I am a Ph.D. at the University of Florida studyin Hi all, I am a Ph.D. at the University of Florida studying the effects of fire ants on various wildlife species. At present, I am dealing with fence lizards and am in need of some 'wisdom' or help in regards to equipment. I have pit tagged my lizards with 134 khz tags but only have a scanner that reads out to about 1 inch (and reads slowly at that). For identification from a distance I have painted them different color codes but my project will last 2 years within enclosures and the paint will need to be reapplied often which may not be possible as they are fast and difficult to capture (these are relatively large enclosures). Thus, if I am unable to capture the individual I will lose that recapture data which is important for my mark-recapture study. What would be optimal is if I could scan them from a couple of inches away once I sighted them using a long range pit tag reader. However, the most likely candidate I found through biomark can scan 9 - 12 " but costs almost $3,000. Does anyone a) know of other long range scanners that read 134 khz and are more reasonably priced, b) have a long range pit tag reader they may be willing to lend out that is not in use until I can get a grant to purchase my own, or c) have a used long range pit tag reader that they may not need for a project anymore and be willing to sell at a more reasonable price. Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read this!
Best, Andrea
