CUDA HELP ME!!!

[redtailedmel]

cuda oh where oh where is my t expert!

my hubby bought a new t today a tiny lil pink toe, about 1 and a half inches big. its in a x-large critter keeper. its old molts are still inside with it. the poor things water bowl was kinda nasty and only had a small spounge (very tiny spounge) and it only had 1/2 inch of potting soil in the bottom along with a very very fake plant that suction cups to the sides! it has nothing to burrow in so its using the sides of the keeper. its munching on a cricket now so i know it eats. he wants to put him in a 10 gallon tank but i need your help to tell me what the proper items are and just how to set it up right. i know the way it is now cant be right. i tried to post a pick with the post but i got an error and everything was dleted so im gonna try to post the 2 crappy pics i took later! thanks a bunchies i need help badly!

[Bry]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

Ok Mel, first of all, calm down. The XL kritter keeper its in right now is rather large. T's don't utilize a lot of space. You'd be surprised how roomy a cage can be even though it seems quite small at first. The reason the T is on the side is not because there isn't room to burrow. It's because pinktoes are an arboreal species. I don't think I've ever seen pinktoes on the ground. Even in the little deli cups at shows, they'll often be found on the side of the cup or upside down on the lid. With that being said, pinktoes just aren't burrowers.

Now, the XL Kritter Keeper its in is a tad too big for a pinktoe of that size. It's still rather large for a full-grown pinktoe. What I did for mine was I went to Wal-Mart, and went to the kitchen section where they have all the Rubbermaids for storing foods. There's a little Rubbermaid jar with a white lid that goes for $2. There is a larger one that is 1 gal. and goes for $3, but that is rather large for a young pinktoe, and would be better for a full-grown pinktoe. The $2 jar may seem small, but trust me, my 3" pinktoe has plenty of room in there.

I poked holes using the sharp end of a corn cob holder. Each hole is approx. one inch apart covering one half of the side of the jar. The bottom row of holes is about 1" off the bottom of the jar to avoid substrate spillage. For the substrate, I used moistened Eco Earth, which is the same as Forest Bed or Bed-a-Beast, and is similar to peat moss. I put in a slab of cork bark leaning against the side for her to perch on. There's a small gap between the cork bark and the side it's leaning onto to allow room for her to go back there to hide if she chooses. I also use a fake standing plant in there which I bought from Petco for $2. There isn't anything wrong with using fake plants. I couldn't find any fake plants that attach to the side without overcrowding the cage. In fact, a real plant would probably raise the humidity too high, which can be bad in an already high humidity setup. Ventilation is the key to avoiding mold. I've learned that opening the lid daily for even a minute or so helps a lot. Also, don't bother with any water bowls, as they don't drink from water bowls unlike terrestrial T's. But if you choose to use a water bowl, that would at least help with humidity. Just don't use a sponge, as those will create harmful bacteria.

Good luck, and congrats on the new T.

Bry

[Bry]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

One other question I forgot to ask. When you say the T is 1 1/2" big, are you talking about body length or legspan? The reason I ask is because I've never seen pinktoes, or any T's for that matter sold at that small of a size, if you are talking about leg span. Unless, of course, the shop your hubby went to was a reptile/bug-specific pet shop.

The standard method of T measurement goes by its legspan with the front leg on one side to the back leg on the other side fully stretched out. T's don't always stretch their legs out fully, so T keepers take a pretty close guess when looking at their T. The reason people don't use body length, is because different species' bodies come in different sizes and shapes that affect its length. Also, how well a T has been fed affects its body length too. A T that was 4" body length will shrink considerably in length due to abdomen shrinkage if not fed for a long while. This can be confusing in guessing how big the T really is in terms of legspan.

Bry

[redtailedmel]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

i wasnt worried about the kritter keeper being wrong just the way they had him set up in it. i had measured his legnth by his body but if you go by leg span hes about 3 inches. and they didnt really have squat in the bottom for him it was very thin but then again he was never really on it , which you said was because he likes being off the floor. these plants were just like leaves and they stunk as far as fake plants goes hehe well will get him a better plant to play on. where can you buy the cork bark? can you get it at petsmart/petco? im working on a pic of him they are kinda blurry trying to fix em up if the forum will let me post em!

[Bry]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

Okay, I know the kritter keeper isn't wrong, per se. Just that all that space isn't really needed. They'll only really use maybe 10% of all that space. A deep substrate isn't really necessary with this species. The way you described its cage did sound nasty. It's a good thing you're getting it out of there. I can understand about the fake plants though, some of them are just downright ugly, and are about as realistic as the sky is green. I got my cork bark from a local reptile shop. If you have one, look there. I have seen cork bark at Petco or Petsmart. The slabs tend to be a tad large, but you can break them easily to fit. I have a friend coming over to identify the scorps and take pics, so I'll have him take pics of the pinktoe setup for you.

Bry

[redtailedmel]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

cool thanks hopefully the pics will load i stillcant get the forum to let me post pics!

[Barracuda_41]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

:-[Wow sorry i wasnt around Mel, been real busy and also had company for few days, Bry gave you alot of good info... Just remember that pink toes will utalize upper space more than floor space as they live up in trees in there natural habitat.. Also a water dish on the floor and also misting the cage is good, that poor thing sounded like it really needed a good home.. Never use a sponge in a water dish as it collects bactirea, pink toes wont burrow, and the bedding should be peatmoss mix on the bottom of the cage about 2 to 3 inches deep and moist.. Like Bry said cork bark is great for it to make a good webb home on or you can use a tree branch that has been cleaned and soaked for awhile to get rid of any bugs and bactirea.. They will use that to make there webb up as high as they can get.. If you can use the critter keeper turn on its end so its vertical, that way it will have more upper space.. And yes a fake plant really helps, Make sure you lightly mist the cage atleast every other day and keep temps around 78 to 80%. Go ahead once it is settled in the cage and feed it a few crix and as long as its eatting them crix you can give it few each day till it gets a poofy rear back.. Mel, are you able to tell if this is a male or female?? Watch for it to be drinking drops of water after you , mist the fake plant.. One other thing to Mel, try to coat the crix with a good vitamin calcium mix powder befour feeding the T, this will help give it few extrax nutrients it needs.. Please let me know how things are going.. Once again sorry i wasnt here to help but someone always is...

[redtailedmel]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

hey im just glad yall are here to help lol i wasnt sure if the substrate should be wet or not and things like that but i have ordered a few items off the petco page and hopefully it will arrive soon so i can get him/her a good home started i cant tell if its a male or a female not sure how too but my hubby has successfully held the lil guy but it spit this clearish liquid with a bit of white stuff at him out of its butt it was kinda funny lol it kinda freaked him out though LOL i took a pic of it but it still wont let me post it here hopefully it will be fixed soon so that i can!

[redtailedmel]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

ok here is alist of everything i bought for fixing his house back up correctly tell me if im missing anything.

Items Ordered
33217 Bend-A-Branch, Small 1/8" x 6' $2.99
10631 Cricket Dust, 60 gram $5.59
27074 Eco Earth Value Pack, Buy 2 Get 1 Free $4.99
33270 Small Caladium Plant, 7" $6.99

the tree branch says you can shape it so im gonna try and shape it very nicely and the tree has big leaves to catch the water. the eco earth do i soak it like it says or place in dry and mist it with a water bottle? that cricket dust is supposed to have all the vitamin and everything in it. i was also looking at a cricket food that had the vitamin in it as well. is that a good food for crix? i think was called like gutload or something like that it was 8 bucks LOL

[Bry]

Re:CUDA HELP ME!!!

Okay, as for the substrate, yes you will want it moist, but not damp. Too much moisture can lead to problems with mold and mites. Remember, the key is to provide adequate ventilation. When I bought the Eco Earth, I followed the directions and soaked it. Then I took out a handful at a time and squeezed it out really good until there was very little excess water. I mist my pinktoe around 2 times a week so as to not over-moisten the cage.

As for the clearish, white liquid, your hubby got pooped on. They don't produce solid waste like we or snakes do. Everything they eat, they turn to liquid, so they poop out the white liquid. Pinktoes seem to be known to poop on their handler, probably as a defense mechanism.

Otherwise, what you got so far doesn't sound like you're missing anything. Good luck with your pinktoe, they are awesome T's.

Bry