My "Florida Tank"

[smarch]

So, I take care of plants for my job. Lots of plants. I live in nice and cold wintered New England. It is frequent even more now than ever before, that the plants can come up from the Florida growers with stowaways. And well... I've already got the tortoise, corn snake and leopard gecko, so what's another tank! Mind you I suddenly now have more stowaways in residence in my tank than ever before and the 10gal that used to house only my one baby anole Cannoli (may be rest in peace) I now have 2 brown anole, possibly 2 "tropical house geckos" (aka I had 2 eggs found, they both hatched, but I've only seen one of these slippery little guys at a time and they're the same size so I wouldn't be able to tell them apart). Oh and also several snails. None can be released outside here, so I make the most I can, yes I know they shouldn't all be in a community tank here ... But it's better than a wintery death here, when/if they grow up (it's so hard to convince the babies to eat!) they'll get a big upgrade when I have the financials for it.

 

[wellington]

Wow, you'd think the growers in FL would check the plants over better.
Glad you are willing to care for them, thank you. It would be a terrible death if you didn't.

 

[smarch]

Wow, you'd think the growers in FL would check the plants over better.
Glad you are willing to care for them, thank you. It would be a terrible death if you didn't.

The growers regularly send up plants with mealybug and scale infestations I would trust them to stop reptilian hitchhikers either. The slightly larger anole I just caught in one of my accounts I'm pretty sure was in fact surviving off of the mealybug I'm trying to control in the planter he was in (I'd been tracking him for almost 2 months since I took the job over before finally catching him).
I have another coworker who also saves them, before people used to just let them outside, I mean as a non-reptile person that does seem like the kind thing to do. Hopefully it's not truly unkind to keep them in the same tank and they won't decide to start fight club as they grow, setting up separate tanks is 1 thing, all the lighting on them is an entirely different and constant cost. I figure it may not truly be the *best* life, but given the cards they were dealt it's an okay life where water and food are always available.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a pretty interesting job!

 

[wellington]

The growers regularly send up plants with mealybug and scale infestations I would trust them to stop reptilian hitchhikers either. The slightly larger anole I just caught in one of my accounts I'm pretty sure was in fact surviving off of the mealybug I'm trying to control in the planter he was in (I'd been tracking him for almost 2 months since I took the job over before finally catching him).
I have another coworker who also saves them, before people used to just let them outside, I mean as a non-reptile person that does seem like the kind thing to do. Hopefully it's not truly unkind to keep them in the same tank and they won't decide to start fight club as they grow, setting up separate tanks is 1 thing, all the lighting on them is an entirely different and constant cost. I figure it may not truly be the *best* life, but given the cards they were dealt it's an okay life where water and food are always available.

True, it's not the best, and wouldn't recommend it to someone going out and buying them. But it's the best you can do for now, for a situation that is beyond your control, except to thankfully wanting to save them and it is better than just letting them go.

 

[smarch]

True, it's not the best, and wouldn't recommend it to someone going out and buying them. But it's the best you can do for now, for a situation that is beyond your control, except to thankfully wanting to save them and it is better than just letting them go.

If all of these hatchlings have the will to survive (my first and former made it just over the year mark before he had been missing long enough for me to search and find him gone under a leaf) I figure I have the space in pretty sure for another 40 gal breeder, load it full of plants and hiding places and hope for the best, and remove and dispose of any eggs that may show up (should I have hatched out the eggs into captivity possibly not, but I'm not a breeder and it was an experiment for me, a successful one apparently, over 2 months for them to hatch in my care). I'm most worried about someone deciding the snails are snacks when the snails are no longer bigger than them.
I worked in pest control up here a few years ago... I realize to more tropical non reptile people it's kind of like I have a tank full of wild mice hahaha. None of these guys are native to where they hitchhiked from, and either way they are indeed a plant pest since by definition they're not supposed to be there.... But who could say no to such a tiny face.

 

[smarch]

That's a pretty interesting job!

It's truly the best job ever just being on the road all day visiting offices and malls and hospitals and taking care of their plants. I WAS doing Boston buildings for a couple years and saw so many cool things, but an enjoying my change of pace... And commute... far away from the city now.

 

[jaizei]

it won't be long before several snails become many snails

 

[smarch]

it won't be long before several snails become many snails

I check for eggs with the intent to crush/freeze if the snails decide to try to take over, I'll protect the existing life I've found but am not about letting them bring more life in. Plus I've heard it's somewhat a cruelty to let the snails in captivity hatch out because they reproduce in massive numbers since very very few actually make it, but without predators (though maybe the lizards would eat the young) it can lead to a lot of weak/messed up snails that nature should have picked off.

 

[Dustin]

Those Brown Anoles wind up everywhere.
The first time I visited Singapore around 10 years ago I met up with some friends from Thailand and they were excitedly tracking down a lizard to take a photo of it. When I saw the lizard I realized it was one of the invasive brown anoles we have here in Florida. When I asked a Singaporean about it I was told that they were introduced to the country recently when all of the bromeliads were imported for the big towers at Gardens By The Bay. I went back a few times after than and they were everywhere, I wouldnt be surprised if they have made their way all the way to Malaysia by now. . .

 

[ZEROPILOT]

You made me remember a car that I sold to a fellow in Montana. Via transport truck.
When it left here it was warm and rainy. When it arrived in Montana it was a block of ice. Complete with a Florida Common House Gecko frozen to the radiator.

 

[smarch]

Those Brown Anoles wind up everywhere.
The first time I visited Singapore around 10 years ago I met up with some friends from Thailand and they were excitedly tracking down a lizard to take a photo of it. When I saw the lizard I realized it was one of the invasive brown anoles we have here in Florida. When I asked a Singaporean about it I was told that they were introduced to the country recently when all of the bromeliads were imported for the big towers at Gardens By The Bay. I went back a few times after than and they were everywhere, I wouldnt be surprised if they have made their way all the way to Malaysia by now. . .

We have only gotten a couple green anole, it's always the brown anole, once it's Monday I'm going to see if the other person has ever caught a house gecko. We've also gotten gray treefrogs, which are able to live all the way north up to southern Canada so should be able to survive a New England winter.
Your friends sound like me watering my plants trying to track down to catch my second anole I knew was living in an office planter, I wanted to get him before someone else did and likely would call the exterminator on them. The only invasive critters we tend to get up here are insects. But with how often we're finding the anole from Florida growers you can't help but see exactly how they spread so easily, it is SO hard to spot the babies in plants, in my 10gal tank in lucky to find one at any given moment I look in there. When I only had 1 it would be normal to not see him for a few days.

 

[Dustin]

Keep your eyes out for some of our newest invasives. Curly tail lizards have been slowly working their way north through the state. We first started finding them in our area about 5-10 years ago but they are very common further south. The one that is spreading like crazy now is the Agama. We brought one up from Palm Beach County on accident in a Mango tree pot. After that we didn't see one for a couple of years. Now they are absolutely everywhere and spreading fast!

 

[TammyJ]

Here we now have the Cuban tree frog, doing just great and that's that.

 

[smarch]

Keep your eyes out for some of our newest invasives. Curly tail lizards have been slowly working their way north through the state. We first started finding them in our area about 5-10 years ago but they are very common further south. The one that is spreading like crazy now is the Agama. We brought one up from Palm Beach County on accident in a Mango tree pot. After that we didn't see one for a couple of years. Now they are absolutely everywhere and spreading fast!

Goodness, both of them are adorable!! However they get so big compared to these little guys!! I'd really have to set up a good sized tank.... I mean my husband has to let me keep them right, poor little things are lost and alone and so cold up here hahaha!