i am really sorry i honestly wasnt trying to ignore anyone, just i get rushed on here {not by anyone of you} because i well take to long i guess. and i wasnt aware that i was giving out wrong info, i just said what worked for me all this time. i didnt think it was wrong because it had worked. i have been learning of reptiles for years but just recently started keeping them so i dont know alot about different things. i usually find things and look them up and try to learn about them all i can, i dont go to school or anything like that so all i have is my books, and reading ,and this site here to look on for things i need to know. and very often i get in trouble because once i get set on doing something like this or anything else i am one tracked on that one thing i want to get done. thats why i ask all these questions all the time, i am impatient and really need to learn how to take one step at a time, and i am trying but it is VERY hard for me. and i am stubborn. i do my best to control it but sometimes im over sensitive to things and get very defensive as well. i will try not to contradict anyone any more...if i am not SURE of what i am saying to be true. what is biology like is it hard? or is it enjoyable? i am just curious is all.how did you decide what you wanted to do in college? p.s. thanks for pionting out that i am using the wrong word......i have been doing it for a long time;}.
biology *is* hard, but i wouldn't discourage anyone who's interested in it from majoring in it. if you really love your feild, you will do what is neccessary to succeed in it. always do what you love! i started out as a biochemistry major, actually, because i was stupid and didn't realize how much math biochemistry involves (although all of my other class skills are good, my math skills are terrible!!). the thing is, i don't even like chemistry that well, i was just really interested in the chemistry of the body and the chemistry of diseases and stuff. turned out biochem just wasn't for me so the second semester of freshman year i switched to a biology degree. during my whole freshman year i took intro bio and chem classes and i enjoyed them, but i didn't apply myself and my grades weren't too hot. about that time i took an intro psych class for my 'sociology required credit'. i LOVED the psych prof and since i hadn't been doing good in bio i decided to change majors to psychology. i liked psych, but i kept taking bio classes because i was interested in them AND because i was planning on getting a bio minor along with my psych major. well this year i realized that i was only 3 classes away from my bio degree, so i decided to stay an extra year next year (just part time) to finish up those 3 classes. so i'll graduate technically a year late, but i'll have dual degrees (phsych AND bio). *whew* college is like this for a LOT of people! something like 75% of college students change their majors at LEAST once. college is about figuring out who you are and how you want to impact the world. take your time deciding - don't worry if your first year is spent as an 'undecided major' or you end up switching majors five times. what's important is that whatever your final decision is, that it is the right one for you. as for your reptiles and amphibians, keep in mind that even though you have done something and have had no problems so far, that does NOT mean that it is not dangerous or that you will not have problems with doing things that way in the future. imagine if you never wore shoes; you might go around barefooted for 5 years everywhere and never have a problem . . . BUT that doesn't mean that walking around everywhere barefooted is safe and it it does *not* mean that one day you are NOT going to step on a nail. do you understand what i mean? just because you house your turtles with wild ones and they have never been sick doesn't mean they will never get sick this way. also, don't think that you should never contradict anyone around here. like i said, we are all wrong sometimes and we are all here to learn. i have been corrected before and i have corrected others. *however* when someone does seem to have knowledge, gives intelligent replies, seems to care, and provides reasonable answers to questions as well as *describes logically WHY what you are doing is wrong* you should probably believe it. never stop reading everything you can (about *any* subject) - knowledge is power!
what is biology all about? is it the study of nature or what exactly? i think i have an idea but im not sure. i dont know what i want to major in or if ill even make it that far, right now things arent bright in schooling. and i also am really terrible in math....oh man how i stink at it :? lol. i want to do something that involves the study of nature, im interested in animals and their behaviors ect.... but also the study of rocks and minerals and gems and crystals too, so i am trying to see what all there is to choose from , i always try to know all my options first. .... i do walk around barefoot alot....and i have stepped on a thorn and had it go about an inch and a half into my foot.......but now i wear shoes when walking near the thorn trees :roll: but yes i am getting the turles new enclosure started so the wild ones can have their own quarantine cage. do you think a 7ft. by 7ft. enclosure is big enough for 3 turtles? now, i raise tadpoles and the three i had are now hoppin treefrogs but i dont know what all to feed them it has to be about the size of an 8th of an inch. so far ive used ants and baby spiders, they love baby spiders but arent hot about ants, and spiders arent always easy to come by, and ants are but i want to have a variety, i was thinking aphids but how do i catch aphids? or anything like that, termites are another one that would work. they are getting bigger quick though and they are grays, they are difining their markings more every day. i really like to watch them morph and grow
biology is "the study of life". you learn how bodies work, how many different species there are, how cells work and what they are made of, about plants and how they work and grow, how animals act and interact with each other, how bacteria grows and multiplies, how to make medicines and how medicines work, how diseases work and spread, about the differences between animals with backbones and animals without backbones, about the theory of evolution, about pollution and water/air quality . . . it's a LOT of different stuff. you might like biology itself or ecology, zoology, animal behavior, geology . . . or even something else. there's a million different 'sub-areas' of study in biology. here's a list of some of the major fields: Biology Fields and here's a great site about different science jobs and biology branches: Biology Jobs and Branches. try going to www.google.com or www.dictionary.com and looking up "zoology", "botany", "herpetology", "ecology", "animal behavior", "geology", "environmental science", "entomology", or "paleontology". you'll get tons of info. 7 feet by 7 feet would be a great outdoor enclosure for 3 box turtles. box turtles are great diggers, though, so make sure the 'fence' goes *at least* a foot into the ground and a foot above the ground. also, if you use screening or chicken wire they are more likely to try to climb out or cut themselves on the wire - use all wood or thick plastic or something for the walls (go look for supplies at your local hardware store - they'll have tons of supplies you could use *other* than wire or screening). i'd put a lid on the enclosure, too, to protect them from raccoons and stray cats and dogs. the lid can be made of screening since it doesn't come into contact with the turtles. be careful feeding ants and termites to the frogs - ants can bite your reptiles and amphibians. that may be why they don't seem to like them. also, you have to be very careful when catching wild insects for food for your pets - even if you don't use chemicals to kill bugs or weeds in your yard you might have neighbors that do. these chemicals can get in the insects and then into your reptile and/or amphibian and kill them. i would go to the petstore and ask for 'pinhead crickets' and 'flightless fruit flies'. they are *very* tiny. if you don't have a petstore near you that sells these, go to ReptileFood. they are very reputable. get the #9 1/16 inch crickets and the Drosophila melonagaster fruit flies. these are guaranteed shipped live and parasite/bacteria-free. MUCH better than catching bugs in your yard.
I completely disagree with hummingbird and kiryu, RES are great pet turtles :x ! I have had my RES for the past 3 years, and never had a problem with him. He is clean, he only grows in proportion to the size of the tank, and he's both active and friendly! I say get a red-eared slider, you won't regret it! :wink:
thats kool!! 8) , i thought it had something to do with plants, and the study of nature.....had no idea there was so many branches of it though!!! :shock: i may take of field in that someday i am trying very hard to make their sure that their enclosure is safe and escape proof. i am going to make SURE there arent any sharp spots where i jion them together. i am digging about a foot and a half into the geound and making a floor, then covering it back up with dirt......i want them to be able to dig ,nd lay eggs,and feel the grass on their feet again. i want to use wood but this is temporary probably, i am going to eventually have o huge enclosure for them . my dad just went over to{the ditch i dug}with the tractor and finished digging it out for me , not for me really just because he wanted to play on the tractor :roll: , hes like a little kid with all his toys :wink: thanks for the bug suggestions its a big help, i have spider egg sacks but theyu havent hatched yet and i dont know when they will. i have set a sugar trap for some ants...the ones we have around the house are the ones that dont get big, and i fed them some today....its funny because they havent learned their feeding good yet..they stalk the bugs and then flip out their tongue and fall off the rock on occasion , they get right back up to their bugs though they all three turned out to be grays....i guess the gray one i had caught in the bush above the trough i got the tads from was laying eggs :!: ...its funny how they just magically appear and then poof, im out their scooping out tadpoles so they dont get dumped out :roll: .........i wont let my dad dig out the spring until all the tadpoles are out of it biochic, im glad too! she is a big help with all my silly questions! :wink:
WHAT!?! when did i say res were bad pets!? i said they aren't the BEST FIRST turtle because they get big, but i never said they were a BAD choice - i LOVE res! if i gave the impression that i didn't like res, i'm sorry - i sure didn't mean it! and coldbloodedkeeper - sounds like you have a *great* box turtle pen design there. good luck! but don't forget, even small ants can bite, carry disease, and spread insecticides and pesticides to your frogs. i wouldn't feed them ants (or spiders) unless there was absolutely no other choice anywhere on earth. go with the pinhead crickets and fruitflies . . . please?
okay thanks for the complement on my enclosure i have been disigning it for 3 years!!! i am having trouble finding pinhead crickets and fruitflies the stupid petstore doesnt have them im going to look online for some though.
i will check that out, i just cant believe the petstore doesnt carry anything but crickets and only one kind:{
yeah some petstores do that. if you have petland near you, i know they sell lots of different stuff. petco and complete petmart and some other places only sell medium-sized crickets, though, i know. you'd think they'd have more of a selection . . . *another* reason i don't like petstores . . .
Wow, this was quite a thread, it took me nearly twenty minutes to get through the whole thing! And feel like I got alot of information out of it about what to do, and what not to do if I ever decide to look into getting a turtle of some kind. I love this site because I can find out alot about what works for other people with my animals that I can't find in a book, and I can share some of the things that have worked for me, like my invention that lets me keep my heat lamps on top of my enclosure, as apposed to inside with my animals, in such a way that they are tip-over proof to prevent fires. But there are some things that I do after reading some great advice on here. First off, even though I truelly value the imput on here, I like to back up everything that sounds like something I want to try with my own research, to make sure that its good advice. I don't really know who I'm talking too, and I have been given really rotten advise from some very sophistcated, intelligent sounding people, so I try not to rely just on if they sound smart. I also tend to stay away from advice where people are condoning something that has been found to have risks, simply because they've never had a problem before. I found myself saying this same thing about washed play ground sand with my bearded dragons, and then I caught myself, and thought, "but do I really want to base my statement on something that just hasn't happened yet, or do I want to give my animals, the safest, best possible I can provide?" I feel like I've learned alot about my animals, and their health shows that I must be doing something right, and I like to share with other what I'm doing if they are having an issue that I've been through. But I try to be pretty sure about the things that I'm doing first, and I welcome contradictions, because I would hate to see something I said hurt or kill someones animal. But I also know that different people have different methods than me, and what works for me won't always work for others. There was a great example of that a few monthes ago on the beardy forum, when one person told everybody about how much his beardy liked baths after he tried something new. So people tried it, and some got hysterical when their beardies still didn't like it, and feared that their animals had a problem. But I have tried every single tip that it on this entire site, and beardies still hate bathes. They will probably always hate them, and thats just the way my particular animals are. I don't really know where I was going with this, but I found this arguement intriuging because I really value all of the different opinions on here, and I don't think that it would be a good forum if no one ever stood up and tried to help somebody when they knew they were wrong, or if no one ever asked a question, no matter how obvious the answer seems to more experienced people. I found a way to use bugs I found in the wild, and I was curious about what people thought. I have a species of frog who in the wild would eat flies as part of their diet. Now I know better than to feed them possible diseased or pesticide-exposed bugs that I catch. So I caught a few flies, and bred them. When the babies grew up, I bred them, and so on for four generations. (I realize that they are inbred now, but I'm not trying to raise champion flies, just feeders.) Do you think that when this fourth generation of flies has reached maturity, they will be safe? If not, at least the process was interesting. I am waiting until I can responcibly breed my beardys where I have thought everything out first, but I really wanted to tide myself over until then. So I decided to breed bugs, (can't get enough of those on my budget,) so I have successfully bred wax worms, mealies, crickets, and of course the flies. What do you guys think? (Of course if anyone has read this far without falling asleep. Oh, and in that thread, I read somebody saying that they prevent wild turtles from spreading disease by washing them in antibacterial soap. First, is the soap harmful to the turtles? and second, I don't know about turtles, but I do know that if I get the flu, but I take a long hot shower, and scrub every inch of myself with the strongest of antibacterial soaps, and then I get out and share a glass of water with my boyfreind, he's still probably going to get the flu, despite my shower. Wouldn' that be true with a turtle too? Diseases usually comes from the inside as well, right?
you're absolutely right - and that's just *one* of the reasons i told coldbloodedkeeper that she still shouldn't keep those turts together.
okay okay you both are right, i guess i didnt think about that eighther*thinks abotu her stupidity* what i help protect them from is things like salmonella, and i think it helps with shell rot...correct me if im wrong. i hope that our argument provided sme others with advice they needed. and hummingbird, i am starting to study reptiles....im learning. like we have 33 non venomous snakes in mo., and only one glass lizzard species, and the odds of finding a venomous snake is slim mostly its non venomous confused with venomous.....most common with copperheads:}, i am going through all species in mo. and even the ones close enough that have or may be found in mo. eventually. and the mississipi river divides a few of them from our state. its not great but i am starting....i am starting to study placental evolution, due to someone asking a question and now i just have to figure it out*sighs...so nosey* i am glad our argument served someone use, and i dont blame you i would rather learn things first hand.
yes of coursed i dont even let my bro handle it much because he still chews on his hands, hes only 2.
