Text 12382, 89 rader
Skriven 2007-02-27 11:02:38 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: A NEW PET  70227
========================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to All <=-

 JW> Neekha and I are now the proud joint owners of a small Leopard Gecko.
 JW> (Glen, I know they run around for free in Darwin and Indonesia but
 JW> they cost $80 a head here!) He (she?) is tentatively named "Buddy" (her
 JW> choice) or Tyrannosaurus Gex (my choice).

I think it is more likely to come to the call of "Buddy". But at $80?!
It would be worth my while to go into breeding geckos and exporting
the eggs. (Although that is illegal, and I never do anything illegal!)

 JW> After the last deceased mouse was given a colourful but dignified
 JW> burial ceremony, I cleaned out the terrarium and redecorated it with an
 JW> electric hot rock, a sun lamp, a ceramic flower pot laid on its side
 JW> (the cave), a water dish and a food dish.

The flower pot would not make the best of caves.  Geckos like cramped,
narrow spaces where they can escape from the bright sun during the
day; something about the size of their thickness.  If you want to make
the place welcoming and natural for Buddy, use a fairly dim light in
the evenings while he is out, hunting.  Do you know where this gecko
originated - what country?

 JW> Geckos eat insects and worms; the pet store sells live crickets and
 JW> meal worms. They also sell frozen ones cheaper, which of course cannot
 JW> escape and infest the house, but geckos won't eat food unless it's
 JW> moving. So the pet store also sells vibrating food bowls.

That last is a new one for me.  Mind-boggling.

 JW> I went with live meal worms as the cheapest alternative and hope to
 JW> breed my own. Apparently all you do is put them in a container of
 JW> oatmeal in a warm place (with a good lid) and wait a month for beetles
 JW> to emerge, lay eggs and start a new round of worms.

I used to use bran and pollard chook food, but oatmeal should work.
Once you have a good mealworm farm going you could get other reptiles
to put in the terrarium (vivarium), such as toads, snakes and other
lizards.   Then you could get another vivarium and add water and wet
stuff and keep frogs; they can get quite tuneful in the night.

 JW> Next summer we are looking forward to foraging gecko food in the back
 JW> yard and giving Buddy some arctic tidbits.

They love small moths, in particular the ones which infest flour.

 JW> As a side note Neekha is studying Australia this month in both
 JW> geography and science. They also talked about Steve Irwin, the
 JW> Crocodile Hunter. I asked her if she knew he was dead and how she died.
 JW> She did. "He was a very, very, VERY stupid man. You have to have
 JW> respect for wild animals." She also adds a note for the Aussies, "G'day
 JW> Myte. I speak English, French and Stine now."

Many people liked Steve Irwin, but I, and other crocodile farmers I
have spoken to, fully agree with Neekha's assessment of him.  Oh, and
it is "Strine".

If by some mis-chance you should finish up with no gecko, but a big
bucket of mealworms:

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: MEALWORM FRIED RICE
 Categories: Bugs
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      1    Egg, beaten
      1 ts Oil
    3/4 c  Water
    1/4 c  Chopped onions
      4 ts Soy sauce
    1/8 ts Garlic powder
      1 c  Minute rice
      1 c  Cooked mealworms
 
  Scramble egg in a saucepan, stirring to break egg into pieces. Add
  water, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice.
  Stir in meal worms, Cover; remove from heat and let stand five
  minutes.
  
  From: "Fred Ball" <faball@sc.Tds.Net> U/L Sept 2001
 
MMMMM
 

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)