• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Birdseed

G

geekcoboy103

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Hello, I've been searching for a nice, fine cockatiel bird feed to use as substrate for my Eastern Collared lizard for quite some time now.
Cockatiel seed has the thinnest shells, so it digests easier if ingested.
Can someone give me the link to a website that sells cockatiel seed with NO ADDED CALCIUM OR VITAMINS?
Thanks.

-collin
 
I just can't imagine keeping

any reptile on birdseed. I've bred and kept parrots including cockatiels and the ( kept > ) eastern collareds, the western, and the reticulated as well as for sale in my biggest pet store of past and let me tell you about birdseed ( maybe you Know this or should ), birdseed gets moldy with moisture and grows many bacterial problems if not changed almost every day. It also grows plants as the seeds are the seeds from plants in the first place. Not bad if say , you were keeping a herbivore but you would still get the moldiness. Of course your collared is not a herbivore though ! Forget it and go with a safer substrata. If for some reason you are still bent on using birdseed, there are on-line sites like everything else these days that you can go to and request a non-husked any mixture of seed or if you can visit a feed store , they have catalogs normally of the same that maybe you could order.


geekcoboy103 said:
Hello, I've been searching for a nice, fine cockatiel bird feed to use as substrate for my Eastern Collared lizard for quite some time now.
Cockatiel seed has the thinnest shells, so it digests easier if ingested.
Can someone give me the link to a website that sells cockatiel seed with NO ADDED CALCIUM OR VITAMINS?
Thanks.

-collin
Click to expand...
 
Really?
Dang...
I heard it doesn't mold, but you've used it before, so I believe the experience over my personal choice.
I don't like using newspaper, the crickets hide in it...
I have TONS of coconut fiber...
But it holds humidity too well.
And there is no way I'm using sand or chopped walnut shells.
I need some sort of loose substrate.

-collin
 
I have no idea how well it works or if it holds moisture and humidity, but I have heard of people using Rabbit pellets. The food type not the poo type LOL
 
The problem is with rabbit pellets and other

substrata, is that we are talking about a desert or semi-arid herp. Rabbit pellets are fine with some tortoises and semi-tropical herbivores but not collareds lizards. Again you would have problems if the substrate got wet or held moisture due to humidity. The species ( and a lot of other ones ) wouldn't do well with a humidity level of potential respiratory infection and again on maybe harboring bacterial problems. I tried rabbit pellets on several species of herps and found it useless except for very small species of some tortoises and small iguanas. Of course probably depends also on cage size and aeration of the cage. So what did i find to work the best and low cost and safe > on this particular species and sub species ( and can be applied to many more of the same habitat loving species ) was a mixture of play sand and garden soil. Wal-Mart prices > a approx. 75 pound bag of play sand cost about $5 and a 50 pound bag of garden soil cost about the same. I open the bag of garden soil and let it dry for a few days before mixing. I use a shallow water container on a plate in the cage. You will still get some substrate in the water container but at a minimum. You will still need to clean out the cage periodical but not as much as oppose to using other substrates. AND how long could you go on the above recommendation of what I suggest and have used ? Depending on cage of course again, a year > ? More > ? And costing about $10. Think of habitat where certain species come from. It doesn't have to be pristine.
 
I have him in a 20-gallon tank.
I made a 'slant-tank' out of a 30-gallon tank for my hatchling Spotted turtles.
I want to do the same thing in my Collared tank.
I want to have both sides having the substarte I use, but one side will be closer to the top, and I'll put a basking spot on top of it, and have water, and I want to do it.
I like that idea, but I hate sand...
What if I used almost all of it garden soil?
Thanks for all your guys's help.

-collin
 
I agree with Mike that bird seed will start to mold, especially if subjected to higher humidity and poor ventilation. Cockatiel mixes usually contain safflower and sunflower seeds, as well as oat groats, which have rather thick hulls. Hookbills (like cockatiels) crack the seeds and only eat the 'meat' from inside, whereas softbills and fowl eat the whole thing... but they require grit in their crop in order to grind up the whole seeds. If you still want to use bird seed, I'd look for a feed mill that sells Japanese, proso or white millet since they have relatively fine hulls.

Rabbit chow turns to mush if it gets wet, and that doesn't smell any better than the pellets that would be coming OUT of the rabbit. If you want to use a similar pellet-bedding, I would recommend either aspen pellets or recycled newspaper pellets such as Yesterday's News or Good Mews (sold as cat litter). Crickets may hide under newspaper, but they're also going to burrow into pretty much any other bedding that is light enough for them to do so. In addition to playground sand, aquarium gravel and garden soil, you might want to look around for cactus potting mix (as long as it's not fertilized) because it is a mix of sand and soil that seems to stay pretty fresh for quite a while.

Just my .02
 
So would that be a good mix for a Savannah monitor? How about for a yellow throated plated lizard? A bearded dragon? Thanks for the advise. Even though I did not start this thread I find it educational and interesting.
 
We won't have that around here, in northern Virginia.
So I can use like 80% dried garden soil and play sand?
Thanks.

-collin
 
If I'm using a soil-type substrate, I usually mix some sand and coconut fiber into the soil. I couldn't tell ya the exact ratios, because I don't really measure it. I would guess that it's about 50% soil, 25% sand and 25% coconut fiber by volume... but it can vary.

Cheryl- I honestly don't know if it would be okay for savannahs or the plateds, as I have never kept them... although I can't really see why it wouldn't be alright. ALTHOUGH, I personally (and I know that many may disagree with me and that's fine, it's just MHO) won't use anything other than paper towels, newspaper or coconut fiber for BABY lizards.

(just don't mix the soil idea with the bird seed idea, unless of course you have a green thumb... :raspberry )
 
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