Miss Marley

[InsanePirateDragon]

Yeah I need to be here more often but Miss Marley is coming along nicely and still pretty friendly and has had a remodel.

From when I first got her,
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20110914_153714.jpg

From this,
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_0080.jpg

And she decided to give me a scare the other day which sent me into protective snake momma mode.

I picked her up and was handling her when I noticed a strange bulge and that she had bubbles coming out of her nose. And I went into panic mode :eek:(had trouble with eldery Leo so I tend to freak out about things sometimes).

I of course panicked and assumed the worst and turned up the heat and gave her a vapor treatment that I learned about, (live in rural area with the nearest herp vet a good drive away). Then thinking the worst, I took her in thinking I was a horrible snake owner for letting Marley get and RI.

Turns out she was perfectly fine... And decided that she needed to poop... A lot... :rolleyes:

So now I'm out a little bit of money with a nice and healthy snake with no problems not so ever. *headdesk*

[gregmonsta]

Regardless of her 'needing to poop' I don't like the sound of bubbles coming out of her nose (unless, maybe, she had just been drinking). Has she been fine since?

[guidofatherof5]

Miss Marley is a fine looking snake.

I just read that Miss Marley was the victim of a cat attack sometime earlier in the year.
That raises a red flag on the bubbles coming out of the nose. A possible respiratory infection would be my concern.
Less of a concern since she just saw a Vet, but still a concern.
Just an idea.;)

[InsanePirateDragon]

Regardless of her 'needing to poop' I don't like the sound of bubbles coming out of her nose (unless, maybe, she had just been drinking). Has she been fine since?

Yeah she has, eating, active and weird budge gone and no bubbles since, but I did give her a bit more heat to help a bit. I figured that she had just gotten a drink.

[Mommy2many]

Glad to hear things seem ok now.

[mikem]

she's a very pretty girl! you did the right thing by taking her to the vet just to find out she's okay! i'm sure if she could, she would show you her appreciation for being a caring owner ;)

[EasternGirl]

Yes...the bubbles do concern me as well. My snake Cee Cee just got over a respiratory infection and bubbles coming out of her nose were one of the signs that the vet and I used to determine that it was time that she needed to be given antibiotics. You may want to give the vet a call and mention that you saw that. Cee Cee is doing well now after a course of injections, and increased heat and humidity. But it was important that she take the course of antibiotics. Please keep us posted about this. She is a beuatiful girl!

[InsanePirateDragon]

Well its offically nearly a week since 'Bubblegate' and theres been no more sign of bubbles or any other signs of an RI and the vet check a couple of days ago, I can pretty much say I believe I overreacted that night. But still gonna keep a closer eye on her for another week just to ease the paranioa a bit.

The good thing though she's taking worm bits out of my fingers though she prefers her dish I think.

[guidofatherof5]

The good thing though she's taking worm bits out of my fingers though she prefers her dish I think.

If you would like a free pair of hemostats (makes feeding small pieces of worm easier) just PM me your name and address and I'll send you a pair.
I get them free and would be glad to share. ;)

[InsanePirateDragon]

That would be awesome thanks!

[InsanePirateDragon]

Now is anyone good at telling how old baby Garters are. Its something I've always kind of wondered about, she wasn't that big when I took her in,

This is one of the first pictures I took of her and consider one of her baby pictures. The tiles in this pic are 4x4 inches for size reference.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20110914_132925.jpg

[EasternGirl]

Can you tell us how big she is? Can you measure her?

[EasternGirl]

Also...do you know for a fact that she is female?

[InsanePirateDragon]

I'll try and get a measurement of her tonight when I get off of work tonight. I haven't tried to measure her since I first got her set up.

[EasternGirl]

Do you know for a fact that she is a female? Has anyone sexed her? If not, if you could take a picture of the underside of the lower part of her tail...holding her straight...so that we could look at her vent, we can tell you if she is female. The vent, if you don't know, is the little indent that you see in the lower part of the underside of her tail. We need a close up. Examples of sexing pics: http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/5069-sexing-pics.html

[InsanePirateDragon]

I believe she was sexed as female but heres some more early pics, not long after I took her in so you can see farely fresh wounds.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20110914_153346.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20110914_153628.jpg

[katach]

What are your temps and humidity at? Just wondering, some of her scales on her belly look odd to me.

[guidofatherof5]

No doubt, it's a female.

[EasternGirl]

Yep...female. Kat...you did read about the fact that she was attacked by a cat? She has wounds that healed and scales that are missing.

[katach]

I saw that, but the scale I can see in the second vent pic looks different than an injury it looks more like a scale that is too dry.
Willow had them when we found her in the heat of summer. We had to treat the area with antibiotic ointment and make sure her humidity was right. They are healed now. That's just what it looked like to me though.

[EasternGirl]

Hmm...could be then...good asking about the temps and humidity then. :)

[InsanePirateDragon]

That grey patch between the sixth and seventh slit from the vent was another puncture wound, I think kitty was playing with her for some time. I'm not sure of the humidity, she has a good sized water bowl and the local store always seems to be out of hydrometers whenever I go and the next nearest store is a bit aways but the warm side is 86 degrees, with a lamp set on a timer that brings it up to 90 about mid day and shuts off in the afternoon in case she wants to me warmer.

Here's a pic of the area how it looks today, the scars look a bit red but otherwise fine
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120229_000449.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120229_000343.jpg

And why its difficult to try and take pictures of her by myself, silly thing keeps getting in the way with that pretty head.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120229_000609.jpg

And she let me measure her, she's a lot longer than I thought at about 15 1/4 inches long.

[katach]

Looks better. Thanks for the updated pics.

[EasternGirl]

Cute pic with her sticking her face in the camera!

[EasternGirl]

I don't really want to try to guess at age...she is under two feet and a female...depends on the species...is she a northwestern?

[guidofatherof5]

The bite seems to be healing nicely.
Good looking snake.

Bad KITTY. :mad::D

[InsanePirateDragon]

Yes, very bad kitty. She put a lot of wholes in her and she even sits in front of the tank constantly trying to find her. Marley of course takes off hiding until she's chased off. Crazy cat, she tends to harass everything from dogs to people.

And no she's not, no Northwestern, they're not even native to my state. KS only has three garter spiecies; Checkered (which is illegal to own in KS since its endangered), Plains and Common Garter thats often called the redsided out here cause of their coloring, but I'm not sure if its a subspecies around here or not. And out in Eastern KS its mostly the Common and Redsided.

Most see Garters as pests around here and often times meed the bad end of a shovel. Most everyone around here worry more about Copperheads and the rattlers that you occasionally find, and tons of little Browns. THey're aren't many who keep them as pests. Its mostly Kings, Corns, and boa/pythons that are popular here.

There is a local herp show in town every other month but I've always been unable to go to see if they have any Garters there.

[chris-uk]

Checkered (which is illegal to own in KS since its endangered)

Didn't realise that they were endangered, that's got to just be a state law? Checkereds are pretty common overall.



THey're aren't many who keep them as pests. Its mostly Kings, Corns, and boa/pythons that are popular here.

Sounds like the UK snake scene. It's all about anything but garters. There's a small group of garter people trying to spread the word.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Its a state thing only, the checkered has been pushed to the southwest corner of KS so its on the KS list of endangered/threatened and in order to possess the checkered you have to have a permit from the state.

Not sure about CB ones though, might be like what I've heard about the San Francisco garter, its something I'll have to look into on owning ones from out of state. Right now Marley's all I need at the moment, might be interested in getting another female at a later time.

[katach]

You have a very pretty red sided (T.s. parietalis) if I'm not mistaken.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Thanks, I was hoping she was one, I wasn't sure between the common and red sided.

From what I've been hearing. A lot of the red sided strands seem to come from the wild caught ones here. Everything I read said that Kansas has the pretty reds for some reason.

And still not popular around here in Kansas.

KS why you no like Garters.

[guidofatherof5]

I've seen some of the Kansas T.s.parietalis. Lots of red. I believe some members have some.

[katach]

"Common" is a name given to the species of T. sirtalis by people that don't really know about the individual species and subspecies. So when you read about common, the red sided falls in that lump category.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay, that makes since now. What I've been reading about Garters it always was showing the normal commons and with the red sided or were labeled commons.

[EasternGirl]

Well, I was thinking northwestern or red-sided from the pic...wasn't sure where you were located. Very pretty red-sided she is then. I'm going to let someone who knows more about size with T.s.parietalis guess on the age with the size you have given then...

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay, still thanks though, any help is better than no help. Still learning all that I can and this forum has been a lot of help already.

And if anyone needs gecko help though, I'm all there.

[katach]

Age is very difficult to tell on WC (wild caught) snakes. If it helps here is a link to the old site's article on T.sirtalis.
Common Garter Snake - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Common_Garter_Snake)

[chris-uk]

Thanks, I was hoping she was one, I wasn't sure between the common and red sided.

From what I've been hearing. A lot of the red sided strands seem to come from the wild caught ones here. Everything I read said that Kansas has the pretty reds for some reason.

And still not popular around here in Kansas.

KS why you no like Garters.

Does Kansas tend to have red soil? Just wondering why there's an abundance of red parietalis there.

You'll have to start spreading the word and convert the locals to garters.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Not all that much really, I've never seen that much and I've never been to the western side there's some spots of it but there's more in Oklahoma and more south of Kansas than anything. Out in central KS there's a lot of Harney silt loam, which is the state soil. Kansas is mostly farmland and prairies. But most of the dirt has a lot of clay close to the rivers and water which makes it hard to grow gardens sometimes.

And we do have a lot of sandstone and limestone from when Kansas was underwater. Maybe thats something.

[chris-uk]

Another evolutionary driver is often that harmless snakes start to look like something deadly, bright colours warn away predators. That may have been the driver if it's not a camouflage thing. I wonder what the main predators of parietalis are in Kansas.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Well, we don't have a lot of big predators, there's raccoon, possums, badgers, coyotes, skunks, and probably cats and dogs. We also have a lot of hawks, owls, and other birds that probably think that they make a tasty snack. And we have tons of Bullfrogs, good sized ones.

[InsanePirateDragon]

And tomorrow is shopping day for critters and get everyone food, including Marley who the past week and a half has eaten quite a bit. She hadn't eaten much during the winter. I tried fish on her without much luck so we're going to try it again since she's eating regularly and see if she takes it.

Luckily there's a supermarket nearby that has fresh fish so I'm gonna get some tilapia. I had some frozen but found that article about frozen fish so we're gonna try fresh and freeze it.

I'm also gonna get a couple of guppies and give them a shot and see if she takes those, as well as another thing of worms for her.

I don't really like the idea of cutting up frozen mice, I keep picturing pieces ricocheting when I try to cut it.

[EasternGirl]

I won't lie to you...it happens sometimes...the pieces ricocheting. You learn to hold on to the mouse so it doesn't happen. You can just take a paper towel or a piece of plastic and hold it with one hand and cut with the other...it really isn't that bad cutting them when they are frozen...you get used to it. But my snakes love frozen/thawed fish and worms. You may want to think about getting some calcium/vitamin D3 supplement powder too. Repcal is a good one. You just lightly dust the food with it every 3-4 feedings. I bought mine at Amazon online. Amazon.com: Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 (4.1 oz) Ultrafine Powder Pink bottle: Pet Supplies (http://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-Calcium-Vitamin-Ultrafine-Powder/dp/B00076HTQA)

[InsanePirateDragon]

Already have some, still have about half a jar. I've been putting on her worms every so often.

And its the same stuff that my Leo uses, so I'm already familiar with it. I also have the multi vitamin as well, does Marley need that as well.

[EasternGirl]

Some people use it some people don't...some people think garters need it and some people don't. My vet said he worries about overdosing the garters with the multivitamins because they are so small and getting the dosing right is difficult. But I know some people use them and cut the dose back. I just use the calcium and D3 so I can't really advise on the multivitamins, but if you want to use them I'm sure other members could tell you how to dose them.

[InsanePirateDragon]

I won't worry about the multi at the moment then.

Not showing any interest in the tilapia, but she ate a couple of the guppies I got her, so yay!

[RedSidedSPR]

Scent the tilapia with guppies. Works like magic.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay, I'll give that a shot then with the next bunch, she finished off the last couple of them in her bowl as well as a worm chunk.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Attempt two went over a little better, I got her to take a piece of tilapia after I rolled it in a small worm I mashed up. She wouldn't take it out of the hemostats but she took it out of her bowl.

So yay! One piece down.

[katach]

Good job!

[RedSidedSPR]

*inserts thumbs up emoticon that doesn't exist here*

[EasternGirl]

Good news!

[InsanePirateDragon]

Ok so the tilapia rolled in worm mush seems to be doing the trick, she took another one tonight, this time from the hemostats as well as a piece of worm. I put a bit more in her bowl to see if she decides if she wants anymore.

[mikem]

awesome! glad to hear she's eating fish for ya! i bet she'd eat a pink too if you rolled it around in worm mush. :)

[InsanePirateDragon]

Quick question about redsided coloring from the others who have them.

How red can these guys get?

Marley seems to almost have a blush of red along her lower sides and I'm not sure if its cause she's young or ts her adult coloring coming in.

[guidofatherof5]

From what I've seen and heard the Kansas strain seems to be one of the most red.
I don't have any but I'm sure some other members might. Maybe even post a photo or two, please.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay, it was nice out this evening so I did a little photoshoot what I'm talking about, but her eyes are going blue so she's not at her best.

Still not camera shy, she kept trying to climb onto it and gets a bit wild for a moment as soon as she's on the ground but she does settle down until the dogs bark.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120314_182639.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120314_183404.jpg

But this is one of the best I believe discribes what I'm talking about,
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120314_185242.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120314_183412.jpg

See how the red is creeping into the yellow stripe on her sides right past her head almost making it look orange, and farther down her body the stripe is still yellow but there's red spoting along it.

And we did have someone try and crash the shoot, she always comes running when I have Marley out,
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120314_185400.jpg

That is Demon Spawn (aka Salem) that brought Marley home that day. Still won't leave her alone. Don't worry, someone else was holding her at the moment so she was very much out of harms way.

[guidofatherof5]

Awesome T.s.p. Very unique.
I have a radix(Peachy) with something like that.
She's beautiful.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Thanks, I know I googled everything I could think of to see if I could find anything close, but really hadn't much luck finding anything close to how Marley looks.

its something that I'm going to be watching now and see if she either looses it or gains more as she gets older. Right now she's being really fussy, probably because of the shedding soon. Which I'll get more pictures of her to see how her colors are then.

[InsanePirateDragon]

And we have shed! She went and did it when I was at work so I missed it once more, she always seems to do it when I'm away.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120315_235139.jpg

Gah, I wish it was daylight at the moment so that I can capture them better.
Lighting is so horrible inside, better pictures will have to wait at least until daylight and washing out a lot of the red fade.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120315_235919.jpg


http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120316_002617.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120316_002549.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120316_002451.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120316_002432.jpg

[katach]

So pretty! Looks like she is all healed up too.

[EasternGirl]

She looks gorgeous.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Thanks, didn't get home until it was dark so no pictures, but tomorrow I promise, it seems that there's a couple of new spot

But Marley was ready to eat again and is quite happy with two tilapia chunks and worm chunks after not really eating anything Wednsday but she's made up for it I think. And I think I'm ready to give a pinkie a shot Monday.

And to continue the saga of Marley's coloring, it looks now that there are a few new spots further down and the fade looks to be on the first 3rd of her body now.

[EasternGirl]

Perhaps she is just growing and her colors are changing as she grows...I have noticed that with my albino. His colors are changing as he gets older.

[InsanePirateDragon]

As in coming in or fading some.

I am sort of use to seeing colors change as I've seen it happen in Leos, but wasn't sure if the same thing happens in snakes.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Well I won't be running out of worms anytime soon hopefully, though Marley showed no interest in food yesterday, she struck at it in the stats and didn't eat what I put in her bowl, I'm not to worried she's not acting lethargic so I'm not to worried about a missed meal, I'm use to it of sorts as Leos go through hunger strikes too. Its probably been the weather which have been pretty humid and muggy for the last few days.

There's been two solid days of raining here and its brought them all to the surface. I've lost track of how many I collected and have attempted to try and start a colony in a vacant small to see if I have any luck in keeping them alive.

[EasternGirl]

All I have seen is teeny tiny little worms here...it's pretty dry. We get nice big fat ones in the summer though. You can get some peat moss and keep it moist, put it in a styrofoam cooler and put it in a cool place and that will keep the worms for you. Or, if you are interested, I can tell you where to buy worm bedding, containers, and worm food online...that is what I did this winter...I started a worm farm.

[Selkielass]

Lovely color!

[InsanePirateDragon]

There's a first for everything right?

Right now I'm frantically trying to hunt her down from what it looks to be an escape. I had changed out her water this morning and more than likely didn't get the lid closed all the way and she slipped out. And now she is missing so I'm not sure exactly what to do.

I put her hide and a thing of water on the ground along the wall hoping she'll show up while I'm at work and I'm trying not to freak out. And the bad thing is that I have work and won't be able to continue the hunt. I set out a worm in hopes of getting her to eat since she really hasn't eaten all week so I know she should be hungry at this point.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay noob questions time again.

Is it safe to house different subspecies of garters together if they're the same gender, after a quarantine period of course. I don't have any interest in breeding yet as around here there's no demand for pet garters yet and they only way I'd want to breed Marley is if I ever find a really red redsided.

And how long should a quarantine period last. I know when I got my second gecko, I kept him to himself for a month before I introduced him into the same viv but I had a plexiglass wall that divided them so that they could get use to each other since I was paranoid that my older Leo would try and eat my younger gecko.

And are garters cannibalistic in anyway to where its not safe putting a smaller snake in with bigger snakes. I keep getting visions of Marley gobbling down the brand new little one who I just spent a bit of money on.

[guidofatherof5]

You bring up a couple issues that get discussed often on the forum.

Different species can be housed together as long as the same size, same sex rule is followed.
With the exception being T.elegans.vagrans (Wandering Garter snake) They can be cannibalistic.

I do a 90 day quarantine period. Here's a link to a thread discussing the quarantine issue.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/7224-quarantine-talk-thread.html

[InsanePirateDragon]

Great thread, thanks. Helps a bit that time frames aren't that different from lizards then, thats a bit helpful.

Okay, I wasn't sure which one it was, I couldn't remember. So Wanderings no-no together. And probably no to the Northwesterns as well. They're the smallest garters from I've learned, right?

[guidofatherof5]

As I have learned they(Northwestern) aren't the smallest but they are one of the smallest.

I don't have any problems housing my Northwesterns (T.ordinoides) together.
When housing any garters together you must be careful of feeding accidents. Not intentional cannibalism just aggressive eating.

[InsanePirateDragon]

I know Marley's getting better at the hemostat feeding but still has her moment

I was leaning toward some of the more colorful ones or focus on red morphs, I'm getting quite fond of red ones strangely enough, maybe even a albino redsided.

But no new ones just yet. Until I get my hands on Marley's new house.

[EasternGirl]

Yes...like Steve said, just watch for size differences. You don't want to put a really large snake in with a very small snake...for example, Cee Cee is an eastern and not cannibalistic, but if I put little Hermes in with her, she would undoubtedly think he was a nice fat worm! Of course...I would not put them together because they are male and female and of different species....but you get my point. Seeley is a good deal smaller than Cee Cee, but she could not eat him...she wouldn't mistake him for food if she were hungry and trying to eat everything in sight...he is in with her...they are both easterns and she is most likely gravid due to mating with him.

[Stefan-A]

Different species can be housed together as long as the same size, same sex rule is followed.
With the exception being T.elegans.vagrans (Wandering Garter snake) They can be cannibalistic.
And at least T. scalaris and T. scaliger. Both of them have been found with other snakes in their stomachs, including a young Crotalus sp. in one case.


edit:
Reports of ophiophagy in T. scalaris:

http://www.ugr.es/~vermed/pdfs/notas estrella kirk.pdf (http://www.ugr.es/%7Evermed/pdfs/notas%20estrella%20kirk.pdf)

[guidofatherof5]

Different species can be housed together as long as the same size, same sex rule is followed.
With the exception being T.elegans.vagrans (Wandering Garter snake) They can be cannibalistic.



And at least T. scalaris and T. scaliger. Both of them have been found with other snakes in their stomachs, including a young Crotalus sp. in one case.

Thanks Stefan, I wasn't aware of that.

[InsanePirateDragon]

And at least T. scalaris and T. scaliger. Both of them have been found with other snakes in their stomachs, including a young Crotalus sp. in one case.

Great thanks for the info.

[EasternGirl]

Yep...good to know, Stefan...thanks.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Well having Marley around might perhaps be a bit helpful and she might have a job now if it works; provide mouse repellent.

Where I live there's always trouble with mice. The wilderness and creek right behind my house is prime country for field mice to come in and cause all kinds of trouble, participatory with a new mouse hole that they just chewed.

And I still had Marley's shed from last week around and I heard that snake skin deters mice so I carefully fed it through the hole and set up a trap to see if it keeps them away.

And now I have another problem in the future that I'm trying to solve. Finding someone to watch Marley and my other scaly beastie when I go out of town in July. I know people who will have no problem checking on cats and other small fluffy and feathery creatures but when it comes to reptiles...

Yeah... I was lucky enough to be able to convince a friend to dump premeasured mealworms into a bowl but I don't think they can handle feeding Marley who'll probably put on some more size then and hopefully be eating pinkies then.

[EasternGirl]

It is tough, I know. I have often wondered what I would do if I had to be away for any significant amount of time. I have four snakes...each who are picky and have a particular routine for eating. One has to be fed with hemostats, one has to eat under his hide, one has to be supervised while eating, and one never wants to eat! And they all have to be taken out of their enclosures and put into a separate tank to be fed.

[Light of Dae]

Try going to a local pet store and put up a poster see if anyone who has experience with snakes wants to make 20bucks, put up posters or just talk to people where you buy pinkie mice.. etc See if anyone is up for snake sitting.

Then maybe write up a little 'agreement' that states they are responsible for the loss or damages to your snake if due to neglect and or carelessness and that you have the right to pursue them for said damages n loss up to $____ Take pictures of your snake n attach to the document. You should have a copy n the sitter should have a copy both signed by you, the sitter, and a witness. Stating that both parties understand and accept the terms.
Some may say signed documents are a bit much, but it covers your butt. I'd do it if I had to.

[EasternGirl]

I don't think I could leave my snakes with someone I didn't know.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Yeah Im paranoid about that a bit too, someone I don't know. But I nearly forgot about the lixard store where I get all the feeders and what not. I think they m.ight do reptile sitting I'm not sure I'll have to look into it. Hopefully they do it

Now they I would trust, its ran by a guy who knows what he's doing and raises his own feeders and most of his herp stock. He's the guy I purchased my Leo from they have no problem anwsering any questions that I have. And he has most of the city to himself as theres no Petsmart or Petco in the county and he does a lot of community stuff as well. So I wouldn't mind his store looking after them.

[EasternGirl]

Well, there you go. :)

[InsanePirateDragon]

Okay, I called them up and asked how much it would be and its 5-10 dollars a day so thats not that bad at all, and I'll at least know that she's being fed and watered.

And because I haven't posted any for a while of the red ham escapist, but nothing seems to be doing her red any justice..

Still the poser as always
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113141.jpg

So much red
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113331.jpg

And I just love her neck markings, just how irregular they look and that red fade
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113250.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113231.jpg

And just love that head
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113417.jpg

And not about this as if I'm seeing something but there's looks to be tints of red starting to come in or how the sun is catching, not exactly sure at this point.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120328_113357.jpg

[EasternGirl]

I think the tints of red could be speckling...I know it's common in northwesterns...don't know if red-sideds get it as well. She sure is a beautiful girl. Love that first pic! Definitely a ham! :D

[guidofatherof5]

That's a good looking snake.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Marley's suddenly gotten shy about eating but its kind of funny.

She took half a worm from the stats, she's starting to prefer the bigger chunks and made me have to go and buy some fresh tubs as she refuses to touch any of the worms I caught a while back, so I thought it was sort of weird. When I waited for her to swallow it a bit down I offered the other half and she tore off for the other side of the tank. So I put a few worms in the food bowl and went to put the rest up.

I come back and she's has one half way down and doesn't mind me watching her eat so she's not completely shy. Crazy snake.

[Chondro788]

Absolutely stunning female!!!

[InsanePirateDragon]

Someone's starting to go blue eye once more already, her last shed was on the 15th so I believe that its a good sign that she's growing. I should probably get another weight and measure on her though I'm not sure if my scale is accurate enough since she's always reading at 30 grams.

Soon it'll be time for another photoshoot to see if there's a noticeable difference in any of the bleeding or fade, for some reason I'm wanting to give it a name.

[InsanePirateDragon]

And once again Marley shed while I was gone she must be shy about it, except we had our first spot of trouble as it all kinked up and knotted at the end of her tail, right before the break so it was a knotted, tangled, and wet mess.

Luckily it came off easily after a warm soak and gently working it off and she didn't raise a fuss, she's awesome at being handled as long as its not her head. Couldn't find the head in the mess but it looks like she shed the eyecaps shed and happily took a couple of nightcrawlers.

I'll get some pics in the morning when there's daylight.

[InsanePirateDragon]

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_134621.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_135115.jpg

You can see how broken the line is looking now and how the color of the stripe is different, but it looks like the red is starting to develop further down down.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_135000.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_134950.jpg

Here is still pretty normal looking but spots and speckling are coming in further down
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_134807.jpg

The weird speckling is much more visible after the latest shed. Its really visible now against Marley's tail.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120409_135445.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Strikingly beautiful snakes. Nice photos.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Strikingly beautiful snakes. Nice photos.

Thanks, would you believe that I've been taking theses with an Android phone. The high tech camera's always out busy. My family has a side photography business.

[Stefan-A]

Thanks, would you believe that I've been taking theses with an Android phone.
If that's true, nice.

[Natrix]

would you believe that I've been taking theses with an Android phone.? Yeah! Cause that's exactly what I use. get the focus right and you can take some awsome pics. ;) Beautiful Parietalis. :)

[EasternGirl]

She looks awesome!

[chris-uk]

A lot of my photos are taken on an HTC Sensation, get the light and the focus right and the picture quality is great for posting online. Unlike my Canon, the phone is either in my pocket or nearby when I need to take a photo. What I'm learning with snakes is that a good picture is more about the right place at the right time, rather than setting something up. Setting up a shot works too, but you still end up waiting for the right moment.

[InsanePirateDragon]

So no recent pictures of Marley since I've been busy and really hadn't had time. But Marley's changed a lot in the past few months.

But I've still been handling her regularly and she is just awesome with it and handles it a lot better than my Leo. She's quite happy to slither back and forth between your hands and just curl up with you on the computer and wants to check these things out. And she lets other people handle her with out a problem, though she doesn't like the top of her head touched, she loves her bottom jaw scratched.

And something I've noticed, I've never had the luck of being musked by her, even when I first brought her in and started cleaning her wounds, probably the most stressful time for her.

These guys are awesome snakes :) I can't wait until I do get another garter. I plan on going to the next reptile show in May to see if maybe by chance there are some garters there.

If not, I might have to wait until I get back from my trip in June/July. I don't want to end up boarding too many critters.

[EasternGirl]

This is why I cannot wait to get my radixes from Steve. As much as I love my easterns and my albinos...none of them will do anything like you are describing. I hear you talk about your snake curling up on the computer and scratching under her jaw...I see pics of Steve with snakes in his hood, and hear stories of members cuddling with their snakes. I love my snakes...but they don't like to be held and they will not hang out with me. Well, Possum does like to spend some time cutting off the circulation wrapped around my fingers constricting...lol. I appreciate the snakes I have for who they are.. and they do interact with me through the glass of their enclosures...but I also look forward to having radixes...because I know that they will be more social and cuddly.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Thats what surprised me. I've heard that most of the wc's aren't that friendly and are always jumpy but Marley's just adjusted so well. It probably did help that she is young and was probably just a baby when she was brought in.

[EasternGirl]

I think it probably depends on the snake and the species/subspecies too. Cee Cee was an adult when I found her...and although she connects with me and trusts me more than she will ever trust anyone, she will always be skiddish. Seeley was young when I found him, and he is still skiddish...but he is calming down more and more with me. My albinos are both CB but they are still young...they are still very skiddish. But Steve has many radixes that are very friendly, and Kat and Chantel have northwesterns that are very friendly too. I hear that radixes and northwesterns are very friendly and social garters.

[InsanePirateDragon]

So I guess nothing shows love and that everythings working than a nice big pile of poo on your hand.

Marley left me the little present when she was slithering to sit on the keyboard like she normally does.

[guidofatherof5]

How sweet. Garter love by the handful.
Priceless:D

[InsanePirateDragon]

Yup, pretty sure thats love now. Shows it a lot better than Mister You-Need-To-Feed-Me, and since I've been busy and the flowers have started to bloom and tried some plants with her.

I had her all posed up and all of sudden she sees the camera and goes 'Ooh, Camera!'
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120423_151858.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120423_151745.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120423_151938.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120423_152026.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Awesome.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Nothing new going on really... Marley's still eating and pooping without much issue and still has been turning her nose up to worms I catch. Lots of rain again is bringing them up and she still wants store night crawlers and her tilapia. Spoiled snake. At least she's not a fatty like a another herp of mine who I'm going to audition for Oliver Twist with his asking for more.

And she is putting on the weight, though I don't think my normal method is working as well. Cup of snake anyone...
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_031846.jpg
This was how I always weighed my geckos, and we'll probably have to go to the rubbermaid SW container to weigh now to get a more accurate one it looks like from now on with her.

And one of her favorite spots to hang out,
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_032758.jpg
She got demoted to just the top of the computer when she tried to use the mouse pad to try and order her some fancy wood furniture. She sits there and just watches my fingers or wacom pen move.

And she'll be getting a female roomie in a couple of weeks and was just checking to see if she isn't one of those males in drag, but it doesn't look like it. Really starting to learn now the differences.

'Excuse me! How dare you!'
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_032305.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

My first impression of that tail is male.
How about a photo with the tail hanging vertically straight down?

[InsanePirateDragon]

Not a problem, I think I have some that she's going to be as vertical as she's going to get.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_100926.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_100844.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry to be a pest but those are turned. The photos need to be straight on of the underside.

[Selkielass]

I don’t have a good record on sexing, but I'd guess male by those recent pics.
gorgeous red on that one.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Ok, I think have better pictures, Marley kept twisting.

Now this is Marley, the roomie won't be here for a few weeks and was sexed as a female in her earlier pictures that I have. And after poking around on the internet after that and she sort of fits into the A type based of a illustration diagram, no lumps that I can see. And I believe the tail is all there, it didn't look like she lost any of it when I found her.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_104851.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_104843.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_104705.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/InsanePirateDragon/IMG_20120429_104628.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

I am on the fence but leaning towards male.
Thanks for posting the photos.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Dang and I ordered a female from Jason just the other day. Should I make a different thread to get other opinions?

[InsanePirateDragon]

Hadn't been able to get to a computer lately, and had to wait for the cable that we have buried to be replaced after being chewed by the infestation of woodchucks that we're having trouble with so I had to get it fixed.

Oh and Marley is officially a boy.

The snake guy sexed him by popping him. He was surprised that Marley didn't musk. Of course he had this 'I've just been violated' look. I got him some guppies to make him feel better.

[Invisible Snake]

Aha! I new it :D

[Invisible Snake]

Aha! I new it :D

knew*

[kibakiba]

Reptilegeek, you can edit your posts to fix spelling mistakes. You just have to do it before 30 minutes.

[InsanePirateDragon]

Yeah, its not completely permanent posts, I hate those.

But yeah, he even tried to teach me what to feel for on a couple of corns that they were packing up for the herp show that's happening, so I am sort of getting a better idea of what to feel for now. Still awesome though that they had no problem with it. And he did seem to like Marley a bit and that there was no drama with the popping really. We talked a bit about garters and how I would be getting an albino and talked about heating and lighting.

And even after it, Marley let a couple of kids pet him, they've probably never seen a garter before more than likely. He is turning into a great friendly snake that I am proud of.

And now the reptile store is offering feeder tadpoles now that they've just started offering for sale. Might pick up a couple of those on the next food run. Can I say best Herp Store Ever!

And in the morning I'm off to the Kansas City Reptile Expo for the first time see what I can find anything for a good deal for Marley's 40 Gal Bachelor Pad and see if there's any Garter interest and test the waters and see if it might be worth to breed any.

[InsanePirateDragon]

So yeah, the reptile show was rather... Small... There were only a handful of venders, one of them nearly taking up one side of the room with the frozen rodents.

But no garters what so ever, baby corns and ball... Nearly walked away with a new Leo but didn't. But I did get the last few things that I was needing for the new viv at a much cheaper price too. So thats a bonus.

[EasternGirl]

So what are you going to do with the female snake you are getting from Jason? Are you going to just set up another enclosure for her? Did you say it is an albino? Marley is looking good! He is quite the ham in front of the camera! :)

[InsanePirateDragon]

I'm getting an albino male instead of of the orginal female from him and and the new guy is going in the 10 gal for his quarentee and Marley will have the 40 gallon bachelor pad that I've almost finished setting up, just need some lid clip and it'll be ready.

[EasternGirl]

Are you going to eventually put them together? Are you just going to use a UTH for heat?

[InsanePirateDragon]

Eventually I will. They might be kenneled together while I'm out of town.

And I use UTH already and lights for aa bit of added heat and the lights on timers.

And you mentioned you were gettin an albino too?

[kibakiba]

She already has an albino, and a snow.

[InsanePirateDragon]

So Marley's been sort of neglected with the groundhog wars and kitty and I haven't handled him like I normally do and it looks he's probably about to shed again and not interested in eating last feeding time.

And he's also being a bit stubborn about his fish. He hasn't been wanting to take tilapia lately like he use too. But he did take a couple of the feeder tadpoles I got for him a couple of days ago. He certainly loves his fishing, thats for sure.

And as for new guy coming on humpday, I'm getting super excited. Yay.

Everything's nearly ready for him, but my only problem is I still haven't found a new water bowl for Marley's tank that I've been happy with.