Southern forest dragons

[Magpie]

They need no heat source if kept inside. In warmer climates, they can be kept outside year round, probable even up here really as they are found in the Barrington Tops region and it gets flamin' cold up there. They do not thermoregulate, rather they just let their body temp be the same as ambient with preferred temps of 19-32C. We get down to -7C and up to 44C here at times so I'll be keeping them inside.

Mine like to lie in their water bowl also, one was in there for 3/4 of an hour this morning. Interestingly, they hate being misted so far, really really hate it. :?

When I get my Boyds, I want to put them in my 6x2x2 aquarium and plant birdsnest ferns, maidenhair, moss and staghorn ferns in there with several tree fern trunks to hang on. Should look fantastic I hope. I might even do this with the angle heads in 6 months or so when they are bigger. Could they be housed together does anyone know? I've been told that numerous angle heads in a single cage is not a problem as it can be with beardies.

UV wise, similar to a beardie I think, maybe a bit less. I will be putting a UV flouro in with mine. Will also be using calcium supplement for them.

My fact for the day - Gold costs $15 per gram, platinum $25 per gram and the angle heads cost me $60 per gram. Hmmm, worth their weight in gold you might say....but you'd be wrong.

 

[cyber_crimes]

I had this discussion last night in repchat and was told that a friend of a regular member in the chatroom,keeps Boyd's and Angle heads together year round in an outside aviary.So I guess they could but I honestly dont know much about it.I'd be concerned with hybridisation myself (not sure if they would or not but it may be an issue).

 

[Magpie]

Oh yeah, never even though of hybrids. I'd reckon they probably could, they are about as closely related as vitties and barbs. Maybe I could just put males in the display cage? I used to do much the same thing with my cichlids.

 

[ad]

They don't mind the cool either, atherton table lands gets very cold as does lamington park area of brisbane.
I found that like beardies a dominant hatchling will emerge and they do beat each other up
and like meg said somtimes they make your heart miss a beat, you see them there looking dead, I know Ive picked them up to have them 'wake up' and start wiggling flat out.
They are great lizards with good characteristics, stretching out their legs and lifting the body and general postures.
I took some bizare photos of my males boyds today, have a check out in my personal photos - they are amazing animals!

 

[Whaa]

do the southern forrest dragons not need very high temps to digest their food like other dragons do?

 

[Magpie]

No, anywhere above 19C and they will eat just fine. I'd imagine the digestive process is faster at warmer temps.

 

[Whaa]

I'll be keeping a close eye on the house temps this winter to see the variation.
Since your intitial post I've suddenly developed a need to get some southern forest dragons

 

[Magpie]

Meg, what sort of fern do you have with yours? I've been looking around and thinking one of the smaller tree ferns (Dicksonia) will probably go well.

Another thing I've been looking at is those ultrasonic mister / foggers. They turn about 300mL of water into mist per hour. Am thinking about getting one ond putting it on timer so it is on for 1/2 an hour or 1hour, 3 or 4 times a day. Any ideas / comments on this idea? :?

 

[africancichlidau]

That sounds like a rather splendid idea Maggie!! I wish I'd thought of it when I was breeding the white lips, they would have just thrived on it
300 ml an hour? That seems like a high turnover, do you meen the ceramic disc type misters?

 

[Magpie]

Yep, them's the ones
You used to breed white lipped pythons?????? :twisted:

 

[africancichlidau]

No mate, I should have been more specific as I meant White Lipped Tree Frogs, Littoria Infrafrenata. Oh how I wish it was the Pythons!!

 

[Magpie]

They are fast growers. They have grown a noticable amount in the last two weeks and have gone from 2g to 4g by the scales (2g resolution.)

 

[Magpie]

I decided to get the fogger, only problem is, it is way too efficient. I put it on for 15 minutes four times a day but 15 mintues is too long really. But that's the minimum my timers will go to. Heres a pic of what happens when it's on.

 

[Guest]

That looks awsome how much do hey cost?

 

[Magpie]

$50

 

[Guest]

Sweet what can they be used for?

 

[africancichlidau]

Fogging

Hey Maggie, that looks awsome!

 

[africancichlidau]

Don't look too safe around those electrics though! Try a digital timer as they can be set for anything from one minute up. And multiple programming so you could have it on for, say, 2 minutes 4 or 5 times a day. JAT.