Christopher - 2007-06-16
I named my turtle Boxy yea!!!

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Karen - 2007-06-12
I have 2 Leopard Gecko's, both female, Licky (who we've had since she was a hatchling)and Lynx (who I adopted from my brother last month).

Both are coming up to a year old and they have very different personalities! Licky is a fussy eater - she only eats crickets and they have to be cold, dusted with calcium and offered in front of her, whereas Lynx will eat anything going apart from meal worms. Licky is afraid of her own shadow, Lynx is as bold as brass.

Both of them however like to watch us from their vivariums (is this normal?). After lights out they come up to their windows and watch what we are doing - it's so very cute!!!

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Vera - 2007-06-10
Our Aphrodite (female Golden Greek) came from an online breeder. She arrived in the U.S. mail about 3 1/2 years ago, which was quite a treat! She is estimated to be about 8 or 9 years old now. She was as big as a dollar bill when we got her, but has grown at least 50% since then. A year ago, I took her to a vet who specialized (and owns) tortoises. My girl had an old injury which had encapsulated; it was a hard round spot between her head and front foot which the vet deftly popped out. No blood or guts, as it had completely healed underneath. He figured it was a scratch that got infected. The turtle wagged her head back and forth as he examined her, which he said was an escape instinct. He got the hard spot out, but not before she bit him, and hard. She has never shown any aggression to us then or since, and is quite friendly. She was raised by hand and this, I believe, makes a huge difference.

She is very healthy otherwise, according to the vet. I don't spoil her, she gets romaine lettuce and dandelions from the lawn, occasional rose petals and some cucumber slices. I might give her some fruit, which she loves, or broccoli, but not frequently as it is not good for these tortoises. She does not want to drink water at all, she must be getting her moisture from the food. In spring until fall, she lived in a planter on the side of the house, indoors at night in a terrarium during winter or if the temperature drops too much (we live near the desert). Today I just moved her into a kiddie pool with low-dust clay kitty litter for a substrate, and a clay pot to hide in. She is curious but seems happy enough and it has given her more room. I have covered the pool with chicken wire, as we have owls and coyotes and I would be devastated if something happens to her. I am going to add some hay for a hiding place and a potted plant or two for shade.

All in all, we enjoy having her, she is an interesting pet and not troublesome at all to maintain. We even take her for car rides to our lakeside property. She rides in a shoebox and sticks her head out of one end, where there's a hole cut out. It's quite comical. I would highly recommend these tortoises as pets, as long as people educate themselves ahead of time. They are little escape artists, so a secure enclosure is a must.

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buck - 2007-06-05
Real cool pets: they are classified under Family Scorpionidae, genus Heterometrus, Species spiniferis.

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Harvey - 2007-06-04
I bought two baby turtles in chinatown, total impulse buy. They are called Michaelangelo and Raphael. Mikey is awesome because he is always swimming around and stuff, and he LOVES to eat. Raphael is kind of an a**hole, though. Now they live in a big glass bowl and people love coming over and seeing them (it's been about 9 weeks now). The best thing about these turtles is that they are so easy to take care of. I change the water every once in a while, and feed them every couple days. Their basking light is on a timer, so it just about takes care of itself!

As a treat, whenever I kill any sort of insect, I toss it in their tank. They love to eat that. I swatted a fly in my elevator yesterday, so I picked it up and dropped it in there! I think I might pick up some insects at the store tonight on my way home, to feed the little guys!

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Jonah Bader: Owner and Main breeder of JB Herps - 2007-06-03
I have a male "Golden" Greek (I plan to get 1 or 2 females in august). He is so outgoing and personable but he does have his shy days. When i first got him he was very shy and to kept to himself because he was in an aquarium (I was uneducated). But now since he has lived outside (2 years so far, I have had him for 3) he has perked up and walks over to me for food and love. Even when I don't have food he rushes over to greet me. He is/was my first tortoise. I rescued a cherry head redfoot 4 months later but we had to overcome some health issues (being wildcaught), so I would definitely (if you are a beginner) consider a different species. All I can say is to: RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH!

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Legato - 2007-06-01
I got 2 White's Tree Frogs a month ago. One of them soon got a swollen arm, which I soon found out to be a symptom of MBD. Once I got the calcium powder (get some with D-3) and started powdering their cricket food, and got the proper lighting. The petstore told me all I needed was an incandescant light, but I found out on here somewhere that I needed a fluorescent intended for tropical reptiles as well. the frog's arm went back to normal in a couple days and they actually seem a lot more active now than they used to be. They are adorable to watch, and sometimes if I play a clip of a White's Tree Frog croaking on my computer they'll croak along too!

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Jonny - 2007-05-30
I dont like my pet so much after he nearly attempted to kill me >=[. I tried to touch him and he keeps running or biting me so i wore rubber dishwasher gloves and he bit right through them and through my fingernail. it took 2 months for my fingernail to grow back because i had to remove it due to severe penetration and infection. he is a mad spider, he has bit me like 4 times now and left 1 fully permanent scar from accidently "hooking" its fang to my top of hand and ripped the skin. it never shot hairs at me though. it also ran away and scared my sister like crazy because it went on her bed. dont touch the spider or put him on your hand because he once went on my hand and would never get off. if you push him off, he'll bite you and go back on. and he puts webs all over your hand and if you try to pull the web out he'll bite you and run up your arm.

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Kathy and Ron - 2007-05-29
We lost our beloved female beardy "Bernice" May 26th. We are extremely depressed about our loss. She had such a great personality. We only had her for 4 months. We bought her we thought from a reputible place. She seemed healthy but she was fat. We introduced her to her mate and they hit it off of course. Bernie is going to be a dad, but three weeks after she layed her 30 eggs so perfectly and then we did our part, she seemed fine. Just all of a sudden she was listless and we couldn't wake her up Saturday and she would stop beathing off and on. The vet x-rayed her and showed us the three eggs left in her but were moved down, there were broken eggs -- we have no clue how she had broken eggs with a MASSIVE infection all over her lower belly. She got worse by the hour and all we did was cry and asked the vet to help her. She didn't even have a 50% of making it thru the night let alone surgery. We took her home and she died an hour later on my husband's neck. It was like losing part of our family. I am mad because I think she had already layed a clutch and this was left, then she was pregnant by our Bernie and layed her eggs and she very slowly got sick. We are getting her "taxidermied" -- might sound stupid but we want her with us. We miss her sooooooooooo much. And Bernie is depressed now without her and we can't find another female. She will get fixed because we don't want to go thru this pain again.

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Gecko - 2007-05-28
I've only had my geco (Bumps) for 3 days but he seems pretty cool and I enjoy having him. He hasn't shed yet but i hope he will soon. He eventually will be a breeder. For anyone who loves lizards or reptiles in general I recommend Leopard Geckos for you!

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