Big News From Varnyard!

Bobby Hill put up a post that eggs are laid, just over 400 eggs incubating right now! The countdown begins, roughly 60 days until they hatch, and then 3 weeks until my little guy arrives in the mail! I'm so excited! Here's the thread so far, http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=8138#axzz1Le9Jv2r4. I'm still trying to come up with names, if there are any recommendations for boys please let me know!

Hoffan's Reptiles

Since my move to Concord in February, I've been making an effort to check out every local pet store. Conveniently, I have the East Bay Vivarium 25-30 minutes up the road in Berkeley, as well as Hoffman's Reptiles roughly a mile from my apartment.

I've recently started working for Dan Hoffman and am now managing the store, which has been fun so far! He carries an assortment of common reptiles you find in the pet trade such as bearded dragons, corn snakes, ball pythons, leopard geckos, Russian tortoises, rose hair tarantulas, three-toed box turtles, blue-tongued skinks, etc. He also carries things that you won't typically find at your big-box pet store like Petco or PetSmart though too. He carries argus and Savannah monitors, as well as black and white Argentine tegus (he has two pairs of adults and a few babies on the way). He also has Colombian rainbow boas, Brazilian rainbow boas, Western hog-nose, children's pythons (funny name in my opinion "here son, play with this..."), Mississippi musk turtles, newts and also a false water cobra.

Unfortunately Hoffman's is not a place that many people know of, however the store has been open for around 31 years! It's a place worth seeing if you're as crazy as I am about checking out different pet stores across the map. Here's his web site: http://www.hoffmannsreptiles.com/.

Varnyard Herps

Just an update for anyone interested in Varnyard Herps Inc. Bobby Hill is a scam artist. Here we are in September of 2012 and I have still not received my tegu. He will not return phone calls or emails. Do not give him your time, he may have been a good and reputable breeder at some point in time, but his time has passed. Do not give him your business, unless you never want to see the product you purchased from him.

In mid March of this year, I began my search for an Argentine black and white tegu. For those of you that know, many of these animals are taken from their native habitat as eggs, babies, or even adults and brought into America for trade. For me this is not okay, I was looking for a captive bred, and captive hatched baby...

The first problem I came across was the false advertising by companies who were selling "black and white" tegus. Upon looking at the stock in the pictures, I saw that they were not Argentine tegus, they were Colombian Black tegus. Colombian Black tegus are much like Argentine black and whites, however they are not the largest of the tegu family, and don't have the "dog tame" reputation. Quite honestly they can be quite the opposite. With this in mind, I searched for a picture that would help me better identify what species I was looking at and came across this:

Though it may be a little difficult to distinguish in this quality of a picture, it makes the differences quite obvious. Both look like speckled black and white lizards, however the Argentine has two loreal scales along its snout and has a very distinctive white strip that runs down both sides of its body, unlike the Colombian black. These differences are critical to know! You don't want to buy a $40 lizard for $190!

So in my searches, I came across this web site: http://varnyard-herps-inc.com/. I looked things over and was really eager to put a deposit down, and especially for such a price ($150 shipped)! So I tried contacting the owner, Bobby Hill and crossed my fingers for a response. To my surprise, I got a speedy reply where he explained a little about his business in Florida, and his connections throughout the "tegu community." I expressed my fears of scam and he said that he would call me and explain if that made me more comfortable. I agreed and spent 30 mins on the phone with the owner of Vanryard herps discussing everything from his tegu breeding beliefs and morals, to the places he ships to, people in the trade, other breeders, etc. It was after this point that I looked him up on YouTube and found "un-boxing videos" of tegu babies he has shipped across the US, as well as videos from his breeding facility. I was convinced, this was they guy I was giving my $150 to, he went above and beyond to contact me individually and put my mind at ease!

That night I also joined the forum that Bobby Hill started (and recently sold) called TeguTalk. Here there are tens of thousands of tegu owners and future owners who will answer any questions you have. They share pictures, experiences, videos, advice and everything. Everyone on the site also has a great opinion about Bobby.

Here I am, two months later, deposit down, waiting for my little baby to hatch in June or July! I'm excited beyond belief, and have prepared everything I can and researched so much! Here is the enclosure we are making for the first several months of his life:

It's getting several coats of Drylok to keep moisture out of the wood, two incandescent fixtures for a 100 watt halogen heat bulb and a 100 watt mercury vapor bulb. On top of this it gets one double ballast for (up to) 2 fluorescent bulbs for extra UVB if necessary... I will definitely post a few more pictures of the finished product once we get the doors and everything on! I'll make sure to make an "un-boxing" video once I get my little guy so you can see just how cute he is!

Nessie and Zilla

Nessie and Zilla (we tried to keep with a theme of legendary lizards) are the two most recent additions to my zoo. I bought them both from the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley for $39.00 each in early February. They both have been great eaters, taking fruits, veggies and crickets daily and have been growing at an amazing speed. Zilla, we can already tell is the dominant one and is growing more rapidly at Nessie. We've also noticed that Nessie will "wave" (in submission some say) to Zilla too. If you would like to see what I'm referring to, check out this link, it's pretty cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3ZPew3cvIQ.

Anyways, so the story on why I chose a couple of adorable baby beardies... Besides the obvious (them being so darn cute), Dominic my boyfriend and room mate is not so fond of snakes, spiders and geckos. He's recently become used to Murphy, the Savannah monitor rescue, but wasn't ready for anything without legs yet... So I decided to get something with an almost immaculate track record... BEARDED DRAGONS!

Beardies were referred to as "The Labrador of Lizards" by Reptiles magazine last year, and I think most people would agree. They are relatively inexpensive, usually costing around $60 and have fairly simple housing requirements. Since they are diurnal, they need a source of UVB light so that their bodies can process calcium. Basking temps should stay around 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit so that they can properly digest their food without risk of impaction. And last, babies should be sprayed down or soaked everyday to prevent dehydration. Offer them a variety of foods daily and enjoy as your baby dragon grows into a sub-adult/ juvenile in just a year or two!

Murphy Update!

My monitor rescue, Murphy, is pulling through so well! He's gained weight, 8-9" in length, and is a wonderful eater. Unfortunately this spike back up to good health means he's getting his "monitor attitude" back too. He's a little skittish around people, but calms down once he's out of the enclosure. Here's a video of him roaming around and checking things out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHRLlSe4Ls8. He's definitely doing much better, and I'm so happy he pulled through everything he'd been through before he came to me!