HerpTime

The magical metamorphosis of a red eye tree frog 🐸 if you’ve been following, you saw me set up a rain chamber for some of my frogs to breed. But we only got to see eggs hatch, and it ended there! Well don’t fret; I documented so much more! This video you can see the stages of development of these little tadpoles all the way into froglets. The real change all happens very quickly in the span of the last 1-2 weeks of being aquatic: the tadpoles are still just tadpoles, then out of the blue legs pop out and they crawl out of the water forever! As I produce more frogs and witness more metamorphosis I hope I can find more ways to film this fascinating and awe inspiring process to share with all of you, so we can appreciate its magnificence together! #HerpTime #frog #tadpole #metamorphosis #science

Albino box turtles! 🐢 Check them out at the next @Reptile Super Show in June, the only reptile show I’d ever consider even bringing such high value animals 💰 These are the very first ever albino ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) that have been made available! The project started 25 years ago with an original albino female, and after a few generations this gene proved to be simple recessive (meaning both parents must carry the gene to pass it on to their offspring). Box turtles are by far my personal favorite shelled reptiles, with so much personality in such small packages. For anyone who doesn’t know what T+ albino is, I lightly explained it in this video but to learn more there’s many in-depth resources online. Regarding these turtles specifically, whether called T+ albino, hypo, caramel, or ivory, all I know is that these turtles ain’t normal! Call them whatever you want if you take one home 😜 I look forward to raising couple of these for myself, and any serious serious questions regarding these guys can be asked over direct message! Hope you enjoyed the video of these cuties and saw something you never knew existed before! #HerpTime #turtle #boxturtle #cuteanimal

There’s a first for everything: snake enclosure time! I really like these low boy @zoomedlabs front opening cages and I knew it would make the perfect snake enclosure… luckily I have lots of friends with snakes, so I built this naturalistic terrarium for my buddy’s Arizona mountain kingsnake, and I really enjoyed it. I am not opposed to keeping animals in simple set ups or racks even, but to fully appreciate an animal for what it is as a herper, a naturalistic set up is definitely the way to go. I tried to mimic the montane environments these animals come from, inspired by grasses overreaching driftwood separating forest from a dried out wash. I don’t know if the snake understands the difference of or feels more “at home” in a natural enclosure like this or a tub of wood shavings… but it is much more enjoyable for the keeper to see them like this. Enjoy, and careful with your chainsaws! #HerpTime #reptile #snake #reptileenclosure #asmr

Cockroach infestation, yes those are roaches 🪳dusting these baby red runners with @Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc. calcium and vitamins to ensure my baby lizards are getting everything they need to grow strong and healthy. These are day 1 supplements for me that have proven effective! Also always gotta thank my bug plug @CucarachaPlug for the variety I am able to give my animals! #HerpTime #lizard #asmr

Time to feed some aquatic lizards 🦎 OK, I lied: no these aren’t lizards, or axolotls, but rather newts! Even though they’re not axolotls, they still love the @Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc. axolotl pellets which are designed for them as well! Just as fascinating to me as lizards, newts are surely a group of animals I plan to work with more of in the future. I do have a a couple newts of my own, but my friend Jay Sommers was gracious enough to let me show off just a few in his collection, and how fun they can be, especially at feeding time. Similar to most of the animals I keep, newts are a watch and enjoy pet rather than a hold and play with pet. Nonetheless, just as enjoyable and rewarding to keep, some with lots of personality! Stick around for the whole video and lemme know what newt in this vid might be your favorite? Enjoy! #HerpTime #newt #axolotl #asmr

This is probably my favorite frog I keep; what a privilege to have successfully produced the golden mantella (mantella aurantiaca). Similar to poison arrow frogs with bright colors, these critically endangered Madagascan frogs sport their flamboyant orange and reds to deter predators from eating them. Unfortunately, in opposing manner, their colors have made them a very desirable frog by the pet trade. Traditionally not commonly bred in captivity, coupled with decades of pet trade collection and major habitat loss in their native range has led this frog to be highly endangered. Though the babies produced here can’t directly help the wild populations of golden mantella, hopefully continued captive propagation can relieve stress on wild collection while simultaneously making these incredible frogs available to hobbyists with similar goals in mind! All the babies from this breeding will be staying here to strengthen the colony, as these frogs breed best in large groups. I pray all goes well and many more generation of mantella can be produced here at HerpTime :) it’s always HerpTime! #HerpTime #animals #frog #endangeredspecies

This is where baby geckos come from 🐣 this is exactly how I would recommend a set up using a @Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc. enclosure should be done for just about any micro gecko! Ashy geckos (Sphaerodactylus elegans) may be one of the most stunning geckos as babies, and adults are beautiful in a more subtle manner. Hatching out baby ashy geckos has to be one of the highlights of all my reptile keeping experience overall. Though this ZooMed Creatures enclosure was intended for bugs, it is absolutely perfect for my ashy geckos as well. And not just ashy geckos — this set up is the blue print for how I would recommended most all sphaerodactylus species should be kept, whether the intention is breeding or not. When kept comfortable and happy, if you have a boy and a girl, there’s bound to be some eggs. These videos can be fast paced, so give me thoughts about whether it would be valuable to make longer and/or more in depth set up and breeding information. Hope you enjoy the video, and hope you too one day get the chance to try your hand at hatching these beautiful little creatures! #HerpTime #gecko #microgecko #terrarium

Throwing it back to a fun video I created showing off some of the dewlaps in my anole collection! Pulling these dewlaps out to display doesn't cause any discomfort. Most of these anoles’ dewlaps aren't visible at all until extended, and as you can see they can be quite huge and colorful! Not only are they used in display and communication, but some research shows the bigger the dewlap on the individual, the more bold and less afraid of danger they may be. Still so much to learn about these amazing lizards! Anolis in order of appearance: roquet summus “macuba” sagrei “red” roquet majolgris roquet summus equestris potior marmoratus “capesterre” marmoratus marmoratus marmoratus alliaceus maramoratus “trois riviere” valencienni grahami sabanus oculatus montanus oculatus cabrietensis desiradei roquet salinei ferreus allisoni “cuban” roquet roquet “trois illets” Hope you enjoyed seeing some of this anole variety! #HerpTime #reptile #lizard #anole

These herps are off to their new homes! 📦 It’s hard to show the whole multi hour process in just a short clip, but you can see the time and care that I try to take in getting these critters from point A to B. It’s very rewarding hearing from the recipient that their new animal arrived safe and sound, and that it is even more beautiful than the photos. Glad I get to share this passion with others and that I’m able to send them across the country with such ease. And even if I don’t ship you a lizard, sharing the passion on here thru video counts too! #HerpTime #reptile #packingorders

Watching anoles grow up is always such a treat, especially Guadalupe anoles (Anolis marmoratus). With quick growth and constantly changing appearance, every time you look in the enclosure it’s like you have a totally different lizard. Guadalupe anoles are hardy, easy to breed, and make incredible display specimens for a vivarium. Another big plus is that babies can hatch out in the adult enclosure and not get eaten (most of the time…), allowing for a colony to grow in a large enough terrarium. The bright yellow on the green body that these specific Guadalupe anoles (Anolis marmoratus, sub species marmoratus) have is especially attractive and only gets better with age, as you can see. A great stepping stone for anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of obscure anoles, and that’s only just the tip of the iceberg! #HerpTime #reptile #lizard #anole

Come say hi at the next @Reptile Super Show Speedrun mini tour of the main components of HerpTime HQ… this is where most of the magic happens! From the videos you see to the animals you receive in the mail, this is where I do it. This is a private facility, I do not have visitors unfortunately. But my booth at the Reptile Super Show is the next best thing, if not better, since all the animals are out on display and you can take some home right then and there! This next show is gonna be an epic one and can’t wait to see everyone there! June 29-30 in Pomona and July 27-28 in Anaheim, be there or be square. #HerpTime #reptile #RoomTour #reptilesupershow

So satisfying to see the end product on this one… I usually don’t use premade backgrounds, and am not familiar with the brand of caging, but when my friend asked for help in redoing this enclosure he got on Craigslist, I of course said yes! The build is simple and sweet, providing everything the snakes need. These common big eye snakes (Mimophis mahfalensis) are a fascinating snake to watch as a display, not shy at all, and make perfect inhabitants for a large enclosure like this! Their intelligence and speed remind me a lot of the racers and coachwhips we have here in the US. I hope this enclosure makes these snakes happy and one day babies of this uncommon species will be produced in this habitat! #HerpTime #terrarium #vivarium #snake