500daysofscales - Tumblr blog

[500daysofscales]

If you are an aquarist/reptile/amphibian blog please reblog :D

I want more swimmies and scalies on my blog @v@

[500daysofscales]

tarantula webbed everywhere.

not really sure what's going on with my tarantula.. I don't like to jump on the molting conclusion, not too sure if that's what it is but she's webbed all over her fake plants and over her cave, kinda like she's made a den. she's got a big bald spot on her butt too. she last molted about a year ago.. she's also one for having a rearrange around the tank! she's been in there for a year so it wasn't that she was unhappy with anything.. unless she's changed her mind haha, will see what's to come

[500daysofscales]

never known a snake with such an attitude

[500daysofscales]

[500daysofscales]

day #6, cycling my axolotl tank.

so pretty much a repeat of yesterday. I got these results.. practically no ammonia, no nitrite maybe a little bit of nitrate?

so I boosted ammonia back up again to I'm guessing about 5ppm - 6ppm..

then 4 hours later (same as yesterdays time gap) I retested to see if I could catch the nitrite that's disappearing within 24 hours and it came up! not sure why the ammonia didn't drop as dramatically as yesterday though

so I take it that my tank is somewhat in the cycle? how much longer until I should add my axolotl?

[500daysofscales]

the colours on this girl are amazing

[500daysofscales]

big healthy tail

[500daysofscales]

day #4, cycling my axolotl tank.

the ammonia had dropped from yesterday down to about 1.0ppm. comparing the photo of the nitrites yesterday to today there seems to be a tiny bit of something? and some nitrate?

I boosted the ammonia back up and will check in 24 hours to see any changes

[500daysofscales]

day #3, cycling my axolotl tank.

today the tank showed a big drop in ammonia - to about 0.50ppm not sure if that’s normal

i tested for nitrites but looks like nothing (which was expected) so have boosted up the ammonia to what looks like 5ppm. will check again tomorrow to see if there’s any drop in that. i’m fairly sure i read the noticeable drop takes about a week, which has confused me why it’s been so sudden but i’ll keep adding the ammonia and testing nitrites

[500daysofscales]

RIP steve irwin - 10 years today

I really can't believe it's been 10 years since steve irwin died! I remember it like it was a few years ago.. he really kick started my passion and interest in animals, specifically reptiles, he was pretty much my hero. used to always watch his shows on TV with my dad when I was younger and I even had this action figure of him. so sad to think he's gone, what a huge loss, but he's had a great impact on the world and will be remembered just as he wanted to be

[500daysofscales]

day #2, cycling my axolotl tank.

run another ammonia test today, 24 hours after the last. maybe a little bit lower than yesterday? not sure if that’s normal or not but we’ll see how it goes!

[500daysofscales]

day #1, cycling my axolotl tank.

I thought i would record my entire cycling experience as I'm going along.. i’m hoping someone out there will find this useful (let’s hope it goes to plan!) or can point me in the right direction if it starts going wrong. I'm doing a fishless cycle

EQUIPMENT: tank, freshwater liquid testing kit, 35% ammonia, exo terra aquatize dechlorinator & exo terra cascade filter

DAY 1: fully cleaned the tank with hot water and no cleaning products. added an aquarium safe sand. added décor from previous tank. added water that had been dechlorinated. i used an ammonia calculator online which calculated the dimensions of my tank and it gave me an amount of ammonia to add (0.24ml) which i dropped into the tank, then took a reading. the first ammonia reading was super dark - 8ppm, which is too much to kickstart the process, so i did 20% water change and it dropped to 5ppm - 6ppm. hoping i’m on the right track with this

[500daysofscales]

happy friday everyone!

[500daysofscales]

happy out in the garden!

[500daysofscales]

in fuerteventura and there's loads of these little guys running around. just had a look online and think they're something called boettger's lizard (gallotia caesaris) but not sure! they're so quick!

[500daysofscales]

took our rat cookie to the vets today as she’s been snuffling for a week or so and she’s got antibiotics to take for 10 days. fingers crossed it gets cleared up and she gets better

which brings me to another point of how important it is to keep some savings by when you have animals incase these things happen. I don't have any pet insurance on any of my animals but I do put money aside regularly incase and it pays off in times like this

[500daysofscales]

I think our rat cookie has a respiratory infection /: have been hearing her wheezing and making coughing like noises. will be getting her down the vets asap but just worrying. has anyone else had something similar?