# thorny devil!!



## mckellar007 (Jul 8, 2008)

i went to the melbourne museum today and i found out they had two thorny devils! id never seen them in the flesh, looked really cool, expecially when it was eating the ants, very bad quailty, because i only had my phone, took a video but it didnt turn out too good.


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 8, 2008)

awesome! im in love with those thorny devils. what are the laws on the thorny devil anyway? i don't hear much about them, is it legal to own one?


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## Pythonking (Jul 8, 2008)

the eat lots and lots and LOTS of ants which makes it difficukt to keep them in captivity however i've heard a small few do


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## Jonno from ERD (Jul 8, 2008)

Yes, several people own them. They do eat a lot of ants but some of the numbers thrown around are way off the mark. A few thousand a week seems to be enough.


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## Tim.Arm (Jul 8, 2008)

*One of my favourite lizards in the world.*


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 8, 2008)

yeah that's the only downside i can see to keeping one. where would you get there food anyway? i've never seen a reptile shop have a container full of ants :S you'd pretty much have to have no job and constant amounts of time to care for one.

do you reckon you could somehow get them to eat rediculously small crickets?


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 8, 2008)

double post, sorry.


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## cracksinthepitch (Jul 8, 2008)

So you would have to set up an ant farm on a massive scale. Do they still sell those kids one from the 1980s. The rich kids at school used to have them. They are by far my favorite lizard but i'd need alot of ants which i hate so there's my dilemma.


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## FNQ_Snake (Jul 8, 2008)

They are one awesome critter.


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## Adsell (Jul 8, 2008)

I work at the Melb Museum in the live exhibits department so looking after these guys is part of my job.
We maintain a couple of ant colonies for the molochs. They are put in with the ants for only half to one hour a day to eat their fill. They are really quite easy to maintain.
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## cracksinthepitch (Jul 8, 2008)

Hey Ads any chance of posting a pic of the ant colony set up? i would be really interested in seeing this. Cheers


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## Adsell (Jul 8, 2008)

I will post a pic when time permits.
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## cracksinthepitch (Jul 8, 2008)

Thanks Ads


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## cement (Jul 8, 2008)

Great, I could use one of them in my kitchen right now.


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## Jonno from ERD (Jul 8, 2008)

Adsell said:


> I work at the Melb Museum in the live exhibits department so looking after these guys is part of my job.
> We maintain a couple of ant colonies for the molochs. They are put in with the ants for only half to one hour a day to eat their fill. They are really quite easy to maintain.
> Ads



You scored Pete's old job Ad?


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 8, 2008)

Adsell said:


> I work at the Melb Museum in the live exhibits department so looking after these guys is part of my job.
> We maintain a couple of ant colonies for the molochs. They are put in with the ants for only half to one hour a day to eat their fill. They are really quite easy to maintain.
> Ads



that actually doesn't sound too dramatic... if i have the time i might actually consider adopting one . anybody have an idea what they'd roughly be worth??


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## Drazzy (Jul 9, 2008)

Will probably need a specialist permit.

No idea of cost never seen one for sale !!!!


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 9, 2008)

yeah im thinking a type 2 liscence, if thats the case i wouldn't bother..


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## Hickson (Jul 9, 2008)

The word is that they go for a few thousand each when they are for sale.

Moloch threads come up every few months or so - try doing a search as prices have been discussed several times in the past.



Hix


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## Danny.Boy (Jul 9, 2008)

few thousand :S isn't that just a liiitttllleee bit pricey?


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## gillsy (Jul 9, 2008)

Danny.Boy said:


> few thousand :S isn't that just a liiitttllleee bit pricey?


 

Name 1 breeder, and then compare it to how many people want them.... that gives you price against demand.


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## RedEyeGirl (Jul 9, 2008)

i would love one.Except with the thing about the ants and the price!!!!Actually that isn't a lot


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## Armand (Jul 9, 2008)

they are awsome creatures! wish you could have them as pets (and they had a better appetite for other foods)!


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## Adsell (Jul 9, 2008)

Hi Jonno, nah i didnt take Pete's old job. Just a casual position.. Im there a couple of days a week, sometimes more.
I gotta say its a lot more relaxing than working in the shop.
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## Jonno from ERD (Jul 9, 2008)

I can imagine mate, except the museum doesn't have that little gap in the stairs that the shop does...


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## hornet (Jul 9, 2008)

i know of one private breeder and i have a mate at a reptiles park that maintains the thorny devils. Last time i saw them for sale they were $4000-$5000 each


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## Adsell (Jul 9, 2008)

LOL. You must have been talking to Scott.
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## Dragon1 (Jul 10, 2008)

How do you get a licence to keep species that you can't keep with a normal reptile licence, like crocodiles, caimen, sea snakes, ect?

Dragon1


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