I was at a reptile show this past weekend when I discovered vinegaroons for the first time. I have never seen one at a show before but there were several vendors selling them at this show. I couldn't resist.
I'm doing some research on these critters but a lot of what I've read is totally. I'd love to hear from people who have first hand experience rather than repetition of what's already online. I've read everything I could find (it's not much) and the info is inconsistent so I'd like to hear it from people who can share their experiences. I joined to ask these questions.
1) Will these guys bite and/or pinch a human handler? The most authoritative sources I have found contradict. They either say vinegearoons can inflict a painful bite. Or they say vinegaroons are incapable of biting humans. Both can't be true.
2) At the reptile show one of the vendors said that if you are sprayed by a vinegaroon the liquid will bleach your clothes. Knowing your clothes could be ruined in an instant sucks. Is that true?
I know guests will also be fascinated and will want to hold him but before allowing them to I want to know if there's a possibility of a bite or clothes getting bleached.
3) How often should they be fed? I've read one prey item per day and I've read one prey item once every 7-10 days. That's a huge difference. What to do?
4) This is one that people without first hand experience might be able to advise on based on experience with other burrowers. How important is it to provide a deep enough substrate for burrowing? It's a desert species so I have about 3/4" of reptile sand in there and he's very active. I put one of those arc shaped hides made out of tree bark in his cage. At first he dug under the side to get into the hide (instead of entering the easy way through the opening) but since then he just walks around the cage and spends a considerable amount of time sitting on top of the hide and very little time under the hide. And when he's on top of the hide I've seen him try to climb the glass up rather than dig down. So he doesn't seem to care about burrowing.
Is there any harm in not providing a substrate he can fully burrow into? If he burrowed all the way down I'd miss watching him troll around his pad!
I've had lots of reptiles in the past and this guy is one of the most fascinating creatures I've ever owned. Definitely the most active I've ever owned so there's lots to see.
TIA
I'm doing some research on these critters but a lot of what I've read is totally. I'd love to hear from people who have first hand experience rather than repetition of what's already online. I've read everything I could find (it's not much) and the info is inconsistent so I'd like to hear it from people who can share their experiences. I joined to ask these questions.
1) Will these guys bite and/or pinch a human handler? The most authoritative sources I have found contradict. They either say vinegearoons can inflict a painful bite. Or they say vinegaroons are incapable of biting humans. Both can't be true.
2) At the reptile show one of the vendors said that if you are sprayed by a vinegaroon the liquid will bleach your clothes. Knowing your clothes could be ruined in an instant sucks. Is that true?
I know guests will also be fascinated and will want to hold him but before allowing them to I want to know if there's a possibility of a bite or clothes getting bleached.
3) How often should they be fed? I've read one prey item per day and I've read one prey item once every 7-10 days. That's a huge difference. What to do?
4) This is one that people without first hand experience might be able to advise on based on experience with other burrowers. How important is it to provide a deep enough substrate for burrowing? It's a desert species so I have about 3/4" of reptile sand in there and he's very active. I put one of those arc shaped hides made out of tree bark in his cage. At first he dug under the side to get into the hide (instead of entering the easy way through the opening) but since then he just walks around the cage and spends a considerable amount of time sitting on top of the hide and very little time under the hide. And when he's on top of the hide I've seen him try to climb the glass up rather than dig down. So he doesn't seem to care about burrowing.
Is there any harm in not providing a substrate he can fully burrow into? If he burrowed all the way down I'd miss watching him troll around his pad!
I've had lots of reptiles in the past and this guy is one of the most fascinating creatures I've ever owned. Definitely the most active I've ever owned so there's lots to see.
TIA
