beardeds

i am in Australia and you know we have the best beardeds...yeh?
i keep 3 pair - 3 different species. Pogona Barbatas {Eastern} Pogona Vitticeps {Ochre Phased Centralian} and Pogona Henrylawsonii {Nullarbor, a minor species}. Easterns are the most commonly found in my area - Vitticeps are more difficult to come by.
the Nullarbors were accidently acquired - thru an egg rescue. they were found locally and incubated. possibly the gravid female nestled in native plants that have been brought interstate.... now, thats a wild guess but im sure ive seen something on Tarantulas being transported in bunches of bananas. or were they poodles? n/m.
point is - this thread is wide open 'cause i just mentioned 3 species - we can talk about these or any of the other {12) sp. right?
i have pics. go to Svee pics. i will add more...

Svee

Hi Svee, how about a link to your pics? I'm not sure where Svee pics is located? Is it on one of the photo hosting sites?

I've got 16 p. viticeps. Unfortunately, the US doesn't have the abundance of dragons that you natives have.

I've heard it's tough to get permission to collect and keep the native fauna in Australia. How hard is it? What sort of stuff do you have to go through as an Australian herper?

hey brian...thank you for your comments. there are many nice things about living here .
i live near a rainforest corridor with an amazing array of fauna - but my heart is for the agamids.
i have some pics on the kingsnake photo gallery. if youd like to see more i can send you some albums i have... i am a bit of a photo freak. a few of some wild species too.. monitors,
skinks, beardeds, snakes, turtles, frogs... clutches of eggs... just email me and i will send them. all my pics from the wild.. the creature is held very shortly and then put back exactly where it was found.

ah! my favourite subject! what can we keep..?

we can keep anything from gardenskinks to crocs. of course there are limits on where you can keep a croc! but everything else is free reign.. if you have a permit..

to get a permit.. you contact our National Parks and Wildlife Service... they send you or you d/l a permit application .. send it with $40 {waived in some states} and 4 weeks later you are the owner of a permit..a list of the laws, the animals you can keep, their needs and lists of supplies needed, herp club information, educational courses, books and sites to check and registered dealers names in your area.

we also have a good educational system that considers where our children live and their need to be aware of their surroundings.

the dealers must be approved and legitimate because we send away a list to NPWS once a year with the details of our stock. not a hard task really. just listing new additions and deaths and methods of disposal.

they also provide a service, that if you lose a reptile to unknown causes ..a ranger will pick up any ex-reptiles and do an autopsy for you.

we are discouraged by law from mixing wild and captive. we do not go 'herping' in the same sense you may.. we can take pics..handle if need be.. but we leave them there.
in the first permit you apply for you are allowed to keep anything up to a mildly venomous. to keep hots you can be 12 and over. at 16 you can have a breeders license... its a blanket law that seems to be not to difficult to regulate for the authorities.
i had my first reptile at 4 a sungarden skink. it was covered by mums license.. i got my first bearded at 6 and my own license in my name not long after.

ill say right now, this restriction has not seemed negative at all to grow up with. i know the purpose is to help our land.. and i feel a great respect for our reptiles and their need to be here. eg. red belly black snakes are very deadly.. but they eat baby browns.. which are deadlier as adults... see? both protected. browns in turn keep the mouse population down so they are necessary also...gotta respect that. no need to go into the food chain thing ... but you get the drift?
need to know anymore ?.. i have links to stuff!


Svee xx xx xx

Wow. That sounds a s though it works out well.

and 4 weeks later you are the owner of a permit..a list of the laws, the animals you can keep, their needs and lists of supplies needed, herp club information, educational courses, books and sites to check and registered dealers names in your area.

I especially like this.

we also have a good educational system that considers where our children live and their need to be aware of their surroundings.

And this as well.

Svee, thank you for the great info on your country's regulations, very informative, not at all the impressions I had which certainly seems to be wrong!

Can you answer a few more please? I would really appreciate it

You said you live in a rain forest corridor and that there are beardies in your area, does the mositure seem to harm them? I am mostly asking about respiratory infections, fungus or viral.

All these are about them in the wild:
Do you ever see them in water, like lakes, rivers or streams?
What are their natural predators?
Where do they sleep?
Spend most their time?
What types of things do they eat?
What their life expectancy?
What is the most common causes of their death?
Have there been studies of them done in the wild that have been published?

Sorry for all the questions, but it is so nice to find someone that have them in their native country and gets to see them in their natural habitat.

Thank you

I want to see photos too!!!
LOL--look at what you've started!
dana

>>You said you live in a rain forest corridor and that there are beardies in your area, does the mositure seem to harm them? I am mostly asking about respiratory infections, fungus or viral.

yes the corridor is along the eastern seaboard. it is about 8 kilometres long and 4 wide... the koalas that live there saved it by just living there! ..and its crown land now.. never to be touched. i have pics of the backyard and the reserve. the species here is mainly the Pogona barbatas and yes, they are hardy and thriving here .

>>Does the mositure seem to harm them? I am mostly asking about respiratory infections, fungus or viral.
ive not seen a bearded with anything like that..i may not notice it with the wilds... ive also not had close contact with wilds because ive always had captive.. but they are everywhere.. when i hear about the anole population sometimes in the states im reminded of groups of beardeds all along the lakeside dirt roads, the Buladelah Mountain Range roads and throughout the forestry...and scattered around the backyard. ..as are blue tongued skinks, naked red tree frogs, green tree frogs, eastern long necked turtles, yellow faced whip snakes mertens monitors water dragons ...etc.

>>All these are about them in the wild:
>>Do you ever see them in water, like lakes, rivers or streams?
yes, 'duck creek' runs throught the reserve. a sideline.... ive seen beardeds and lace monitors on the beach... dad saw one eating a disgustingly filthy rotten sea turtle corpse...with the carapace upside down like a bowl. lots of green runny stuff.
>>What are their natural predators?
cats {feral and domestic*} humans, dogs, kookaburras, hawks, {we have a few local birds of prey}, goannas, humans humans humans...
>>Where do they sleep?
in crevices of rocks, forks of trees or just flat out on branches and are like totally camoflaged till they move an eye.
>>Spend most their time?
on the roads in town. on the rocks at the breakwall (the beach) backyards..wherever there is concrete, bitumen, rocks, food and warmth. ive put my emergency lights on to let a bearded cross the road.. while my brother got out of the car and walked beside it. i can cope with seeing the wild culled a little.. but this one was a good old bloke.. and was a bit slow. not everyone stops.
What types of things do they eat? i have a site for that if youd like to email me.
>>What their life expectancy?
Now..this is a contentious issue..so ill explain something. the breed you have there has been bred into itself. its not anyones fault, just happened that way -
morphs are amazing and not accessible here yet! ::grins:: im working on it.
...but the breeding over decades has forced weaknesses such as disease and life span and size to be affected. its accepted widely here that beardeds here will get to 20 years without a problem..records show 35+ for some. length - 3ft sometimes more. i also have records of 8.4 metre crocs, amethystines 8 metres and over...you know ...australia is the texas of the southern hemisphere.
>>What is the most common causes of their death?
humans driving cars and the natural predators.
>>Have there been studies of them done in the wild that have been published?
oh yes! please dont believe everything you read...i have read {in MKs work} that we dont do much research and the australian field is greatly lacking good herpetologists. australia along with germany are the two best and only places to study herpetology. melbourne university and our national museum have excellent articles ...of course! its not possible to live in this country and ignore the critters .. alot are deadly and for us humans 'knowledge is power'. this is the melbourne uni link. i have many sites..please email me.

>>Sorry for all the questions, but it is so nice to find someone that have them in their native country and gets to see them in their natural habitat.

ive loved learning about your country thru the reproom and boards and about the diversity of reptilia and other creatures you have available. so i am so happy to return the favour - and am so glad people know now that australians can keep beardeds!!! <~~ most FAQ.

helen keller was a national treasure her disability made her the most perceptive of women...nice quote.

Thanks Svee for your posts and all your information.

We are looking forward to reading more of your posts.

Very interesting. Can you point us to some pics of dragons that are that large, or some literature about the longer life span there? I would be extremely interested in seeing/reading that.

LOL, I can see the gleem in peoples eyes as they read your information..... we envy you.

PLEASE feel free to post your URL's for information, photos and including your site, WebSlave has no problem with that if it is to inform and then stays here as a source for others that may read it later.

You have some of the most interesting information many of us have seen online in a long time. Since this is a small community in the United States and we are babies at it no doubt, what you know is invaluable to us.

Without firing 20 more questions at you, can you tell us about any difference between yours you keep and those in the wild? Like housing, lights, diet, health etc. I am trying to be as broad here as possible to pick your brain Do you keep them indoor all the time or outside?

Our publications here are very limited in info of them in their native land.

Life expectancy you stated floored me! That is nothing like any books here have stated, but then it makes more sense, I know one 14 year old female beardie that is still laying fertile, heathly hatching clutches, and not slowed down at all.

Again, thank you so much for this info and your time

Cheri