r/reptiles

Loki missed the tongs and got my finger and held on pretty good lol

this is Zia. during her last day of life she was very sick, but that’s not who she was and i refuse to remember her as that.

Zia was around 7 years old. i adopted her when she was 1 year old.

she was the sweetest girl. she loved being held and cuddled on blankets.

i feel like a lot of people say their dragon is really hyper or really chill. with Zia, i got a mix of both.

some days she just wanted to relax.

some days she was begging to be let out of her enclosure to run around. i had her cage on the ground and it was custom built so she’s able to walk in and out on her own when the door is open. so she knew if she asked to come out, i would let her out to explore our house. she has a window spot in the sun she would sit at for hours. watching birds fly and watching cars drive by. she had so much fun there. my favorite part was her little head tilts whenever something caught her eye.

her favorite food was dubia roaches and her favorite treat was blueberries.

she wasn’t much of a greens girl. i spent so long working with her to eat her greens. and finally in the last 6 months of her life, she started eating all her greens every day! i am so proud of her.

the craziest story i have with Zia is this…

in 2024 one morning i wake up and see blood dripping down Zia’s hand! i freaked out. while we were waiting at the emergency vet she kept biting at her fingers! it was so stressful i was panicking. we got her all cleaned up and the vet took care of her. the vet said she actually bit off the tips of her fingers not just the nail. but since then she was missing 4 tips of her fingers. they healed fine. recently one of the claws actually started growing back in a unique looking way. she had her special hand i love so much.

she loved to be hand fed so she didn’t have to work too hard. but when i did make her hunt for enrichment, she was speedy!!

i know she loved her life i know she was happy. she brought so much light into my life.

all of this came out of nowhere. just a day before she passed, she was COMPLETELY FINE! she was running, exploring and eating as usual.

i was expecting her to live another 10 years. she definitely took a piece of my heart with her.

her last day of life she was very sick.

i am grateful she chose to let go before she had to endure more pain. she was so strong even in her last moments. she died waiting at the emergency vet.

I love you Zia

Apparently they're called "Peter's rock agama" and their coloring is amazing.

I just want to show him off

Loki said try and take my log I dare you

Seen a week ago at Pearcedale Moonlit Sanctuary.

Why would this appear so bloated?

Loki soaking up some heat

Phillip the senior monitor lizard dreamt he was a Komodo dragon and attacks a bed.

When I say game down I mean will tong feed and won’t scurry away when you enter the room?

Or is this species not that?

Watch out X games!

Our first lizard ever. My son named her Luna. She's a rescue about 1yr. Old

I wonder why he’s called yardstick…
He’s real sweet!

When your SPICIEST SNAKE is the MOST photogenic you gotta just grab the snake hook, pull them out and get photos of them as the sun goes down 😍

Amaterasu is a CA Sunglow who I believe is 2 years or over 2 years now.

She was cruising against the glass doors so figured maybe she'd like out. Don't mind my covered hand in some of those pics that was closer to when I had just brought her out compared to her comfortable hanging out with me. She can be quite the gem when she wants to be.

A very rewarding snake and always a blessing when she's out cause she never takes a bad photo 🥰

Fun fact she fit in the palm of my hand when I first brought her home 🥹 where has the time gone?!

Features:

-thrive 40 gallon, 36 x 18 x 18

-hinged doors, screen top, no front vents

-3 misting heads

-foam and cork background (might pull the foam off and replace with lugarti terramud)

-2 inches of substrate with crate drainage layer (to keep weight down)

-zebra and magic potion isopods, superworms and darkling beetles (steadily removing adults as i see them)

-deep tissue heat lamp (can always add more heat/uvb, previous occupant was a cold loving cave gecko)

i've been told the lack of front ventilation is bad for dart frogs and garter snakes won't be able to live their entire lives in a 40 gallon.

ideally i'd want something that can demolish the superworm population so i don't have to replace/sift them out of the substrate (or i guess i can get a second larger animal and this is my superworm breeding tank lmao)

i'd prefer something diurnal, but as long as it's -visible- most of the time and not super shy i can do something nocturnal.

maybe a group of small-medium day geckos? though with such a wide enclosure i'm a little scared of opening the doors and being mobbed by tiny fast moving ninjas lol. i like tomato frogs but i'm afraid the substrate lip won't allow for deeper dirt along with a drainage layer.

Im going to get two long tailed lizards in a week or so. I don’t want to lose sight of them but I don’t want them to be unsatisfied with their enclosure. Also the magnets are fully secured! Accidentally put a couple on the inside but I sealed them and they shouldn’t move.

Is the play sand in these "Bloom Blocks" safe for lizards? Tag doesn’t say silica contents, but that it "conforms to ASTM D4236".