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herp newbie in Ohio

C

catherine carney

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Hi all--

I've been lurking for a bit, finally took the plunge and joined. Great set of forums, and very much appreciate the BOI discussions (among many others)....

I have an extensive background in fish (killifish and natives), dogs, cats, rabbits (French angoras), and Shetland sheep. Some experience with Nubian goats (who knew they could jump a 4 foot fence??), and poultry (chickens, ducks, adding geese soon). New to peafowl, pigeons, and herps (brown anoles and white's tree frogs). Yes, I have a petting zoo in my backyard (grin)--more than half of these animals are due to my daughter's 4-H and other animal interests. She's never met a critter she didn't like (or want to keep)--this latest foray inter herps is at her request.

From what I have read, it looks like there can be a fairly steep learning curve associated with keeping herps. Can you all recommend books/websites/resources that we can educate ourselves about care? Her primary interest is amphibians (frogs) at this point, but she also thinks snakes and lizards (specifically geckos of all sorts) are cute--though that's subject to change given that she's a teenager. Any other resources that I have missed that I should look for??

Do you have any recommendations about attending the All Ohio Reptile Show? We have gone in the past and been impressed with the grad students from Bowling Green (who I gather are doing herp breeding projects/sales as part of their school curriculum), but it's been several years since we've been there and I know things can change. Anyone I should look for??

Thanks in advance for your help--sorry for the long post.
 
Welcome

Welcome. I don't live all that far from ya. I'm not new to the hobby but have only been in it for 3-4 years. As far as sites to gain a wealth of information they are generally segrigated. These are a few of the forums I frequent.

Ball pythons:

www.ball-pythons.net/forums/index.php

Geckos:

www.Geckoforums.net
www.Geckosunlimited.com

Tegus:

www.Tegutalk.com
www.thetegu.com

Chameleons:

www.chameleonforums.com

General Forums:

www.vivariumforums.com
www.kingsnake.com
www.repticzone.com/forums/index.html

Poison Dart Frogs

www.dendroboard.com

There is definitly a wealth of knowledge out there. There are more forums these are just the ones I check out from time to time. And welcome to the hobby. :thumbsup:
 
Welcome! You'll find a ton of help here. Amphibians can be both the most and least forgiving of all herps, but if you can do goats and teenagers, I think you'll do great. When you get down to specific questions, cruise through the subforums here and see where your inquiries would best fit the category. (Like the 'Shows and Events' subforum for inquiries about the Ohio shows). Glad to have you on board!

Noelle
 
Hi all--

Thanks for the welcome and the encouragement--although I feel like I don't know what I'm doing most of the time with the goats and teenager, let alone herps (grins).

I've been cruising the subforums, had missed the shows and events one so I'll check it out.
 
Welcome to the forums!

I'm in Canton so not too far from you!

I have cornsnakes for sale right now and I also breed Crested Geckos ( highly recommended, have one for sale now) they are easy to keep and best of all don't need crickets, can live entirely on a powdered fruit mixture and are very gentle.

my ad and email is here:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307165

[email protected]

You'd be welcome to come see them any time.
 
Hi Kyle--

Wish I'd known you were in Canton when I was up coaching a swim meet last weekend!

Crested geckos are definitely on the possible herp list--I've had some experience with leopard geckos and loved them, and the cresteds are even cuter (or so my teenager says)....I'll have to do some more research about them and see if we can provide the right conditions....

Any chance you'll be at the Columbus herp sale in April?
 
Hi Catherine,

When I go to shows I usually go to the Cleveland show...

the best way to keep Crested's ( I've found) is in a living vivarium, it's also the nicest once the setup is done, with living plants and soil to decompose the feces.
Very low maintenance and holds pretty much perfect humidity with occasional spraying .

I have a link for making one that I used, just need to look it up if you're interested.

Also willing to sell an entire set-up with the one I have for sale.
 
Hi Kyle--

The Columbus show is closer for us, so we end of there if we have time to go at all (with a farm, it's sometimes tough to get away)....

I've done paludariums for some SE Asian fish, have West African, SE US, and Ohio biotope paludariums planned (amazing what you can do with great stuff, polyurethane, silicone, and cork bark, LOL) and find that the critters do much better in a naturalistic set up. Sounds like the same is true for cresteds.....I'll have to do some research and see what your link looks like....The anoles are thriving in a natural set for the same reasons, but I'm finding that the white's tree frogs are tough on the plants due to size/weight....Any good links for crested gecko care??
 
Hi Rebecca--

You're up in my neck of the woods.....Glad there's another newbie out there! Now I don't feel quite so lost (lol). What are your herp interests?

Wouldn't say a small farm is all fun--lots of work at this time of the season with spring shearing, getting the market garden in, repairing/replacing fences, and trying to keep the wretched (OK, there are other words I use for them, but not allowed on this forum) raccoons out of the poultry, cleaning out the barn, you get the idea. The monsoon rains of last week didn't help--still cleaning up.
 
the racoons have ate their way into my small shed, could not even go in there last summer as she had babies and she was huge! Scared me off!

I really don't know what interest me, but a lot of the pic I have seen are really neat looking little guys, finding the time is my problem, I have a lake here and some turtles , frogs, toads, and other things that live in there, the grandkids love to fuss with them, and the baby toads are so cute, but I take have a business to tend to, so not a lot of time for fun things outside of the fun I have doing it. Thanks for the welcome. I did have fun with my sons when we had the farm, it was hard work and I will never forget what I learned doing it, we also raised Great Danes, a beautiful animal and so gentle!
 
Hi Rebecca--

Your raccoons sound like mine--they do just move in and make themselves at home (grrr). They will climb over, dig under, or chew through about anything if they think there's food inside. Mink are worse--we lost 2 dozen show ducks one afternoon last year to a family of them that got in through a 2 x 2 inch hole. NOT pretty.

I know what you mean about time--and about what we (kids included) learn from hard work. I don't regret being busy in the least.

As far as herps, I suspect that the folks on the site can recommend "low maintenance" species if you ask. People have been more than welcoming and helpful on the forums.
 
Hi Kyle--

Thanks for the links. I'll look at them today since it's raining and I can't work outside....

In the 20 years I've been on this farm, I think we've found one broken arrowhead--but the local historical society says that there was a native village on the bluffs overlooking the river south of town, so I suspect they're out there...just not here. BTW, it's also possible to pan for and find small amounts of gold in the local creeks, just another interesting factoid about the county...
 
I live about 15 minutes north of you or so and I know all to well what our local raccoon population can do. I lost 40 3lb broilers to coon in one evening back when I showed them for FFA 5 years ago :angry:. Caught 4 coon the next evening that came back to finish off the last one. I was heated to say the least
 
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