Sinosauropteryx
New member
I mean, really.
My last blog entry has been up there on the site's community page for a week and a half now and no one else's entries have replaced it. I am not sure how I like being put in the spotlight for all that time...at least it is good for publicity.
So, what has been going on lately? OK, for the sake of relevence, I'll type something.
Abuto has become more elusive than ever this winter. I know she is still alive because bugs keep disappearing from her food dish, and once or twice I have seen her head above ground. Just her head, though. I don't think she has been very active since it has gotten colder here. Maybe she is going into brumation, or in the middle of it...to be honest, I am not sure if fire skinks brumate or not. I know there are wet and dry periods in eastern and central Africa where they come from, and a girl on Youtube said her pixie frog goes through some sort of dormancy around winter. Pixie frogs are apparently from the same sorts of areas that fire skinks are native to, so maybe it is a seasonal thing. It shouldn't have very much to do with temperature, then. Maybe moreso something to do with decreased precipitation and/or humidity or moisture. I don't know. I don't mist Abuto's tank as much during winter months because I don't want to risk the chance that she might get pneumonia. Forest and woodland lizards seem to be at a much lower risk of developing dermatitis so I am not worried about that, but the pneumonia does worry me a bit so I don't mist as much during winter and the colder months of spring and autumn. Maybe that is similar to what fire skinks go through in the wild? Again, I am not sure. But I do the same thing with Quetzal and Pepé, and while I am not sure about Indonesia and the various parts of oceania that white-lined geckos are native to, I do know that it rains pretty much non-stop in the parts of Central & South America where green basilisks are from. Being equatoreal regions, Central America and the northern part of South America recieve very little fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. They are also covered in rainforest so humidity needs to be at 80% constantly...no wonder basilisks are recommended for novices and above. Quetzal eats fish, for Pete sake. How was I supposed to know that? The research I did on green basilisks didn't mention that basilisks could eat fish, though upon considering the type of habitat basilisks live in, I suppose it does make sense. So does what someone told me on RepticZone about them eating green iguana hatchlings. They probably eat anoles sometimes, too, but I am not giving Quetzal any of those.
Anyway, I should probably be misting Quetzal's tank more than I am right now but I am still worried about pneumonia and susceptibility(sp?) to other illnesses due to a lowered immune system caused by too much liquid water on the skin, lowering body temperature, and all that. I got an email reply a week or so ago to an ad that I posted in early December (I think) from someone who offered to take both Abuto and quetzal for the winter without any extra expenses at all. Last Tuesday I visited her at her house and told her that I would be delivering both lizards this coming Tuesday... I should tell her that I have changed my mind. Under different conditions than those of last winter, the greenhouse doesn't get as cold anymore and both lizards seem to be doing fine by the looks of it. Abuto is more elusive, but still appears to be okay. Plus it means I would need to move their tanks to someone else's house which would probably expose them to more stress and colder temperatures than they are now. I think I will email the person after posting this entry.
Pepé was doing very well a while ago but now he is becoming more elusive. He is also down to eating half a dozen crickets again, instead of a full dozen a few weeks ago. He only eats during every second or third day because I am unable to get bugs every single day, but he is less enthusiastic about food than he used to be. My guess is that his appetite is just slowing down. There was a while where I wasn't buying bugs as often as I should so I got into the habit of buying everyone a dozen crickets at a time whenever I could buy them. After a while Pepé was getting a full dozen crickets every second day because I was buying them more frequently. He used to eat them all but now he only eats half of them. I would start splitting a dozen crickets again but Abuto still eats everything that lands in her dish every third or fourth day and won't eat anything until then so I might have to start keeping the leftover crickets alive again, like I did in the summer.
That about sums it up for now. But yes, people, post in your blogs more often. It feels a little bit embaressing to have one's blog entry advertised because it was the only one there for a full week and a half.
Thanks for reading.
My last blog entry has been up there on the site's community page for a week and a half now and no one else's entries have replaced it. I am not sure how I like being put in the spotlight for all that time...at least it is good for publicity.
So, what has been going on lately? OK, for the sake of relevence, I'll type something.
Abuto has become more elusive than ever this winter. I know she is still alive because bugs keep disappearing from her food dish, and once or twice I have seen her head above ground. Just her head, though. I don't think she has been very active since it has gotten colder here. Maybe she is going into brumation, or in the middle of it...to be honest, I am not sure if fire skinks brumate or not. I know there are wet and dry periods in eastern and central Africa where they come from, and a girl on Youtube said her pixie frog goes through some sort of dormancy around winter. Pixie frogs are apparently from the same sorts of areas that fire skinks are native to, so maybe it is a seasonal thing. It shouldn't have very much to do with temperature, then. Maybe moreso something to do with decreased precipitation and/or humidity or moisture. I don't know. I don't mist Abuto's tank as much during winter months because I don't want to risk the chance that she might get pneumonia. Forest and woodland lizards seem to be at a much lower risk of developing dermatitis so I am not worried about that, but the pneumonia does worry me a bit so I don't mist as much during winter and the colder months of spring and autumn. Maybe that is similar to what fire skinks go through in the wild? Again, I am not sure. But I do the same thing with Quetzal and Pepé, and while I am not sure about Indonesia and the various parts of oceania that white-lined geckos are native to, I do know that it rains pretty much non-stop in the parts of Central & South America where green basilisks are from. Being equatoreal regions, Central America and the northern part of South America recieve very little fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. They are also covered in rainforest so humidity needs to be at 80% constantly...no wonder basilisks are recommended for novices and above. Quetzal eats fish, for Pete sake. How was I supposed to know that? The research I did on green basilisks didn't mention that basilisks could eat fish, though upon considering the type of habitat basilisks live in, I suppose it does make sense. So does what someone told me on RepticZone about them eating green iguana hatchlings. They probably eat anoles sometimes, too, but I am not giving Quetzal any of those.
Anyway, I should probably be misting Quetzal's tank more than I am right now but I am still worried about pneumonia and susceptibility(sp?) to other illnesses due to a lowered immune system caused by too much liquid water on the skin, lowering body temperature, and all that. I got an email reply a week or so ago to an ad that I posted in early December (I think) from someone who offered to take both Abuto and quetzal for the winter without any extra expenses at all. Last Tuesday I visited her at her house and told her that I would be delivering both lizards this coming Tuesday... I should tell her that I have changed my mind. Under different conditions than those of last winter, the greenhouse doesn't get as cold anymore and both lizards seem to be doing fine by the looks of it. Abuto is more elusive, but still appears to be okay. Plus it means I would need to move their tanks to someone else's house which would probably expose them to more stress and colder temperatures than they are now. I think I will email the person after posting this entry.
Pepé was doing very well a while ago but now he is becoming more elusive. He is also down to eating half a dozen crickets again, instead of a full dozen a few weeks ago. He only eats during every second or third day because I am unable to get bugs every single day, but he is less enthusiastic about food than he used to be. My guess is that his appetite is just slowing down. There was a while where I wasn't buying bugs as often as I should so I got into the habit of buying everyone a dozen crickets at a time whenever I could buy them. After a while Pepé was getting a full dozen crickets every second day because I was buying them more frequently. He used to eat them all but now he only eats half of them. I would start splitting a dozen crickets again but Abuto still eats everything that lands in her dish every third or fourth day and won't eat anything until then so I might have to start keeping the leftover crickets alive again, like I did in the summer.
That about sums it up for now. But yes, people, post in your blogs more often. It feels a little bit embaressing to have one's blog entry advertised because it was the only one there for a full week and a half.
Thanks for reading.