Steeve B.- Dracaena question..

[treevaranus]

Steeve,

I understand you've had some experience with Dracaena... would you mind emailing me at odatriad@yahoo.com. I've got some questions I'd like to ask you about them.. Thanks, have a great day...

bob

[reptiguy123]

I know that you're new to ssnakess, so I won't yell at you. When you direct a question or a message to someone in particular, you use pm (private messaging). It sends a message to a certain person so only they can see it. you select a person's username, then click the send pm button.


Good luck with the questions:)

[Matt_K]

Originally posted by reptiguy123
I know that you're new to ssnakess, so I won't yell at you.

And you would be?????????????

[treevaranus]

Sorry about that..

My name is Bob, and I live in the northeastern United States. I keep primarily prasinus complex monitors, as well as some odatria. The species I currently keep are V. prasinus, macraei, boehmei, beccari, glauerti, t. tristis, t. orientalis, and acanthurus.

I am currently a student in pursuit of a bachelor's degree in ecology. While studying/observing reptiles is my "favorite pasttime", I am also an avid plant enthusiast, primarily interested in Palms, Bamboos, and Bananas, along with many other tropical species/cultivars. Being in the cold NE, I am currently experimenting, and breaking new grounds with the growing of several "tropical" plant species outside, despite their 'recommended' hardiness zone... Especially members of the genus Musa...

I am here to help share my experiences with others, as well as hopefully gain knowledge off others. I have a website that explains how I keep all of my animals, experiences that i've had-good or bad, and other tidbits about my animals. I would hope people may view my experiences, as well as other peoples', to perhaps help construct their own husbandry standards..

I think that the more people who post about their experiences(both good and bad), the better off we as hobbyists will be, as well as help progress varanid herpetoculture. That is why I share my experiences with others. There is still so much to learn, hopefully forums like this can help us "evolve" in our husbandry and understanding of monitors.

There's a little bit about myself, I encourage anybody to ask me about how I care for my animals, etc.. I am always here to chat with fellow varanid enthusiasts... Take care, and have a great day!!!

Sorry about the personal message mishap, it won't happen again. Cheers,

bob
The Odatriad (http://www.geocities.com/odatriad)

[Jeff_Favelle]

Cool pic brother!! I like that I see!!!!

[hhw]

Hey Bob, don't sweat it... I think Matt was giving reptiguy123
a hard time for giving you a hard time... I don't think making this thread is a big deal, but if you're only looking to get a hold of a single person, it makes sense to pm. Anyway, I love seeing the pics you post and drooling about all these monitors I wish I had. Keep the posts going!!!

[Matt_K]

Yes, my message was directed at reptiguy... Sorry for any misunderstanding..

[mbayless]

Hi Bob,

Nice to see you hear on the forum...its a nice forum. I did not know you were into palms = a fellow varanophile I know well you lives here in CA has a palm-tree nursery, and can get very exotic things for you if you're interested; also Sam Sweet is into exotic palms as well! To me, they are beautiful things but basically condos for rats!

Best Regards,
markb

[beanersmysav]

Hey,

And welcome. I love your website gives me an idea of some differant monitors I may one day keep. At the moment I've only got a Savannah, but there's so many species I'd like to explore once space permits the tank room. Have a good one.

JP

[treevaranus]

Yeah, I really enjoy this forum, there isn't much BS going on here, as with some of the "other" monitor forums. This forum, from what I've seen so far, has a great bunch of friendly people.

About Palms, yeah, they're one of my favorite types of trees. I am also a fan of a bunch of trees belonging to Legum family- including Poinsianas and Jacarandas, among others...

Thats cool you know a fellow varanid/palm enthusiast, I'd sure like to talk to him/her sometime, especially about his palm tree operation.

Anyways, good talking to you Mark, how're the papers coming along? Especially the prasinus complex one...I'd love to get a copy once you complete it.. Cheers, buddy...

Bob

[reptiguy123]

Do you have any tropical plants in your lizard cages? I just wanted to make sure you knew about PMing without others PMSing, but we can't all have what we want. I was on a forum the other day and people were upset about one-direction posts, so I just figured I'd let you know.



Keep the great pictures coming, and good luck with the plants and the lizards!:)

[thunder]

treevaranus: from what i have seen of your posts so far it seems that you have a wonderful collection that is very well cared for. i am especially impressed with the drain system you designed, as shown in one of your posts. i love seeing pictures of your monitors, as many of them are species i have never seen before, and i look forward to getting help and advice from you when i get an arboreal monitor of my own (someday . . . ). i dont know much about plants, but im sure they're great :D

[Jeff_Favelle]

Ha ha, not to be a stickler, but Palms are not actually trees. Trees are "woody perennials of a specified height". Palms have no wood.

;)

But more importantly, there's a habby for palm trees???? Do they call its Palming? LOL! Who knew. I though breeding snakes was weird! Ha ha, J/K!

[thunder]

there is definately a culture of people who are into plants much in the same way we are into herps. they even have plant shows. i've also noticed that there is some overlap, like a lot of people who are into dart frogs and mantellas also breed fancy plants like orchids and make very pretty vivaria. they pay just as much attention to the health and beauty of their plants as to their herps. personally, my herps mostly have cardboard boxes as their hides, or if im feeling really fancy, a potted plant that requires weekly watering, that i bought at the supermarket for a buck. but i can see how it could interest the same kind of mind. i do keep a venus fly trap, although i would have no idea how to breed one, and have attempted to raise cacti (unsuccessfully).

[crocdoc]

Hey Bob, I have also been into palms in the past and Sam is well and truly into them. I used to have a large indoor collection of palms, which became an indoor collection of large palms so I have 'released' many into the gardens around my apartment block. After growing up in Canada I find palms exotic, even though I have been living in a warm climate for a very long time.

[mbayless]

I had no idea there was such an interest in 'palming' as Jeff F. put it!! hehe...didn't know they did not have wood parts to them, but botany class for me was a long time ago...

Bob, the paper on V. prasinus complex is progressing: do you think people would also like to see a listing of localities as an appendix in this book of mine? A simple listing, with sources there-of? I have done one for V. rudicollis chapter, but wonder if it is a waste of time for a average reader/varanophile? I am trying to write it so any lay-person can easily read it, but have enough content and information for a advanced keeper and even academia types too - thats the hard and fun part of doing all this; most of the information is here, but how to present it is the challenge...
Regards,
markb

[Jeff_Favelle]

LOL!!!

Its cool though. I think its very very important that people get pumped about stuff. If Palm trees is it, more power to them. I think they're kinda cool! Better than Beanie Babies!!! LOL!

[treevaranus]

There's clubs/organizations/forums for just about everything you could possibly think of.. Here's a forum, just like this one, dedicated to Palm Tree enthusiasts.
IPS Forum (http://www.palms.org/cgi-bin/ikon/ikonboard.cgi?)

Living up here in the Northeast, I am limited in my Palm tree, cycad, Banana, and other tropical plant growing, however, I find it fun and interesting to try and "push the limit" of whether or not a particular plant could survive the cold winters up here. So far I've had some success with some species of palms, and some tropical plants-including Brugmansia. But the best success I've had yet was with different Banana varieties and cultivars.. I even have one type that can produce edible fruit, although I doubt the growing season up here's long enough to allow that..

It's fun, and can be a rewarding hobby.. I currently grow some rare tropcial flowering plants(primarily aromatic flowering plants), and sell them at plant bazaars and shows, similar to those we attend for our herps... It's all good fun, and a healthy hobby...

Anyways, cheers, have a great day.. I'll try to post a pic of a new female beccari i'll be recieving tomorrow... Some before, and after shots... Take care, friends...

bob

[Tim and Julie B]

Hey Bob you never know. We have a Monkey puzzle tree way up on the N.W. Coast of Canada in my home town. Right under the Alaskan pan handle. Damn thing is supposed to be tropical but it's been there for years and doing well in the wet climate. I wonder if you can grow grapefruits hydroponically? :D TB

[crocdoc]

Hey Bob, which palms have you got to grow locally? My guess would be European fan palm and Canary Island date palm.

Tim and Julie, I don't think monkey puzzles are tropical in origin, for I believe they are native to Chile. There are close relatives of that pine in southern Australia (Gondwanan origins), some I believe even in the same genus.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, latitudally, monkey puzzles (Araucaria araucana) may look tropical, but its the elevations and the fact that its a little further south that make it a more temperate tree.

Funny thing about that, look at our native Douglas-fir tree. It occurs in a line all the way from Alaska down to S. America! How is that possible? Rocky Mountain range and Sierra-Nevadas! Provides temperate conditions all the way down!

Ahhhh forestry class................. ;)

[treevaranus]

Nope, it's too cold up here for any of the Phoenix palms. I have tried a Chamerops humilis(European fan), but it did not survive this last winter, which was significantly colder than most other winters...damn was it nasty....
The two that I did have survive were Rhapidophyllum hystrix- the needle palm, and a Sabal minor- palmetto palm. Of course, up here, they grow extremely slow, so they aren't much as of yet...

As for monkeypuzzles, I've heard that they are extremely hardy... Haven't seen any where I live though... We had a great big 40'er at the nursery I used to work at in Florida, those trees are nasty... We used to have to clean up all the dead squirrels that would fall to the ground, after leaping from a neighboring palm tree into it. THey'd get diced up from the branches... They branches/leaflets kind of remind me of a thatch rake-the kind you use to tear the dead grass out of your lawn...

Anywho, fun stuff... I'm hopefully going to try and experiment with a lot more plant species next summer, now that my waterfall is nearing completion, well, sort of....

Here's a link to my waterfall in progress-all fabricated rock. As well as two zoological exhibits I did for Fauna Magazine.. Enjoy..

Some of My Rockwork (http://geocities.com/environmentalfabricationsinc/index)

[thunder]

those setups are really great! i bet whoever lives there is one happy burm. i tend to envy the big snakes at the zoo, their enclosures are bigger than my room. then again, they probably weigh more...

[reptiguy123]

"Palms have no wood."

That's interesting. What are they made out of?

[Jeff_Favelle]

For starters, Palms are monocots, meaning in embryonic development, they only have one cotelydon. ALL tree species are DICOTS (more than one cotelydon).

Its not real wood, its just spongy, connective tissues that harden sometimes with age. There are no growth rings in a palm and they only grow from the end of their trunks (hence no growth rings). Trees grow every year by producing a layer of new wood just inside the bark. They grow from the inside out (hence the growth rings). They do this by adding to the fusiform (spelling??) and ray initials. I don't have any textbooks, so this is all from memory.

I think that covers it though. :)

[crocdoc]

Bob,

While looking at your links (nice work), I noticed that the blackthroat exhibit is classified as Varanus ionides.

http://www.geocities.com/environmentalfabricationsinc/blackthroat2.html

Whose doing was that?

Back on the subject of trees, keep a lookout for the Wollemi pine, which will be hitting the nursery market next year. Not sure if you know the story, but it's a primitive relative of the monkey puzzle and Norfolk Island pine, thought to have been extinct for 65 million years until someone canyoning in the Wollemi wilderness (northwest of Sydney) stumbled into a valley full of them. Two such valleys have since been discovered, but to prevent eager collectors from finding them and savaging the trees for seeds they have been cultivating seedlings and cuttings for a massive release to the public.

[Tim and Julie B]

Wow I just learned a lot about trees. Monocots.....gotta remember that one for scrabble. How big are the Wollemi pines? TB

[Jeff_Favelle]

Trees are cool and wood is good!

Tim, remember, all grasses, corns reeds, etc etc are all monocots. Every other plant is a dicot. Well, the vascular plants that is. There are plants that are neither dicots or monocots. They are bryophytes! Mosses and liverworts! And the dicots are either aniosperms or gymnosperms. Gymnosperms are "naked seed" plants. Like pine trees, etc etc. Angiosperms (Anthophyta)are the flowering plants.

Yep, that's everything I know, or at least can remember. Ha ha, don't get me started on algae! LOL! Science KICKS A$$ for scrabble and pictionary! For sure. If I had more geography, I could play Pictionary for a LIVING!

[Tim and Julie B]

Ooo.....ooo.....I took Geography! Hee hee hee Jeff said sperms.

But seriously that is really interesting. So Bamboo, I can grow that really well :D is a monocot. Interesting.

Bob the monitor in that pic is amazing! Do you have anymore pics?

TB

[reptiguy123]

Where are the seeds located in palms without coconuts?

[bear24]

Well this is the most intersting thread I have read in awhile. Thanks for the lesson in trees and not trees. The Waterfall looks amazing and I can't wait to see it finished.

[Steeve B]

If you’re serious about dracaenas you first need to breed plenty of apple or land snails, otherwise they will fail. Email me at jobi64hotmail.com or phone 450.755.4837http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/959Photo_158-med.jpg

[crocdoc]

Tim and Julie, I am not sure how tall the Wollemi pines grow, but I imagine at least 30 metres. They will be sold small, though, as are Norfolk Island palms and will make nice decorative plants until they grow larger.

Reptiguy, non-coconut palms produce seeds within fruit. The size of the fruit varies, most being small. Dates are a type of palm fruit containing a seed. The biggest seeds in the world, though, are from palm trees. Coconuts are the second largest, I believe, the largest being the coco de mer, Lodoicea maldivica, (sometimes known as the double coconut) from Seychelles. They can be 20kg or more in weight.

http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/lodoicea_maldivica2.htm

[reptiguy123]

Those things are huge!!!