The best of days the worst of days...

Today was the absolute definition of a rollercoaster as far as emotions went.  It started with the big time low that ebbed throughout the day.  The high came relatively early to lighten the mood somewhat.

I had my second ever trip to the vet this morning.  Over the weekend I had noticed that Lacey had some roughened scales on her belly that were browned as well as what looked like blistering along the back third of her belly.  It all looked very symptomatic of a burn.  As it was the weekend I consulted a trusted source who confirmed that it looked very much like a burn and perhaps some scale rot thrown in.  Needless to say neither is an particularly inviting prospect.

The world's most caring vet Jan Spate confirmed that it is a belly burn.  It occurred because I use a heat mat underneath Lacey's enclosure that she lies over to draw the heat she needs.  I will go into more detail on the mechanics of how a burn like this occurs and how to avoid it (lesson well and truly learned) in a later post.  Suffice to say that the burn was a result of my mistake and I'm pretty shattered about it.  You can see the nature of the burn in this first photo.  It is not serious and she will recover quickly.  She is eating well and generally appears to be as content as ever.  Loving her food is the way I would describe it.  Gave me a nip last night thinking it was feed time.  I have an ointment from the vet to apply daily.  She ate her latest meal tonight and I will apply the treatment tomorrow morning.  Expect progress updates soon.

On a brighter note, after the early morning run to the vet I went in to work.  First thing was to check on the geckos, now named Lizzy and Ecko after a naming contest with my colleagues.  I noticed sand around the entrance to the lay box which peaked my interest.  Further investigation of the underside of the container and I spied a glimpse of white suggesting that my suspicions about Lizzy were correct.  She had laid two of the smallest eggs I think I have and will ever see. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting by way of size.  Reptiles tend to be measured in terms of 'snout to vent length (SVL).  That's their nose to their bum basically.  Golden Tail Geckos are around 12cm SVL.  So they are not exactly huge.  The two eggs that you can see in the images here are about the size of the very small jelly beans you can buy these days.  I put a five cent piece in the photo for perspective.

Of course as you do, Lizzy buried the eggs in the very very, back bottom corner of the box.  The only indicator really was the sand around the entrance and a little bit of lateral thinking.  Lizzy herself does look a lot slimmer, but, I doubt I would have quite picked that she had laid without a pretty detailed inspection.  I have chosen to use perlite as the medium to incubate the eggs in this time.  It is the white pebbly looking material around the eggs in this second photo.  I found that I was less than entirely happy with using vermiculite this season with the Dragons.  There was mould in the egg containers for the first time in the second clutch.  I'm not sure that the clutch was as strong as the previous ones that Lolly has produced, but, I do think that the vermiculite may have contributed to the outcomes somewhat.  Most of the eggs survived and produced healthy babies.  I just felt that the consistency of the vermiculite may have contributed to the few that were lost.  So I am moving to another commonly used material that just appears to me to be cleaner and retains the moisture in a better way.

I have started another competition at my work to guess the hatching date of the two eggs.  I should mention that geckos only ever lay two eggs, so all is very normal on that front.  I thought the competition was at least another way to try and bring a bit of light into an otherwise shady day.

What's Doing with the Reptiles?

So what's going on with the reptiles?  A lot of nothing in some cases and in others life continues as normal with the odd twist or two.  Half the crew is asleep for the winter in Lolly, Beau and Bruce.  The rest are going along beautifully.

Our newest family members have settled in really well by all indicators.  I am in two minds as to whether or not the female gecko is gravid (pregnant).  She is certainly looking 'chubby' as you can see from these photos taken when I took her out of her enclosure briefly to try and get a better idea of the situation.

I've asked around the appropriate traps of the intermaweb and the collective wisdom is that it is very difficult to tell with the Strophorus family generally.  Apparently with some of the more commonly kept species you can actually see through the skin on the undersides of their bellies when they are gravid and the eggs are clearly visible.  It can be a simple matter of placing the female in a clear container and looking at her from underneath!  Oh for it to be that easy.

Additionally from what I understand, female Golden Tails are larger than their male counterparts and can carry a bit of size around the belly.  This can also make it hard to tell when they are carrying eggs of course as from what I am seeing now, my girl is just as likely to be settling in and feeding well as anything else.  I am also tending to think it is more that she is just faring well in her new home as at this time of year, it would be unusually late to see her produce young.  Not unheard of given the right environmentals, but, unlikely.  So at this stage it's ready on watch for the next couple of weeks.  I had planned to turn the temperatures down for the winter cooling period in preparation for the next breeding season this week.  Now it looks like a couple of weeks just holding station for now.  I have also made a 'lay box' just in case.  This consists of a relatively small plastic container with a hole about the size of a twenty cent piece cut in the top, filled with a moist sand, vermiculite mix.  This is so that the female can dig a tunnel to lay and bury her eggs (should she have them in this case).  It will break the natural look of the enclosure somewhat for the time being.  But, better to play on the safer side of things as it were.

I weighed and measured Lacey today as you can see by the third photo here.  I have not weighed her for a couple of months, but, that is in the main because she has been looking so fit and healthy.  That was confirmed today during the checks.  Since she's been with us, Lacey has doubled in length and is nearly eight times her original weight!  She is looking just fantastic at around 110cms and just shy of 250 grams.  She came out for family cuddles with everyone today and remains an excellent handler, gracefully making her way through the hands of all those 'brave' enough to line up for a touch.  I still maintain that pythons are certainly the best pet that I have come across from the perspective of being something out of the ordinary and most certainly from an ease of care perspective.  Fascinating to look and, handle and interact with generally.  Great pets.  Simple as that.

Sharing the Love

Since I started keeping reptiles a few years ago now, I have been very pleased with the opportunity it presents to talk to people about them.  Most recently this has been the result of my new geckos stirring up plenty of interest at work and beyond.  Of course I get plenty of funny looks and much interest at the fact that I keep Dragons and even a snake.  I guess it must startle people somewhat that an otherwise average looking Joe like me is 'into that sort of thing'.  I think on the whole, most people would be surprised just how many people are.  But, that is another story entirely.

I've always liked things that are unique, or at least a little different.  I suppose that is what must have at least in some way drawn  me to keeping reptiles.  However, it is the peculiarities of the ACT licensing system that has lead me to keep a far greater variety of animals than I ever thought possible (and even sensible if I am honest about it).

Now that I am actually able to keep geckos, the animals that I originally set out to have, I've started to reflect a little.  What I think strikes me most is the opportunities to learn and share with others about these fascinating animals, in particular with my kids.  Quite spontaneously this afternoon, I took Lacey outside to take some photos and the kids joined in.  I'm really happy that they are so comfortable with her and that I have been able to provide them with interesting insights into topics such as genetics, reproduction and the care and safety issues associated with animals.  You can see from these photos that they are both more than happy to interact with Lacey, as they are with all our animals.  I dubbed our youngest the snake charmer this afternoon.  The way she handled Lacey showed me just how much she has learned and really how much she has grown up.  Even if she is still only four.

I guess the point of my self indulgent monologue today is partly to show off my beautiful girls, but, also to articulate how much I enjoy sharing my interest in the hobby of keeping reptiles.  It's great to see the expressions on peoples faces go through a variety of shock, polite interest and sometimes even some wide eyed wonder.  Perhaps the most pleasing part of it is that I've been able to help a few others get started in the hobby as well.  From my two seasons of breeding Dragons, four of my babies are now in homes that knew nothing about keeping reptiles previously.  I was more than happy to gift them to their knew owners on the basis that they had the right set ups, knowledge and intent to care for them.  So far so good.  Here's to many more years with these great pets!

The Wait is Over!

 It may have taken nearly 3 years to get my license, but, the wait was more than worth it.  Today, we took possession of a pair of Golden Tail Geckos (Strophurus taenicauda triaureus).  They came on a plane from Melbourne and we picked them up at the airport.  This picture is of them still in the container in which they were lovingly packed this morning.

This yet to be named pair are male and female and have successfully bred this season.  Their former owner sold them to me as she is downsizing her collection.  I am completely thrilled at the opportunity this presented me to start keeping geckos with this species and these individuals.  The arboreal Strophurus genus, often called spiney tails caught my eye some time ago, over the more popular terrestrial species commonly kept by enthusiasts.  I like their slender tails and find their markings more appealing to my eyes at least.  Despite often being called spiney golden tails because of their classification, this particular species does not posses the spines often associated with their cousins like Strophurus ciliaris.

Interestingly this species was recently reclassified into three subspecies, hence the triple barrel name of Genus, species and subspecies (Strophurus taenicauda triaureus).  Normally only genus and species are used to classify animals.  The name translated means, turning-tail, stripe-tail, three golden.  This is because not only do these guys have a single well defined golden stripe down the top side of their tails, but, they have one less prominent stripe down either side of their tails as well.  They are commonly referred to as the barred form of golden tails which I assume is because of the neat rows of black and white stripes running vertically opposed to the golden stripes running the length of their tails.  The sub species is also distinct from the two other species in a few other ways, including their amber eye colour.  The other two sub species have red, and white eyes respectively.  If you are interested in reading more, check out the reclassification document on Danny Brown's site GeckoDan.

I must say that I was taken aback when I opened the tightly sealed container and saw these guys in the flesh for the first time.  They are stunningly beautiful and my pictures do not do them justice.  Everything from their amber eyes, black and white markings right through to their golden striped tails is just breathtaking.  I am so looking forward to watching and learning more about these little guys first hand.  With any luck they will breed for me this coming season too.  Another great experience to share with the kids.  For now, they are settling into their new home and I'm trying to think of some groovy names for them.