Reptile Lover’s Thread!!

[Florida Bullfrog]

Somehow I never saw this thread. Herps are my favorite animals, although you would guess it was birds and fish, and nearly all my life I’ve kept more of those groups. I was deep into the reef tank hobby until I got out of grad school.

But my favorite pet was a pacman frog I had from the third grade through my senior year of high school. He was a legit ornata. He was mean as heck and bulletproof. My dad would rent him for parties, no one having seen a murderous frog before. Last party I rented him to, poor Pacman had to be pried off someone’s finger. I presume Pacman came from the wild.

In the years since I’ve had several cranwelli. They don’t seem to be as aggressive or resilient. I can’t keep one alive for longer than a year. I do not know if its inherent weakness in the species or if its the fact they’re all captive bred and far removed from their wild ancestors. Or are poorly kept in the chain petshops I got them from.

I’d like to try a pacman frog again, but I want a well bred one from a private hobbyist.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

No it literally says it was bread

Oops I missed that

 

[ShrekDawg]

Somehow I never saw this thread. Herps are my favorite animals, although you would guess it was birds and fish, and nearly all my life I’ve kept more of those groups. I was deep into the reef tank hobby until I got out of grad school.

But my favorite pet was a pacman frog I had from the third grade through my senior year of high school. He was a legit ornata. He was mean as heck and bulletproof. My dad would rent him for parties, no one having seen a murderous frog before. Last party I rented him to, poor Pacman had to be pried off someone’s finger. I presume Pacman came from the wild.

In the years since I’ve had several cranwelli. They don’t seem to be as aggressive or resilient. I can’t keep one alive for longer than a year. I do not know if its inherent weakness in the species or if its the fact they’re all captive bred and far removed from their wild ancestors. Or are poorly kept in the chain petshops I got them from.

I’d like to try a pacman frog again, but I want a well bred one from a private hobbyist.

Welcome!

I love frogs! never kept one though. Did briefly have a leopard gecko and a corn snake. I’d like to keep a frog someday and of course get another leo and corn. I also want a ball python, crested gecko, and bearded dragon. And work my way up to fancier, more difficult reptiles eventually. I really love snakes and geckos though. I have a few other snake species I want too. But frogs are amazing as well and I would love to own some.

I totally understand the reputable breeder thing. I got mine through breeders but the snake I’m not sure was from the best breeder, idk. But yeah. I know the gecko breeder was a good breeder.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Here’s my snake and gecko. The gecko was named Watson and the snake was named Holmes cause he was too dumb to be Sherlock

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Welcome!

I love frogs! never kept one though. Did briefly have a leopard gecko and a corn snake. I’d like to keep a frog someday and of course get another leo and corn. I also want a ball python, crested gecko, and bearded dragon. And work my way up to fancier, more difficult reptiles eventually. I really love snakes and geckos though. I have a few other snake species I want too. But frogs are amazing as well and I would love to own some.

I totally understand the reputable breeder thing. I got mine through breeders but the snake I’m not sure was from the best breeder, idk. But yeah. I know the gecko breeder was a good breeder.

I have theory that many reptile, amphibian, and fish species that have been captive bred for several generations have in fact been domesticated and now represent slightly different animals than their wild counterparts. Which I think is great, but where we often don’t think in those terms for non-bird and mammal species, its been easier for genetic defects to creep into lines that have been mass produced. For example, oscar cichlids in captivity are prone to a disease called hole-in-the-head where the meat around their sensory pores starts to be eaten away. I’ve never had an oscar that didn’t develop it. It responds to vitamin supplements, so most hobbyists considered it like a fish version of scurvy, with a minority holding that it was the result of electrical currents in the tank causing damage. I am not sure that it has ever been totally explained to this day. However, what is true is that oscars are naturalized in south Florida and oscars caught from the wild in Florida don’t develop it. Those wild caught oscars are otherwise more vigorous than those that come from fish farms. Although those naturalized oscars came from captive stock, they’re several decades removed from the pet trade and have been subject to natural selection during that time.

I wonder if pacman frogs are similar. Back in the 80s when I received my first pacman frog, captive breeding of them was a rarity. Now I think its where most come from.

I’m all for captive breeding of herps. But they probably need to be exposed to some natural selection every so often.

I would have snakes, but my wife is afraid of them and when I was a kid my grandmother who raised me was the same.

The only herp in the house at the moment is a turtle my daughter raised from a hatchling. I like tortoises, but always lose them to predators when I transition them to the outside. Most recently I lost a sulcata to fire ants I raised for several years from a hatchling. I can’t bare starting over again with another one.

I had a spectacled caiman when I was a kid. When my daughter is older I’d like to get some dwarf caimans and experiment with breeding them. My wife hates snakes and snake-like lizards but loves crocodilians. She also likes frogs. She’s indifferent to salamanders. I love newts myself. I’ve kept many over the years.

I suspect a pacman frog will be in my near future. My daughter is old enough to know not to mess with one outside of my supervision. I’d like to experiment with keeping some outdoors in the warm months to see if I can get them to breed and let natural selection weed out the weak froglets.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Here’s my snake and gecko. The gecko was named Watson and the snake was named Holmes cause he was too dumb to be Sherlock

View attachment 3596491View attachment 3596493View attachment 3596494View attachment 3596495View attachment 3596496

Very beautiful. My brother recently got into the hobby via his daughter’s leopard gecko and bearded dragon. I’ve never owned either.

 

[no fly zone]

I’d like to try a pacman frog again, but I want a well bred one from a private hobbyist.

MorphMarket might be a good website for you to check out.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I have theory that many reptile, amphibian, and fish species that have been captive bred for several generations have in fact been domesticated and now represent slightly different animals than their wild counterparts. Which I think is great, but where we often don’t think in those terms for non-bird and mammal species, its been easier for genetic defects to creep into lines that have been mass produced. For example, oscar cichlids in captivity are prone to a disease called hole-in-the-head where the meat around their sensory pores starts to be eaten away. I’ve never had an oscar that didn’t develop it. It responds to vitamin supplements, so most hobbyists considered it like a fish version of scurvy, with a minority holding that it was the result of electrical currents in the tank causing damage. I am not sure that it has ever been totally explained to this day. However, what is true is that oscars are naturalized in south Florida and oscars caught from the wild in Florida don’t develop it. Those wild caught oscars are otherwise more vigorous than those that come from fish farms. Although those naturalized oscars came from captive stock, they’re several decades removed from the pet trade and have been subject to natural selection during that time.

I wonder if pacman frogs are similar. Back in the 80s when I received my first pacman frog, captive breeding of them was a rarity. Now I think its where most come from.

I’m all for captive breeding of herps. But they probably need to be exposed to some natural selection every so often.

I would have snakes, but my wife is afraid of them and when I was a kid my grandmother who raised me was the same.

The only herp in the house at the moment is a turtle my daughter raised from a hatchling. I like tortoises, but always lose them to predators when I transition them to the outside. Most recently I lost a sulcata to fire ants I raised for several years from a hatchling. I can’t bare starting over again with another one.

I had a spectacled caiman when I was a kid. When my daughter is older I’d like to get some dwarf caimans and experiment with breeding them. My wife hates snakes and snake-like lizards but loves crocodilians. She also likes frogs. She’s indifferent to salamanders. I love newts myself. I’ve kept many over the years.

I suspect a pacman frog will be in my near future. My daughter is old enough to know not to mess with one outside of my supervision. I’d like to experiment with keeping some outdoors in the warm months to see if I can get them to breed and let natural selection weed out the weak froglets.

Your theory and the info on the Oscars is so fascinating and makes a lot of sense! I had never heard of that disease before with them.

My whole family hates snakes and reptiles in general so that’s why I ended up having to rehome mine. But I will get them again eventually.

That’s devastating about your tortoises! I’m sorry! turtles are cool though too as are caimans. I actually love crocodilians too. I’ve been to a couple alligator parks and it was awesome! One was in Florida and one was in Myrtle Beach.

That would be cool if you could get another Pac-Man!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Very beautiful. My brother recently got into the hobby via his daughter’s leopard gecko and bearded dragon. I’ve never owned either.

Thank you! that’s cool about your brother! I love seeing people get into the hobby. I had never owned any reptiles until those two. Watson (the gecko) was a lot of fun!

 

[ShrekDawg]

The snake was too but yeah.