What started it all for you with reptiles?

linlizards · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject:

Unlike all you folks who got into herps as youngsters, I was in my mid 50's before I decided I wanted one (or more). I've always been fascinated by large lizards, then one day while shopping in a Petsmart for cat food, I saw a Uromastix and decided to consider adding a lizard to my family. The Expo in Daytona Beach was coming up so I decided to attend just to get an education, not intending to buy; however I came home with a beautiful Green Tiger Water Dragon, a cage, lighting and all the other supplies. Unfortunately, I lost my sweet dragon almost 2 years ago when he ate something while roaming free in the house. My home now has 21 bearded dragons, a Florida Kingsnake, and my latest addition, Domino, a 20" juvie Argentine B/W tegu I purchased at this years Expo. She's the joy of our home, very tame, and lots of fun. Now 63 years old, my "old lady" friends don't want to come over any more. LOL. Oh, well. I have my herps to keep me company, plus my husband and our 10-year old granddaughter who will bring anything home that slithers or crawls.

Lin
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Lin

0.1.0 Argentine b/w Tegu
6.12.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Florida Kingsnake
0.1.0 Cornsnake
0.1.0 Cat
0.1.0 Dog

teeeeej · Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 0

the very first reptile i ever owned was when i was about 6 my very first green iguana (he wasn't very friendly) i had him for years and he never changed R.I.P iggy. while i had him i had two turtles a newt a firebelly toad and a salamander. that started me off after i got into fishing when i was about 7 i discovered this very large angry turtlt a snapper (i lived in canada) so i started catchin them and keeping them in a hugh 7ftx3ftx3ft aquarium from there on i was getting turtles a few boas some pythons corns tegu anything that had scales i wanted lol

teeeeej · Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 0

the very first reptile i ever owned was when i was about 6 my very first green iguana (he wasn't very friendly) i had him for years and he never changed R.I.P iggy. while i had him i had two turtles a newt a firebelly toad and a salamander. that started me off after i got into fishing when i was about 7 i discovered this very large angry turtlt a snapper (i lived in canada) so i started catchin them and keeping them in a hugh 7ftx3ftx3ft aquarium from there on i was getting turtles a few boas some pythons corns tegu anything that had scales i wanted lol

meanah · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

like most other people on here i was young when it all started... for one fact i live in maine... alot of critters for the taking.. haha i used to have a few frogs and salamanders that i would find out back in the woods... it was fun.. untill i relized why i didnt have as many frogs and what not as i should have had... my first frog i got lasted a few years and it was eating everything else in the cage.. haha well i also had a turtle., then hamsters, gerbils, g. pigs. then there was a break for about 4-5 years. untill a few weeks ago... i went over to a "friends" house and he showed me the tegu he had... it wasnt doing to well skinny beyond belief, very flighty, i have now changed that. they didnt feed her enough. maybe 1-2 times a week.. if that... they didnt mist her cage at all, no uvb light, no calcium sups., and he told me that he wanted to sell it with the 40 gal tank stand and one light for 100 bucks so i jumped on it and now she is loving life. after my spending of prolly 150 bucks within 2 more lights and fixtures, new substrate, supplements, repti-aid shedding aid, all the stuff for it, then i started in on geckos as well i now have just one but i am going to get another soon, and beardies soon as well... great topic to have for a thread

Ben3233 · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:11 am Post subject:

I had my first Cornsnake at 12 years old.

I negotiate so long with my mother because she is scared to death of them.

I started by 1 and ofter I buy another one (albinos), after I buy a sand boa finishing with a Ball python.

However I prefer lizard...
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Ben3233
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)

txrepgirl · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:25 am Post subject:

Oh, boy.

where should I start.I better make it short.My mom really never liked for us to have a pets because they are to messy.But when I was about 6 or so she bought two small birds.I liked them but I always wanted a dog.After a few years they past away.Than later on when I lived on my own I had a hamster and two cats.After a few years the hamster died and I gave away my cats. I moved to the States ( from Germany ) almost 14 years ago ( I was married then ).After a yearn I bought a dog

( Kylie, she is about 12 1/2 years old now and still is in great shape ).My husband at that time his friend moved and couldn't take his two dogs and his African grey Parrot with him so we took them.One night a pregnant cat showed up on our porch and I felt sorry for her.She had 6 kittens.We gave the kittens and the mom cat away.My duhhhh exhusband let the parrot fly away because he thought ones you clip the wings you don't have to do it again and took him outside and of he went

.I didn't like him any way.He was beautiful but he didn't like women.We had to give the dogs away because one of them attacked my son ( at that time he was about 2 1/2 ) thank God nothing happened because the other dog started to fight with the mean dog to protect my son.I wasn't at home at that time but my ex was.I told him to get rid of them.Than I had a wild bird that fell out of the nest for about a year and than I let him go.I bought a umbrella Cockatoo.She was soooo sweet but very loud.My ex let her go,too.I was so mad.Than we had a nother cat.After I got divorced and I lived on my own with my son we got a big fish tank.The only pet we had left from the old days was my dog Kylie.When my son was 11 he wanted a ball python so I sad ok ( now we had her for two years ).My boyfriend Bryan wanted a Tegu for 3 1/2 years now but I sad now.Not because I don't like reptiles I love them but they get so big.But I did some research and I started to like them.I saw one at our reptile store and I thought ok.I'm going to surprise him with one so I ordered a hatchling

( Leonidas ).Bryan was soooo happy and me,too.When I saw him I fell in love with him right away ( love at first sight ).I saw a add on craigs list about a Beardy that came with a 50 gallon reptile tank and a stand and everything else for $ 75.I sad honey I want to get that tank for Leo and we can sell the Beardy.But when we brought Memphis home we got attached to him, too

.Later on we wanted to get some pet food at our reptile store and we saw a nother Tegu there he was 8 months old at that time and we fell in love with him ( Zeuss ) also

.Oh,I feel so bad now we bought a Vizsla two years a go on Valentines day and my boyfriend had already a Airdale Terrier when I met him and we got a leopard gecko,too.Sorry, for making it so long.

TokayK · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject:

Believe it or not, I first fell in love with herps when I was about 7; I saw a tokay gecko at the same zoo that I now work at! I had to wait til I was about 17--and could get them myself, but my collection started with a male tokay named Spike (R.I.P.), he was the most beautiful gecko you ever saw. Other tokays followed (Shera, Spazz, and San, R.I.P.). and eventually, when I met my future husband, he already had our columbian common boa-Big D- We still have her (her pics are in my photo album...). Others have followed, but I still love tokays--Thanks to my zoo!--Of course, the zoo no longer has Tokays, but maybe we'll get them again eventually (when I take over the reptile house!!)

Tegster · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:38 pm Post subject:

Tegster is our first reptile pet experience. I have always enjoyed handling reptiles. Here in Maine that means garter snakes, salamanders, and painted turtles.

I taught my son how to catch and handle them. But we have always enjoyed them in their natural habitat.

When we traveled on vacation (ie, zoos, Disney, Gatorland, science museums, aquariums) my son gravitated to anything reptile or marine. We have several pics of him holding various pythons and one alligator.

This spring he started pressing me to let him have a lizard. He's 10 and I thought he could learn alot about responsibility if he had one. I told him to do the research and prove to me having a lizard was a good idea.

After several months research and discussion, Dad and I agreed to allow a lizard. We attended the Reptile Expo in Portland, met Rick Sisco, and got to hold ?Tux?. We mulled it over for two more months before picking up our hatchling from Rick.

We had never seen that kind of committment in our son before. We hope he'll never lose interest in Tegster. But there are so many important life lessons to be learned from the experience of owning a pet like this. We decided the challenge was worth it.

Needless to say, one look in Tegsters eyes (the ones that look right back at you and follow you around) and it was all over. We are all smitten. Even my 63 year old mom loves him. She volunteers to take care of him when we travel.
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Renee

Callisto · New Member Joined: Dec 16, 2007 Posts: 8

My father is deathly afraid of snakes. Anything that slitheered was something he couldn't stand. However he was a wise man. He never taught me his fears saying he needed gloves to hold the nightcrawlers because his hands got cold more than mine did. He also made sure I stayed away from all snakes while Mom did the shooing from the bushes in the front yard.

By the time I was old enough to realize he was afraid I thought him silly for it.

I lived near the Great Rehoboth Hemlock Swamp in MA. I spent hours out in the woods handling everything from wild chipmunks to black and red salamanders. Not much scared me unless it coiled and hissed meancingly (Rattler and Cottonmouths I was told do that) Stay away.

Giggles thinking on the generalities. If it hisses it doesn't like you was a general simple kids rule I was taught.

A friend had herps. I had a female ball python fall asleep in my warm lap while I petted her.

Another had a Rosytailed Boa "Huge Snakey Girl" who I got along famously with after a moments pause. She 'tested me" by turning over my shoulder and yawning in my face so I could cont those teeth in the mouth the size of my hand. Um yeah. After I had the fright response that went from top of my head down and out my feet, she decided to stay with me for the rest of the night...he had to pry her from me at nights end.

Giggles... "He said that was the toughest test she ever pulled on someone and apparently she decided I was more than alright. She was on me for 5 hours at the party being social with her head snuggled in the nape of my neck under my long hair.

I was hooked thus came "Jaspar" my Normal Ball python.

gebris353 · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

Well, I've always love animals. I was 11 years old when my father and I went to the only market in the city where they had this Pepsi football posters and I was so happy cause I had so many caps to change them for those amazing posters, a bag full of them! And when we got there the guy incharge told us there were no more posters cause the special offer was over! Man, I was so sad! But my dad knows me so he said why dont we go a few blocks from here, there is a place with rare animals. So he took me to this pet shop and after watching all of them for at least 2 hours, my dad told me to choose one! There were like 20 little Juanchos in a little tank and yeah I was hooked, I had a snake in my arms and damn she was so beautiful but my mom would die! Haha! So I choose my Juancho and we went back home with a tank and everything. My mom almost died too lol, but my dad bought it so there was nothing else to say. I'm 21 one now, and Juancho is 10 and we love each other.

txrepgirl · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:00 am Post subject:

gebris353 do you have a picture of Juancho ? that is a very nice story.It's some thing I would do with my son

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plizardman · Member Joined: Aug 11, 2005 Posts: 25

Three experiences hooked me on herps. I was interested in them from an early age, and my dad set me up with some lizards and garter snakes when I was about 8. I had the "Golden Guide" reptile and amphibian book memorized within a year. The first experience that hooked me, was catching a garter snake when I was taking a walk in the woods with my dad when I was 9. It turned around and bit me, but I didn't let go. My dad took me to the emergency room and made me get a tetnus shot. He wanted to teach me a lesson about grabbing things. I didn't like that, but it didn't lessen the thrill.
The next thing to hook me was about 15 years later. I had kept herps for many of those years, but it was my first clutch of cornsnake eggs that kind of blew my mind, and the final thing was shortly thereafter when those little faces started poking out. That really kicked my reptile keeping into another dimension, and despite breeding hundreds of times since then, the thrill never diminishes. When I was in the business, I always pushed breeding to those who continued to keep singles. I told them that once you breed, you would always regret the time you spent collecting different species without pairing any of them. When they finally had their first clutch, they always came back to say I was right.

spencer · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:15 pm Post subject:

what started it for me was when i was 7 years old i used to go catch garter snakes with my dad. he would always laugh when i got bit but one day i caught a BIG ONE it was 7 feet long! i brought it home and put it ina tank and to my surprise the next morning i had 18 little babys because garters where i live have live babys. after that we released them back where we found them and i wanted a snake. So me and my dad went to the pet store and i fell in love with winston my now 8 year old berber skink. since then ive had a uromastyx a blue tongue skink, green iguana, tegu, geckos, cali kingsnake, more skinks, and more geckos.

Now that people know i have lizards i always keep about 5 extra setups because people dump stuff on me. i feed them well and make alot of profit these days and im only 13

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from all the lizards and snakes ive probably made about 300$ a month so for the permanent residents like charlie my little tegu he gets the good life. he has a waterfall and a swimming tub and im begining to build and seal his permanent 8x4x4 enclosure witch will have a built in watering system thanks the the plumber next door

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Goals:100 posts DONE!
:200 posts OWNED
:300 posts i dunno someday :S

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

I started when I was ten and I have always just liked reptiles. I told my mom I wanted a snake and then she reccomended fish but I wasnt interested in fish. So finally after a week of debate I got an everglades rat snake..then in a couple years after seeing a gecko on jeff corwin's show I wanted one of those...So I ended up with two crested geckos. Then a couple more years passed and I wanted a tegu. SO now I have a tegu.and about three weeks ago I just took in a 30 inch ball python. Now I dont recieve an allowance anymore Now my everglades ratsnake is 5 years old my geckos 3 and my tegu about 1.5 and the ball python I have an estimate of a year or two.

txrepgirl · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject:

spencer I would of laughed so hard if my son would of brought home the snake and had all those babies the next day.Give Charlie ( Tegu for some that don't know ) a hug from me

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138Shane I like your story.Sorry to hear that you don't get a allowance any more

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