Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's been awhile since I have been on here. I have 1.3 mature rhinos, and have had them for several years now. For the last few years, I have gone on the information that I can find about breeding these guys, and have yet to produce a clutch of eggs. Unfortunately, I am in Oregon and cannot house my rhinos outdoors more than a month or two each summer. As I have never been to the carribean, the best I can guess about their natural climate comes from the weather channel website. All info I can find mentions when they breed, but again, I don't have them outdoors exposed to seasonal changes. So my question is, how best do I "cycle" them in doors? I have shortened their photoperiod to about 10 hours a day and have dropped their temps, but I am afraid to drop them too far. I would love some ball parks about this. Also, It says online that winter is the dry season for them, and rainy season doesn't start until June, well after eggs should be laid, right?

Thanks for all help.
nate.

...so often I have posted questions on the message boards of this site... and so often have gotten little or no response. So it leads me to wonder, is there really no one out there who knows the answer? Do they know and just don't want to share? Are people on here sick of answering questions for other people? If this is the case, why are they on here to begin with?

Often, I have noticed that everyone avoids simple questions from newbies that are comprehensibly covered elsewhere. I wonder, is this the case with my questions? I search for hours on this site alone looking for the answers, and find none. Am I just missing it? I assure you, I am not a newbie. I have frequented this site and its forums for about six years now. I have kept and bred reptiles for almost two decades. I own a reptile-based store and devote about a hundred hours a week to my animals, my shop, and teaching others. I try to answer newbie questions patiently every day.

There is also quite a bit of political wrangling on this site, and often questions that are politically incorrect are ignored as well. If I were on the Green Iguana forum and asked what size of crickets to feed to my Iggy, I would understand the snub (please note, I used this example on purpose, and know that you never feed iggies crickets...). I understand that breeding hybrid animals is a touchy subject and might elicit a similar (lack of) response. However, the majority of my inquiries seem very politically neutral to me. To my knowledge, Cyclura cornuta numbers in the world are dwindling somewhat. I would assume that breeding them would be favorable in the proper conditions.

I have been on this site for a long time now, and have seen so much flaming, hating, and animosity. I have seen haute snubs and arrogance. I have also seen and been priveledged to care, cooperation, and nurturing of young or "newbie" enthusiasts. I have, unfortunately seen a lot of people left feeling the same things I have expressed in this message. Basically, at this point, I think I'm done contributing. I'll check in every now and then to try to glean information, but honestly even that has grown pretty thin around here. I feel sad about this. I feel sad that one of the greatest herpetological resources I ever had seem dead now.

I just wonder... where do I go next?

Thanks for listening.
Nate.

Nate,
I agree with the theme of your response and its hard to figure out why there is no posting, about anything. I would like to touch on some of your examples. I agree that there is not much tolerance for newbie questions. You have to admit that when you read,"i just got a rhino what temps should I keep it at?" or " what do I feed it?" for the 'hundreth time it gets tiresome. My feeling is that should be found out before you buy and the information is out there if you look. My biggest pet peeve about forums is that some(not you) come here to be spoon fed.
I have been here a while too and dont really see the flaming, (cuz nobody posts anything) no where near some other forums. This forums just ignores. I dont think the hybrid issue is any different here than any other captive breeding. Some like it, some dont. I know I have voiced my view here but, to each his own.
You are right that the cornuta numbers are dropping. You breeding them doesnt help the wild population. All cyclura are protected and arent coming in legally. Getting involved in their conservation efforts is where you can help. As far as your specific question about breeding; I have not bred cornuta so I dont feel I should post. That doesnt mean I dont have an opinion but I know it doesnt mean much. Another reason to get involved in the conservation is that it opens doors to the people working with these animals and get access to lots of info. Sometimes I look at the forum and I see way too many "jf' replies and back off hoping someone else will step in. Your points are valid maybe it will spur a reply or two.
I check this forum almost daily. I spend more time reading the monitor forum and I dont even own one. That forum is an ego driven soap opera and often a great read. I even learn stuff from them that I can apply to my animals. 'would prefer to discuss cyclura though.
jf

thank you. I realized after I posted that many of my problems are more prominent in the other forums than the cyclura forum. Sorry for taking it all out on you guys. I understand that my breeding does not affect the native populations directly, but I do appreciate what you said about captive enthusiasts and native conservation being correlated. I call it the Steve Irwin effect - if you can get people to love something, they may want to save it.

thanks for your reply.
nate.

Okay,I will keep posting. You took nothing out on us, no worries. I do agree with you on the "Irwin effect". If it only infected more people.

Try to get them outside for a longer time frame. Build a green house that will allow them to stay outside for longer. Cyclura kept indoors in cold climates can go years, and never produce eggs. Or never produce viable eggs. They need lots of space and the outdoors is a huge insipration for breeding. Both in LA and NY my group would breed in June and lay eggs in late July to early September. First time females tend to lay late. The females need to be very healthy. When I moved to NY it was difficult to get fresh produce and so I started supplementing with dry foods to insure proper nutrition. The one that I liked the best was Marion reptile food. The tortoise size chunks, soaked in bottled water and mixed into the salad. When this supplement was provided, Eggs were layed even when I left the country(for 3 month periods) and minimal attention was paid to the cyclura.

Nate

Hello I have been where you are I live in Wyoming and for many years I kept all my iguanas inside year around. I keep them in 8x7 cages that were 4 foot tall so I could save space. I would use timers on the cages to simulate the time changes and I never really would change the temps that much in the winter. They were young and when they were old enough to breed I had females that would lay for me but I could never get the incubation right. Today I have built outdoor enclousers that they can stay outside year around and that has help me alot. I will be posting the pictures of the outdoor cages soon. I don't know if this will help but I thought it would since were almost in the same boat as weather.

Bo