Daughter brought home a leopard and a sulcata hatchling last night

JulieS

New Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
18
Location (City and/or State)
South-Central KS
Hi Tom,

1. We're in south central Kansas (warm and very humid right now), so probably mid-October through mid-April they'll be solely indoors when we hit our colder months.
2. Sorry, I'm not sure what a "CHE" is, but I did ask my husband to pick up a timer for the basking bulb just to prevent Caitlin from leaving the light on too long.
3. & 4. I have an empty 200-gallon down in the basement (where I do my reef keeping) that she can use, so we'll probably leave the leopard in the 125 upstairs and move the Sulcata downstairs once I make it back to the reptile store for more cypress mulch.
5. Yes, we're using a stick-on that has two separate circular faces (one for temp, one for humidity) that came from the reptile store. If that's inaccurate for moisture, then I'll ask Mark to pick us up something that works better from Lowe's or Home Depot. But one of the reasons our humidity stays so high right now is that the house's AC went out recently, and we're living with the doors/windows standing open until the new unit comes in. So our house is like a sauna at the moment, nice for tortoises, not so nice for me. Most of the time, we've been covering the top with a giant piece of cardboard, and that's when things start condensing in there. If it ever stops raining, maybe we'll finally get a chance to dry out.
6. We've been shooting for sitting them in water about 90 degrees each day, but I've been finding it difficult to maintain the water temp while they're sitting in it.
7. Yes, the dogs we raise (GSDs and Dobes) are working bred for law enforcement/SAR/etc... and high in predatory behavior, so we'd never leave them alone with any of our other species. The grazing cage he built me was primarily meant to deter cats and hawks from eating my chicks/ducklings. I've been placing it under trees, so about 90% of the 4' x 8' is shaded. But I will definitely add some plants and hiding objects next time.
8. I've been shooting for two hours a day right now (I wait till it hits 80, then if it's not raining, out they go). Come fall when I won't be able to get in those 80+ degree two hours, then I'll have to find a replacement for that spiral UVB bulb I turned off.

Thanks for all the help!

Julie
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
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Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hi Tom,

1. We're in south central Kansas (warm and very humid right now), so probably mid-October through mid-April they'll be solely indoors when we hit our colder months.
2. Sorry, I'm not sure what a "CHE" is, but I did ask my husband to pick up a timer for the basking bulb just to prevent Caitlin from leaving the light on too long.
3. & 4. I have an empty 200-gallon down in the basement (where I do my reef keeping) that she can use, so we'll probably leave the leopard in the 125 upstairs and move the Sulcata downstairs once I make it back to the reptile store for more cypress mulch.
5. Yes, we're using a stick-on that has two separate circular faces (one for temp, one for humidity) that came from the reptile store. If that's inaccurate for moisture, then I'll ask Mark to pick us up something that works better from Lowe's or Home Depot. But one of the reasons our humidity stays so high right now is that the house's AC went out recently, and we're living with the doors/windows standing open until the new unit comes in. So our house is like a sauna at the moment, nice for tortoises, not so nice for me. Most of the time, we've been covering the top with a giant piece of cardboard, and that's when things start condensing in there. If it ever stops raining, maybe we'll finally get a chance to dry out.
6. We've been shooting for sitting them in water about 90 degrees each day, but I've been finding it difficult to maintain the water temp while they're sitting in it.
7. Yes, the dogs we raise (GSDs and Dobes) are working bred for law enforcement/SAR/etc... and high in predatory behavior, so we'd never leave them alone with any of our other species. The grazing cage he built me was primarily meant to deter cats and hawks from eating my chicks/ducklings. I've been placing it under trees, so about 90% of the 4' x 8' is shaded. But I will definitely add some plants and hiding objects next time.
8. I've been shooting for two hours a day right now (I wait till it hits 80, then if it's not raining, out they go). Come fall when I won't be able to get in those 80+ degree two hours, then I'll have to find a replacement for that spiral UVB bulb I turned off.

Thanks for all the help!

Julie


Sounds like you've got a good handle on things.

CHE stands for ceramic heating element. It gives off heat but no light, so its good for night time.

I'm a dog trainer too. My job is training all animals for movies and television, but I do bite work for fun. I've got two mals and a Czech shep right now.
 

JulieS

New Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
18
Location (City and/or State)
South-Central KS
In GSDs, we have two different ZVV3 Czech girls (mother and daughter) that we've imported, Tom (no maligators though LOL). For a Dobe litter this fall though, we are breeding to the Dobe that was on the last season of the Walking Dead and ended up as BBQ. :D Here's one of the GSD sons we've donated up in PA for service work. He's dual-purpose patrol/explosives detection for SEPTA.Ronnie K9.jpg .
 
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