My horde of critters. Not for the faint of heart!

[zedxrgal]

I have a lot of animals mainly reptiles. I've been a reptile breeder /keeper for the last 17+ years. But we'll start with the mammals first.

First is my truly wonderful dog Cinnamon who's half Pitbull and half Catahoula Leopard Dog. Cinnamon has a sad story with a major happy ending. Cinnamon's mom (full blooded APBT) was dumped off at a shelter by her owners because their home was being repossessed /foreclosed on. She was a week away from delivering her puppies from an intentional breeding to a male Catahoula. She gave birth to a litter of five puppies. 3 girls two boys. Long story short I was looking for a puppy and saw her. Fell in love and adopted her. She is SO funny.



Next is my little cat Brembo who I found as a 10 week old kitten. He was really skinny, dirt and covered in fleas. But now he's a gorgeous boy and VERY attached to his mom.


Where's the birds???


I'm only going to share a few really good photos of the reptiles. There's just to many to put all the photos in here. Right now I have 10 monitor lizards and three snakes. And that is my collection severely downsized now.

Spaz in the tub for a soak while his cage is being cleaned


This is Tank. He's called Tank simply because he's a really big boy for his age.


This little gal doesn't have a name but she's a favorite


One of the snakes


That's it for now.

[The huntress]

is that a rattlesnake?

[Teigan]

.

[Mania]

Monitors! I demand more pictures of monitors!

I adore monitors. I kept (and attempted to breed) them until I had to move to an apartment. I did a lot of rescue work with Niles and Savannahs, both of which are pretty common as throw-away pets around here, but I also had an Argus, a black-throat, a trio of Storr's, a trio of 'timors' (V. scalaris, in this case) and a Callopistes flavipunctatus that was sold to me as 'the closest thing to a New World tree monitor in existance'.

I got infertile eggs out of both trios, which I suppose is something ...

I own every book by Daniel Bennet. I fell in love with a Dumeril's when I was five. I've wanted a green or black tree monitor since I was a teenager (but I know I don't have the resources for one, especially not right now). I've wanted a V. glauerti (which just sounds better to me than 'Kimberly Rock monitor)' since the first day I saw one. But I've never owned any of those, more's the pity.

My husband won't let me go to major expos because he has to physically drag me away from any table with a monitor.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

That is absolutely a rattler. Unless my eyes are decieving me, but I am used to having to identify them in the wild, in some.....interesting conditions.

I'd post pictures of my pets, but that'd be 21 cats and 3 dogs. Maybe I will take some pictures of the mountains next time I go for a walk, though.

[Mania]

Somewhat off-topic, but it seems an odd coincidence to run into today: They've identified a larger relative of V. olivaceus in the Phillipines -- christened V. bitatawa -- and it seems to be even more non-carnivorous than than it's cousin.

Unfortunately I'm not finding any good photos of it yet. I imagine that, like Gray's, it won't be imported much.

[Dakonic]

Aww i love pits, they have such goofy personalities. The kitties cute too. The monitors and rattlesnakes are beautiful. Im a reptile person but all we can afford at the moment is a Leopard Gecko. I'm amazed that he came to have such a personality. If my cousain tries to pick him up he crawls back to me. I remeber bringing him home, he was scared to death, but i didnt want him to live in fear so everyday i'd get him used to my hand, i'd just sit there with it in the tank. He was a fiesty little thing he would puff himself up and his and sqeak at my hand. Now i can do pretty much anything to him and he loves it. Atleast i think hes a he. o.o

[zedxrgal]

Yes that's a rattlesnake. She's one of three rattlers I own currently. She's a 'mutt snake' from an accidental breeding. Friend of mine had what he thought was two males. So when the one snake delivered a litter of 8 babies imagine his shock. I have owned and studied venomous reptiles (mainly snakes) since 2000. But due to her being a mix of two species she was not a safe release candidate. I have captured and taken in many many venomous snake for rehabilitation (people just aren't kind to them) and then released them or sent them to a new home where they will be properly cared for with someone with venomous knowledge. Several stayed with me.

Mania,
I've owned over 25 different species of monitor lizard. I personally know Daniel Bennett and have for many many years. He's a great man and just an amazing conservationist for varanids. Niloticus (Nile monitor) are one of my favorite species. I have a lot of photos. I've bred a few different species and hatched babies. Got clutches from unbred females all infertile.


There are some photos for you. I know of that little gem. Strangely enough they've (they being the scientists and herpetologists) have known about Bitatawa since 2005 I believe it was but only in 2009 did they start getting tissue samples for DNA testing. Sure enough that bad boy is a whole new species! How sick is that!!!!! They're so rare that they did not come across them often enough to study and on the rare chance they were encountered it was usually in a poachers /hunters trap. Goannas are considered good eatin in those parts. I can be more then willing to bet, 99.9% sure, you WILL NOT see these in the pet trade. At least not for an extremely long time. Only twice in 17+ years have I seen olivaceus (aka Gray's monitor, aka Butaan) offered up in the pet trade. Butaan cannot be kept alive easily in a zoo let alone an even rarer animal that's even more shy.
Any ways.

[Mania]

I personally know Daniel Bennett and have for many many years. He's a great man and just an amazing conservationist for varanids.

Egad! Seriously? ... Umm, think you could get me an autograph? *grin* Daniel Bennett was the one who got me to start thinking about monitor conservation instead of just their role as pets.

Niloticus (Nile monitor) are one of my favorite species.

Definitely an underrated species, especially where I live (Florida, USA). They are almost as cheap and almost as disposable as iguanas, plus people are terrified of their reputation when they get larger. I knew a big-snake guy -- you know, got a motorcycle, a 16-foot Burmese and a 12 foot retic -- who paid me to trim his Nile's toe-nails because he was terrified of her. And she was less than 3 feet ...

There are some photos for you. I know of that little gem. Strangely enough they've (they being the scientists and herpetologists) have known about Bitatawa since 2005 I believe it was but only in 2009 did they start getting tissue samples for DNA testing. Sure enough that bad boy is a whole new species! How sick is that!!!!!

Yeah, I was reading about that! I love how DNA is being used to sort out the whole species mess.

[zedxrgal]

Egad! Seriously? ... Umm, think you could get me an autograph? *grin* Daniel Bennett was the one who got me to start thinking about monitor conservation instead of just their role as pets.

Yes seriously. I believe he's still in the bush in the Philippines but will be more then willing to ask him for an autograph for you when he gets back.

Thank you everyone for all the compliments.