Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
i've been thinking about getting a MHD, but i have a few questions that maybe someone more experienced than I can answer.

First off, whats better a reptarium(by apogee - these *seem* great, and is what the petstore is using to keep him) or an aqaurium(seems to be more traditionally what holds lizards/snakes/etc...)? Any Pros vs. Cons?

From there i may have some more about setup, etc...

Much Thanks,
Walter

I personally think they are best kept in a tall enclosure with solid sides. They should have 3-4' height and a high humidity. If you can maintain a high humidity, 70-80%, in the mesh enclosure that is fine but most of us don't like our homes that humid.

For more information see my caresheet at www.froggieb.com/MHDCaresheet.html. I just updated it today with guidelines for choosing a WC MHD if you choose to go that route. There is a short version if you just want to touch on the basics at www.froggieb.com/MHDshortcare.html.

If you have any questions after checking out my site be sure to post them!

Marcia

I know you probably have heard this from others, but trust me, be extremely careful from buying any MHD's from pet stores. I am telling you your chances of getting one that is sick is like 99/100. Mine had an extreme viral load and I made the mistake of not realizing it til it was too late. If the store will tell you where they got the animal that will let you know some info.

Also what pet store is it? DO NOT BUY ANY MHD'S FROM PETSMART PETCO OR ANY LARGE CHAIN!!!! I cannot stress this enough. I wouldn't recommend buying ANY animals from those stores. They are often sick and kept very cramped and uncomfortable. The petsmart I went to had something like 20 baby bearded dragons cramped into something like 30-40 gallon tank. A 50 Gallon tank is MINIMUM for two beardies.

If the store is a local store, and got the animals from a local breeder or any breeder, ask to get the breeders information so you can contact the person. Do your research before you go off buying anything. A lot of the times, the stores will get them from people who got them from people who ripped them from their homes in the forest in some country and threw them into a bag of other animals. FroggieB should be telling you this better than me because I believe he/she breeds them. If the person who gave the animal to the store is a local breeder and has his/her own facility and does not get the animals from the wild, by all means go for it. Just be very very very very weary of anything not homebred. Wild caught animals can die easily, and the amount of money you need to put into the animal to get rid of the viral loads makes that cheap MHD price look like a trap, which it is. Those chains know what they are doing.

Sorry, I just get emotional about this now, since I fell into the trap myself and had to watch my poor baby Bob die. I don't want anyone else going through it.

Hi,
Thank y'all for the help.
the humidity is a factor i was thinking about with the mesh cages. humidty in the summer is always high in my neck of the woods but in the winter i would imagine it would be possible to have a humidifier for the room which the lizard would be in and that could solve the humidty factor, i think? the mesh cage is much cheaper then a solid one(about $30 for a 65 gallon mesh), and i think i could deal with the humidity(humdity is somewhat nice in the winter for some reason, gives a nice tropical warm feel when its freezing outside, go figure). btw froggie your caresheet has been pretty much what ive been consulting the last couple days while considrering to buy or not., very helpful. seems to be one of the only good sources on the net for MHD's.

The bad thing, this lizard is in a petsmart, poor guy. without running water, humidty,etc.. and is most likely sick(from everything i've read). so i would imagine the cost of health care for him/her would be expensive, so this is something im taking into consideration. the worker there said the lizard was mean, which is contary to all ive read about them?
(could just be scared of the size, it appeared full grown/thereabouts)

im going to be going around to some other local shops to see what they have, i think i finally found one that semi-specializes in reptiles, hopefully they'll be able to help me out.

Again Much Thanks,
Walter

If you do decide to get him/her/it. Make a vet appointment for that day and ask the Petsmart people ahead of time to hold the animal if possible and keep a fresh stool sample for you. Best to get him/her/it in ASAP.

Not to raid on your parade, but don't put your hopes of his/her/its survival too high. It is a good possibility that with immediate care the animal will make it out just fine. Also, don't listen to Petsmart's caresheet at all. The MHD I bought was kept in an enclosure that was designed for a land lizard or snake. MHD's are tree dwellers, Arboreal. They didn't give me any information on how to care for him/her correctly and it wasn't until I found this forum that I learned anything. I couldn't get a lot of the things she needed, like a tall cage, so I had to sort of make due with minor adjustments. I bought one of those little dripper things to act as the humidity creator, which worked well and kept hte cage very moist.

Anyway. Good luck with the MHD. Let us know what you decide and how things turn out okay.

I am glad to hear that you are researching this and preparing for your new pet. I have to say that I appreciate the enthusiasm of ShaunDuke but do not take quite the dismal stand on the chance of survival of a WC MHD. If you go into it knowing what to look for and what to expect then your chances are fairly good for treating your MHD and having him around for a good long time. Of course none of us yet know the life expectancy but we know it would have to be no less than 6 years and I am betting on more than that!

I am not sure how recently you checked my caresheet but just this week I added a section on selecting a MHD. It simply states that you want to look for a MHD that is on a branch, not on the ground. Avoid any that have very dry and loose looking skin. That would most likely be one that is very dehydrated. We all have already stated that it should be seen by a vet ASAP. In looking for a MHD that doesn’t look dehydrated and visibly sick, one with bright color or at least one that is brown or rust, not dark brown or black, you are choosing the animal with the best chance for survival. If the MHD is already emaciated, dehydrated, and full of parasites its battle for survival is already half way lost. If the MHD is of good bulk and not too dehydrated he will should have the strength to survive the treatment for parasites giving him a much better chance at survival.

Whatever you decide to do, if you do get a MHD I don’t think that you will be disappointed. They are very interesting pets and even the ones with the less friendly temperaments are interesting animals.

From what I have heard Vietnam is not exporting these anymore and the new ones are coming from Malaysia. I have a pair of these and have found that they are very unlike the quiet A. capra that I am accustomed to. The female is not quite as bad as the male but still is not what I consider easily handled. The male is downright feisty. When I took him out for a photo session he displayed with full gapping mouth and tried his best to twist around to bite me! Nasty little one! However, the colors and vigor of this pair is something I have not seen in any of my other MHDs. I have one little female CB that is quite blue and my others are much lighter than their WC parents are. The new pair however, is very brightly colored. The female is a beautiful blue-green all of the time. The male is a nice orange-brown with gold tips on his spines and gold accents on his body. They don’t ever seem to lose these colors like my other MHDs. Maybe they are nervous and haven’t calmed down enough to show relaxed colors yet. Only time will tell. They don’t look at all dehydrated and didn’t even after being shipped to me. This may explain why the one you saw in the pet store was described as having mean disposition, Perhaps he is!

Just some food for though!

Marcia

Actually I got my MHD from PetsMart, and I am considering myself VERY lucky
she is healthy after being dewormed, and has a good apetite, and I M pleased with her (although I have been on vacation for a week, so I will see how she is when I get home)
She had some odd red mites on her, and they seem to be gone now
and I M going to be taking her aquarium, and planting it well as soon as I can when I get home
I use a tiny little pump in a Roller paint pan to keep the water bubbling and flowing, and I have since added a filter as well a(the kind U use with tutles, to cut down on amonia and the like)
Good luck, and for my own experience, I was handed a care sheet, and told, BY the store person, that this was not guarenteed to be the best way to care for her, and to find out SPECIFIC care as soon as possible. The care sheet from them was not worth the paper it was printed on. but I M happy with my aquisistion (i know I know, I cannot spell for beans)

Take care

-----
Elizabeth (ecb)

'Good Judgment Comes From Experience
but Experience Comes From Bad Judgment'

I had no clue that pet stores were such evil places. I got mine at a big chain... oops. I hope he does alright.
-s