What does everyone keep or what have you kept?

[cichla1004]

Just wondering what everyone has kept or currently keeps. There seem to be some really knowledgeable people on here. Just wondering what everyone has experience with.
current list
1 ally snapper
1 florida snapper
2 red ear sliders
1 3 line mud turtle
2 mali uromastyx
1 egyptian uromastyx
2 spur thigh tortoise
1 argentine horned frog
prior list
2 helmet geckos
2 leopard geckos
1 fat tail gecko
1 tokay gecko
1 4 foot savannah monitor
3 juvenile savannah monitors
1 4 foot nile monitor
2 mali uromastyx
1 ornate uromastyx
2 juvenile Black and white tegus
1 red tail boa
5 ball pythons
2 adult 6 foot iguanas
2 juvenile iguanas
1 spur thigh tortoise
1 russian tortoise
2 3 line mud turtles
2 cuban tree frogs
1 western painted turtle
2 eastern box turtles
1 gopher tortoise
2 florida snappers
2 softshell turtles
5 bearded dragons
2 chinese water dragons
4 corn snakes
2 black racer snakes
1 red belly slider
6 green tree frogs
2 argentine horn frogs
1 american bullfrog
3 "legless" glass lizards
5 cuban anoles
2 green anoles
5 mediteranean geckos
1 indo pacific gecko
1 reef gecko
1 golden gecko
That's all I can remember, more may come to me later. I live in Florida and you would be amazed at the number of reptiles here that people buy and either just release or give away. Most of these herptiles were not long term captives. They were abandoned or feral animals that needed homes and I was sort of a foster home for many of them. The two big iguanas and the 1 big savannah stayed with me until their last days. I have a soft spot for big neglected lizards. Also, anyone reading this may notice the gopher tortoise and yes that is a protected species and yes I was aware of that when I had him. He was found injured in the road and I nursed him back to health and he currently lives at Lowry Park Zoo, my previous employer. Also, my 3 legged bearded dragon, Hobbit, is staying at lowry park zoo. I also fostered a pot belly pig and countless rabbits and guinea pigs and ferrets. I wish people really thought about these animals before buying them. Someday I hope to foster more but at the moment I don't have the ability to. Also, if anyone has any unwanted herps in the Florida area feel free to contact me I may be able to find a home for it.

 

[wild caught]

very nice list, i bet you have a **** load of experiece

 

[cichla1004]

I've been very fortunate to be able to work with all the animals I have. It was fun, I hope to be able to do it again. Maybe when I retire. I'm too busy making a living these days lol.

 

[lovespunaround]

oh crap, man. That's an amazing list! I've had more reptiles than most people, but not nearly that many. Then again, I'm only 20...

I currently have:
1 blood python
1 corn snake
2 Borneo pythons
2 carpet pythons
1 ball python
1 Gulf Coast spiny softshell
1 common snapping turtle
1 White's treefrog
1 chubby frog

I have had in the past:
many box turtles, eastern and three-toed
1 smooth softshell
several black rat snakes and eastern worm snakes
17 black racers
2 tiger salamanders
a few eastern mud turtles and some musk turtles
3 or 4 eastern fence lizards
3 Carolina anoles
5 southern/American/Fowler's toads (it's hard to tell)
brown skinks and five-lined skinks

I don't know what else. There's probably been some brown snakes and ringneck snakes in there as well. I grew up wandering through the woods, catching things and keeping them for a while and learning just about everything I could find about them. It's funny, because when people find out I have snakes, almost without fail they will say "and your mom lets you keep them????" when she was actually the one who would take me out to the woods to look for reptiles and amphibians.

 

[toehead11183]

Turtles:
red ear
soft shell
snappers
Snakes:
water snake
cotton mouth (til mom found out what it was)
water Moccasin (til mom found out what it was)
Lizards:
Iguana (only reptile i ever bought)
tons of assorted lizards caught around the house

 

[ShadowVengance]

Currently I have:

1 pacman frog
2 green anoles
2 emperor scorpions
1 leopard gecko
4 Asian red crabs
2 wolf spiders i found in the yard

i have had:

long tailed grass lizards and house geckos <- when i was starting
i lost a pacman frog due to what i think looked like a hernia

that's about it.


oh yea, and i'm getting the following this weekend!!!!

1 rough green snake OR 1 corn OR 1 milksnake
1 long tailed grass lizard
1 more female anole to help air with the breeding.

 

[large_cichlids]

ive kept

snapping turtles
leopard geckos
tokays
nile monitor
chinese water dragon
anoles
and others.

 

[large_cichlids]

i still currently have a tokay and a nile monitor.

 

[cichla1004]

oh crap, man. That's an amazing list! I've had more reptiles than most people, but not nearly that many. Then again, I'm only 20...

I currently have:
1 blood python
1 corn snake
2 Borneo pythons
2 carpet pythons
1 ball python
1 Gulf Coast spiny softshell
1 common snapping turtle
1 White's treefrog
1 chubby frog

I have had in the past:
many box turtles, eastern and three-toed
1 smooth softshell
several black rat snakes and eastern worm snakes
17 black racers
2 tiger salamanders
a few eastern mud turtles and some musk turtles
3 or 4 eastern fence lizards
3 Carolina anoles
5 southern/American/Fowler's toads (it's hard to tell)
brown skinks and five-lined skinks

I don't know what else. There's probably been some brown snakes and ringneck snakes in there as well. I grew up wandering through the woods, catching things and keeping them for a while and learning just about everything I could find about them. It's funny, because when people find out I have snakes, almost without fail they will say "and your mom lets you keep them????" when she was actually the one who would take me out to the woods to look for reptiles and amphibians.

I'm actually only 21 but I have family that has always been in veterinary medicine field. My mother used to find the herps needing homes and I cared for them while she placed them. She works in education and we used to bring our larger animals to local schools to show why you shouldn't buy that little iguana, sulcatta, monitor, python etc. It's amazing 90% of people don't realize that little iguana grows into a 6 foot lizard. Well anyway, when we would go to these schools without fail everytime someone would say "I have this ____ that I can't keep any more would you take him" so it then turned into a search for a home for the little (or big) guy. Most of the older ones or special needs animals stayed with me or went to the Lowry Park Zoo. A lot of them were found wandering the streets too. It's amazing how many wild introduced animals there are here in Florida. I can't wait to buy a house. I plan on catching or aquiring some unwanted iggys and giving them a huge greenhouse in the backyard. The next time around I'm going to look into filing for a not for profit permit to accept monetary donations. I spent a lot of money last time around. I still believe it was worth it in the end though.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Sometime before 1991:
7 Southern Toads kept for a month (I'll have to share that story some time)

November '91:
juvenile Green Iguana - my first reptile ever, and at that time, my parents told me that it was as close to a pet snake as I would ever get (Lol...yeah right!). We named him "Slickster" (my dad thought of this, since it was during the Clinton administration).

Spring '92:
My sister's friend inadvertently released Slickster while she held it outside. A few sightings and several recapture attempts followed, but to no avail.

Feb '93:
I convinced my parents to get a ball python. I soon acquired "Jasmine" (later known as Jasper) an adult around 3.5 ft.

1995:
A vet visit revealed "Jasmine" was really a "Jasper." Soon after, I got a leopard gecko "Leon" (he died sometime later; forgot when and why). I also ended up with a grey rat snake, whom I named Banana Pudding (it suited his coloration).

1996:
Got a sub-adult Beardie, "Jojo" at the Dixie herp show in Birmingham, AL. My parents felt I had too many herps, so the ratsnake was donated to a local petstore. That Christmas, Jojo died from worms; we didn't know until it was too late.

1997:
After Jojo died, a friend gave me his large WC cornsnake named Red. Red was old, scarred from a combine accident that led to his capture, and as a result was sometimes cranky. I don't remember how long I had him. Sometime this summer, I caught a young Eastern hognose snake. That winter he died (I thought he would hibernate).

1998:
I caught an adult Eastern glass lizard, and kept him a while before releasing him. Started working for that local petstore, B& B Pet Stop, Inc. in Dec.(things start to pick up here)

1999:
I bought a 4' boa constrictor (Reggie) from a co-worker. Soon after, another co-worker gave me his adult Columbian Tegu (Godzilla), and I adopted a one-eyed blue-tongued skink (Goldeneye). I forget when, but my parents once again thought it was time to downsize, so I found them all homes.

2000-2001:
(Don't remember the exact chronology)
- Got a female ball python for Jasper. She died from corncob-impaction (learned my mistake from that one)
- Acquired a Sheltopusik from a herp show.
- Numerous geckos came and went, including a Golden, crocodile, green-eyed, and several leopards.
- Adopted a Malagasy spiny (collared) iguana.
- Got a pair of albino Okeetee cornsnakes from a school teacher for free. I inadvertently bred them and had 10 babies, which I sold.
- Got a cute little Eastern kingsnake.
- Acquired a 3' WC speckled kingsnake from a friend who found it on the road.
- Got a female giant Hognose snake.
- Eventually traded the adult corns for a sub-adult Savannah monitor.
- Adopted an adult Iguana in Dec '01.

2002:
Most of the above animals went away some way or another, but I kept the iguana (Mojo) and still had the giant hognose. I thought I would be going away to school that fall, so I found a home for Mojo, but plans changed, and I ended up getting a frilled dragon and a male giant hognose later that year. Someone also gave me an Ornate Wood turtle. The more, the merrier. That summer, the turtle escaped our yard though.

2003:
The hognoses mated and laid one clutch while I had them, but the eggs were all duds. My sis rescued 2 baby red-eared sliders from the flea market, and I somehow ended up with an African side-neck turtle. This fall I really was moving away, so I had to get rid of most everything. But I couldn't get rid of Jasper, and by this time, he was only eating hamsters every months or so, so my parents agreed to keep him home, and i would feed him when I came home for breaks.

Fall '03:
I moved to school in TN and got a job at PetSmart. I soon adopted a rose-hair tarantula from someone and successfully hid him in my dorm room for many months before giving him away.

Fall '04:
Came back to school and got an animal I had been wanting for a while...a crested gecko. He came in as a wee baby at petsmart, and I kept him in an elaborate naturalistic vivarium, featuring the BSS and some live plants. This made hiding him from the deans very easy. Kept him the whole school year this way.

Summer '05:
Went home and worked again at B&B Pet Stop. When the summer ended, I got a larger tank for the crestie and ended up adopting a Pacific dwarf boa from a reptile rescue in the area.

Fall '05:
Now living off-campus gave the freedom to have a few more pets, and to finally move Jasper up here with me. During this school year, I decided to try my hand at keeping an emperor scorpion.

Fall '06 to present:
During the summer, my scorpion died (I think to low humidity) but I came back with some form of milksnake (once thought to be an Andean, but not so sure). Sometime in Sept, I adopted 3 cornsnake intergrades (2 rootbeers & a creamsicle), which I eventually adopted out to others. Also, since I'm graduating soon, I gave away the crested gecko to a good friend. So currently, I just have the two snakes you see in my sig.
-----------------

I have to say that my favs out of all of those are probably the blue-tongued skink, the frilled dragon, the tegu, and the giant hognoses. I wouldn't mind having any of those again. However, one day, when my art career levels out, I'd like to get a hold of a Aesculapian ratsnake, a Boelens python, and (after proper training) a King cobra.
-----------------
In addition to all that, I've plenty of experience with many herps, working in petstores for an accumulative 8 years. While I don't consider myself an expert in any area, I'm pretty knowledgeable with most commonly kept species, and my only weak areas are tortoises, some of the more obscure amphibians, and hots.