ComicBookMama
Sub-Adult Member
My best friend noticed a small reptile place newly opened in our state, so last weekend we popped by for a visit. On the one hand, Riverside Reptiles Education Center had spacious, appropriate enclosures for its critters... very attractive. On the other hand, the Beardie enclosure was... odd.
It was huge, built on the floor for viewing from above, and the staffer said that all the enclosures were bioactive... it was about 10' x 8', and housed one male and two female beardies along with a Leopard tortoise and a blue-tongued skink. That struck me as odd. When we went, all but two of the animals were clustered under one of the two basking bulbs... one bright white standard bulb, one (ugh) red. One Beardie was hanging out in a dark corner, one under the red bulb, one with the skink and tortoise under the white bulb. Might have been a MVB, since I saw no UV anywhere.
The food dish was a considerable distance from the basking area, containing the remains of what looked a lot like romaine lettuce. The major part of the enclosure was dark, meant to be lit by the window it was built next to, I think; it was a rainy day and the building interior didn't have much lighting. It was sparsely planted with an aloe plant and a couple other plants I couldn't identify.
It left me nonplussed... I didn't really consider it a very appropriate home for the Beardies, with no climbing branches and that red bulb, and I wondered about meeting the needs of all three species. I thought BTSs needed a humid environment, though I could be wrong; I don't know diddly about leopard tortoises. Clearly the staff loved all the animals on display; we talked a good bit about them, but I was hesitant to question the care as I don't know about bioactive enclosures. I just don't think cohabbing these three species in this particular enclosure is such a great thing...?
And yes, I've got pics, but for some reason the image uploader will no longer let me upload from my iPad. It says "unsupported file type."
Thoughts on cohabbing different species like this?
It was huge, built on the floor for viewing from above, and the staffer said that all the enclosures were bioactive... it was about 10' x 8', and housed one male and two female beardies along with a Leopard tortoise and a blue-tongued skink. That struck me as odd. When we went, all but two of the animals were clustered under one of the two basking bulbs... one bright white standard bulb, one (ugh) red. One Beardie was hanging out in a dark corner, one under the red bulb, one with the skink and tortoise under the white bulb. Might have been a MVB, since I saw no UV anywhere.
The food dish was a considerable distance from the basking area, containing the remains of what looked a lot like romaine lettuce. The major part of the enclosure was dark, meant to be lit by the window it was built next to, I think; it was a rainy day and the building interior didn't have much lighting. It was sparsely planted with an aloe plant and a couple other plants I couldn't identify.
It left me nonplussed... I didn't really consider it a very appropriate home for the Beardies, with no climbing branches and that red bulb, and I wondered about meeting the needs of all three species. I thought BTSs needed a humid environment, though I could be wrong; I don't know diddly about leopard tortoises. Clearly the staff loved all the animals on display; we talked a good bit about them, but I was hesitant to question the care as I don't know about bioactive enclosures. I just don't think cohabbing these three species in this particular enclosure is such a great thing...?
And yes, I've got pics, but for some reason the image uploader will no longer let me upload from my iPad. It says "unsupported file type."
Thoughts on cohabbing different species like this?