Thursday, April 12, 2007

The "D" word

The SF Bay area like much of the state of California may be facing a drought this summer. Counties are already asking folks to voluntarily cut back on their water usage in hopes of avoiding before madatory restrictions of up to 20%.

The SF Chronicle has some suggestions to reduce your water usage.

Shorter showers and less-frequent showers also save water. So does reusing water, buying an on-off garden hose nozzle, running washing machines and dishwashers only when full and turning off the faucet while shaving and toothbrushing. Also good is building a backyard rainwater cistern which, Pogorelskin said, is a fancy name for an old trash barrel.

or another good option

As for the double-occupancy shower, deputy operations chief Pam Jeane of the Sonoma County Water Agency said a drought is no time to be shy. The government fully approves of whatever consenting adults do to reduce consumption.

"Absolutely,'' she said. "Shower with a buddy. Everything helps.''

What can you do to reduce your water consumption for your reptiles and amphibians yet still keep them healthy and happy?

The best way is to reduce evaporation, or trap the evaporation. This can be done simply by placing a sheet of glass or plastic over the screen top of your cage. We also carry glass cages that have a 2/3 glass 1/3 screen lid for a $1 more than the conventional screen top cages. Do you have house plants that need water? If you do water them over one of your reptile cages. That way when water drips through the pot, it will fall right down into your reptile cage and be reused.

Some humidity loving species can be kept happy by keeping only one part of the cage humid. This works great for many tropical snakes. Give them a hide box full of wet water holding moss to climb into. That way you only have to keep the moss box moist and the rest of the cage can remain dry.

If you soak your tortoise and he leaves that special tortoise mess in the bath water, take that water out to your garden and water your plants with it. It even has built in fertilizer.

You can also use succulents as cage decorations. Cactus Jungle has great plants and herp knowledge so they can help you find the perfect drought resistant plants for your vivarium.

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