# Any snake (or reptile) owners? =)



## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

She is adorable! I use to have some. My last one was Pandora. She was about the same age as your girl. I loved that little snake she would always snuggle down in my shirt. Someone left her cage loose (they are amazing escape artists!) and she got out. We never found her. I'm sure her body is like somewhere in my walk or something. I had two others a few years before her. Both boys one about 3 ft and one about 4 ft. They were long term fosters for a rescue and the rescue eventually took them back.


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## candy-chan (Jan 7, 2015)

poodlecrazy#1 said:


> She is adorable! I use to have some. My last one was Pandora. She was about the same age as your girl. I loved that little snake she would always snuggle down in my shirt. Someone left her cage loose (they are amazing escape artists!) and she got out. We never found her. I'm sure her body is like somewhere in my walk or something. I had two others a few years before her. Both boys one about 3 ft and one about 4 ft. They were long term fosters for a rescue and the rescue eventually took them back.


Thanks! That's so sad about Pandora. I'm always scared of that happening even though our cage is a key locked front sliding glass door type. =( I can't wait until (if) she gets that big! She has been growing alot with each shed (only 4 since we got her) but hasn't been eating much since winter started so... well see.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Yes I was so upset about that! Sometimes I dream that a fully grown Pandora will slither out of my wall one day and I will have her back. I highly recommend a locking cage like you have especially for ball pythons. They are amazing at escaping. That's good that she is shedding so well, I always had problems with my boys shedding. It was such a battle! But they weren't the healthiest of snakes and they were on frozen thawed which made things more difficult because they wouldn't eat well. Now Pandora was a cinch! She shed well each time and ate tons! She was on live because I just didn't have it in me to force feed her every time she needed to eat, which is what the pet store was doing to get her to eat the frozen thawed. They do eat less in the winter so that is not to unusual as long as she doesn't stop eating completely. 

I have a Leopard Gecko right now. He is ok, I much more prefer snakes especially ball pythons. Dang it! Now I want to get a ball python!


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## candy-chan (Jan 7, 2015)

Hey you never know! 

Yea I've read about that happening, so I'm waiting until she's eating more consistently before I up her food size (bigger costs more lol). She just skipped two weeks, but ate yesterday so all is well. I do frozen though, I'm scared a mouse will bite her!

Snakes are addicting aren't they? Would love to see a pic of your gecko though!


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

*Non-furries*

When the kids were still at home we had our share of lizards, geckos, and frogs. I really liked one of the bearded dragons that we had for years. Now all I have left is a big ol' tortoise. He's about fourteen years old, weighs fifty pounds and runs loose in the back yard.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

It's good that she eats the Frozen thawed. I would choose to feed that way too, much safer. I never did have an issue with the live though. But I wasn't leaving them in the cage alone, if she didn't eat it immediately I took it out and saved it till she was hungry. I bred my feeders so it wasn't all that expensive, but I saw the price of larger rats the other day at the feed store! Ridiculous! Snakes really are addicting, to me lizards just aren't as fun as snakes. As for the pic I'll do you one better and give you a video. He is hard to get still pictures of, lol.

http://youtu.be/tSMJqCBKmjM


Charmed, Wow! That is a big tortoise! Do you know what kind of tortoise he is?


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Our tortoise is an African Spurred Tortoise, also called a Sulcata. I got him from a reptile rescue seven years ago. He has doubled in size and his shell pyramiding is much less noticeable. Like many Sulcatas, he did not have proper nutrition when he was younger. Originally, we had him in a 10 by 10 foot pen, but he was so unhappy that we turned him loose in the entire backyard and he has since flourished. The dogs have all been trained to leave him alone. He is big enough now that he is a bit intimidating, especially if he hisses. He does have a heated igloo for cool nights, but often just burrows in a sheltered spot. These tortoises can get up to 200 pounds. Thank goodness he will follow me anywhere if I wave an apple or orange in front of him... there is no way I could pick him up and move him.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

That's what I thought he was! He is a handsome boy! I use to volunteered for a tortoise rescue and we dealt with a lot of pyramiding. People think they can just feed them iceberg lettuce and that's it, but it's not. I remember getting so many goodies for them. They always favorited the hibiscus flowers and I never knew why. Now I know they are delicious! I love making hibiscus tea! I bet he is intimidating! I wouldn't want a 50 lbs tortoise hissing at me that's for sure! We always made underground burrows for the tortoises at the rescue, the really loved to get down in them and refurbish a bit. It was fun to watch them.


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

I have lots and lots of ball pythons (been breeding them for probably 10 years) and 2 carpet pythons. There are other species I'm interested in but I don't have the time or space to add them.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

I knew of a carpet Python here that killed a small dog, Never ate it?
Eric.


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

It's possible that the snake killed the dog and then realized the dog was too big to eat. My 2 carpets are still young, so not in danger of eating anything other than rats....but the snakes are in their own secure building so it's a non issue anyway.

I do envy you Australians though, you have some awesome reptiles over there.


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## candy-chan (Jan 7, 2015)

Charmed said:


> When the kids were still at home we had our share of lizards, geckos, and frogs. I really liked one of the bearded dragons that we had for years. Now all I have left is a big ol' tortoise. He's about fourteen years old, weighs fifty pounds and runs loose in the back yard.


Wow what a big guy he is! That's so cool, I didn't know people kept large tortoises as pets =)


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## candy-chan (Jan 7, 2015)

poodlecrazy#1 said:


> It's good that she eats the Frozen thawed. I would choose to feed that way too, much safer. I never did have an issue with the live though. But I wasn't leaving them in the cage alone, if she didn't eat it immediately I took it out and saved it till she was hungry. I bred my feeders so it wasn't all that expensive, but I saw the price of larger rats the other day at the feed store! Ridiculous! Snakes really are addicting, to me lizards just aren't as fun as snakes. As for the pic I'll do you one better and give you a video. He is hard to get still pictures of, lol.
> 
> Leo The Leopard Gecko - YouTube
> 
> ...


What a cutie! I made the mistake of showing my daughter (5) the video and now she wants a gecko haha "It's like a cheetah and a snake mixed together! Wow!" lol

Yes, the rats cost way too much, thankfully they don't need to eat every day!


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## candy-chan (Jan 7, 2015)

FireStorm said:


> I have lots and lots of ball pythons (been breeding them for probably 10 years) and 2 carpet pythons. There are other species I'm interested in but I don't have the time or space to add them.


That's awesome! I'd love a carpet python oneday but sadly we will probably never have enough room. Oh well.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

This carpet python was about 8 feet long and 6 in dia. in the middle. He was fed on rats and was well fed. The owner who had him for many years said, he had prey drive and would kill a rat occasionally and not eat it. He thought the snake saw the small dog as prey and killed but was not hungry? It was his dog and he was quite put out. The dog was used to the snake and took no care. He was convinced the snake could have digested the dog if it wanted to. The concept of prey drive in reptiles is not fully researched. It is thought that they will normally only kill to eat. I did see a wild python, that looked like a carpet snake, in the Northern Territory of South Australia. She was about 15 feet long 8-9 in dia and very friendly. I picked her up and took her away from our camp to a place closer to the river. She seemed attracted to the lights of our camp?? I think she was female because of her size.
Eric.


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