Koledar, kače 2011 in kuščarji 2011

Na voljo sta koledarja s kačami in kuščarji za 2011. cena je 7€ za koledar. naročila na ckzks.center ( a t) g m a i l . c o m

Slovenija ima...

Talent in še marsikaj drugega. Med drugim pa končno neko sodobno gradivo za začetnike na področju kuščarjev v slovenščini. Čeprav pripadam drugemu sklopu znanja, me je hobi prevzel do te mere, da se nisem mogel upreti skušnjavi in poskušam zapolniti knjižno verzel na tem področju.
Tako je nastala 112 stranska barvna brošura z veliko lastnega slikovnega materiala, ki bo pomagala odgovoriti na nekatera ključna vprašanja o kuščar-teraristiki. Odzivi do sedaj - različni. Knjiga je začetniška, definitivno, notri je tudi nekaj vsebinskih in slovničnih pomankljivosti, na katere sem bil opozorjen naknadno. Moj odgovor je - zakaj tisti, ki imajo več znanja na tem področju do sedaj niso pripravili takšnega gradiva, zakaj sem moral kupovati gore nemške literature, iskati po svetovnem spletu, selekcionirati in zbirati informacije če sem začetnik.

Cena - kakor za koga - 30 evrov je uradno - preveč ali premalo. Glede na to da sem za nakup tuje literature zmetal cca 1000 evrov in vsaj dodatnih 500 za bencin + da sem tisk pokril iz lastnega žepa - ni pretirana. In definitivno je vredno dati 30 evrov za pripravo na nekaj kar vas bo stalo 300 evrov, če vam teh 30 evrov stroška pripomore, da bo vaš novi ljubljenček preživel.

Kdor želi knjigo naročiti se lahko obrne na ckzks.center@gmail.com in se bomo dogovorili.

Are we better?

In Slovenian blog-space religious debate on one blog become more and more confused with different elements of life. And despite not very constructive it made me seriously thinking about one question concerning human being as a part of animal tree in nature. Somebody after long debate said, that human being has something that no animal have. But as far as I can think about it it is only that human being has certain attributes developed better or in other way (same rule applied to animals as well).

Simple: human beings are using two limbs to move (certain animals as well - but only in different specific situations). So we can say that human 2-leg walking is only better developed than of chimp or frilled lizard (using hind legs for fast run).
All highly developed animals do have brain and are able of different logical operations or understanding of situation (not in extend like human but they do), and they usually freak out in danger (also people do same thing in cases when they wind out that there is no rational solution to the problem), and humans as well as other animals are scared of certain things with no real reasons (we all have phobias and we freaked out).

Harder: Animals as well as humans have their emotions and they are able to express them (in a limited way compared to human), and they fell pain, heat, cold (just as we do - with differences in tolerance threshold). So still only differences in a way and extend of expressions. In some cases they have special advantages in as sense of much better senses in general or with specific ones (bats are using sonars - like normal thing - human had invited them only in mid-nineteen century). Fishes are able to feel vibrations of surroundings - gosh we are not able to feel almost nothing of it - we have no need to (but it robs us for interesting experience of environment).

For smart ones: Animals usually have their "social" order, political relations, they play roles. Ants - organization like in no human army (bees as well), Wolves (loving family and society). You have alpha and beta pair - alpha are dominant leaders and beta are wise elders, and alpha position is always endangered by youngsters believing that they are strong and smart enough to replace current alpha male (horses, lions, you name it, ranking is strict and authority is questioned all the time). We think we are good by electing incompetent leaders and we are afterward not able to reexamine their authority all the time - just from election to election, in nature every fight is new election or better new opportunity to change aging old-fashioned ruler.

So far I cannot find any strong evidence that human is more than animal in general (it is better or differently developed in evolution - but still for me has nothing that is not able to be seen at other animals).

For genius - or question that puzzles me: Are animals religious creatures. This is only element that might be different or that we are not aware of. Nobody ever proved that they believe into something. They can organize, feel, thing, develop, communicate, even create some art but do they have believes. ??????

Putting together Terrarium

In one of previous posts I described how I changed my Malawi aquarium to terrarium. After month of great life with bearded dragon I found out that not only fish but also reptiles can be fun (in fact much greater fun). So I decided to carry on with bigger terrarium. Idea was to out in something bigger and interesting. I was choosing between Green Iguana and Chinese water dragon (both need tropical arrangement with intense humidity). On the other hand I was dreaming about more interesting reptiles like Thorny devil (living only on thousands of ants on daily basis) Frilled lizard, or African Red headed dragon. There was also option for bunch of small collared iguanas. I started browsing on possibilities to get something interesting and calculating appropriate dimensions, including prices. Last possibility were wooden plates (plastic glass was too expensive), and most appropriate dimensions were 180x100 x 60 cm And here we go:

First: put together, bottom rear and both side walls: I used metal corner plates and screws - If I need to move box I will have easy work with possibility to put it together again anywhere else without harming structure.


On front side: adding additional small front wall where channels (see them on picture below)for plastic glass doors will be added later on. In the middle there is support for roof, preventing any possibility to have middle part lover than both ends.
Master of electricity. It was real mess until i did not completely finish with all wires. Don't panic and be careful how to place electricity in order to preserve cables form heat. Lamps are classical daylight reptile light and UVB12% lamp. From side there is heating lamp 100W. On floor there is layer of ceramics, heating cable, double layer of ceramics, thick PVC layer to prevent possible leaking form terrain towards heating cable and wooden bottom and finally there is half send half wood ground.


I added branch (one more should be added as it seems form today), waterfall, some rocks. And few cactus (real ones without serious thorns).

And here is his majesty Chlamidosaurus kingii ariving to new home and using my boots for throne :-)

Kuščarji

Razlicno velika, relativno okretna in grozljiva bitja iz pradavnine, ki se svoji prilagodljivosti zahvaljujejo za obstoj skozi obdobje, ki presega obstoj človeka. Do nedavnega sem čutil odpor do teh grozodejtev, zadnjič sem se pa pod pritiskom razmer odločil enega izmed akvarijev spremeniti v nekaj okolju bolj prijaznega. In želja po novem je prevladala nad željo pod znano puhasto kepico imenovano hrček. Tako je nastal terarij (o nastanku tukaj). Poleg tehničnih zadev sem moral ugotoviti, če sem sposoben rokovanja s temi dinozavri. Prvi stik je bil dovolj ugoden, da se mi je zdelo vredno poskusiti. Posledice so predstavljene v nadaljevanju.

Stanje terarija: mrzli del 21 stopinj, vroči del 30 stopinj, na vroči točki pa 35-38 stopinj. Vlaga 35%.
Stanovalci: Pogona vitticeps - po domače Bradata agama in nekaj čričkov - odvisno od lakote glavne zvezde. Starost okrog pol leta, trenutna dolžina 26 cm (tehtanje še sledi). Slike so pa spodaj.

Minister za okolje se igra boga

Pa smo ponovno tam kjer ni muh. Minister za okolje in prostor K.E. je odobril odstrel 70 medvedov in 10 volkov. Na podlagi približno točne ocene o številu medvedov, ki se bolj ali manj gibljejo v Sloveniji se je Erjavec v skladu z "božjim načrtom" odločil za odstrel cca 20% medvedje populacije in za odstrel (na podlagi manj točne informacije o volčji populacij) 10-15% slednje - zgolj za potrebe "uravnavanja populacije".

Slovenija ima precej nesposobnih gospodarstvenikov in politikov - kdaj bomo začeli uravnavati populacijo slednjih. Predlagam odstrel 50 brezperspektivnih menedžerjev in 100 nesposobnih politikov, obstaja namreč nevarnost, da se prekomerno namnožijo in s tem še dodatno poslabšajo trenutne razmere v državi. Glede na to, gre dejansko za sanitarni odstrel za potrebe vzdrževanja družbenega zdravja.

Terarij

Po dolgem času ena prijetna zadeva. V policijski državi kjer se policija skriva v civilne avtomobile nam ostajajo zgolj male osebne radosti. Zaradi odsotnosti pokrova na enem izmed akvarijev sem se odločil tega sprazniti oziroma preseliti v škatlo s pokrovom. Migracijo rob ni preživel samo en upornik, ki se je namesto selitve odločil za samomor s skokom na tla. Po tem dogodku je ostal prazen in smrdeč 200 l velik akvarij, za katerega nebi vrjetno dobil 20 Evrov in ga je bilo zato smotrneje obdržati. Po krajšem razmisleku sem se odločil, da je čiščenje za kuščarjem verjetno bolj enostavno kot za hrčkom (kače nekako ne prenesem v rokah, tako da kak kraljevi piton odpade tako zaradi premajhne posode kot zaradi dejstva, da nimam hude želje po tej zadevi).

Postopek priprave:

14 dni "luftanja" akvarija - gnila mivka smrdi za popizdit + odstranjevanje vodnega kamna - užitek za gospodinje.

Vmes iskanje informacij o čudu, ki se imenuje plazilec, o biotopih in podobno. Odločil sem se za avstralsko puščavo notri bo pa ena bradata agama. Ponovno hvala ekipi na Akva-teraristiki v Mr. Petu v BTC Ljubljana.

Sedaj pa akcija. Prva plast keramičnih ploščic, potem pa po polovici površine grelni kabel in nato pokrovna plast ploščic (paket 25 komadov je cca 10 evrov.
Sledi 5x4 kg peska - v poljubni barvi - za avstralsko puščavo bo oranžno rdeč nekako najprimernješi (cena je malo bogastvo).
Potem se pa za nekaj časa posvetimo estetiki - primerni posodici za hrano in vodo (tudi nista ravno poceni) in nekaj dekoracije, kaktusi so živi, izogniti se je potrebno preveč bodicam, da se novi prebivalec ne bo nataknil že prvi dan. Moj izobraževalni center v Mr. Petu mi lepo sporoči da imam dve možnosti, dati notri kaktuse z bodicami, kar je nevarno in odsvetujejo ali pa dati notri kaktuse brez bodic kar je ogroženo ker jih mali stvor lahko v želji po sveži zelenjavi pomalica. K temu nasvetu dodajam lastno izkušnjo - ne dajte notri kake Opuntie - ker tisto bo dejansko kuščar lahko zagrabil in glede na to da tam bodice točno samo čakajo da se kaj gor nalepi bo ne samo na zunaj našpikan temveč bo imel bodice v gobčku - kar bo precej bolj nevarno kot pa če jih faše v nos.

Ja- bradata agama rabi svoje skrivališče
seveda zadeva v tej obliki ni najbolj estetska zato gremo še malo v potok po lepše ploščate kamne, ki potrebujejjo pred uporabo nekaj krtače in termične obdelave (pod geslom "ne rabimo bakterij"). K temu pa dodamo še kako korenino za izležavanje - v trgovini po nekaj evrov v gozdu zastonj, vendar pa jih je ponovno potrebno ustrezno preparirati (moji živci so vredni več kot 6 evrov tako, da sem zavil v trgovino). Glede na to, da so plazilci precej smotana bitja rabijo dva termometra (en je skrit za kaktusom, drugi pa nekoliko višje nad kamni. Desna stran je neogrevana in bi morala držati temperaturo nekje okrog 23-24 stopinj leva stran spodaj okorg 30 na kamnih pa se bi morala temperatura razviti do 40 stopinj.
Ker je je terarij v tej podobi vse prej kot privlačen potrebuje neko primerno dekorativno ozadje
Sedaj pa še projekt osvetlitev - prvi napotek - v kolikor imate že okvir za luč preverite dolžino neonke. Sem falil za 30 cm :D Kuščarji = UV svetloba (A in B). V Mr. Petu so rekli, da lahko ena žarnica ostane (od prejšnjega akvarija namreč), akvarijsko pa zamenja terarijska UVB 10%.
Manjka še - Grelna luč, ki bo dodatno grela kamnito podlago na levi za potrebnih 38 stopinj. Sistem je trenutno v fazi segrevanja - tisti grelni kabel rabi cca 12 ur da skozi plast keramičnih ploščic in nekaj cm peska segreje do 30 stopinj. Manjka še mrežni pokrov (steklo ali plastika odbijata UV žarke zaradi česar bi bila tista terarijska žarnica brez učinka. Manjka zaloga čričkov in seveda prebivalec. Ampak o tem drugič.

my new addiction

After elections in Slovenia and US things are getting normal again - including economic crisis - which draw some attention again. I certainly hope that it won't be too hard, despite some predictions are quite depressing. However, I have new pet - Siberian chipmunk - some kind of funny squirrel. I even managed to prepare his home on my own and it is 90x90x150 cm nice green cage. That is 3x as big as it was recommended in local pet-shop. And we were even able to do our first photo-session. Here we go:

Stanje mojih akvarijev.

Ljudje me že nekaj časa sprašujejo, kako je z mojimi akvariji in glede na to, da mineva nekako 3 mesece od kar je celoten projekt stekel podajam ustrezno poročilo :D Še vedno ostajam zvest Mr. Pet trgovini, ki me zalaga predvsem z znanjem in uporabnimi nasveti (lahko je prodat ribe za dober nasvet je pa potrebno nekaj znanja - zato se mi zdi primerno izpostaviti predvsem trgovino, kjer sem dobil tudi znanje ne samo materiale. Glede na to, da sem v osnovi čisti začetnik, pomemben delež uspeha pri preživetju ribje populacije pripisujem njim. Torej obstajata dva akvarija, Eden se je iz rubrike malo mešano preselil v poskus Amazonka, drugi je bil pa že v osnovi zamišljen kot Malawi. Oba sta v preteklosti že bila predstavljena. Še vedno si štejem v čast, da je razmerje med poginulimi in požrtimi ribami takšno, da napeljuje na požrešnost določenih prebivalcev in ne na slabo stanje v akvarijih. V Amazonki so v dveh rundah čudežno izginile štiri neonke (dežurni krivec je v dnevnem času skriva pod neko korenino kjer se je po vsej verjetnosti bolj ali manj zagozdil - ponoči pa naredi red med rastlinjem in ribami - Ta pošast se imenuje trnasti somič ali nekaj podobnega - zabavna zadeva, ki jo ne vidim zunaj razen kadar se prenežre in gre potem začasno umirat za grelec (ko pride k sebi ponovno spremeni svoje bivališče in zgine z dnevne svetlobe pod svojo korenino). Drugače se je V tem času pridružil še pikčasti som nitkar, ki je za spoznanje bolj opazen. Diskus se z izjemo slabih prebavnih navad počuti odlično za moje pojme - vsekakor z malo sreče ga ne bo na hitro pobralo pa še res lep primerek sem dobil (glej video). Skalarke pa rastejo kot nore - na žalost nič ne kaže na kak parček zaenkrat.

Malawi - jah ta največja pošast mi je zjagala lastno partnerko - dokaz, da velika želja po spolni aktivnosti in glavobol lahko pripeljeta do smrti :D. Splošno počutje zadovoljivo, včasih zvije rumene ustonoše ampak so še vedno vse štiri zelo med živimi. Bo pa potrebno poiskat kako učinkovito rešitev proti algam - trenutno sem zmanjšal čas osvetlitve in malo podrgnil po šipah.
Ugotavljam da bi potreboval dva ogromna in ne zgolj velika akvarija in nekoga ki bi zadevo vzdrževal, kadar se meni nebi dalo.
Drugače pa je največja zabava urejanje Amazonke - ker skalarke pogosto delujejo bolj kot piranje. Takoj ko namočim roko napadejo in me cukajo - tak bedno zabaven občutek. Drug štos je prehranjevanje - predvsem v Malawiju - stvar spominja na krdelo psov. Vsi se nabijejo tik pod površje in se prerivajo ter poskakujejo, če bo kaj hrane. Potem ko kaj pade v vodo je pa masaker. Dobivam občutek, da te ribe dejansko niso tako zelo glupe - vsaj za hrano fehtat so se zelo dobro naučile. Posledično sem vsake 14 dni v trgovini in kupujem novih 500 ml zaloge. O tem da je posrano dno akvarija pač stranski produkt pa tako ali tako ni vredno razpravljat.

In moj Malawi mini biotop v popolni funkcionalnosti

Končno par minutk odvečnega časa. Uspel sem dokončno vzpostaviti še drugi akvarij, Tokrat Malawi biotop z ostrižniki ter družbo treh somičev zadolženih za red in čistočo. Vse sicer ne sodi popolnoma skupaj ampak zaenkrat ni težva - nič še ni prišlo preč in tudi Amazonka se lepo drži. Je pa nekaj sprememb o katerih ob kaki drugi priložnosti.

Akvarijski odvisnik

Ne seveda, da ne. Kako drugace si itak ni mogoce predstavljati zadeve pri meni. Pred dobrim mesecem sem poskusno postavil prvi akvarij in sedaj ze pretiravam. - te dni dodajam drugega, vecjega. Tokrat 200 litrov jezera Malawi. Trenutno je cela zadeva v pripravi in samo zacetni video za pokusino kako okolje bo tukaj.

My first aquarium

Since I was a kid I dreamed about having fish in aquarium. First I wanted me a big aquarium (50x50 x 50 cm what is far from big, but for 8-year-old boy it was great. And parents said no way. OK. Than I wanted me a bowl with small fish (I even bought me a bowl but I never have balls to go and buy fish - thanks God for this). Than I forgot about aquarium and I was riding horses for a long while (more than a decade). However, I got that crazy idea back when I saw that I have nothing to do and almost no time for anything. And one day I saw nice aquarium full of fish and I got that childish look on my face and I started "Daddy I want my aquarium too, I want, want want". Ant that want was strong enough to search "Bolha" (Slovenian version of E-bay) portal and Find me nice middle-sized aquarium (80x40x50 cm). And then I started. I rearranged room, I bought all necessary stuff (I was listening and reading carefully before for a week or two to get at least basic information) I paid fucking lot of money. And then I started. I washed sand, I measured quality of water, I put first plants and decorations inside and almost broke Outside filter on first run (strange smell came out, because I wanted to run it dry. And then I finally managed to run it for first few days controlling water conditions and so on. Water was good and stable, first plants were fine and I added some more. And they are also good.
Then I added first two Ancistrus. They were doing fine (and still are), so I added also additional three Corydoras and they are preforming also great. Than I needed additional decoration and hiding place so I added nice root and some stone. things were doing just great but water was still empty. Aquarium was running for 14 days now - I is not much but I risked according to the fact that I had almost perfect water conditions. And here we go again. I started new cycle of developing my mixed area. I got me Platydoras (I am crazy about cat-fish), than I got me four scalares (Angelfish) - two classic white and black and two dark. I also got me also two Electric yellow cichlids and than I found out that my aquarium is almost perfect.

But only Almost so I added additional two plants and artificial cave for yellows.
For all professional attitude and good advices I am mostly indebted and grateful to Mr Pet zoo center in Ljubljana BTC. They provided me with most of what you can find in my aquarium or around it. But most important, they provided me constant monitoring of my aquarium and great new knowledge that helped that none of my fish died and none of my plants rotted so far.And here is my first aquarium in final version. It is not meant to be some natural habitat but it is my first attempt in aqaristics, where I want some of most interesting fish to live in the most optimal conditions I can gave to them.

First 2007 Autumn PHOTOS from Slovenia

It seems that we have "Indian Summer". However, These photos below are first 2007 Autumn photos form Slovenian woods, for my international friends. Slovenians are welcome too see photos also :)

Predsedniške volitve 2007 - Matej Sedmak(sanjač) - izločen

Matej Sedmak, nesojeni predsedniški kandidat je danes sporočil, da izstopa iz vrtiljaka predsedniških volitev. Kot kaže je ugotovil da sanje v Sloveniji niso dovolj za vstop v resno politiko. Lažje je beračiti po svetu za novo letalsko karto in štopati, kot pa nasanjati 5000 podpisov ljudi, ki o tebi ne vejo nič. Po sili razmer vem, da je dotični ex-predsedniški kandidat študent Mednarodnih odnosov in, da bi bilo bolje zanj če bi doštudiral nehal sanjati. Sedaj se bo vrnil verjetno v svojo prakso preteklega sanjanja predavanj in fotobranja - na FDV je že ene 14 dni plakat ki vabi na to njegovo delavnico. V veliko zadoščenje mi je, da smo dovolj demokratični, da lahko kandidaturo prijavi vsak, ki si želi poskusiti in da smo dovolj pametni, da lahko kandidirajo samo tisti, ki dejansko imajo nekaj izkušenj v politiki (roko na srce -Elena Pečarič je na slovenski javni sceni že kar nekaj časa s svojo invalidno vojno).

Sedmaku in njegovim sanjam pa predlagam, da se sedaj, ko ni več obremenjen s sanjami prime lopate in jo nese na pomoč v Železnike - da bo vsaj minimalna korist od njega, njemu bo pa tudi koristilo tako pri njegovi prepoznavnosti in tudi pri grajenju duha in duhovni rasti.

Sam sem, dodal link do blogarske ininciative za pomoč prizadetim v naravni ujmi. Upam, da se boste morebitni bralci odzvali klicu na pomoč tudi preko te povezave. Sam bom naredil še nekaj malenkosti, ki so v moji moči pa se s tem ne bom ravno hvalil. Bom se pa obregnil ob to kar sem napisal že pri Libertarcu. Lepo bi bilo če bi rimokatoliška cerkev od svojega premoženja v sloveniji namesto nekaj maš odškrtnila zgolj 1% premoženja v denarni protivrednosti in ga namenila za obnovo Železnikov (če bi bil zloben bi želel, da ga nameni za rekonstrukcijo Bolnišnice Franja). Tako pa lahko pričakujemo, da bodo podrto pokopališče morali urejati lastniki grobov, ki morajo plačevati tudi najemnino za grob in to na lastne stroške. Karitas pa tako ali tako samo pretaka denar ljudi k drugim ljudem (da ne bo kdo rekel da je to kar nameni Karitas za pomoč dejansko premoženje največjega kapitalista v državi).

Narasla Pšata v Mengšu - FOTO - zjutraj

Večerno zalivanje se je končalo za las - voda je v kanalu dosegla cca pol metra do razlitja, danes ob 6.15 pa je bila že meter in pol nižje od najvišje točke. Pa še malo slikc - z aparatom še vedno nisva prijatelja.

Narasla Pšata v Mengšu - foto

Super priložnost za nočne poskuse - trenutno z novim kolegom še nisva prijatelja tako da so fotke slabe.

Okrog 21h imamo simpatično nevihtico - tako zgleda sosedova streha, ko jo osvetli strela

00.15 sem šel preveriti kako je z razbremenilnim kanalom Pšate (Struga Pšate gre skozi Mengeš, in zaradi tovrstnih poplavic so udarniške brigade nekje 1956 cca izkopale približno 3-4 metre globok razbremenilni kanal. Na kraju zločina sta bila tudi varnostnika G7 in po njunih besedah bomo zjutraj mokri.








Mogoče bom še zjutraj preveril stanje - če ne bo po kakem naključju potrebno odmetavati iz kleti.

Predjama (before-cave) castle - FOTO

Just another day and another trip around Slovenia. It was nice sunny late afternoon and it was just enough time to drive to Predjama castle. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see one of most crazy world castles. Entrance Fee is - well it is not cheapest one (about 7€) but it is still worthy to see this rock fortress.

Historical idea behind it: In middle ages there was knight who rebelled against Habsbourg monarch and he had to find him new home in castle built in solid rock in the middle of the cliff. All around the castle are caves giving him additional natural protection and helping him to establish new maintenance ways in the time when he was under the siege. The knight was "Erazem Predjamski" and he was making fun of the army surrounding front of the castle that was without food and not able to invade the castle and he was throwing them food (he got it via cave system that was open to another valley) from the castle. There was no chance to invade the castle - walls are about 1-2 m thick. Only weak spot of the castle was the toilet. And there was knight servant who wanted to become closer to monarch so after the year of unsuccessful siege he sold his master to the army by indicating the time when Erazem went to the toilet. Enough words, here are some most characteristic photos.

This is a far look to the castle in the middle of the solid rock


When you come closer you can see also cave behind castle - within cave it is another older castle (only ruins).


Within the same cave there is cave path to the freedom, from where Erazem got food when he was under siege.



This is the view from the castle to the ground

Another look to the lowest level of rock where castle stand (behind door there is cave where was horse stable and another cave is just a bit lower).


Besiegers saw Erazem's castle like this - it is not very encouraging to invade it or what.


Toilet where Earzem was killed (object in the middle of the picture).


According to the legend this Lind is planted by Erazem's girl on his grave and it is more than 500 years old (and still alive).