Exotics you've owned, care of snakes, other reptiles

[MyBuddy]

Growing up, I was terrified of spiders. Even when I was first married I remember calling my dad (they lived minutes away) to come get a gigantor spider! That day he was busy and he told me to 'get your hip boots on and go get him!' Nooooo, daddy!! I think I finally got the vacuum. Over the years I've softened a lot (or grown up lol ) and sometimes I think I can actually see the fear in their eyes.

But to handle a tarantula?????????? Ain't ever, ever, ever gonna happen, no way, no how! *shiver*

Our daughter is terrified of wasps. She hates those things! All I did one day was look behind her like this and I think there was a burn on the carpet as she high tailed it outta there!! BTW, there was nothing there. I was just playing with her. I don't think she ever forgave me for that!

 

[Brioddy]

I've always been a fan of herps and I have had all kinds over the years from lizards to tortoises and I took a particular interest in locale specific boa constrictors. My favorite was a Caulker Cay boa, Caulker Cay is a two mile square island off the coast of Belize and the boas that live there are vastly different from ones on the mainland. They reach a maximum of around four feet, far less girth, and the most beautiful slate grey colorations. I wouldn't go as far to say they are arboreal but mine did enjoy the branches in her cage very much.

I haven't worked with marine animals directly like Bri, but I am an avid aquatic enthusiast and have lived on the Gulf coast of Florida for nearly thirty years. It's amazing the connection you feel with nature when you immerse yourself in the saltwater. I feel very lucky to have the experiences I have with critters that other people have only heard about.

The only picture I could find is one of my pacman frog, aptly named. I'll have to find more.

Oh... and I do not under any circumstances come near spiders!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

 

[Regalis]

Is that a hog island in the second picture?

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Is that a hog island in the second picture?

Yes it is. Good eye. She was just finishing up a rat (juvie).

 

[Tropicalbri's]

She did not like me watching her eat. I would usually cover her feeding tank with a towel. She was hissing as she was eating when I took the picture. She was a beautiful snake. I enjoyed her more than any of the others I had. She was pretty docile when I would let her just hang out with me. She also was an excellent eater.

 

[Regalis]

I really like hogs. They are generally docile and stay smaller than your typical redtails, so they were a popular choice for intermediate owners. Plus, they're just pretty. Have you seen the Pearl islands? They're goooorgeous as well.

It's really not uncommon for snakes to not like being "watched". We usually feed in a dark plastic tote. Once they grab the rat we just walk away for a bit. It was a trick I learned with picky babies. A few we would even have to leave the (dead or pinkie with no teeth/nails) in over night until they grew up some. I had one wild caught Guyana that I had to feed live soft furs AND leave her alone. Always worried me that she'd get bit up. Soft furs are some mean little buggers!

Friend of mine has a hypo x hog that is just beautiful. And really well tempered. I'll have to see if I can find any of the pictures. He bred that one with a standard hypo and produced some amazing super hypo jungles. Of course he hasn't been able to get them to breed again since! There was one female baby that was one of the prettiest snakes I've ever seen. And she just gets better with age. He's also the one with the argentines so I told him if he dies, he has to leave all the snakes to me or I won't take the argentines (especially his big female, she's just evil) lol

 

[Tropicalbri's]

We got her when we were in Roatan. My understanding now from talking with breeder friends that the Hoggs are difficult to come by, rare even.
I regret letting a breeder talk me out of her because she really was a perfect snake. I built her a fantastic condo and she really flourished. I had limbs for climbing, different temperature zones and humidity areas for her. Lots of quiet places to hide. I handled her a lot except during shed. She always had healthy sheds.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

This was one of the Pelicans with its pouch slit that I mentioned in an earlier post.

 

[Regalis]

How does that happen? Fishing hooks or from just eating?

I will never understand the breeder definition of "rare". To me, the only rare species are the ones that are both hard to find in the wild and do not readily breed in captivity. We had several Hogg's come through the store and they could be found at our local reptile show as well. It's like all the various color morphs in snakes. Most of them really are not rare. Once you understand the genetics behind them, they are easy to recreate. The only ones I tend to count as rare are the ones that are a fluke and no one is (yet) sure of how it occurred. It always seemed odd to me when people would declare something like albino boas as rare. There's nothing rare about them, especially these days. They are one of the easiest color morphs to produce.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

The slit pouch on the pelicans were from kids that purposely did it.
Serial killers in the making!!
Usually when I hear someone say rare it means expensive. Hahaha

 

[Regalis]

Good grief. What is wrong with people?!

And yeah, pretty much! Lol. I've seen some morphs go for over 30k. Completely insane of you ask me.

 

[MyBuddy]

This was one of the Pelicans with its pouch slit that I mentioned in an earlier post.

I'd be slitting THEIR throats!

 

[Hades]

We have a bit of a zoo.

We own

Several Royal Pythons one of which is a super cinnamon and true to her morph she's a little and hates the world and everyone in it.

Then we have a Western Hognose

A Kenyan sand boa

And a crested geçko who is also a and likes to crap on everything and everyone.

 

[GennyB]

I can't say I ever "owned" any exotics but have had a couple passing through.
A local bar had a saltwater tank that they kept a 6ft. green moray in. They had a feed the eel happy hour thing going. I can't remember exactly how it worked. I just remember them calling and saying they had to rehome it NOW! The eel had accidentally bit someone and caused a lot of damage. Of course hubby said he would take it. He was with us until we found him a home at a public aquarium.

Then we got a large shipment of live rock. We were sorting it by size for some set ups we were doing. What did I unearth? A blue ringed octopus. No one ever saw me move so fast. He was rehomed faster than the eel. I made sure of that.

 

[JanS]

Then we got a large shipment of live rock. We were sorting it by size for some set ups we were doing. What did I unearth? A blue ringed octopus.

Isn't it amazing what comes in with live rock? I've never had an octopus but I was always fascinated to go peek in the tank when a lot of those things come out at night. I say "was" because I haven't bought any live rock for a long time.

 

[GennyB]

Isn't it amazing what comes in with live rock?

It's also pretty amazing the huge animals that hide in those little tiny crevices.