when is too young to separate siblings M & F ?

[kingofnobbys]

Peppa LOVES worms.

We got in a fresh supply of 2/3 size and adult crickets , supers and mealworms today and had an accident with the mealworm tub, fell off the table onto the kitchen floor while Peppa was in the kitchen (in a spot where she could see the worms), while my wife was (who caused the accident) was trying to scoop up the bedding and mealworms Peppa came over was very curious and immediately spotted some mealworms making a "dash for it" and snapped them up, I had to hold/nurse Peppa after that as she was so keen to get more of the mealworms who were still on the floor she was apt to make a feast of them, and kept getting in my wife's way . Much like a young child who's spotted a big pile of yummy lollies LOL .

Guess she grabbed 4 - 6 mealworms before she was scooped up and deposited on my chest.

Got the mealworms for the little house lizard, who loves them almost as much as the crickets I've tossing to it.... now he's a great little feeder, and makes fast work of any insects that I toss to him. He's also doing a great job as a pest exterminator, my wife's found a few piles of cockroach legs and wings here and there, he's been catching and eating them. IMO he's worth is upkeep of a few crickets and mealworms every day or so.

 

[SHBailey]

Opportunistic feeders will take advantage of a spill for a feeding frenzy, huh? And it sounds like your little visitor is well on his way to becoming a member of the family and earning his keep as well.

The closest thing we've had to that (at least so far) was a couple of years ago when I was giving Puff a bath (in a plastic tub on the kitchen table) and my husband was helping with the crickets -- no spills, but he just happened to temporarily deposit the "cricket keeper" on the table next to the tub -- and well within Puff's visual range. I ended up calling him back... "There's a problem..." (how am I supposed to keep the beardie in the water when he's way more interested in going after the crickets) "...Could you please put these crickets somewhere else where they're out of sight and out of mind?" ...at least until we're done with the bath and then it's lunch time...

I suppose that if you have a spill, better worms than crickets. At least they're easier to catch as long as you don't have a little lizard or two running around in the mess trying to scarf them up before you do :lol:

 

[kingofnobbys]

Opportunistic feeders will take advantage of a spill for a feeding frenzy, huh? And it sounds like your little visitor is well on his way to becoming a member of the family and earning his keep as well.

it's certainly doing that.

If it's resident inside the house come April I'll provide it with a permanent home (Wriggles' tub) and make a very pampered pet of it.

Greeted me this morning , was on the bathroom floor and staring straight up at me as I approached after I got out bed.

Warmer in there than the rest of the house right now because we are running the a/con 24/7 and it's been heatwaves here and very warm and muggy at night-time and we have a habit of keeping the bathroom and laundry doors and other rooms no one is sleeping in closed up, so very warm in the bathroom and it there to warm up .

Wasn't scared of me, simply got out of my way as I walked to the toilet.

He's (?) got good manners too, not found any of his poos on the carpet or lounge chair or lino or tiled floors, I think he is going back under the house to poo.

I suppose that if you have a spill, better worms than crickets. At least they're easier to catch as long as you don't have a little lizard or two running around in the mess trying to scarf them up before you do :lol:

...LOL been there done that , ie dropped a tub full of about 80 medium crickets who's lid was loose and had crickets hoping and running in all directions , little buggers move fast and disappear under stuff like greased lightning.... was seeing and recapturing rogue crickets each night for a few days after that .... thank heavens for the BUGBLASTER bug vacuum, makes catching crickets a lot quicker and easier.

 

[SHBailey]

Sounds like your little water skink is doing his(?) best to volunteer to become a pampered housepet -- apparently knows a good living situation when he sees one -- free food and a warm place to hang out. Why should the bearded dragons have all the fun

I have to keep reminding myself that you're in the middle of your summer :mrgreen: and April is the beginning of fall for you. It's hard to imagine that, right now here in Alaska, deep in ice fog and frost and some snow mixed in (after it lays on the ground for a couple of months it all glaciates and you can't really tell the difference anymore) -- beautiful out the window as long as you don't go outside and get COLD... Cuddle up in front of the furnace or under the heat lamps, mammals and reptiles both...

Fortunately we've never had that many crickets loose at once. Several of the escapees (one at a time) have taken up residence under the refrigerator and chirped all night for a month or two. Apparently they find enough organic crud under there to live on -- I'm going to be really embarrassed about my kitchen cleanliness habits if we ever get around to moving that refrigerator and find out what's under there

My husband and I have both gotten used to handling the crickets so we don't get quite as many escapees as we used to when we first became beardie slaves, and we don't buy too many at once anymore, now that our one little beardie is older and is supposed :lol: to be eating more greens than bugs, not that he does that :roll: We got a couple of those "Kricket Keepers" even though we found out later that there are cheaper home made things to keep them in, although the ready made "keepers" are pretty handy. But one thing I've learned by experience is that although they advertise that they will hold up to 150 crickets at a time, that's only if you've got time to clean up after them like twice a day (phew).

Then we discovered roaches. Way easier to keep, catch, clean up after, etc, and more nutritious for the beardie to boot. And he likes them too

This Bugblaster vacuum is a new one on me. Does it catch them alive? Although I don't like feeding recaptured escapees to my beardie because I don't know what they've been into. Almost as bad as the time I found a dead mouse on the kitchen floor and my husband suggested that I freeze it and save it for the snake. "I'm not feeding this to my baby," says me. "I don't know where it's been and I don't know what it died of." The things we do for our critters...

 

[kingofnobbys]

Sounds like your little water skink is doing his(?) best to volunteer to become a pampered housepet -- apparently knows a good living situation when he sees one -- free food and a warm place to hang out. Why should the bearded dragons have all the fun >>> all the pets (beardies and bts) have discovered Cheakie's UVB lamp on the stand , all seem to like it.

I'll likely set up a 30L tub on it's side with some bugs in it that I can tip back upright using a bit of fishing line when Cheakie goes inside , this is least traumatic capture method I can think off other than maybe set up a long tube (PVC water tube maybe) that's capped at one end and let him crawl in (he's very curious) and then simply tip it upright and tip him into Wriggles' tub.
But not yet , and strictly illegal here in Australia too (to capture wild reptiles) ,but if he tames up I'd hate for a neighbourhood cat or dog to get him.


I have to keep reminding myself that you're in the middle of your summer :mrgreen: and April is the beginning of fall for you. It's hard to imagine that, right now here in Alaska, deep in ice fog and frost and some snow mixed in (after it lays on the ground for a couple of months it all glaciates and you can't really tell the difference anymore) -- beautiful out the window as long as you don't go outside and get COLD... Cuddle up in front of the furnace or under the heat lamps, mammals and reptiles both...

Fortunately we've never had that many crickets loose at once. Several of the escapees (one at a time) have taken up residence under the refrigerator and chirped all night for a month or two. Apparently they find enough organic crud under there to live on -- I'm going to be really embarrassed about my kitchen cleanliness habits if we ever get around to moving that refrigerator and find out what's under there <<< we've long since given up caring about what's out of sight.

My husband and I have both gotten used to handling the crickets so we don't get quite as many escapees as we used to when we first became beardie slaves, and we don't buy too many at once anymore, now that our one little beardie is older and is supposed :lol: to be eating more greens than bugs, not that he does that :roll: We got a couple of those "Kricket Keepers" even though we found out later that there are cheaper home made things to keep them in, although the ready made "keepers" are pretty handy. But one thing I've learned by experience is that although they advertise that they will hold up to 150 crickets at a time, that's only if you've got time to clean up after them like twice a day (phew).

Then we discovered roaches. Way easier to keep, catch, clean up after, etc, and more nutritious for the beardie to boot. And he likes them too

This Bugblaster vacuum is a new one on me. Does it catch them alive? <<< yep , it sucks them quick as a flash and alive. Very handy time saving gadget to have , great for catching smaller roaches , spiders, wasps that sometimes come inside too.
This is what they look like and who I buy them off : http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/252505608929?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT , my only issue with them is they develop an issue with the on/off switch and power wire connection after 5 or 6 months of daily use.
Could repair the switch power connections but I'm too lazy and can't be bothered and the units are cheap to buy (I usually buy 2 at a time so I've got a spare).

Although I don't like feeding recaptured escapees to my beardie because I don't know what they've been into. Almost as bad as the time I found a dead mouse on the kitchen floor and my husband suggested that I freeze it and save it for the snake. "I'm not feeding this to my baby," says me. "I don't know where it's been and I don't know what it died of." The things we do for our critters...

My wife hates touching roaches, but will handle crickets , mealworms, superworms and silkworms.
So no "woodies" for my pet lizards.

 

[SHBailey]

Thanks for the link. Maybe I'll have to get me one of those. My husband has the technical skill to repair minor electrical difficulties too (professional computer wiz for his day job when he's not helping me with critter care). If it doesn't injure them it might even be easier on the bugs than trying to catch them by hand and squishing them by accident if you're not really good at it.

I'm hopelessly tenderhearted about any living thing, no matter how small, and I'm not squeamish about handling any kind of creepy crawly critters. I'm the one that used to go around picking up earthworms off the sidewalks after it rains and putting them back in the dirt before they dry out and die, sometimes in my garden so they can take care of the soil for me, and back when I was in good enough physical condition to do very much walking and gardening...

My beardie used to eat earthworms but eventually gave up on them because they were too slippery. I put a number of injured ones out in the garden before then

"Cheakie", huh? I've heard it said that once you give them a name, you're attached, so if you get in trouble with the law, you'll just have to tell them that he adopted you, not the other way around

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for the link. Maybe I'll have to get me one of those. My husband has the technical skill to repair minor electrical difficulties too (professional computer wiz for his day job when he's not helping me with critter care). If it doesn't injure them it might even be easier on the bugs than trying to catch them by hand and squishing them by accident if you're not really good at it.

I'm hopelessly tenderhearted about any living thing, no matter how small, and I'm not squeamish about handling any kind of creepy crawly critters. I'm the one that used to go around picking up earthworms off the sidewalks after it rains and putting them back in the dirt before they dry out and die, sometimes in my garden so they can take care of the soil for me, and back when I was in good enough physical condition to do very much walking and gardening...

My beardie used to eat earthworms but eventually gave up on them because they were too slippery. I put a number of injured ones out in the garden before then

"Cheakie", huh? I've heard it said that once you give them a name, you're attached, so if you get in trouble with the law, you'll just have to tell them that he adopted you, not the other way around

I'll simply not add him to reptile keepers' record book.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Peppa and Toothless are both having another growth spurt and both are starting to shed again (snout + face + fingers and toes).

Both have discovered Cheakie (our resident wild juvenile / subadult wild but very bold water skink, both make dee-lines for where Cheakie comes in , basks and gets her food treats .

Meanwhile Cheakie have become so bold and comfortable with me that she will come over and scratch my ties and then come up onto the lounge chair next to where I sit and stare at me to let it be known that she is here, hungry and wants my attention.
she shows up at about the same time most days.
As soon as verbally acknowledge her she climbs down and reappears in her feeding spot in anticipation of some yummy mealworms and fresh but dead crickets. No doubt about her, she knows how to train a dumb human to do her bidding.
Also finding lots of cricket and roach remnants near her feeding spot.

 

[SHBailey]

Sounds like you've definitely got yourself another family member (and maybe another "slave master" as well :wink who will be staying for the winter

BTW, have you been able to determine for sure that Cheakie is a "she"?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Sounds like you've definitely got yourself another family member (and maybe another "slave master" as well :wink who will be staying for the winter

BTW, have you been able to determine for sure that Cheakie is a "she"?

I'm pretty sure Cheakie Is a girl, she's not as robust in the head as male water skinks are , you can tell male skinks from female skinks usually by the shape of their heads. (which is handy if you haven't got a uber tame skink who will allow a closer physical examination).


Toothless was copying Cheakie's quick head nodding style (doing head flicks) this afternoon - I suspect he could see behind the lounge (where he can't fit) and he was talking to Cheakie.

 

[SHBailey]

So you think maybe they're bilingual? Like water skinks can speak Bearded Dragon and/or bearded dragons can speak Water Skink ? :?

 

[kingofnobbys]

So you think maybe they're bilingual? Like water skinks can speak Bearded Dragon and/or bearded dragons can speak Water Skink ? :?

Don't know.... but I've noticed water skinks do head nods and they are usually directed at me or the dragons.

 

[kingofnobbys]

16 months old today , and still growing.

Peppa gained 6g this week , she's now 548g. She's becoming quite assertive, if she knows Toothless is on the floor, she makes it known she wants to be there too , she's a shameless little vixen. She's never impressed when we return Toothless to his rearing tub so she can be on the floor by herself or with one of the BTs .... I think she thinks her mommy and daddy are spoil sports, but it's just not gonna happen
.... sorry Peppa but that's the deal as daddy doesn't have the resources to handle and incumbate a clutch of eggs or a bunch of really hungry newly hatched hatchling beardies and there is no plan to breed my beardies any time soon.

Toothless gained 11g this week, he's now 426g.

 

[SHBailey]

Your 16 month old female is bigger than my 4 1/2 year old male :mrgreen:

Very responsible of you not to let the "shameless little vixen" and her intended boyfriend make baby dragons if you know that you haven't got the resources to take proper care of them all. If more people in this country thought about that before they let their pets have babies (reptiles or otherwise), we'd probably have a lot less homeless pets to worry about around here.

(Not that I'm trying to start up the whole Aussies versus Yankees debate again about whether or not it's a good idea for the government to regulate pet "ownership" :roll: )
(I prefer to think of us as their "legal guardians", since I don't really like the idea of one living thing "owning" another.)

 

[kingofnobbys]

Your 16 month old female is bigger than my 4 1/2 year old male :mrgreen:

Very responsible of you not to let the "shameless little vixen" and her intended boyfriend make baby dragons if you know that you haven't got the resources to take proper care of them all. If more people in this country thought about that before they let their pets have babies (reptiles or otherwise), we'd probably have a lot less homeless pets to worry about around here.

(Not that I'm trying to start up the whole Aussies versus Yankees debate again about whether or not it's a good idea for the government to regulate pet "ownership" :roll: )
(I prefer to think of us as their "legal guardians", since I don't really like the idea of one living thing "owning" another.)

Much as I've love to have a bunch of cute little newly hatched beardies .... and I'm sure our 6 yr old grandson would be fascinated if he saw some of them hatching .... I'd have a very hard time parting with them when they were old enough to adopt out / sell / give away , I fear I'd become too attached to them and would be tempted to keep them all.
Mildred and George mated once and I've never let the two down on the floor together since, the result was half a dozen baby bluetongues (most skinks produced live baby skinks rather than eggs, no incubator required) and it was an amazing experience for my wife and I to watch Mildred give birth and the baby bluetongues were supercute .... I gave the babies to relatives and local children who I knew liked lizards and were mature enough to care for them when they were about 8 weeks old and eating well.