Care Sheets | Coast To Coast Exotics

Dec12020 by KevinNo Comments

Keeping mantids as pets

Mantid keeping is a fascinating hobby, these are truly unique critters that behave and look like nothing else on earth. There is a huge mind-blowing choice of species too, all with varying requirements and needs – and many with various unique characteristics within mantids too. They are relatively easy to keep and provide some of the most bizarre and fascinating behaviour – including their (possibly gruesome?) hunting and feeding habits. It’s easy to see why keeping mantids can become an obsession – they are up their with spiders as the most compulsive animals to keep. Many keepers start with one only to find they have several dozen shortly afterwards! We would advise that a beginner starts with one that is a little older and past their delicate stages. But for…

Dec12020 by KevinNo Comments

Rankins Dragon (Pagona henrylawsoni)

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Rankins Dragons are very similar to Bearded Dragons, only smaller – a maximum total size would be around 30cm. For this reason they are a popular lizard to keep as pets – but much less common to see for sale in pet stores. The expected life span is around 6-10 years, as long as they have their needs met correctly. They naturally occur in the Queensland area of Australia in dry arid areas. Like Bearded Dragons, this species is relatively easy to maintain successfully – as long as some simple conditions and procedures are catered for. As they are smaller than Bearded Dragons they will require a smaller vivarium – an absolute bare minimum for one adult is a 3 feet long vivarium, with a four feet long one being…

Nov12020 by KevinNo Comments

Spotted Salamanders – Ambystoma maculatum

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Spotted Salamanders are one in a group referred to as Mole salamanders occurring in Eastern USA and Canada. They tend to occur in deciduous forests and wetlands, living in leaf litter, hiding in burrows or under fallen logs. Their breeding is very interesting, they return to water once a year, but only to temporary pools created by heavy rainfall. They only stay there for a few days to spawn, and do not swim strongly. These pools are perfect for salamander spawn and tadpoles to survive as temporary pools tend not to have fish that would eat them. However there are downsides to temporary pools, sometimes they dry up before metamorphosis is complete. It is now known that a symbiotic relationship occurs between a photosynthetic algae and the spawn / embryos…

Nov12020 by KevinNo Comments

Jacksons Chameleons

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A very desirable Chameleon species, a male Jacksons Chameleon is instantly recognisable with their three long horns. There are other species with three horns, but Jacksons are the one that are the species most people think of. They naturally occur in various regions throughout East Africa, but have been accidentally (or otherwise) introduced in at least three US States. There are three sub-species Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus, Trioceros jacksonii jacksonii and Trioceros jacksonii merumontanus. The larger xantholophus (Yellow Crest) is the sub-species most likely encountered for sale. They are live bearers. A full account of captive care is far beyond a brief introduction such as this, however a quick run down of their basic needs and husbandry is in order – please research thoroughly before committing to this species. There…

Sep302020 by KevinNo Comments

Mossy Frogs

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Mossy frogs are a beautiful species of frog that resemble a clump of moss due to their colouration and lumpy bumpy skin. They occur in the cooler regions of Vietnam and some areas of China occurring in forests, caves and cliff areas, always around water. They are a small to medium sized frog, females are the larger sex growing to around 8-9cm. Many species of frogs are supremely suitable to natural planted terraria or even a paludarium (a natural terrarium with a large water area, often with fish). The balance of nature is relatively easy to achieve with these kinds of housing. The live plants and custodian critters (woodlice etc) sharing the terrarium do a lot of the work for you. Of course a paludarium would also allow you to…

Sep302020 by KevinNo Comments

Moroccan Uromastyx – Uromastix acanthinura nigriventris

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Uromastyx acanthinurus, as a species occurs throughout North Africa, more or less around the Sahara Desert. This sub-species is allocated to occurring in Morocco, but there is much confusion around this species and its several sub-species (and with many of the other Uromastyx species for that matter). It grows to around 45cm long, females perhaps slightly bigger – males are often said to be brighter coloured and have a broader head. They occur in desert areas, favouring softer earth that will clump so they can burrow – but do occur in rocky areas, cliff faces and other areas where they can jam themselves in crevices rather than making burrows. They are primarily herbivorous eating a wide range of desert plants, leaves, succulents etc – but they will eat ants and…

Aug312020 by KevinNo Comments

Collared lizards

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Collared lizards are simply one of the prettiest naturally occurring lizards – adult males are gob-smackingly beautiful. The occur in desert and arid regions through Mexico and several southern states of the USA. Not only known for their bright colours, they are a lizard which is known for running on their back legs. Being an arid and desert species they require a vivarium set up likewise. We would recommend a substrate on the floor of the vivarium of ProRep Bio Life Desert which will allow for natural behaviour. Place a choice of hides throughout the vivarium, in the cool and warm areas to give a choice. We always provide some hides that have a level of moisture underneath so the lizards can choose which they prefer, especially when shedding their…

Aug312020 by KevinNo Comments

Blue Tongue Skinks

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Blue Tongue skinks are one of the more popular skink species due to their larger size and characterful nature. They still have the characteristic skink short legs, which does deter some keepers (too snake-like in appearance), but they are much chunkier, with a very pronounced head – much more appealing looking to many keepers. As the name suggests they have a blue tongue which is thought to be a deterrent to predators. There are several species, subspecies and variants that naturally occur throughout Australia and New Guinea and various Indonesian islands. They are a relatively easy species of lizard to keep, but they do require reasonably large vivaria as adults. They do not spend a great deal of time climbing, so the vivarium needs to be long rather than tall,…

Aug12020 by KevinNo Comments

Madagascan Giant Day gecko – Phelsuma grandis

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A large species of Day gecko, dwarfing most of it’s relatives at up to around 25-30cm in total length. They are a most impressive looking gecko species, bright intense green, many having red bars or spots. Its easy to see why this species is so popular, they are truly beautiful. They come from Madagascar, but have found themselves establishing colonies away from their native lands in such places as Florida. As the name suggests they are a daytime active species (diurnal) in contrast to many of the gecko species being nocturnal. They eat a mixture of insects, and also sweet nectar. This is easy to replicate in captivity with the huge variety of suitably sized livefood – crickets, locusts, waxworms etc. To satisfy their ‘sweet tooth’ there are many mixes…

Aug12020 by KevinNo Comments

Yellow Bellied toads – Bombina variegata

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In the wild the Yellow Bellied toad is a widespread semi-aquatic toad distributed through central Western Europe through to the East and into parts of Asia. Unlike many toads this species never strays far from water and is most commonly found floating on the top of the water in shallow pools, ditches and slow moving streams. They are often found in and around human habitation in temporary bodies of water such as ruts made by tractors and the like. Apart from the bright belly colouration its very notable for its call – a series of calls are made, many liken the sound to a laugh or a cackle. Probably one of the easiest species of amphibian to cater for – decent size shallow water area and a smaller portion of…