Reptile & Amphibian Forums

sorry, another stupid pic I just took... haven't showed this species lately...hahaha.. my poor bachelor.. any ladies out there?? come on now, he's handsome and single....any takers...

hahaha..take care,

The Odatriad

even though it's sunny and 92F here...hahaha.. I forgot to mention, he's getting a little bit out of shape...he needs a nice, beautiful, healthy female, to have hours upon hours of sex each day, so that he can burn off that gut...come on Ms Prasinus, how can you pass on such an offer??

He said he'll even do the cooking and laundry...

Firstly i'd like to say that(in my oppinion) the greens are the most appealing and my personal favorite out of the complex.

On another note i was wondering where you get/purchase your cork bark and branches for your tree monitor enclosures. I dont own any of the complex but my salvator really enjoys climbing and since im in the process building a new enclosure, i figured i'd ask so that i can add more options to its new enclosure.

Anyhoo... thanks in advance and for the pics. Always enjoy seeing your animals!

But they make these guys a little nervous

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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

hey monitorman...

The cork bark, depending on the type of pieces, are purchased at two different places.. The large flats and large tubes, which I break up, which I use as backing for the enclosure, is usually purchased at the WhitePlains show, in upstate NY.. If I remember correctly, you're from the NE, you should make your way out to the next one, there's usually a guy who sells just corkbark... for excellent prices...

The smaller tubes, I get locally by my house, from a silk plants warehouse.. I am able to get nice sized fully intact tubes for only 3 bucks a piece... damn good prices... The branches that I am currently using, I get from the silk plant warehouse as, well, as they buy in truckloads of this particular wood(which I can't remember the name of) from florida, which they use in making their fake ficus trees and other fake interior trees.. Although not for my usage, they also carry some strange types of wood and branches, including Yucca skeletons... pretty interesting stuff.. The branches I use have already been treated for bugs and fungues.. What I like about the branches is, that most have dried lichens on it, which add color and character to the enclosure..

I can try to find out the name of the wood for you, I've got a plethora of tree books laying around my house, being the plant dork that I am... I'll try to find it out for you, and maybe you can find a supplier somehow on the internet, or find a local silk plants warehouse or supplier.. they might be able to help you out.. I guess I lucked out, by having access to these materials, as close as I do- less than a mile... Look and call around, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to fit your needs..

For salvator, I would recommend another type of wood anyways, for the wood I use is no thicker than 3 inches or so, and would surely snap from a subadult/adult salvator... Why not try a local wood? Talk to a tree removal service/landscape contractor...maybe they could save you some branches/logs.. The only problem with that would be the bug situation..while products like provent a mite, and other pyrethrin-based insecticides would probably work, I am not sure of what the affects would be on your animals, and would not want to take any risks...

Although expensive, you might also try buying some artificial trees, sculpted from epoxies and resins... there are a few places on the net who manufacture products like that for zoo/museum displays...

Good luck, let us know what you decide on... take care,

bob

looking at the braches, I'd say that they are some type of hawthorne... There's a bunch of specis endemic to the south, where the warehouse supposedly gets it from... I like them over the trees I have up here, for most of the tree species up here, do not have such a great branching habit, and are rather straight-branched...not too many curves or forks... kind of dull in my opinion...

Cheers,

bob

You can find flat pieces of cork bark at orchid supply stores. You can check with any local orchid societies for such info (that's how I learned of this, one of my old customers was with an orchid society and filled me in.) I have been using oak limbs for all of my cages for some time now (monitors,chameleons,day geckoes and large boids.)and have never had any problems doing so and all I do is spray them down with the hose. If you live in fla as I do oak limbs are definately in plentiful supply right now but do wash them off as they are starting to poison us in the name of mosquito control. btw bob if you go further north into upstate new york like into the adirondacks or the tug hill plateau(a really good place for this) you can find old wild apple trees which have a really grnarly crooked appearance to them and are relatively non-toxic being an escapee of communist NYS (Old Forge) I know what you are talking about with the lack of crooked trees.

Think I can help you out on the name of the trees. They're wax myrtle, and they grow all over in Florida. When we cleared for the pasture, the fake tree people paid us for the honor of digging them up! In their natural habitat, they're kind of a giant weed tree; the best thing they do is grow to about 20-30 feet... and then fall on your house. I've got several that fell during the hurricane, so all my day and crested geckos are getting new furniture!

Leslie

ah, excellent, thanks a bunch leslie.. I did know they were considered a weed down there... didn't know the tree people actually pay to tear them out... interesting.. Thanks for the help, now I know what to ask for... know any friends who want to get rid of them off their property? I'll rent a van and drive down there... hahaha.. thanks again,

bob

I appreciate the info and did try local branches in its first enclosure but wound up with more than a few bugs. Therefore i wont be going that route again. I'll take your advice and get to the next White Plains show if i cant find a local supplier or one closer.

Thx again!

Cheers
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)