Arizona Herp Trip 2016!

I recently spent a few days in Arizona to look for reptiles with my girlfriend. We had a really great time! This was also her first herp trip, so she was able to have a great first experience out in the field! 

The weather was slightly cooler than usual. The days were between 83F and 89F which is a little less than ideal, but thankfully there were still many reptiles out and about. Night temperatures were cold at fist, low 60s the first night with some rain, but warmed up to near 80F on our last night there. All told, we observed a wide range of awesome lizards: chuckwallas, collared lizards, desert iguanas, and zebra tailed lizards. We saw just one species of snake; spotted leaf nosed snakes. And we also saw several banded geckos. 

We drove over 800 miles total in the rental car, and we visited 3 national/regional parks. We didn't see as many snakes as we would have liked, perhaps we weren't looking hard enough or perhaps it was too cold for the snakes, but there's always next time! 

Here is an array of photographs from the trip. Thanks for looking! 

U. ornata Mating 2016!

Just yesterday, the U. thomasi mated. Today, the U. ornata copied them! This is exciting as I've spent a lot of time over the last couple years trying to find the right animals that are compatible. I hope that in 4-5 weeks time, the thomasi and ornate females will lay some good eggs! 

It can be interesting to watch the change in the behavior of the females as they get closer to being receptive. What I've seen is that the females start out totally unreceptive, often flipping over to show they are not ready. This is common place and is actually somewhat funny to watch. But then, as the females become more receptive, the males hold on for longer, and the females put up less and less of a fight, until they show almost no protest what so ever. Uromastyx are such intriguing pets!  

U. ornata mating 2016

U. thomasi Mating 2016!

This morning I caught my pair of Uromstyx thomasi mating. This is rather early for them, seeing as the previous two years they were not mating until early-mid April. It has been warm here over the last week, so maybe that has caused them to copulate earlier. It's a crummy cell phone photo, but usually when I catch the lizards mating it's the only camera I have on hand. Either way, this is a good start to the season for the Uromastyx and hopefully in around four or five weeks she will lay eggs. 

Uromastyx thomasi first mating of 2016. 

Uromastyx o. philbyi

Uromastyx o. philbyi is an incredibly colored subspecies rarely seen in collections around the world. The US probably has fewer of these than Europe or Asia in captive collections. To make availability worse, it seems that it's rather difficult to provide proper nesting for gravid females, and they tend to retain their eggs and die, or scatter them around their enclosures leading to few or none being viable. 
In 2015, it appears only one person managed to hatch this species; Scott Wilson. He managed to hatch two clutches of this rare uromastyx and I was fortunate enough to pick up two babies from him. They arrived this week thanks to the warming weather and I am really happy with them! Pictured below is one of the two awesome little uromastyx!  

Young male U. o. philbyi 

First 2016 Collared Lizard Clutch!

While making the morning rounds in the reptile room, I noticed my female blue collared was much thinner than yesterday! Haha, she laid 6 big eggs overnight. She laid them under a tile in one of four nesting sites she had available. This is the first collared clutch of the year, and I hope to get a couple more clutches from her and also from some other species of collared before the season is through. 

She immediately ate some super worms and drank some water. And was very aggressive toward the males immediate mating attempts haha! Great stuff! 

2 Species of Collared Lizard

I thought it would be interesting to share some photos of a few of my Collared Lizards. I currently keep 2 species; C. collaris and C. vestigium. They are both very interesting lizards, and despite the insane blue that characterizes the line my C. collaris descend from, the C. vestigium are by far my favorite of the two. Their body structure is so much more dynamic, and the light, zebra-like stripes and colors are subtle but beautiful. As long as everything goes well in 2016, I'll be adding C. dickersonae to my collection.

First picture is the flashy and impressive C. collaris. This line (Blazing Blues from Nick and Austin Dokai at Innovative Ectotherms) is unreal. The males develop an insane cobalt blue on the body, legs, tail and often the head. Females also get a lot of color as well, but like most collaris it's more subdued than the males. My pair has already started breeding for this season and the female is due to lay her first clutch any day now. 

Male Blazing Blue C. collaris 

Next is my male C. vestigium (aka Baja Collared Lizard). This species is so radical. They appear like raptors at peak activity; keen vision and a clear intelligence. This particular male is still only about half grown. As he matures fully, his head will become much larger, his black inguinal and side patches will become extremely bold, and he will develop a slight crest running down his tail. Also, he may gain some of the nice yellow coloring on his legs characteristic of his locale. Perhaps next year (or later this year if I'm lucky) I will get some eggs from this species!

Young male C. vestigium 

Thanks for looking! More updates coming as the 2016 breeding season continues! 

Albino Chuckwallas!

I am very, very excited to be a part of this project with Nick and Austin Dokai and Ryan McKnight! What we believe are T+ albino chuckwallas. They are pink bodied with blonde/pink colored eyes! The photo below shows how different these individuals look compared to a normal animal of the same heritage. It's not as striking as some albino forms of other animals, but still very cool and new in their own right. These are the Redback form of S. ater, and so far 4 have been produced and are owned/housed between Nick, Ryan and myself. As the years pass, we hope to shed more light on this mutation and hopefully establish them in the reptile keeping hobby.

Thanks for looking! 

Uromastyx Princeps and Crotaphytus Collaris

I added some great new projects over the last few months. With most of the baby U. Thomasi sold and in their new homes, I had some space (and a little extra money) to add to my collection. 

First is a long time favorite of mine, Uromastyx Princeps. These amazing Somalian lizards are on the smaller side of Uromastyx with some of the coolest tails in the reptile world. I now have a 1.1 sub adult pair and 2 yearling babies of this species. They are settling in and thriving! Below is a picture of the male lounging. 

Another project that I'm very excited about are these stunning Eastern Collared Lizards from Nick and Austin Dokai at Innovative Ectotherms. These youngsters are from their Blazing Blue line and damn are they colorful! Below are a few shots of the male. They have been here for a few months and have grown like crazy in that time. They are on track to breed in 2016. 

There should be just a couple more projects added this year, but closer to winter. I am very excited about them and I will post pictures and updates when the time is right! 

Thanks for looking! 

Hatching U. Thomasi: Second Year in a Row!

The eggs were laid May 23, and exactly 2 months later on July 23 the first egg hatched! Here are some pictures of the first baby after it emerged. 

This is my second year in a row hatching this species. U. thomasi are great little uromastyx and seem to breed fairly readily. Last year I had 8 eggs and 8 babies hatched. This year the female laid 11 eggs and 10 of them hatched. This lovely species is really variable in it's color; my animals are the blue form. The green form is really beautiful too! 

Thanks for looking! 

Mid Summer Update: U. Thomasi and Chuckwallas

This season has been an interesting one so far!

Around 4 weeks after catching them mating, my female U. Thomasi laid 11 fertile eggs! This is the second year in a row they have bred and laid eggs. I'm hopeful that I'll see babies mid-late July.!

My Redback Chuckwallas are growing strong, here are some updated pictures of some of them! Chuckwallas are such cool lizards. I grew up not having any idea these American lizards existed. Unique crack dwellers with insane appetites! 

Also, I've added some animals to my collection. Partially to replace some animals I've had in the past, and partially to grow my collection. Uromastyx ornata and Uromastyx yemenensis. Both males, so I'm now seeking females for them. 

Chuckwallas and Thomasi

Here are some pictures of some of my Chuckwallas. I have some Redbacks and Blackbacks, all from Arizona. They are all growing quickly and putting on good weight. I'm hoping for a good ratio of male to female out of these guys, and with any luck some breeding in a couple years. 

And a very positive side note, my Uromastyx Thomasi have been mating again. If in about a month the female lays eggs, this will be my second year in a row breeding these great lizards. Sorry for the blurry phone pic, but it's the only camera I had! 

First Herp Trip of 2015!

It's been quite a while since I've updated this site, but don't mistake that for a lack of interesting stuff happening! 

In very early March, my good friend Nick Dokai and I went on a nice herping trip to Arizona. It was a great time! Since it was so early, we were only able to see a few lizards. The short list includes Chuckwallas, Whiptails, one single Zebra-Tailed Lizard, some Side Blotched Lizards and possibly one Collared Lizard. These trips are very educational and give a lot of inspiration for how to care for my animals that are captive. Here are some photos from another enlightening time out in the hills! 


Uromastyx Thomasi Hatching!

After 72 days of incubation, the uromastyx thomasi started hatching! These guys are easily my favorite uromastyx and I've been working towards this goal for a long time. All the babies look very healthy and in good form, and they began feeding and basking right away! 

The female laid 8 eggs and so far 6 babies have hatched. The remaining two eggs still look very good, so I imagine they will hatch within the next week. 

I am very excited to see them grow and eager to find out if they will look much like their father. At this point, any that I will sell are spoken for, and a list for next season is already starting!

Thanks for looking!

A few hatchling pictures

Here are some various hatchlings from this season so far. Mostly nephrurus wheeleri, but also some banded geckos. I have a good number of eggs of these and other various species, so many more hatchlings to come still! 

Thanks for looking!

Uromastxy Thomasi Update

I realized I did not make a post regarding my female U. thomasi laying eggs. On May 14th she laid 8 rather large eggs. At first I was not sure if all 8 were good, mostly because they were squishy and somewhat deflated. But after just a few short hours they had all plumped up and had pink rings visible on top. I am very excited and hope to have some baby thomasi in a couple short months! 

Breeding Season Update

A lot of things have been going on here since I returned from my herp trip to California! 

Most exciting to me was catching my Uromastyx Thomasi mating. These guys have been a dream of mine for a long time. I did not expect them to breed so soon, which made this a surprise. They spent 10-12 days copulating mostly every day. I can't be certain they mated daily during that time, but I caught them several times and I was not home constantly, so I imagine they likely made use of the time. It's been nearly a month, the female has stopped eating and is digging like crazy, so laying is getting very close. You can see in the pictures below how lumpy she is from the eggs. 

Along with this, many of my geckos are laying eggs still. The nephrurus, the banded geckos, and the fat tails are all in full swing. Here are some random pictures from them. 

First 2014 hatchling!

I came home yesterday evening to find my first ever Nephrurus Amyae had hatched! 
This species had been out of my price range for a long time, but I always wanted to keep and breed them. To open the incubator and see the first hatchling was really joyful! Coolest geckos ever! 

This also happens to be the first hatchling of the 2014 season for me. Next in line should be Nephrurus Wheeleri Cinctus and hopefully followed up by some Uromastyx in the months to come! 

Thanks for visiting my blog!