would like advice

[reptastic]

i have been wanting to expand my reptile collection for some time now. i recently added a large green iguana and a small b/w tegu. i recently got a new job with with a very generous salary increase, so now i can do it. im planning on purchasing a few reptiles from teguterra.com. has any one ever dealt with them? i was looking through their list of availible animals and also thinking about the enclosure size i would need, so far i was thinking 2 spiny tail iguanas(hatchling)-40 gal breeder,2 green basilisk-2x20 xhigh, 2 red head agamas-75 gal,
1 armadillo lizard-75 gal, 1 savannah-75 gal, 3 tokay geckos-55 gal, and i want to setup a 55 gal viv for about 10-15 green anoles and long tail lizards. i will be picking up 2 baby beardies friday they are high orange x german giant , and a young russian tort. in a week and possibly a baby veiled chameleon if i can get a proper setup. i will soon have 2 reptile rooms so i can expand. now of course i wont be getting them all at one time, but i want to get the setups first then began working on my projects. what do you guys think?

 

[sclevenger08]

I don't know about his list of reptiles, but my baby tegu just came in today from teguterra. It was wonderful doing business with Johnny. He called regulary and e-mailed me a lot to make sure that I had no questions and that support I know will continue. The tegu is amazing and healthy as well. So, im sure the quality of service would be the same with the rest of the reptiles. .

 

[reptastic]

thats good to hear, i see a lot of good reviews on his web site and i think i will be doing business with him soon.

 

[Beazer]

The Savannah is going to need a bigger cage than a 75g tank but I'm not sure if you just want that size tank for a smaller Savannah or actually planned on keeping an adult Savannah in that.

Tokay geckos are going to appreciate a cage more with height. If you are doing 3 adults in one enclosure, try going for more like 3' W x 3' H x 2' D. its kind of an awkward size but it would be fun to decorate. Those flexible vines work awesome too with Tokays when they hunt.

What size are the green basilisks? They actually need decent sized cages and a good water basin for adults. I wouldnt go anywhere under 6' length especially for a pair. Babies you want to give them some room with stuff to make them feel secure, but too much room makes them insecure lol so they can be tuffies. Just be 100% sure they are eating before you buy them.
Basilisks typically have a lot of issues in captivity do to their stress, insecurity issues in cages, and/or parasites.

Russian tortoises you should build a tortoise table for or depending on your weather conditions, an outdoor enclosure. Google image tortoise table.

Also, 10-15 anoles and however many longtail lizards you plan on putting in the 55 vivarium youll have to keep in mind thats a loooot of poop, even for the plants and even though its small but I am sure there may be easier ways of cleaning.

It sucks cause lizards are awesome but you really have to give them room so it limits things lol. Try looking at building ur own cages vs buying tanks/using tanks for the bigger stuff. Its generally cheaper in the long run. I wish I could own a zoo and not worry about space lol.


-Jon DeLong

 

[reptastic]

thanks alot man and i have been thinking about building my own enclosures lately but since i have no carpentry skills its going to be a trial and error luckily the animals wouldt come til after the cages are finished

 

[slideaboot]

I'm not trying to interfere, but simply give my opinion here...

It seems as though you are adding A LOT of reptiles to your collection all at once. I don't know how long waiting "long time now" to expand your collection is, but it seems a bit hasty (at least to me--no offense intended) to be buying all of these animals at one shot.


Like I said, not trying to offend or be nosy, but I'm willing to bet you'd get more out of your collection by gradually augmenting it.

 

[reptastic]

i understand your concern and no offense is taken but if you would re-read the last two lines of my first post you would see i am planning on doing this over the course of probably the whole year (not all at once) unless i can get the setups up and running properly a lil faster(which i doubt i could do) it took me 6 month to setup my reptile room for just a tegu and a uromastyx so i have patience lol i waited almost 3 years to get my first argentine tegu so im not in a rush.

 

[slideaboot]

Fair enough.

 

[Marlene]

I hope you have enough time for all of those lizards! I had about 20 at one point in time (all different species) and it can take up so much time! I was glad that I worked part time at a vet hospital so I could skip paying an arm and a leg for all of those medical bills! Most of those lizards were rescues though, I've only ever owned three lizards that I actually payed for. Even with just a part time job, I didn't get to bed until about midnight and I couldn't really go away on the weekends because they all required so much attention! So I would suggest getting a schedule written down on what to do and when for when you get your lizards.

 

[tupinambisfamiliaris]

Yeah, I'd add animals more slowly. You'll be better off in the long run. You'll also have more room when you see a "must have" lizard in the store or on the internet. You have to prioritize and save room for things you may consider special. It's addiciting, but always more rewarding when you get exaclty what you want as opposed to just having a whole bunch of lizards.

I don't know Teguterra other than by reputation and the internet. He's claiming to have bred some savannah monitors that recently laid eggs. That's commendable if it proves out. It would be nice to have someone producing true cbb savs as opposed to people just getting crappy imports every year. I admire someone putting in the work to breed an animal that isn't particularly high-end.

 

[reptastic]

thanks guy i am going to take it extremely slow, im just thinking about adding those reptiles nothing is set in stone.i know about he time consumption as i surrently have 8 reptiles. vet visits are very important too thats why i have a fund setup just for that. also i realized that the food bill would increase also.its currently $40 bi-weekly for whole prey and about $30 for other food items, now that isnt a big deal for myself. then there is habitat cost and maintenence thats why i chose to setup one habitat a month andd then when there all finised ill have a proper set and ca then add animals i wantt that way i know how much space im dealing with right now im just gettingg enclosures and fixing em upi may not start to get them til the summer or fall but there are a few other i may get in the between time that i have a setup for(ie.. the rescues i adopt)for now im happy with what i have but i do have like 4 rescues in my area that im considering adopting!

 

[dicy]

this site can give u sum nice ideas on how to keep basilisk happy
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[reptastic]

how do you read it ?

 

[dicy]

its in my native language but just by looking u can see u need atleast 5x2x5 ft viv i say atleast since they r highly acktive lizards but u could use google translator ore bablefish altho its not acurate u can read the biggest part of it