Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17 1796&aid=3010

Just to make it easier...
Here's the link:
Link

Perfect, but what is the right material, depth, temps humidity, etc? That is the question.

My concern was, not you Caracal, that many keepers do not consider depth of substrate.
Also, from a ethology based viewpoint, to allow the whole nesting event for the animal. To dig/create a nest, deposit eggs, then cover and hide the nest. These things are important to the animal. As its behaviorally the "finish" of the reproductive cycle. Best wishes

Very interesting and necessary info. Good stuff. Thanks for finding this and bringing it to our attention. It echoes points made by folks on this forum.

reako45

There were many different ideas suggested.

My view is that we should approach life with equal doses of open mindedness and cynicism

Cynisum is an approach based on how you react to people.
cyn·i·cism
/ˈsinəˌsizəm/
noun: cynicism; noun: Cynicism
1. an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; skepticism.
"public cynicism about politics"
synonyms: skepticism, doubt, distrust, mistrust, suspicion, disbelief; More
pessimism, negativity, world-weariness, disenchantment
"theirs was a childhood of absent parents and broken promises, so cynicism was hardly a surprise"
•an inclination to question whether something will happen or whether it is worthwhile; pessimism.
"cynicism about the future"
2. a school of ancient Greek philosophers, the Cynics.
In my opinion, this has all about people, and nothing to do with husbandry. To me, their is no need to believe in anything people say, here or in books or articules. They simply offer information to help us do something with our animals. Not to believe in.
I was taught(luckily) early in my education, that biology was all about be "pragmatic"
prag·ma·tism, noun: pragmatism
1. a pragmatic attitude or policy.
"ideology was tempered with pragmatism"
2. Philosophy
an approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.
Nunber two, is what's important here. husbandry is based on being pragmatic.
"prag·mat·ic, adjective: pragmatic
dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
"a pragmatic approach to politics"
synonyms: practical, matter-of-fact, sensible, down-to-earth, commonsensical, businesslike, having both/one's feet on the ground, hardheaded, no-nonsense;
That you even entertain believing anything written, over actual results is out of place in this area. This is not a forum for theory, husbandry is applied technique. To verify anything said here is based on application and application only.

What we have is a difference is Philosophy. Your approach seems to be based on people and learning from them. My approach is based on the animals themselves and learning from them.
Many on this forum are like you and the reason is simple. Its their only reference. And I understand that.
I grew up in the city and that too was my only reference. You know, to read to learn about our natural world. But what I read, did not equal, what I observed. So as soon as I was able, I moved to areas full of reptiles and actually live with them. I moved to Fla. Back when Fla, was Fla. And I then moved to Az. Which is still unoccupied(comparatively speaking)
So yes, I am hardheaded as any pragmatic person should be. My offerings here are based on observation and application. Not debate. Again, information here is to be tested or not, not so much argued to death. To me arguing means a lack of positive data to offer others.

Actually the article touched on a few points but three out of all mentioned were stressed and mentioned more than once and the most important one and the one most dtressed in this article was none other than PROPER NESTING!

It was a good list, the only thing I feel is off some is the, too old, too young thing. Our job is to support what they do, not judge what they do, if a young reptile cycles and copulate, its our task to support that. Some for too old. only a bit different. Animals do not value old age as just being alive. They reproduce until they cannot, which usually means they die trying. Again, our task is to support the old ones, just like the young ones and everything inbetween.
Our task is to support strong and healthy individuals, of all ages. If you do that, they reproduce.