Slow Motion Rattlesnake Rattle Another View
Made another video on just the rattle moving from a few different angles. Enjoy.Mario and Brandi
Posted by Nature's Edge Wildlife and Reptile Rescue on Friday, February 8, 2019
Category: “Reptiles”
Slow Motion Rattlesnake Rattle
A quick video on a couple of prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) we took in today. Enjoy!
Slider Turtles as Pets
We have all seen them. Those cute little red-eared sliders and yellow-bellied sliders being sold either from a roadside stand or one of those gift shops in Florida. Well this is what that cheap little $10 turtle turns into. These are both yellow-bellied turtle (Trachemys scripta scripta). Adult shell vs hatchling. The hatchling was bought and later surrendered, with a second one, when the owner realized how big they get.
Road side sellers love to tell people they will stay small if kept in a small tank. Sure, because they get sick and die before they can reach full suze.
Aquatic turtles need a minimum of 10 gallons of physical water per every inch of shell length. PER TURTLE. The more water the better. Strong filtration is a must to keep their water clean. They also need room to get out of the water and bask, as well as strong UVA/UVB lighting.
So for example, the large one would need a minimum of 160 gallons of water and a 2 foot by 2 foot area to get out and bask.
A varied diet to include live native fish is also a must. Pelleted diets can be lacking the proper nutrition. NO GOLDFISH. They do eat a lot.
Aquatic turtles as a whole can make great display pets. But they must be set up properly. Red-eared sliders and yellow-bellied sliders are the number one surrendered pet to reptile rescues. A lot of rescues have even stopped taking them in due to already having way to many of them. And no, they can not just be returned to the wild or dumped in your neighborhood pond. It is illegal to do so for a few different reasons.
Red Iguana Rescue
We recently took in a young red iguana that was super bloated and would not eat. It had been attacked by another iguana in the past and thought it might have been something from that. Turned out she was egg bound. 8 eggs total. 2 were slugs, 6 seem like they might be good. This girl is way too young and small to have been bred. Yes it was an accident as the owners thought they had two males. Which is still a no no due to fighting which is how this one lost part of her tail.
Now to trim up those nails and get some weight back on her.
And yes, those are her eggs in one of our Baby Warm incubators since it currently has no animals in it.
Reptiles Dumped at Local PetCo
We received a call from a local Petco that when they came into work they found somebody had dumped three snakes in tubs in front of the store sometime before they got there.
The three snakes turned out to be a prairie kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster), a western ratsnake (Pantherolhis obsoletus) and an eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) (formerly known as a yellow ratsnake).
All were in tubs that smelled horrible due to soaking wet bedding, had mold and fungus, dead and decaying rodents, flies and maggots. Tubs went immediately into the trash and snakes were bathed and cleaned up.
The western ratsnake has some mouth rot issues (see pictures) and part of the upper lip area is gone. She will go on antibiotics immediately with cleanings of the area every day.
The eastern ratsnake definitely is thin and needs a couple of good meals.
The prairie king actually looks good considering.
All were placed in quarantine for parasites after being cleaned up and examined.
All 3 are native to the US, the eastern rat being the only one not native to Texas. None can be released so they will join our education team when healthy enough to do so.
Please Don’t Cut Down Those Trees!!!
Well baby season is already in full swing here in Texas. Already getting in squirrels, opossums, and owls. Yesterday we got in a female red phased screech owl and her eggs. She was hit with a chainsaw and could not be saved, all her eggs busted when the tree fell. Please remember that lots of animals use trees and they should be taken down in non breeding season.
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Fundraising for Cargo Trailer
Please help us reach our goal of $4500 to purchase a cargo trailer for the rescue!
https://www.youcaring.com/naturesedgewildlifeandreptilerescue-810127
94 Reptiles Transferred in SPCA Seizure
The SPCA in Dallas, Texas, took in 421 animals from a home in Caldwell County, Texas, in February 2017. Of those animals, 94 reptiles were transferred to NEWRR. This included 78 snakes, 7 blue-tongued skinks, 4 aquatic turtles, 2 bearded dragons, 1 Cuban knight anole, 1 tegu and 1 Savannah monitor. This is the largest single intake we have had to date.
For pictures of the animals, please visit our Facebook page
Unfortunately none of the animals came with enclosures or accessories (lights, heat pads, water dishes, etc.), so we have had to purchase additional tubs and enclosures to house these animals. We have already spent over $700 for tubs, paper towels, mite treatment and other supplies. Several of the lizards have medical issues that will need to be addressed, like metabolic bone disease, and at least two of the snakes have upper respiratory infections. Medications, heat pads, water dishes, LOTS of paper towels, special bedding for some of the snakes that require high humidity, UVB lights, etc, will need to be purchased.
We breed our own rodents to feed the animals here at NEWRR, but with the addition of 78 snakes we will have to purchase food from a supplier and that will be expensive. We will also need to increase our purchase of other feeders including crickets, Dubia roaches, minnows and guppies.
Two additional turtle tanks will also need to be acquired to separately house two turtles that prefer to be alone. They are not aggressive, but will constantly harass other turtles they are housed with.
Please consider making a donation to help these animals in need. Any amount is appreciated. Donations can be made using the below link. We could not do this without you!
http://PayPal.Me/newr
And as always, a big THANK YOU to our amazing volunteers who helped with transport as well as cleaning tubs and helping to get these animals set up for quarantine. Amethyst Roney, Justin Roney, Devin Hallman, Mark Pyle and Stephen Pruitt, y’all rock!
Brandi and Mario
20 Reptiles Found New Homes!
This weekend at the NARBC show we were able to adopt out 20 reptiles! Was a very cool weekend. Got to answer lots of questions concerning animals of all sorts.
And in a continuing tradition, ended up bring home two geckos surrendered to us with metabolic bone disease.
Thanks to everybody for the continued support, and a HUGE thank you to all the volunteers that came out and joined us! Without all of you, we could not do what we do!
Wichita Falls Animal Services Seizure
The last couple of weeks have been very busy for NEWR! We took in 37 reptiles from a seizure of over 300 animals by the City of Wichita Falls Animal Services. Brandi and a volunteer, Devin, drove to Wichita Falls and loaded up the 30 snakes and 7 lizards. The animals did not come with any caging, so we had to go out and purchase tubs for quarantine. All reptiles are being treated for mites, an upper respiratory infection, some are thin and dehydrated and one Savannah monitor has metabolic bone disease. It will take months for us to treat and ensure all are healthy enough for adoption. Six of the snakes are over 8 feet in length and many are over 5 feet.
In addition, we had one owner surrender another 11 animals and several other animals come in from other individuals. Two sulcatas taken in have severe metabolic bone disease and the bottom shells (plasteron) are soft and several other reptiles have upper respiratory infections.
With the 50+ animals recently taken in and the 100+ animals we already had, to say we are full is an understatement! We currently have leopard geckos, fat-tailed geckos, bearded dragons, over five different species of turtles, three species of tortoises, lots of snakes, frogs, Savannah monitors and more. With all the different species come a wide variety of diets as well.
On this #givingTuesday, please consider donating to Nature’s Edge Wildlife and Reptile Rescue. All monies raised go directly to the animals. Your donation will also enter us to win a donation from the #GoBeyondGiving campaign.
Thank you for your support!
Meet Mario & Brandi
Mario & Brandi Nickerson have dedicated their lives to the care and well being of all of Nature's creatures. Their tireless efforts go a long way to rehabbing various reptiles and many other types of wildlife.
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