular, meaning that these are the times they are most active), and has yet to find it.

Morale of the story? Take personal care and responsibility for your animals, don't let inexperienced family members, roommates, or friends take care of your pets no matter what assurances they give you. I wish I could say otherwise, but my christmas season has been slightly marred by this ill-fortune.

Holiday Hiatus

Forgive the lack of posting, I'm on a slight holiday hiatus since I'm working and dealing with various things at the current time, since college is off. 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everybody. 

About the Author

Samuel W. Nolton, a.k.a. "Lucidum," is a beginning reptile breeder, owner of the soon-to-be company Lucidum Exotics and long time herpetocultural enthusiast. I, being him, currently own a total of five reptiles, and have had years of experience dealing with reptiles both in the wild and as pets. My first "pet" reptile was a garter snake that I caught when I was a child and kept for a few days. I've loved pretty much all animals with scales since I was very young, and still love them today. 

My current cavalcade of herps includes three desert reptiles- A Mali Uromastyx (Uromastyx Maliensis) named "Scute;" a Schneider's Skink (Eumeces Schneideri) named "Nuzzle;" and a Bearded Dragon (Pogona Vitticeps) named "Sola." The skink is about 2 years old, the uro is 15 months, and the beardie is 8 months old.

In addition to the lizards, I've recently acquired two Corn Snakes (Elaphe Guttata). The first, "Oro," is an Anerythristic morph and is less than 3 months old. The newest, "Shae," is just about a year old (born 11/08) and is a Flourescent Orange morph I believe. 

I care greatly about all of my animals, providing them ample space and large enclosures (not too large for the hatchling corn, as too large a cage stresses them out). All of them I feed regularly, the beardie and uro eat crickets every other day and vegetables (a mix of red and green lettuce, carrots, etc.) the days they don't eat insects. The skink eats pinkie mice (baby, newborn mice that are still pink and furless) every week or two, depending on her shedding cycle (often animals refuse to eat when shedding). Both of the Corn Snakes eat mice (pinkies for the baby, hoppers and fuzzies for the yearling), and eat regularly and well. I'll be providing care and husbandry articles for each animal presented here, and many others as well. 

In the future, once my business has taken off, I intend to breed the corn snakes, as well as the beardie and uro. Someday soon i'm going to add several other animals to my collection- most importantly an American Alligator and a monitor lizard of some kind, preferably a Nile or Water. I also wild-catch some animals from time to time on my herping (outdoor collecting) outings, come this summer I'll focus on captive-breeding Western Fence Lizards (Sceloporus Occidentalis), as well as, if I can locate any, Western Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Oreganus) and Common and Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes (Thamnophis Elegans and T. Sirtalis). While I don't normally recommend wild catching animals for conservation reasons (or, in the case of the rattlesnake, venom and aggressiveness reasons), I wild catch the animals only if they aren't vulnerable, endangered, or protected, and I always release my animals once they have laid eggs and the eggs have hatched. 

Keep a look out for new posts soon, we'll begin with our reptile care articles late this week or early next!

Knowing is Half the Battle!

If it's one thing I can't stress enough before you buy your reptiles (and, I imagine, all pets in general), is know before you buy. You absolutely must be prepared for what you are getting yourself into before you purchase or recieve your animal. Too many pets are dumped in the wild or forced upon zoos and pet shops because they've gotten too big, too mean, or too expensive for their ill-informed owners to handle. Unfortunately for the reptile industry, some of the aforementioned largest, meanest, or most expensive (to care for and house) herps on the market are the cutest and cheapest to buy when they're young. Green Iguanas, Savannah Monitors, and in some states American Alligators, are harvested in the wild or bred in captivity by the hundreds and thousands, where they are sold to pet shops at wholesale prices and then sold to tourists and children who are not remotely prepared to care for them. 

Take for instance the Green Iguana (Iguana Iguana): a typical hatchling is adorable at 8-12 inches long, with a bright green, blue and brown/black patterning, a big head with adorably bulging eyes, and a friendly (albeit flighty) demeanor. These active, exciting reptiles may be small and affordable at first (my local pet shop charges $29.99 for one), and require a relatively small enclosure; but in the space of a year or two, with proper care and regular feeding, these creatures can grow to 2 ft or more, and once fully grown will reach a length of 4-6 ft and weigh near 20 lbs, requiring a substantially larger enclosure, which is a costly investment in itself, and require much more food daily than it did as a baby. 

The same is true for many reptiles in the trade today, most snakes begin as tiny little 8-12" long hatchlings, but within a year or two can reach lengths of 4-6 ft, and many of the boid species reach anywhere from 9-25 ft by the time they're fully grown! Thus, it is of extreme importance that prospective buyers do their homework, read care sheets, buy supplies, and assure themselves that they are fully capable and financially secure enough to maintain their pets before purchasing them. 

Of another note is temperament. Many animals are not dog or cat-tame, and many will never be. Monitor lizards and Alligators, which can be prone to hissing and biting even when babies, can only tame down with frequent, regular handling. If you are going to own a Monitor or Alligator, and don't want it to see you as a threat or as food, then you must be willing to spend an hour or two every day gently handling them, or sitting near them (such as with them on your lap), so that they acclimate themselves to you, and begin to see you as a constant in their lives, rather than a larger creature that can be a threat to them. Don't get discouraged, it can take many, many weeks and months of this for an animal to get used to your presence and see you as something other than a predator. 

To help with prospective buyers, here is a basic list of all you will need to take care of a hatchling Green Iguana, as an example of the cost and time you must spend to care for one properly- this includes the animal itself, it's enclosure, cage furniture, food, etc. 

Baby Green Iguana: $15.99-$39.99 (prices depend on venue)

Starter 20 Gallon- Long Aquarium Tank: $40-$70

20 Gallon-Long Screen Cover: $14.99

Food (vegetable mix): $7.99 approx.

Food (Iguana Pellets): $4.99

Calcium Dust (ReptiCal or equivalent): $7.99 approx.

Cage Substrate (Coconut Bark or equivalent): $3.99-$5.99

Water Bowl: $1.99-$4.99

Water: Free/whatever your water bill is

Adhesive Cage Thermometer: $1.99

Humidity Gauge: $6.99

Basking Platform/Hide Log: $4.99

Branches: Free- collect outside, debark, and wash thoroughly

Humidifier (Zoo Med Dripper) $8.99 approx.

UVB Light Bulb: $24.99

Heat Bulb: $5.99

Lamp: $9.99 (need one for each bulb)

Fake Plants (Iguanas appreciate cover and flora): $6.99- $14.99

Basic Setup Total (Using Cheapest Options): $179 approx. 

That's your cheapest cost for a very basic Iguana enclosure, which on average will last the iguana for it's first year or two, depending on growth rate. Are you prepared for that?

Darwinism At Large- Lucidum Exotics: Your guide to pet reptile ownership and husbandry

Welcome to Darwinism At Large, Lucidum Exotics' guide to the ownership and husbandry of reptiles as pets. The humble scaled ones are not often thought of as "cuddly" or "cute," or even as being animals that can be kept as pets on par with dogs, cats, hamsters, and fish. In truth, they are quite different both in behaviour, feeding, and intelligence. With an unfortunate bad reputation based on the rare yet over-hyped venomous snake or "man eating" crocodile attacks, a negative stigma seems to be attached to reptiles, even in the 2000's era. Luckily, through people such as the late Steve Irwin and the odd Discovery Channel special, people are becoming more and more enlightened about the true nature of our cold blooded friends, and they're starting to become acceptable as a normal pet to own. We here at Lucidum Exotics hope to reinforce that, both through the sales of exotic reptile (and, occassionally, amphibian) specimens as pets and zoological curiousities; and through this comprehensive, species-by-species guide to those reptiles most commonly seen in the pet trade today. We will be updating on a semi-regular basis (hopefully weekly), and will include excrutiating detail on care, captive requirements, and special needs of various reptilian species.