[jwurm]

Hi people!

I'm sort of newish to herps but not really.

When I was younger, I owned two longed-tailed skinks (who lived about 2 years) and a garter snake (whom my cousins let out and we never saw him again).

I have experience working at a zoo with various reptiles as well (black rat snake, eastern milk snake, various turtles, tortoises, & terrapins).

Right now I own two juvenile Leopard Geckos (Gobo & Boober) of unown sex, as they are still too tiny to tell for absolute sure.
I might acquire another leo within the next week (someone I met through my job at an LPS has decided that it is too much responsibility for them and they want to see him go to a good home) but I'm not sure what sex it is either.

So that's pretty much it and I look forward to being an active member of this forum!

[schlegelbagel]

welcome. Post any photos if you can of your herps!

[MoogleBass]

Welcome to Herpcenter. Yes post pics if you got got some.

[Rich]

Welcome to Herp Center! I hope you enjoy the site.

[kenman1963]

Hello and welcome to HC.

[Merlin]

Welcome to HerpCenter!

[Typhanie]

Zoo experience. Neat! I, personally, would be interested in the differences between taking care of a reptile at a zoo and taking care of one in the home.

Anyway, welcome.

[jwurm]

Here's a link to the pics I just posted.
jwurm's Images - Reptile Photos - The HC Network Image Gallery

Many more to come!

[jwurm]

I, personally, would be interested in the differences between taking care of a reptile at a zoo and taking care of one in the home.

Well for one thing, every thing is on a strict schedule, even handling. We keep track of everything including if there happened to be a school group who came through on a behind the scenes tour. We do special enrichment (which is a way to stimulate the animals so they don't get bored) like putting in bison wool or bird feathers to stimulate their sense of smell or even use peppermint spray or vanilla extract and record how they react to these things.

It's all very interesting. Anything in particular you want to know?

[Typhanie]

Do you find a difference in the behavior of the reptiles themselves? Because being around all those people is enough to stress anyone out. Would a herp at a zoo tend to be more aggressive? And do they ever get "time outs" away from the public eye?

Just curious.