Reptiles

[ajtoremember]

I see a lot of dog/cat posts. I have two geckos. Who here likes reptiles?

 

[Stargazer Lilies]

I do..but don't owns any right now. One day I will.

 

[sequoias]

I have 2 leopard geckos and they are about 3 years old.

 

[soutthpaw]

1 Albino Bermese Python, Granite pattern, 1 Bearded dragon and 1 Veiled Chameleon

 

[mncopeland1]

In the past I have had:
1 bearded dragon
1 iguana
Lizards(too many to count)
1 boa constrictor
1 frog, 1 toad(not really reptiles but more reptile than a cat/dog)

I have grown up with many pets.

 

[dogmom]

I like reptiles but have never lived with any.

 

[Reba]

I like the wild lizards we having living in our yard. They are anoles (like chameleons) and skinks. I enjoy watching them but I don't want them for indoor pets.

We have lots of snakes around our house, too. I try to leave the harmless ones alone but we kill the cottonmouths, rattlers, and water moccasins. I don't need them for pets.

 

[dogmom]

Your post reminded me of the sheer amount of toads and frogs we have around our new place. So I guess we do live with some. I recently opened the back patio door to let the dogs out and on the patio there were four or five toads or frogs feasting on all the bugs we had. They all scattered as I stepped outside with the dogs. The insects were attracted to the back yard light and we have a drainage or pond/marsh <with all the water it's more like a lake at moment> area out back beyond our far fence line which attracts not only the amphibians, but also water birds.
Recently my husband was mowing and was able to avoid two turtles in the yard.
I also stopped recently to assist another driver who was trying to help an alligator snapping turtle get safely across the road.

 

[Reba]

I also love the frogs, toads, and turtles. (I realize frogs and toads are amphibians.) We have wild frogs and toads in our yard but some of the toads are almost like pets. They have their little holes throughout the yard. We have to be careful not to run over them.

We also stop when we see turtles on the road and help them across. Gotta watch out for those snappers though; they'll chase you down and attack! They get up on their tippet-toes and run!

I forgot to mention our largest reptiles, the alligators. We don't have any in our yard but I have seen them locally. We have lots of them around here, all sizes. Interesting to watch but not good for pets.

 

[Jiro]

I'm not a big fan of reptiles. ew. but the only exception is turtle. I've raised turtles. love it! I guess it's because it doesn't slither

 

[dogmom]

I didn't know that frogs/toads made holes. We have various holes in the yard - some by gophers or ground squirrels; I've seen them come and go.

yeah that snapper was not very pleased with the situation. He got up on his toes and snapped. I was glad I was wearing tennis shoes and not sandals. I actually was on my way to the animal shelter and the other driver had a young Lab with her in the car. I happened to have some large cardboard boxes leftover in the trunk from when I picked up some raw food for the dogs. So we set one box on its side and used the other box to nudge the turtle into the first box and then the turtle kinda plopped down into the box when we set it upright to pick it up. We then took the "nudging" box and put it on top so we had more or less an enclosed container. Then we each took an edge and carried him/her across the road and plunked the whole thing down so that the turtle sprawled out.

'Gators! - my folks have some pictures when they were in FL of various crocodilians all over the place, one was a big one by their condo they stayed at. Nope, not good for smaller animals.

 

[dogmom]

In 8th grade or so, when I was a volunteer with what used to be a public animal exhibit at a local county museum, I handled some various local snakes and some smaller constrictors that were considered appropriate for the exhibit. We had a range of animals there - chinchilla, ferrets, possums, rats, birds - and the snakes.
The snakes skin was so soft and supple, muscle-y, not slimy or slick.
At the animal shelter we've had several iguanas that were really intriguing. Lots of ferrets<Derick> and rats - I like the chance to handle some of the different animals there.

 

[Reba]

I didn't know that frogs/toads made holes…

Yes, the toads live in little holes. Sometimes we can see their little eyes at the openings. They are so cute!

yeah that snapper was not very pleased with the situation. He got up on his toes and snapped. I was glad I was wearing tennis shoes and not sandals. I actually was on my way to the animal shelter and the other driver had a young Lab with her in the car. I happened to have some large cardboard boxes leftover in the trunk from when I picked up some raw food for the dogs. So we set one box on its side and used the other box to nudge the turtle into the first box and then the turtle kinda plopped down into the box when we set it upright to pick it up. We then took the "nudging" box and put it on top so we had more or less an enclosed container. Then we each took an edge and carried him/her across the road and plunked the whole thing down so that the turtle sprawled out….

It's a good thing you had that box.

We had a snapper in our yard at our previous residence. We lived next to a swampy empty lot, so we just wanted to carry the snapper back to the swamp. Hubby used a big shovel to scoop the turtle up. However, he wasn't able to scoop him but the turtle clamped onto the shovel with his snapper mouth. So, he carried him that way.

When the snapper chomped the metal shovel, it sounded like metal striking metal--that's how strong and sharp the turtle's mouth was.

 

[Jiro]

snapping turtle. nasty little bugga. well actually it's not a little one... it's pretty dang big when fully grown. I've encountered a few of them. long time ago - I almost ran over one with my mountain bike. just out of Darwin curiosity - I poked and taunted it because I've never seen such an ugly thing before. and then it broke my stick

that's when I zippity doo dah outta here.

 

[dogmom]

for the info., Reba! Now I'll be looking for little toad eyes
I thought the dogs were excited about the holes cuz of the furry mammals occupying them, guess they find the toads exciting too.

wow - that's quite a story about your husband with the shovel and the snapper - at least it was the shovel and not a body part!

I'd never seen a snapper up close before - other turtles, yup, but not that one.
It sure does look different - very prehistoric.

the one that lady and I helped on the road was also a pretty big one.

 

[Reba]

for the info., Reba! Now I'll be looking for little toad eyes
I thought the dogs were excited about the holes cuz of the furry mammals occupying them, guess they find the toads exciting too.

Yes, could be both. My Lab used to find moles in the back yard. He'd dig up their tunnels and catch them. Kinda tear up the yard.

Do you ever pick up your toads? Sometimes we do to move them off the driveway. When we do, they always pee. Be careful!

In my front yard (currently unoccupied):

 

[caz12]

i love amphibians and lizzards got some common lizzards in me garden and grass snake under decking crested newts in my pond...
a lot of people have released snapper turtles in our streams and ponds and eco system suffering,nasty buggers...
Australia wildlife in terrible state since sugar cane toads released what some stupid idiot responsible for that

 

[dogmom]

luv it, Reba! so now I learned two things about toads - toad holes and pee

so far we haven't had any toads where they need to be physically moved - they've been in the yard, on the windowsill and in the garage <first night we moved - toad on underside of garage door that we had just opened> but not in the driveway. They're really quick-
Turtles, however...

now ya got me thinking about Frog and Toad books

 

[dogmom]

Caz I did learn about that when I watched Crocodile Hunter and how the introduced animals - like goats, cats, rabbits and others - have so affected the native animals and plants!

 

[caz12]

been real bad in australia they wrecked wildlife