Oh hi there, from NZ

[Gordy]

Hi, my name is Adam and I'm an 18 year old student from Wellington. I thought since I'm new I might as well make a thread.
I have three pets at the moment at my flat. I have a wooden enclosure (with guaze mesh on both sides) with a Australian bell frog which I've had for the last few months and a NZ common skink which i've had for the last 2 months. I feed the frog and the skink on flies. I have to hand feed the skink on partially frozen house flies with tweezers. (freeze them for 4 minutes and they come alive after a minute). They live together pretty happily and don't bother each other at all. Even the skink has a go in the water sometimes. I also have a 4 month old wild type axolotl named Speckled Jim. I'm sure he's retarded. All he does is swim to each end of the tank hitting his head against the glass.

I'll no doubt be on these forums for the rest of my life.

I will post pics when I can be bothered.

PS, here's a NZ common skink. Pretty small compared to the ones you can get in the states I imagine. NZ has very strict exotic pet laws. I'm planning to get a lizard license so I can keep Native geckos.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Cute little guy, ( the skink!) .Jolly old England seem to have a serious shortage of reptiles in the wild, though I do enjoy admiring the ones we do have, they just seem to pale in comparison.

 

[Gordy]

Doesn't England have adders?

 

[Bellabelloo]

yep, a few snakes, lizards ( used to play with slow worms as a kid) common frog and a couple of toads and newts, just every one elses seem so much more interesting!)

 

[John]

Spare a thought for newt and salamander enthusiasts in Australia. Axolotls are great but this site must be like the torment of Tantalus.

 

[Gordy]

yep, a few snakes, lizards ( used to play with slow worms as a kid) common frog and a couple of toads and newts, just every one elses seem so much more interesting!)

Well its kind of better than NZ. You have snakes and we don't. We have skinks, geckos, tuataras and frogs. Nothing big really, except for the tuatara... which is pretty much endangered like most of the species of geckos here.

here's a tuatara
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatara


I'm thinking about getting a newt, but I don't know if we can get them here.

 

[kapo]

I'm thinking about getting a newt, but I don't know if we can get them here.

Yes you can get fire belly newts here but they're about the same price as a golden axolotl ($40+). Breeders around Whangarei/Auckland region.

 

[Gordy]

Really? Thanks for that info. Do you have a number of a breeder you could drop me? Whangarei is my home town and I go there often.

 

[kapo]

No number. Did you buy your axolotl from a petshop, breeder or auctionsite?
Petshops won't tell you, but chances are breeders (and ones on auctionsites) tend to know and deal with each other alot and may help give you the info.

 

[Gordy]

I purchased mine off a breeder in Wellington. I'll eventually find some breeders in Whangarei though.