New and with questions

[Fatal_S]

With my mom it's a Long Island Ice Tea

[KyleWeiss]

Geez. That's when I'm on a budget.

Why do I always sound like a drunk on here? I drink so infrequently.

KW

[Fatal_S]

Infrequently = less than once per hour each day

[Shadowfax]

Famous Kyle Weiss quote:

"There is nothing wrong with a girl named Bob."

KW

Or a boy named Sue?

Oh, you took mine! And shame on you Kyle, Johnny Cash is always cool. *sigh*

[KyleWeiss]

Famous Kyle Weiss quote:

"There is nothing wrong with a girl named Bob."

KW

Or a boy named Sue?

Oh, you took mine! And shame on you Kyle, Johnny Cash is always cool. *sigh*

Not really. Walk by a frat house this spring break and you'll notice two trendy things destined to die out (hopefully) soon: Johnny Cash and Texas Hold 'Em.

Pop culture has ruined Johnny Cash. Thanks a lot, world.

That's okay. We still have Sheb Wooley and Hank Williams.

KW

[Tattoo]

The Man in Black and pop culture have no relationship in my musical universe. Those of us unaffected by fads will still cherish him. Close your doors, have some whiskey and listen to some of his early music. I know I will be humming Ring of Fire when the human race finally destroys the planet.

[Shadowfax]

Aghhhhhhh, frat house = a large collection of people wasting oxygen. Not associated with Cash-ness! Some things existed before and will exist after silly people have temporary infatuations with them.

[Zach]

Bah, well, now i have a new problem.
My skink has mites. I'm going to the reptile shop in the morning to get some spray and new substrate, but my mum has gone a bit mad. She started crying and didn't eat any dinner and won't let me pick it up untill i'v treated the mites. Thing is, my skink is now really active and keeps scrabbling at the doors to its terrarium, wanting to come out and play
Ah well, hopefully the mite infestation isn't too bad and will clear up quickly and easily, and i'll have a word with the shop about wether it would have had the mites when it got to them or if it could be their substrate.

update: I phoned the reptile shop and they have offered to take the skink back for a couple of days and treat it there, and will then tell me what to do with the terrarium, so i am guessing they have noticed the other skinks have mites and are happy to take responcibility for that, which is good. I am a bit worried about leaving him though even though i trust them, and i have a friend working there.
Glad it'll be sorted though, and my mum will stop panicing.

Tell your mumsie if she keeps panicking like that she'll turn you into an emotional wreck by age 30. Yes mum, Kyle Weiss said, it, cut the drama and let the kid take care of his problems. Sheesh lady.

Sounds like you and the pet shop are doing better than mum is.

In answer to a former question, the only thing better about eggshells as far as calcium supplements is, is YOU know the source and the content, which is a nice, clean pure source of calcium. Well, that and with a little effort, is far cheaper.

Offer mum a drink and a magazine and tell her that her kid is doing fine. And Kyle Weiss said so.

KW

Sheesh, agreed.

[PsyKoViggy]

Erm, anyway.
I am heading to a farmers market at the weekend.
Collard Greens really don't seem to be something we have here, but are very closely related to Kale and Spring Greens, does anyone know if those are suitable substitues for daily use?
Thanks.

[Tattoo]

Kale falls on the list of feed occasionally. Not sure what spring greens would be. In our co-op Spring Greens are a salad mix having several things including spinach (not good for blueys).

[SailleSkinklover]

Try looking for dandelion leaves, (piss-a-beds) I know you guys have those in England! Certain greens are good for Blueys, and certain ones aren't so good. As Tattoo said, stay away from spinach, it binds with calcium in your Bluey's body and takes it out of his system, which you don't want.
Mustard greens, and turnip greens you guys should have there too.
Talk to Leigh about snails, you can't really go wrong with those as long as they're clean and pesticide-free.

As for the mites, wow, yuk! There are some threads on here about them, and perhaps instead of telling your mum that they are actual mites, you can say that your skink has non-contageous itchies and you need some meds for him! (she doesn't have to know htat its mites or parasites that are causing said itches! )

I guess this comes a little late though, she already know about the mites.
You can email/PM UserSafe/Steve on here, as he's the expert on pest control, but he is U.S. based.

While your skink is being treated, keep him on unprinted newspaper or paper towels. it'll be so much easier to keep clean while you are eliminating those pesky mites, and you may be reccommended to clean daily.

When you get ready to put new substrate in again, you can freeze it /bake it before you put it in the cage to kill anything that might be in the fresh substrate.
Good luck!

[PsyKoViggy]

I think spring greens are collard greens here, but i'm not an expert. I may buy some a photograph them and see if anyone can identify them, silly as that sounds.
Turnips greens here tend to be taken off and fed to farm animals before the turnips are sold, which is why i'm hopeing they may have them at the farmers market, but dandelion leaves shouldn't be a problem.

I will definatly try and perswade my mum to make room in the freezer for the fresh substrate, but failing that i don't honestly think it was the substrate that had the mites, as once i had contacted the reptile shop i bought my skink from they then went a checked their remaining skinks and are having to treat those aswell, so they probably came with eggs on them.

Oh, also, i'm thinking of naming my skink Till.

[SailleSkinklover]

Here's a website that helps ID some greens:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... %26hl%3Den

And here is a pic of Collard green:


Hope this helps!

[KyleWeiss]

Collard leaves are HUGE, I've seen them the size of hubcaps.

KW

[Leigh]

Spring greens are good,not exactly the same as collards but just as healthy.

Grow your own Turnip,Carrot,Parsnip,Swede greens. Chop the the top 1/2 inch off and place it on some kitchen roll,in a saucer of water, on the window sill,after a week the greens will sprout from the top.

With regards to snails, my boy likes the humbugs best(sorry to those that've seen these a million times)

and these get smashed just as enthusiastically


Gather the snails in a bucket, put a little(1/2inch) water in the bottom with some greens and a lid,after 3>5 days, if they're still holding on alive,then they should be fine to feed,they'll be well hid this time of year here,look under the shed or behind plant pots. I'm waiting for it to warm up a bit so as not to empty the garden of them before they get the younguns out.

[PsyKoViggy]

I have the greens!
Its been 2 weeks now that i'v been waiting for my bluey to be able to come back
I'm going to the shop tomorrow so hopefully they will have completely sorted out the mites and i can finally bring him back home.
I'll be sure to take some photos when he's settled back in.