Keeping and Breeding Australian Lizards

[eipper]

What do people think of Mike Swan's Lizard Book??

Personally I reckon it is pretty good value for 70 odd dollars

Cheers,
Scott

 

[ryanharvey1993]

havnt seen it at the shops yet, though I wouldnt mind getting it. does it have much info on keeping geckos and stuff? probably would be good, the keeping pythons one is good

 

[richardsc]

geckoes are very well covered,its a good read

 

[ambah]

I agree, a good investment for any keeper!

 

[indicus]

What do people think of Mike Swan's Lizard Book??

Personally I reckon it is pretty good value for 70 odd dollars

Cheers,
Scott

Yeah Scott; not bad...I'm looking forward to Mr Brown's new lizard book .

 

[herptrader]

I am only into the second chapter but it is very readable. It is a slightly different style than the python book - fewer authors, which makes it a more personal read if you know what I mean. It is definitely in the must have category. It will probably take me a few weeks to read it all but I am looking forward to doing so.

The pictures are great... even though I find the one of the Perentie on the front cover oddly washed out.

 

[herptrader]

havnt seen it at the shops yet, though I wouldnt mind getting it. does it have much info on keeping geckos and stuff? probably would be good, the keeping pythons one is good

You can get it from the Herp Shop or Mike Swan himself. (Or at the VHS reptile expo next weekend.)

 

[nathancl]

i thought it wasnt that great. there was a huge hype for it but there was ****loads of mistakes (typos, mis-identifications etc) and also im not sure if everyone else noticed but all the pictures had a mustardish tinge to them ? another thing is in the actual texts there was chapters on species and basically all the chapters concluded to was that nothing was known about them ? just seemed a bit silly to make a chapter on things when nothing is known on them ? another thing i picked was alot of pictures, particulary eulamprus and other skinks were put in the book even though there is none held in captivity which seemed to me pointless.

70 dollars for a compilation of information that is readily available elsewhere

brutal but true

 

[smacdonald]

Nathan! Ouch!

Does anyone know if Mike's book talks about Nangura? I'm thinking about getting a pair.


Stewart

 

[herptrader]

nathancl I think you have missed the point. Yes, much of the information has been previously published but try and pick it up for $70! - I don't think so.. more like 10 times that amount and even then it is no where near as conveniently published.

As for species not currently kept, how on earth is that meant to change unless information on husbandry gets out there.

 

[richardsc]

danny browns book is on all reptiles isnt it,im hanging to read that,nathan i think adding species that arent knowen about is good,the books on aussie lizards and including them shows aklot of work still needs to be done,the pics arent to bad,for 70 bucks i think the books very well priced,but i can see where your coming from,personally i found it went into detail for some species more than others but when one author is writing each chapter thats to be expected

end of the day i find it an excellent book,hope theres more new books of this class out in the near future to

 

[TWENTY B]

i'll be getting my copy at the next sydney expo 100%

 

[smacdonald]

danny browns book is on all reptiles isnt it

Dr Brown's book covers lizards only.


Stewart

 

[slacker]

Does anyone know if Mike's book talks about Nangura? I'm thinking about getting a pair.

lmao.

 

[salebrosus]

Yeah Scott; not bad...I'm looking forward to Mr Brown's new lizard book .

When is Mr Browns out?

 

[smacdonald]

When is Mr Browns out?

Not even the good doctor himself knows that.


Stewart

 

[nathancl]

herptrader:

my point was why waste a chapter on something to conclude to the point that nothing is known of them ??? thats not providing husbandry information at all and the reason for that is noone has kept them so really it is pointless.

you can access 90 percent of the information in the book on the internet, alot cheaper than 70 dollars

at the end of the day its personal opinions anyway and I was just having my say glad everyone else likes it though.

 

[edgewing]

Got a copy earlier in the week and have to say it is not too bad. Gives me quite a bit of info about species I may consider later, and I do a lot of research on the internet but I can't resist actually having a book.

Have never been able to stomach reading a complete book on my computer screen, you can't read it in bed, get comfortable on the couch with it and watch TV at the same time.

 

[eipper]

Nathan,

Will true a number of species represented in the pages are not currently kept in captivity, a number have been previously or information on the genus can be reasonably infered from what is already known about the genus.

Alot of both unusual and insignificant (at least to the masses) have been kept by people conducting their honours research etc, to specifically talor something to what is available now and not consider the past or future, I feel would be greater mistake.

As for image reproduction, well I know you have seen number of those images previously or been there when one or two people were taking the images in it. There is definatly a yellow tinge which in turn has dulled the contrast of some the images, funnily though its not on every page.

Ah well I still regard 70 dollars as a good buy.

And Stewart....No Nangura stuff in there

Cheers,
Scott

 

[euan]

Nangura ??? Are there any in captivity ???
Now that would be interesting. I still remember the first one in a pickle jar, enough to make me salivate

No time to read it properly yet, so far so good, shame all the photos are washed out. Price is right.