# Weird creatures



## Az tortoise compound (Oct 22, 2010)

What is the strangest animal you are currently feeding? 
How did you end up with it (them)?
Please post pictures. As we all know, if there are no pics it never happened
Umm.....
I will post my answers after I take pics. Ha! Ha!


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## Maggie Cummings (Oct 23, 2010)

I have 2 Sugar Gliders. They are relatively strange...


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## GBtortoises (Oct 23, 2010)

Three teenagers. 

I ended up with them because I didn't...well, I think everyone knows how that happens.

I'd post pictures if I could actually take some of them. They're very elusive creatures, especially during the night time hours and when there are chores to be done. During the early daytime they spend a lot of time in their burrows and I'm not going in there, it's too scary!


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## Terry Allan Hall (Oct 23, 2010)

Az tortoise compound said:


> What is the strangest animal you are currently feeding?
> How did you end up with it (them)?
> Please post pictures. As we all know, if there are no pics it never happened
> Umm.....
> I will post my answers after I take pics. Ha! Ha!



My youngest son's "posse"...wish Purina made a Pizza-flavored "Teenager Chow" in 50# bags...even buying 3 a week, I'd save a bundle!

Ever see that scene in every Amazon/jungle movie ever made, where they shove the cow into the river teaming w/ piranha? Yeah, like that! 



maggie3fan said:


> I have 2 Sugar Gliders. They are relatively strange...



My wife has a pair of those (Zhu-zhu and Monkey)...they're really fun pets...you can play catch with 'em (my daughter and I toss them to each other from each end of the living room) _and they love the game_! 

Zhu-zhu, the male, likes to ride around in my shirt pocket, occasionally coming out to see what he can steal in the way of munchies. 

Our strangest pets (to herpers ), I guess are either my wife's 3 capybaras (kinda like a guinea-pig the size of an Airdale) or Hamlet, my 46# mini-pig (cross between a Pot-belly and a Norwegian lab pig).






Hamlet and I celebrating my birthday...​


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## Yvonne G (Oct 23, 2010)

This is Mimi. He's a rescue and was grossly overweight when I first got him. He's been on a pretty strict diet and has lost quite a bit of weight, but, I've been told that the fat fold over the eyes is the last to go, and he's still blind because of it. But one of my more interesting pets.

Mimi before:











And Mimi more recently:


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## DeanS (Oct 23, 2010)

Terry and BG take the cake so far! Maggie...sugar gliders are too cute to be considered strange. And, call me wierd! But Yvonne, that boar is one handsome fellow! Keep us posted on his progress. 

As for me, I don't consider it strange, but I am apparently taking care of a bobcat or two. Once or twice a week, I see Aladar's poop ripped to shreds and bobcat prints in the planter. Twice, I've seen him walk right past our playroom window and once I saw him go over the wall...I love bobcats! Apparently, they pose no threat to the torts...they just come around, roll around in the poop (I imagine to cover their scent) and leave to go hunting. I keep my camera handy...hoping to catch him the next time...or the time after that...I'll get him eventually!


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## Az tortoise compound (Oct 23, 2010)

Bobcats......Wow! I am jealous. They are so difficult to find in the wild. Very elusive. Dean, you have to get those pics up ASAP. There are few cats as gorgeous as a Bobcat. I love the ears.


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## dolfanjack (Oct 23, 2010)

Their not really an animal but I do feed my carnivorous plants.


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## DeanS (Oct 23, 2010)

dolfanjack said:


> Their not really an animal but I do feed my carnivorous plants.



Very nice...took a crack at VFTs back in the 80s!


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## Az tortoise compound (Oct 23, 2010)

Here is a pic of one of our giant African stickbugs. He is still got some growing to do. They get to be around 8" or so. Also, it's not really weird but I included a pic of a ladybug. We raise those as well. They are a savior in the garden and yard. For good measure there is a pic of my "fly catcher" as well.


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## dmmj (Oct 24, 2010)

Purple people eaters, you can't imagine how hard it is to find purple people. I may just start painting my neighbors.


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## Laura (Oct 24, 2010)

Capybara's?? Where do you live to own those cretures?! I saw one on a show the other day.. are the new rave pet? kinda cool...


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## DeanS (Oct 24, 2010)

Well...here's my 9 year old daughter, Sydney, with one of the several creatures that truly makes her happy...the praying mantis is as common up here as the housefly...only the mantids NEVER lose their appeal. Everytime she sees one, she has to give it her own special brand of love and attention.







Laura said:


> Capybara's?? Where do you live to own those cretures?! I saw one on a show the other day.. are the new rave pet? kinda cool...



I remember a guy at the LA County Fair (Pomona) about 25 years ago raised Capy's...I almost bought a pair, but didn't wanna take the chance that they'd end up on the menu...I was raising wolves and crocs at the time.


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## Terry Allan Hall (Oct 24, 2010)

Laura said:


> Capybara's?? Where do you live to own those cretures?! I saw one on a show the other day.. are the new rave pet? kinda cool...



New rave pet? Dunno, but my wife accompanied me to an exotic auction, where I was looking for a mate for my African Rock python, and a lady had some baby capies...and my wife just couldn't resist a pair of females!

OTOH, it turns out "Ophelia" was an Oscar, which accounts for baby Beth...

Some raise them as pets, some raise 'em for their meat and hides.

We live just outside an "almost town" called New Fairview, TX (about halfway between Rhome and Decatur, in Wise County...btw, New Fairview's city hall is a single-wide trailer!  )

Lots of livestock and exotics out here...one neighbor raises bison and some kind of small elk, another used to have a Bengal tiger (that didn't turn out well, at all...) and almost everyone has horses.

We love it!


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## Floof (Oct 26, 2010)

Of all the animals I have had, the Dubia roaches take the cake for "Weirdest." As for how/why I have them, I finally caved a while ago and got a starter colony, to breed as feeders for the bearded dragons.

Only picture I have, of some dubia nymphs.


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## Kristina (Oct 26, 2010)

Marmorkrebs crayfish (Procambarus marmorkrebs.) They were "discovered" several years ago in hobbyists aquariums in Germany. Their true origin is unknown, whether they were originally a genetic mutation or something that occurred naturally.

What makes them weird is that every single member of the species is born female, and STAYS female. They do not sexually reproduce. They redproduce parthogenically, and are the only known crayfish and one of only a handful of animals to do this. It means that they clone themselves. Each and every baby (400-1000 at a time) is an exact genetic clone of her mother. 
















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64H-GrtqrLE


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## dmmj (Oct 27, 2010)

kyryah said:


> What makes them weird is that every single member of the species is born female, and STAYS female. They do not sexually reproduce. They redproduce parthogenically, and are the only known crayfish and one of only a handful of animals to do this. It means that they clone themselves. Each and every baby (400-1000 at a time) is an exact genetic clone of her mother.


doesn't sound very fun.


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## PeanutbuttER (Oct 27, 2010)

Also, Komodo Dragons can reproduce parthogenically as well. The eggs are an exact genetic clone, except for the fact that they all come out male. Afterwards the parental female can switch back to normal sexual reproduction. Crazy stuff!

I just barely learned about this like a week ago in my genetics class  Had no idea I'd be able to use it here.


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## Terry Allan Hall (Oct 27, 2010)

PeanutbuttER said:


> Also, Komodo Dragons can reproduce parthogenically as well. The eggs are an exact genetic clone, except for the fact that they all come out male. Afterwards the parental female can switch back to normal sexual reproduction. Crazy stuff!
> 
> I just barely learned about this like a week ago in my genetics class  Had no idea I'd be able to use it here.



That's weird...all the parthogenical creatures that I'm aware of always come out female...wonder why the Komodo Dragon would be different?

Found this on Wiki:
_A Komodo dragon at London Zoo named Sungai laid a clutch of eggs in late 2005 after being separated from male company for more than two years. Scientists initially assumed that she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male, an adaptation known as superfecundation.[39] On December 20, 2006, it was reported that Flora, a captive Komodo dragon living in the Chester Zoo in England, was the second known Komodo dragon to have laid unfertilized eggs: she laid 11 eggs, and 7 of them hatched, all of them male.[40] Scientists at Liverpool University in England performed genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being moved to an incubator, and verified that Flora had never been in physical contact with a male dragon. After Flora's eggs' condition had been discovered, testing showed that Sungai's eggs were also produced without outside fertilization.[41] On January 31, 2008, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas became the first zoo in the Americas to document parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons. The zoo has two adult female Komodo dragons, one of which laid about 17 eggs on May 19Ã¢â‚¬â€œ20, 2007. Only two eggs were incubated and hatched due to space issues; the first hatched on January 31, 2008 while the second hatched on February 1. Both hatchlings were males.[42][43]

Komodo dragons have the ZW chromosomal sex-determination system, as opposed to the mammalian XY system. Male progeny prove that Flora's unfertilized eggs were haploid (n) and doubled their chromosomes later to become diploid (2n) (by being fertilized by a polar body, or by chromosome duplication without cell division), rather than by her laying diploid eggs by one of the meiosis reduction-divisions in her ovaries failing. When a female Komodo dragon (with ZW sex chromosomes) reproduces in this manner, she provides her progeny with only one chromosome from each of her pairs of chromosomes, including only one of her two sex chromosomes. This single set of chromosomes is duplicated in the egg, which develops parthenogenetically. Eggs receiving a Z chromosome become ZZ (male); those receiving a W chromosome become WW and fail to develop.[44][45]

It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population (via reproduction with her offspring that can result in both male and female young).[44] Despite the advantages of such an adaptation, zoos are cautioned that parthenogenesis may be detrimental to genetic diversity.[46]_

This is pretty interesting, too:

_Research with captive Komodo dragons has also provided evidence that they engage in play. One study concerned an individual who would push a shovel left by its keeper, apparently attracted to the sound of it scraping across the rocky surface. A young female dragon at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. would grab and shake various objects including statues, beverage cans, plastic rings and blankets. She would also insert her head into boxes, shoes, and other objects. She did not confuse these objects with food, as she would only swallow them if they were covered in rat blood. This social play has led to a striking comparison with mammalian play.[7]


Komodo dragons at Toronto Zoo. Komodo dragons in captivity often grow fat, especially in their tails, due to regular feeding.Another documentation of play in Komodo dragons comes from the University of Tennessee, where a young Komodo dragon named "Kraken" interacted with plastic rings, a shoe, a bucket, and a tin can by nudging them with her snout, swiping at them, and carrying them around in her mouth. She treated all of them differently from her food, prompting leading researcher Gordon Burghardt to conclude that they disprove the view of object play being "food-motivated predatory behavior." Kraken was the first Komodo dragon hatched in captivity outside of Indonesia, born in the National Zoo on September 13, 1992. [11][65]

_


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## harris (Oct 27, 2010)

kyryah said:


> Marmorkrebs crayfish (Procambarus marmorkrebs.) They were "discovered" several years ago in hobbyists aquariums in Germany. Their true origin is unknown, whether they were originally a genetic mutation or something that occurred naturally.
> 
> What makes them weird is that every single member of the species is born female, and STAYS female. They do not sexually reproduce. They redproduce parthogenically, and are the only known crayfish and one of only a handful of animals to do this. It means that they clone themselves. Each and every baby (400-1000 at a time) is an exact genetic clone of her mother.
> 
> ...



Suddenly my Blanding's Turtles want to move to Michigan! Yummy!


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## cdmay (Oct 27, 2010)

The first two pictures are some darn nice photos. Most of the Procambarus species are neat in one way or another.
I find some truly gorgeous P. speculifera while diving in the Chipola River. I'll dig up some photos later...


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## cdmay (Oct 27, 2010)

Here you go, _Procambarus spiculifera_...








...from Jackson County, Florida. These are very impressive brutes but probably not as suited for aquariums as marmorkrebs are.


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