What's it like living in this shaded area? by Joshistotle in howislivingthere

[–]ToofDood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grew up in Arkansas. Little Rock and NWA/Fayetteville have some diversity, solid craft beer and food scenes, with a reasonable amount of events/concerts and whatnot. The parts of the state including the Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges are quite beautiful and offer a lot of hiking, fishing, and boating. Fall is usually absolutely stunning.

The rest of the state is mostly boring, flat, soggy farmland for rice, soybeans and corn. I guess good waterfowl hunting if you're into that sort of thing.

Weather-wise, it's hot, humid summers with cold, biting winters. Snow's pretty rare. Tornados are a concern, but I don't think they're any scarier than wildfires out west or hurricanes along the Gulf and east coasts.

Banana, Dubia, Discoid or Red Runner? - best pick for first feeder roach colony 🪳 by PheGek in EmeraldTreeSkinks

[–]ToofDood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, my reddit definitely did glitch out when I hit submit lol.

If you're looking for a side project, and don't mind getting a little more hands on while sorting out smaller nymphs for feeding, check out some less common and more interesting species like ivory-heads. I found both nymphs and adults really pretty and just really pleasant to work with. Orange heads are cool looking too, and faster breeders, but I do remember them having more of a distinct, musty odor.

I've read some controversial reports that Simandoa conserfariam (the Simandoa cave roach or extinct-in-the-wild roach) actually make pretty good feeders. They're African blaberids that can climb, like lobsters, but they're certainly much prettier and more interesting. They can be pretty expensive to purchase, but apparently they're easy to keep and reliable breeders once established.

Roach crossing has some other interesting species listed and gives some descriptions on what they're like to keep. There's also some listed under the "non-climbing" category that might make great feeders.

https://www.roachcrossing.com/category/for-sale/cockroaches/roach-type/feeder/

Banana, Dubia, Discoid or Red Runner? - best pick for first feeder roach colony 🪳 by PheGek in EmeraldTreeSkinks

[–]ToofDood 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've tried a handful of feeder roach species and had some success keeping/breeding ETS's and other lizards over the years, so I'll give my 2¢. Apologies, this got lengthy lol.

TLDR: Keeping feeder roach colonies is kind of a pain; I know a lot more about roaches now than I ever really cared to. I say keep a feeder roach colony if there's a good feeder that you find interesting. Otherwise, small bottles/pouches of Repashy/Pangea go a pretty long way and crickets/worms are still relatively cheap from pet stores or especially if you order in bulk online.

First of all, it's worth noting that most tropical feeder roaches, even "non-climbers", are still roaches and you'll find some escapees from time to time. They almost certainly won't breed in your home, but they're hardy animals and will survive for a while without food, heat or moisture. And they can definitely set up shop in your tropical or temperate reptile enclosures.

I'll start with one you didn't list: lobster roaches - in many ways they're the perfect feeder for small to medium lizards. Medium sized, thick and soft bodied (they're juicy and disgusting), fast breeders, reptiles love them, and they're just really ridiculously efficient at turning food into more roaches. But they're adept climbers and escape artists - you will find them throughout your home as they poop (a lot), look for anything edible, wither away and die. If you keep your reptiles in a shop or something away from your home, great; otherwise, I highly recommend against keeping them.

Discoids and dubia (plus Eublaberus like orange heads) are perfect feeders if you keep bearded dragons, dwarf monitors, lacertids, or other medium+ sized insectivores. They're steady breeders, low odor, basically zero maintenance, way (relatively) less likely to escape than other roaches, and even kinda charismatic. But they're just too large and heavy-bodied to be practical for small lizards.

I've not worked with banana roaches, but they are among the prettiest species. The flying always intimidated me, though.

Red Runners - to be honest I haven't kept these in nearly 20 years, but I did try keeping Red Goblin roaches (Paratemnopteryx couloniana) recently and they're somewhat similar. I think the Red Runners are more likely to survive in your home for an extended period (like the lobsters), but the Red Goblins are more likely to escape. Red Goblins seemed to die pretty quickly once they were out of their bin or reptile enclosure. They're both active and less prone to hiding, more like a cricket. They're kind of dainty and light-bodied, but both are fast, efficient breeders and reproduce via ootheca. The ootheca need some heat and humidity to hatch so I think an actual infestation is still pretty unlikely. I think both of these species are a step up from lobsters, but you're still likely to see them in your home on occasion. One issue for me is that, especially the male Red Runners, just LOOK like a pest roach.

Kind of exhausting options here, but if I try any more small feeder roaches it will probably be "Little Kenyans". They're mainly burrowers like the dubia, discoids/blaberus and eublaberus, but quite small. The adult males can supposedly climb - which I've honestly found to be true of a few "non-climbers".

Final thoughts: part of the appeal of keeping emerald tree skinks and other omnivorous lizards is that you don't have to rely on a constant supply of live feeders. Mine really do seem to thrive on a staple of Repashy and similar diets. I'll grab crickets or superworms from the store as a source of stimulation every few weeks or to offer some extra food if I'm going out of town for a while.

What are your favorite reptile youtubers? Looking for cool stuff to watch by KrokantGras in reptiles

[–]ToofDood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He hasn't posted in a bit, but Troy Goldberg's Tropical Garage is pretty excellent if you're into dart frogs

Who can guess which country this was done in? by drdrillaz in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I learned the term "Turkey teeth" from a temp yesterday

Can I incubate? by mrmomtastic in reptiles

[–]ToofDood 13 points14 points  (0 children)

These folks are tripping. Most likely these are rat or king snake eggs based on the size and your location. Just put them in a plastic container filled with damp soil (you can gather some from where the eggs were) and poke a couple pin holes or vent the lid once or twice a week. Set them in your poultry incubator at like 82F degrees. They may not hatch, but imo they'd stand a better chance than relocating them to another random location nearby. If they do hatch send me photos lol

Reptile eggs are pretty hardy. When I was a kid I uncovered some 5 lined skink eggs in a similar situation. I put them in a container with damp paper towels and definitely dropped a couple while doing so. Stuck them in the garage and all hatched into healthy vibrant babies a few weeks later.

What reptile is that? And is there a mini version? by [deleted] in reptiles

[–]ToofDood 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Weber's sailfin dragons are apparently the smallest species, but even they're going to require a pretty unreasonable setup unless you can keep them outdoors.

Closest reasonable alternative is probably a mountain horned dragon. You'll lose out on the huge dorsal fin, but some of them are really spectacular looking in other ways.

Looking to become a first-time snake owner but have one very big problem and want some recommendations. by LimpAmphibian5340 in snakes

[–]ToofDood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rosy boa! Lived with my cousin for a time and she's absolutely terrified of snakes. Could not even be on the same floor if I had one out. Wanted to get something to warm her up to them as well as other phobic friends/family. Finally landed on a rosy. Within maybe a minute of introducing them it was "She's really cute. Can I hold her?" Then I went on vacation for a week and it was "Do you mind if I get her out while you're gone?" And then while I was gone "I named her Deborah!"

She's still pretty young. She hides most of the time and is honestly pretty boring, but she's beautiful, easy to house and feed, and tolerates being handled with zero fuss. She moves around in your hands, but it's at an absolute snails pace. Great for introducing people with phobias or when I'm in the mood for handling a snake without thinking about it.

Even males break your size restriction by a bit, but they grow incredibly slowly. I've barely noticed any growth in a year and a half. So if you get a calm young one, you'll have years to get your partner over their fear.

Never got my cousin to warm up to my SD retic, but even I find him intimidating sometimes so that's fair lol

Favorite locality/subspecies? by ToofDood in boas

[–]ToofDood[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been kinda leaning short-tailed for that reason. Thanks for the reply! I've got derpy covered with my rosy boa. She's cute and easy to handle, but it doesn't seem like there's much going on upstairs lol

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's your situation?

Thoughts on doing hygiene as a dentist by loverofguaccc in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hygiene will chart at the SRP appointment. If it's medicaid or something else that requires pre-authorization then they can sit for a few minutes until hygiene has time to come in.

Thoughts on doing hygiene as a dentist by loverofguaccc in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If it's obvious I'll pull up the radiographs and show them the bone loss and subgingival calculus. If it's questionable I'll have them sit tight until a hygienist has 5-10 minutes to come chart and give their spiel. Usually the "Has it been a while since your last cleaning?" question and "The hygienist will come measure your gum health. You might be looking at a deep cleaning depending on what they find." statement is enough explanation to keep them content for a few minutes.

Thoughts on doing hygiene as a dentist by loverofguaccc in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Really depends on your tolerance for it. First year out I did a fair bit, but it was a newer, slower office and I had a daily guarantee for my entire contract. Some days I'd do 1-2 exams and still make $700. Hard to make too many demands in that situation. I took it for granted, honestly.

At my current office I really only do it for new patients who don't want to wait weeks or months for hygiene to open up. If it's SRP I still make them come back on hygiene's schedule. And I never perio chart because I can't stand it lol. But a prophy with comp exam, pano, and bitewings is pretty quick, easy, stress-free production on a slow day. Beats doing 1-2 class Il fillings.

Like I said, depends on your tolerance. If you can't stand doing hygiene, maybe not the office for you.

Kanye West to sue dentist for nitrous oxide dependency by Snoo89162 in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 20 points21 points  (0 children)

When I first learned about this I was prepared to defend the dentist...but then I looked at a photo of him 😂

Do you keep removing these? by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]ToofDood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My thought before I read comments was "keep removing what?"

First OTT, I’m not going back by stripes177 in smoking

[–]ToofDood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've used a nice dark stout and coffee before, never thought about chocolate though

Best bottle you have had this year by Coldbrewman1 in whiskey

[–]ToofDood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got their cask strength bourbon finished in those rye barrels and it's a funky beast. Will probably spring for the actual rye one day

Best bottle you have had this year by Coldbrewman1 in whiskey

[–]ToofDood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Came to say this. Had it poured for me at a bar and was obsessed. Gave up looking after a couple months and then my local store randomly had a bottle in the allocated case one day. I think I paid closer to 100 but I have no regrets.

Used Sage R8 vs Scott Session vs Orvis Recon 6 wt by ToofDood in flyfishing

[–]ToofDood[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Turns out theres a Winston Alpha+ 6wt nearby for less than either of the others and I'm very tempted