I'm curious, humor me please.

[ladyknite]

For years I’ve sat and watched people on forums. Read their comments, enjoyed their pictures, helped where I could, watched them gain knowledge and skills, and watched them come and go.

All this time, and I’ve never stopped to really think about the people behind their screen names. What brought them to this hobby?

What do you wish for your future regarding this hobby? Do you want to remain a simple keeper and cherish the animal you have? Do you wish to advance to breeding? Are you more inclined to rescue and help? Do you see yourself branching out into different species? Do you see yourself doing this for 20+years?

I guess I’ll start. I’ve been into reptiles since before most of you were born. My parents had igs, constrictors and various species. My interest grew substantially when I was young, and I came into dragons in the 80’s. I was inclined to do rescue work when I was younger, and spent some time with some pretty great people learning what they knew.
I ended that rescue practice to begin breeding various species a few years back. Even tho I’m absolutely enthused with all the different species I own, dragons are my favorite.

Now it’s your turn.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Blame my daddy for my passion for critters. Being the daughter of a vet has it's benefits.
I've kept over the decades mostly mammals, though dragons are a undeniable passion. Geckos... love my geckos... Shinglebacks... Just send one to me will ya, Francis ? lol...
Where do I want to go ?
I'd like to use my knowledge of herbal pharmacology to help heal and vitalize our pets. My dreams tend to be big... the efforts are bigger yet...
Janie

 

[crypticdragons]

Well i grew up in South georgia where we have a cornucopia of wild reptiles (many dangerous but tell that to a curios 5 year old lol). I would capture, keep, release, rescue from roads, etc etc, large snapping turtles, box turtles, and snakes of various types. Even after being struck by a aggrevated rattler (so i was a tad dumb) i still kept a love of reptiles. Fast forward a few years (as i was never allowed to keep reptiles) i got myself a pet bearded dragon (around 16 when i moved out) and kept him for a while, but fell prey to the "pet shop" care guide. He died at 2 years old, little did i know how much i had done wrong as he was only 14 inches poor little fella. Fast forward again im in the military and want to have another dragon, start researching more and more info online and get another one. Fast forward a few more years i now own 6 and breed them in hopes of producing healthy, robust, large bodied dragons and in the hopes of being able to educate people that purchase from me about dragons and their care.

Future plans. Ill be moving to New Orleans in a few months and plan to volunteer in the reptile section of the Audabon zoo on a regular basis (after going through their 6 week exotic reptile care program). eventually i would like to move into keeping dwarf monitors, sailfin dragons, and tegus.

Other than that you have met me and know more about me than most lol.

 

[beardielover17]

What brought me to the hobby was simple. As a child (ages 3 and up) my parents never allowed me to have a reptile and like most children and people in general, you always want what you can't have. I was always a tomboy so whatever was scaly, slimy and otherwise gross to other people, I found it fascinating. I always had a love for animals of all kinds but I favored reptiles and amphibians. My first reptile that I fell in love with was the rhinoceros iguana which was some 15+ years ago. Since my interaction with one it was my mission to own a reptile (rhino iggy to be more specific).I started out with red eared sliders, american toads, green anoles and a green iguana as I got older. I didn't get into beardies until 2006 when I got my job at a pet store and since then it's been an addiction.

My future revolves around this hobby. Not just beardies alone though. I've gone to school for vet assistant and may eventually be going back for vet tech and maybe even an exotic vet. If I don't I would like to open up an online supply store a lot like LLLreptile but will only carry certain things and nothing that could harm our "children". Once that gets popular I'd open up a physical location and run a pet store how it should be run, with the animals best interest in mind I'd breed several species in house and educate people on it as well when they come in. I would want them to see all of the time and hard work that goes into bringing up these healthy animals so they can appreciate them more. I will not carry ANY imports or wild caught and would have a section of the store for rescues and adoptions as well.

I'd love to branch out into several species of reptile from frilled dragons, geckos to possibly even small monitor species. This is gonna be years into the future though because I'd like to master one animal species at a time. My next project are frilled dragons.

This is going to be a life long hobby of mine and now my husbands and we both agreed we will be making it a huge part of our future child/children's life too.


*wipes sweat off brow* ok I'm done lol

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Well I'll play along ,

I grew up in the Philippines in the wet tropics, as a child i would chase little skinks on the roads and was surrounded by geckos (literally). The Asian house geckos run along the roofs of houses as many as twenty at one time (always a welcome guest as they eat the bugs). My grandfather thought me respect for animals as he is a man of the land but especially reptiles (the forgoten animals as he called them). I once watched him chase down a retic down a creek to save it from the shovel brigade. He taught me how to look for signs and tracks as well (not that i still have that knowledge or that it applies in my new home). This pretty much started my love and fascination of reptiles.

Fast forward to my new home of OZ (reptile heaven ;D, would not want to be anywhere else). I found out at the age of 16 that it was possible to keep OZ native reptiles and that it was possible to make them thrive with captive husbandry. That's when the never-ending search for knowledge really took off (still does to this day) about reptiles. The first species i ever kept were a pair of gidgee skinks (egernia Stokesii) the pair ballooned into a colony of eight. I gave them away to friends and family as i wanted to move on with other species. Next came the BTS and a single P.barbata (all in an outdoor pit and cohabiting). I was obsessed in creating a Micro-ecosystem with these species in a natural setting. I had great success, the BTS thrived and actually mated and produced young. Sadly that had to go as well when we moved house. I then moved on to Odatrias and ctenophorus and so on and so fort. I took a break for a couple of years and came back into the hobby with a single male P.vitticeps that i got as a 2 month old hatchling (he is six years old now lol)

Where do i see myself in a few years hmmmm, surrounded by reptiles talking to you guys lol. I am trying to establish a colony of Nephrurus levis pilbarensis and will focus on that for a while. I would like to try and move back to Odatrias (they were a lot of fun with varanus storri and varanus gelleni my target) as well as trying my hands on a few other ctenophorus species (particularly the blue c.vadnappa). I am currently learning about the no legged reptiles as well as trying (when i get the spare $$$ and my lazy butt in gear) to get my ven controllers license. I would like to rescue some snakes and save them from the shovel brigade just like grandad did.

 

[Harley D]

Mine is a simple story of my husband wanting one for his birthday, I found a posting on craigs list and called them up....they unfortunalty where more than happy to get rid of there dragon, me never liking lizards or any kind of repiles...as they actually made my skid crawl with fear !!

Went and picked her up....joined this forum...and the rest is history.

I have grown to love bearded dragons and would not trade Harley or Stubbs for the world....though as I have never said anything to anyone on this forum...I have never once held Harley...only once against my chest to keep her warm while we where moving, nor have I held Stubbs....baby steps I am calling it...I talk to them...spoil them rotten but have yet to get up the nerve to actually hold them.....

I will continue to be the rescuer to any dragon that passes by....and for that I am content.

 

[ladyknite]

Each of you hold different interests. all important just the same. I find your initial association with the hobby interesting. Most of you, much different than myself. I guess that's what makes it so kewl.
I really admire the aspirations I feel sure you will achieve. Janie with the herbal remedies, Candice with the various species opening her own shop and doing well, inviting us all for In House Demonstrations, harley for simple aspect that she seeks to overcome fear for love, Brian for that Audobaun Zoo training and his fantastic adventures with that (secretly jealous) and Francis............what can I say........I admire your way of life in general, the history, the nature, and the basic admiration for what nature gave you.

C'mon now............I know there's more people in this forum that just us!!!!!!

 

[crypticdragons]

im sure i will be able to get you in as a "guest expert" lol

 

[egg 80]

I found my interest in reps at a really young age, but as most parents wouldnt let me have one same as the motorbike etc "they are dangeous, ewwwwww your not bringing one of them in my house" lol this is all io was told constantly : as you do i carried on with my interest,but helping out in a local reptile shop where at the time there wasnt much about lizards about then it was mainly snakes big ones at that.
when i left home i carried on with my interest in snakes but joined the army and didnt have much time at home able to look after them so they had to go as was more on tour of duty, than home.
when i left the army due to a knee injury i had time i was like woooooohooooooo and got myself a couple of corns, and setup again then i met my better half who was a bit freaked out by the snakes but i wasnt gettin rid of them for nobody. 1 year into my relationship my better half got cancer (lymphoma) lucky enough we caught it early and she started treatment, again i didnt have time for the snakes due to the illness of the missis so had to get rid, due to ems low immune system whilst on treatment, we battled this cancer for a further 12 months and finally got the word its gone, BUT you still gotta come back for tests etc for a further 5 years,during the next 12 months ems boss where she worked at the time saw his backside due to the time outta work she had , had he had no compassion at all not 1 phone call through the whole treatment process, so he fire her said she was surplus to requirements basicly, i saw red and smashed his car up, was either his car or him lol. anyway this was a blessing to us when we realised, em was now interested in reps due to my snakes at the beginin of our relationship, but she still wasnt overly keen on the snakes, as i now had a great job self employed landscape gardener and was bringin quite alot home she decided to go back to college and do a course in animals care, im not quite sure what it involves but she loves it since she started the course we gained 1male border collie, 1 female welsh collie, couple of lion head rabbits, 1.1.0 beardies and am buyin another corn this week it was fed last night so wont be able to handle it for a few days so wont be buyin until i can handle it.
when em finnishes her course we are loooking into opening a pet shop specific to reps also selling other pet accesories as there isnt much around here rep wise and all the places that are here give out bad info so i would like to be able to educate people that come into the hobby before they buy a rep get it home and not know what to do with it lol, so i know they are leaving me in good hands, we are looking into doing most of our own breeding for the shop, we also have a few good breeders that will also sell their rep through us also. this is some of my life anyways ;D

 

[lexi]

I'm going to cheat a bit here and copy some stuff I wrote in another thread

I have always been an animal person, whether they were reptiles or snakes or dogs, cats... I've never been the type who was afraid of spiders or slithery things. When I was much younger, I wanted an iguana. Now that I am older and more aware of the situation regarding them and the pet trade I would never buy one, but I have rescued one at the request a friend who could no longer keep her - but that's getting ahead of the story a bit.

Our first reptile we rescued was Sal, our male Beardie. My husband has a friend who has them and the fascination really started there. I was fairly unfamiliar with bearded dragons prior to meeting him. Initially, Sal was a gift for my husband - but I became far too attached and he's my boy now In fact, we've already discussed what would happen to all of our 'kids' if we were ever to split up, and all the beardies are coming with me! ;D Since getting Sal, we've also rescued an adult female, and we recently added a juvenile male from a local breeder.

In addition to the beardies, we also have 2 small dogs (a Brussels Griffon and a Pomeranian), a Leopard Gecko, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, a Frilled Dragon and a Green Iguana. This is my YouTube page, with a ton of videos of the animals, their enclosures, etc. - http://www.youtube.com/user/kalishey. Most of our pets are rescues - except for Gizmo (the Brussels Griffon), Valentine (the snake), Prada (the Leopard Gecko) and Drake (our young male beardie). We got Gizmo in 2004 from a breeder ~ Valentine also came from a breeder (Will Bird at ectotherms.net), as did Drake (rainbowbeardeddragons.com). The older beardies are adopted from families that could no longer care for them, and the Frilled Dragon came from a reptile rescue. The Green Iguana belonged to a friend of mine for many years and he asked me if I would take her, and our Pomeranian, Zoe, is from NW Pomeranian Rescue (nwpomrescue.com).

My husband is studying herpetology, and I am pre-law. We hope to someday make a difference in the lives of animals through a combined effort of his scientific knowledge and my law degree. The time (and money) that most people our age (late 20's, early 30's) spend raising a traditional family, we choose to spend on sharing our lives with these animals. Neither of us are terribly social people (meaning, we don't go out and party, etc.) so these animals really are our whole lives. We eventually want to be able to operate our own rescue organization, in my father's name. With the exception of a few individuals, we usually prefer animals to people ~ they don't lie, they don't have ulterior motives, etc. ~ and, for not having much (if any) vocal ability, they communicate remarkably well... sometimes, much better than we as humans do

I am interested in breeding one day, for somewhat selfish reasons. I really like the larger dragons (German Giant and what have you) and that is one of the reason we got Drake, being 15" already at only 3 months. I would like to find a GG female to breed him with and hopefully end up with some big dragons from the pairing. I'd also like to do it just to have the experience, but don't see myself becoming a breeder since my ultimate desire is to one day do rescue.

The story behind our desire to do rescue started in 2006, when my husband and I adopted a rescue dog, who we learned had been badly abused. Due to this abuse, he was terrified of (and aggressive towards) men. Because of this, he'd been bounced around from home to home, in and out of shelters, which only worsened his mistrust in humans. My husband named him 'Miles Davis', after his favorite jazz artist, and because he was completely black. The day after we got him, I had to work and this left my husband home with a dog who wouldn't even allow him to touch him. When I got home that night, my husband was sitting on the couch with him. He had bathed him and cut away all his horrible mats, the whole time Miles was making low growling noises at him. Miles quickly learned to trust my husband, but was still outwardly aggressive to all other men, and still would not allow anyone to touch his back or hind end, even to steer him in a different direction or to play (we later learned, via x-ray, that Miles has a pin in his back leg, and it was at one point, broken - based on what we know about his past and what the vet said we believe this was due to the abuse he suffered earlier in his life). It became apparent, rather quickly, that Miles was not suited to apartment life. He barked, all day long, and so we asked my parents to take him during the day, so he would not disturb the neighbors when we were at work. After one week, they didn't want to give him back My Dad became particularly attached to him, taking him to work with him and just about everywhere he went. They became best buddies. It was amazing to me that this dog who was "impossible to train", "too aggressive" and "should never be in a home with men" not only adapted rather quickly to compassion and love, but became closest, out of all of us, to my Dad, a man. I've never seen my Dad so happy - he would call me almost daily and tell me a funny story about Miles or some goofy thing he did. It was a great thing for Miles, and a great thing for my Dad. I will never again allow someone to tell me that an animal "can never" do or be something. Miles, who came to us as a snarling, aggressive and fearful dog that no one could touch became a playful, goofy, lovable family pet. My Dad and I had several conversations about Miles and when I told him that shelters usually put down aggressive dogs like him, my Dad would tear up. He couldn't imagine his friend meeting such a horrible fate.

In 2008, my Dad was on his way home from our house, with Miles in the van with him, as always, when he was killed by a careless driver who ran a red light, and rammed into the driver side of his van at 60mph. When he didn't arrive home as expected, and did not answer his cell phone (which he always did), we went looking for him and found him at the accident scene. When we asked about Miles, assuming he had also been killed in the crash, we were told that a woman had taken him to the vet hospital. When we picked him up, I called her (she had left her number for us) to thank her for bringing him, and to tell her that she didn't realize how much this dog meant to my father. She told me that she did realize, because when paramedics arrived on the scene, Miles was sitting on his lap, "guarding" him (my father was killed on impact) from the people trying to get into the van. Thinking back on those conversations, and seeing the transformation in Miles, I was inspired to create a nationwide rescue network specifically for aggressive dogs to be rehabilitated and, if possible, rehomed - if rehabilitation isn't possible, I would like to be able to allow the dogs to live their lives out at the rescue or in appropriately chosen foster homes. Most shelters do not have the time or resources to work with these animals, and it is so often the fault of humans who, with abuse and neglect, teach these animals to be afraid, to be aggressive, and to fear and loathe us. We then choose to destroy what we have created, euthanizing these animals. I believe we, as humans, can do better than that. They deserve better than that. I want to create a space where these animals can learn to trust again, where the "unfit" and "unwanted" will not be turned away because of mistakes we as humans have made. My ultimate goal is to have a rescue like this in many states, with staff trained to work with aggressive animals and drivers who can pick up these animals from shelters and other places who aren't equipped to handle them, rehabilitate them and find them appropriate homes. Although I am aware there are many, many dogs who need homes, we would only accept the ones other shelters must turn away due to aggressive behavior. The rescue will be in my father's name. I believe this is what he would have wanted.

In addition, I would also like to be active in reptile rescue, as these creatures are so often misunderstood, and mistreated, either by following bad pet store advice, by neglect or even, in some cases, outright abuse. I want to stop breed-specific banning, eradicate puppy mills and help to prosecute those involved in dog fighting. I am, above all, an animal rights activist, and I hope to use my law degree to fight for those who have no voice, whether they have scales, feathers or fur. I am constantly amazed by these creatures and their ability to adapt, to communicate and to love.

 

[ladyknite]

Wow...........egg80...........that's amazing. I'm so glad the mate is on the mend, and the two of you are on your own adventure. It sounds like you'll do some great things.

Lexi......what a touching story. I admire your determination in all you endeavor, and certianly hope you succeed with the Voice that speaks for the animals.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Didnt I already answer this??
I dont know. Im lost...lol
Anyway, I have always had multiple animals of every variety since I was a kid. I make it a point to learn all I can about each 1 I own.
As most of you know I breed dragons, I am also a snake , gecko , tortoise, and fish keeper...lol

 

[zebraflavencs]

Naaaaaaaaa it's just your imaginaries working,Tom....
Janie

 

[DragonMom]

:-X

 

[valkryja]

I'm not a regular here, but I'll post anyway out of boredom.

I'm only sixteen, so I haven't exactly been keeping reptiles as long as all of you. However, my parents are big animal-lovers, so I was always surrounded by a critter of some sort. We've had several dogs, some that have died due to very unfortunate circumstances (two were hit by cars and one choked on a bone while we were at the grocery store... :'( ) and some who we still have now. We had hamsters, frogs, turtles... you name it. We ended up giving the frogs and turtles away, because I was afraid I was caring for them wrong (as I was) and wanted them to have a better life.

My first bearded dragon was named Elliot, and I had him when I was about six. He never grew past the juvenile stage and died one day when I was at school. We followed the pet shop's advice, and he stopped eating and just.. shriveled up. I was devastated, so I made a point to never get another pet that I couldn't care for.

Now, of course, I'm smarter than a six year old and know how to do my own research. We have many animals in our home, but I do my daily rounds with them to make sure they're all fat and healthy (because I know my little siblings aren't responsible enough to care for them themselves... lol). We have four dogs (Australian Shepard / Border Collie mix named Zak, a pug named Roley and two teacup poodles named Tiki and Savannah), a Holland lop-ear bunny rabbit named Nefarious, a guinea pig named Kimmy Pig, two goldfish named Geroge and Gilly, a snail named Rosencrantz, and the newest addition to our family - Wrex the bearded dragon. I know how to care for him now, so I'm looking forward to having a big fat bearded dragon to play with in a few years.

(The only animals that I personally own are Kimmy Pig, Tiki poodle Wrex, though. I just care for the rest of them too. )

As for future plans, I fully expect to keep caring for animals. My boyfriend Ryan and I have been together for several years with no problems at all, so if this continues we plan to buy a house and expand our collection. XD Kimmy Pig actually belongs to him, but I'm taking care of the little fluff while he's away at college so I consider her to be mine at this point. He also owns a red-footed tortoise and three enormous goldfish (the little sickly kinds you get at the fair... he won three and took such good care of them that they're almost as big as koi and have to be moved into the fish pond this spring ).

So.. I suppose that's it. ^_^ I just like caring for animals, I suppose, and want to continue doing that.

 

[lexi]

I'm not a regular here, but I'll post anyway out of boredom.

I'm only sixteen, so I haven't exactly been keeping reptiles as long as all of you. However, my parents are big animal-lovers, so I was always surrounded by a critter of some sort. We've had several dogs, some that have died due to very unfortunate circumstances (two were hit by cars and one choked on a bone while we were at the grocery store... :'( ) and some who we still have now. We had hamsters, frogs, turtles... you name it. We ended up giving the frogs and turtles away, because I was afraid I was caring for them wrong (as I was) and wanted them to have a better life.

My first bearded dragon was named Elliot, and I had him when I was about six. He never grew past the juvenile stage and died one day when I was at school. We followed the pet shop's advice, and he stopped eating and just.. shriveled up. I was devastated, so I made a point to never get another pet that I couldn't care for.

I had a similar experience when I was young. I had a box turtle that my parents bought for me at a pet store. Of course, we weren't given proper information on how to care for him and within 6 months he became ill with some sort of respiratory infection. We took him to the vet and got drops for him, which my mom had to administer and he'd hiss at her every time! I, of course, thought that was hilarious... what the vet didn't tell us is that you aren't supposed to let them hibernate if they're ill. He passed away, and I am sure his illness was due to improper care and temps, etc. but we didn't know better at the time. I got another one a few months later, a girl this time, and she started showing similar symptoms rather quickly so we took her back to the pet store because I didn't want to be responsible for killing another turtle. :-\

I'm sure Wrex will live a long and happy life with you - it sounds like you take his care (and the care of the other animals your family has) very seriously. All pets should be so lucky

 

[sara]

I have had all kinds of animals for pets,dogs,cats,hamsters,etc...........but never any reptiles.A few years ago(I guess getting close to 3 years now) a friend of ours was doing an educational program on animals(he takes in unwanted pets) at my sons school and I enjoyed watching,I also fell in love with his snakes and began to play with them. My husband,son,and I were visiting his graphics shop one day as he was making a stencil for my husband,and I was playing with the snakes. Mark,my hubby,asked me to come look at something so I walked over to where he was. There in a large tank was a lizard bobbing his head at a turtle. My husband thought he was cute and asked me what I though about getting one for a pet. I asked what it was (I had never seen a beardie before) and was told it was a bearded dragon.We talked about getting one,but neither one of us knew anything about them so I began doing research on them,asking questions,reading books, and reading on the internet. Mark suggested that I find a forum and I did and joined that forum and bugged people senseless about these creatures. When I felt somewhat ready I started asking about breeders and was directed to Gina. Gina and I emailed each other for a while and I finally chose a dragon. I didn't want a baby with this one being my first so she held Alf for me until I got everything I needed together and felt like I was ready. I got Alf and Freckles(my sons' gecko) at the same time.As time went on I realised I was losing my beardie,nothing wrong with her,just she was Marks' beardie.I fed her, bathed her,took care of her but she was Marks' girl. We got Alf and Freckles in December of '08 and after about 10 months or there abouts. We discussed getting another beardie for me.When we decided to get another one we wanted to go to Gina again because of Alf being so healthy,etc........I contacted Gina and got my Gimli. We couldn't be any happier with our babies and are constantly talking about how much we love them. Timmy our son is crazy over both dragons and loves to help care for them,feeding bathing,whatever he can do. The only problem is Mark cuddles Alf to sleep every night,she goes to sleep cuddled in a blankie on his chest and Timmy and I have to share Gimli.Maybe one day we can get one more. As for where we want to go with this,we just want to love our babies and take care of them the best we can.I am constantly reading and trying to learn all I can about these wonderful creatures.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Bugged Sara ? Hmm... I think my screen shakes every time you email me... lol
Janie

 

[zebraflavencs]

In a goood way !
Janie

 

[sara]

Janie,
I know how you and my other friends feel about helping me,but we are talking about when I first got involved and wanted a beardie.I felt like I was the biggest pest that ever was constantly asking questions and sometimes the same one a half dozen times.I just wanted the best for my Alf and now Gimli and I still read every chance I get,just wish I had people near me like you all here on this site to visit and learn from. I have found out that quite a bit of what my friend knew was wrong and I've tried to teach him,but............The local pet store isn't much better,they didn't even know about UVB lamps.BTW Janie dear,if your computer screen shakes,you would hate living next to me,I would eally drive you batty!!LOLOLOLOLOroflmao