hello from Dade City, FL

DC_Reptiles · #1 08-21-2011, 12:13 PM

I was a member on this forum a couple years ago and had gotten out of the hobby of keeping and breeding reptiles until now. I moved from West Virginia to Dade City, FL where I am on cloud 9 with all the reptile species which i am seeing around my yard... We have everything from Florida cricket frogs to a harem of gopher tortoises who have taken up residency in our 4.5 acre yard... I have a passion for geckos, tortoises, turtles, bearded dragons, iguanas, and chameleons...

I have been in the hobby for almost 16 years with my first reptile pet being a rescued baby ring-neck snake i saved from being killed by my grandmothers cat with i was 10 yrs old... I take great pride in conserving wild colonies of animals around my home like i do with the gopher torts whom i plant veggies, flowers, and food items that are in their wild diet to help maintain their stability and hopefully to help give the species a come back from being in the critically threatened level like they are now...

I now keep Mediteranian house geckos, tokay geckos, golden geckos, crested geckos, leopard geckos, fat tail geckos, green anoles, 6 lined race runners, bearded dragons, chameleons, red foot torts, Sulcata torts, russian torts, greek torts, musk turtles, florida soft shell turtles, veiled chameleons, jackson chameleons, panther chameleons, bearded dwarf chameleons, carpet chameleons, rudis chameleons, and alot more...

acpart · #2 08-21-2011, 09:47 PM

Welcome to GU. I'd love to be able to see geckos in the wild all around me, but living in New England, my main hope is that I don't here.

Aliza

**Elizabeth Freer** · #3 08-23-2011, 04:53 AM

A hearty welcome to Geckos Unlimited, DC Reptiles. Sounds as if you already have quite the zoo

!

DC_Reptiles · #4 08-23-2011, 10:17 AM

I love my reptiles and most of all i love the native gopher tortoises as when im outside gettin some sun and reading they arent afraid of humans at all and will come right up to me, but i know they are protected and your butt can get in trouble for even touching one, but they are cool to have around... I think i have a male gopher who decided to try and get in with my other tortoises cuz he keeps trying to tunnel under my fence and get in the pens...

**Elizabeth Freer** · #5 08-23-2011, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC_Reptiles

I love my reptiles and most of all i love the native gopher tortoises as when im outside gettin some sun and reading they arent afraid of humans at all and will come right up to me, but i know they are protected and your butt can get in trouble for even touching one, but they are cool to have around... I think i have a male gopher who decided to try and get in with my other tortoises cuz he keeps trying to tunnel under my fence and get in the pens...

Do enjoy your native gopher tortoises......

DC_Reptiles · #6 08-24-2011, 10:38 AM

Elizabeth, you wouldnt believe how much i enjoy them in the yard... it is just awesome sharing my life with the pet tortoises i bought from breeders and with the wild native gopher torts... they have alot of personality and they are very curious animals...

BTW I have 2 house geckos eggs and anyone one here know how long it takes em to hatch?

**Elizabeth Freer** · #7 08-25-2011, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC_Reptiles

Elizabeth, you wouldnt believe how much i enjoy them in the yard... it is just awesome sharing my life with the pet tortoises i bought from breeders and with the wild native gopher torts... they have alot of personality and they are very curious animals...

BTW I have 2 house geckos eggs and anyone one here know how long it takes em to hatch?

Yes, DC_Reptiles, having indigenous wildlife right in your backyard is super cool. Sometimes elk trapse through my yard! The best I can do for a reptile/amphibian is a salamander or two sometimes found under damp plywood. But there are owls, lovely birds, and the occasional hummer. Hoping for additional hummingbirds...just set out a feeder on my deck and a ceramic balloon feeder with niger seed, but not many birds have found it yet

.

My mourning geckos (Lepidodactylus lugubris) are sometimes called "house geckos". Those take about 60 days to hatch. If you post a picture of the gecko who laid the eggs in Dade County, I'm pretty sure GU can ID them.

DC_Reptiles · #8 08-25-2011, 09:10 AM

these i have are Mediterranean House Geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus).... they laid thier eggs tight in the bottom of an empty flower pot on top of a paper towel i had in there for the smaller specimens... Thank god they dont eat the babies... cuz i have some i caught that were bout 1" total length and they are all co-existing fine...

**Elizabeth Freer** · #9 08-25-2011, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC_Reptiles

these i have are Mediterranean House Geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus).... they laid thier eggs tight in the bottom of an empty flower pot on top of a paper towel i had in there for the smaller specimens... Thank god they dont eat the babies... cuz i have some i caught that were bout 1" total length and they are all co-existing fine...

Good to hear that the young ones are coexisting with older Hemidactylus turcicus with no problem. My Lepidodactylus lugubris ARE cannibalistic

and I have caught a mom upsidedown on the screen top with a baby dangling from her mouth just in the nick of time!!!! When those hatch they are about 1'" and 3/8".