Isis' diary.

[EasternGirl]

Hmmm...I'm going to open up internet explorer and see if I can see the video....it's probably firefox...it always gives me trouble. Funny about Izy and the cobra strike....last night I was feeding Cee Cee pinkies with hemostats and she was striking at them. I had never seen her strike before! One time she did it so viciously she made my son jump away from the tank!

[EasternGirl]

Okay...yep...as soon as I opened internet explorer the pics were right there...beautiful snake! Love her colors! I am so glad that you were able to revive her. I agree....who forgets to put a heat pack in with a snake in the winter???

[Bart]

I jump all the time, when my snakes strike. :)

And there isn't any video, just two photos of Vita.

Still, Izy keeps herself buried in substrate. It's like:

Vita: does I smell garter? ಠ_ಠ
Izy: No garter here, boss! -_-
Vita: ಠ_ಠ
Izy: -_-
Vita: ಠ_ಠ
Izy: -_-
Vita: ಠ_ಠ
Izy: -_-
Vita: ಠ_ಠ
Izy: I'm hungry! ^o^
Vita: I KNEW IT!!!!!!

[RedSidedSPR]

lol

[EasternGirl]

ha ha ha....

[Bart]

Sorry for not updating, but nothing interesting is happening in Izy's life. ;) She's eating fine and is just as timid as always. She shed few days ago.

The funny part is, the more I look at her, the more I see a male. :P She's about 45 cm and 1 year old, maybe little less... I would expect a female to be bigger at this point - and I'm not sure if her tail is a typical tail of a female. :P Is there any possibility that a male would get 45 cm after a year in case of T. sirtalis parietalis?

And I can't deliver a photo of her tail. It's just impossible with her attitude (and I guess her attitude also points out that Izy, in fact, is a male; I heard that females are calmer). Gee. :P And a seller said he can determine sex of a snake with 100% accurancy.

Any thoughts? :P

[guidofatherof5]

Without a photo it's hard to give an opinion just from age and length.

What about taking a photo from the bottom side of glass or a clear plastic container?

[Bart]

Well, that's a good idea. :) I'll try it. Thanks! Not today though, because it's night out here and Izy's sleeping.

Anyway - can a male get 45 cm just in one year (Izy wasn't eating too good for 3 months)? Jesse's males are smaller than this and are also 1 year old...

[EasternGirl]

Hey! Good to hear from you! I was starting to wonder if everything was okay...was just about to send you a PM to check up. Thanks for the update. I have no idea about the male/female thing...Seeley is about two feet long and he is male...but he is very small around in diameter...not much bigger than some of the big earthworms I have seen. His head is only the size of my thumbnail.

[Stefan-A]

Anyway - can a male get 45 cm just in one year
Half a year.

[Bart]

Hey! Good to hear from you! I was starting to wonder if everything was okay...was just about to send you a PM to check up. Thanks for the update. I have no idea about the male/female thing...Seeley is about two feet long and he is male...but he is very small around in diameter...not much bigger than some of the big earthworms I have seen. His head is only the size of my thumbnail.

That's the thing. Izy looks "fat", but I feed her quite often. Can you post some pic of Seely?

Stefan: are we talking about T. sirtalis parietalis? ;)

[Bart]

Oh, I forgot - Vita's like noming machine. :D She's shedding, eating and pooping like crazy. Thought some of you wanted to know. ;)

[EasternGirl]

Thanks for the update on Vita. I will have to try to remember to take a length-wise pic of Seeley tomorrow. He is sleeping now. I do not have any recent pics that show his entire body. I will try to get a pic of him and post it tomorrow.

[Bart]

I'm waiting for Seely's pic!

[EasternGirl]

These are the best pics I could get of him right now...no one else in my family will hold the snakes...so my son has to take the pics while I hold them. Seeley doesn't like to be held very much...

39303931

[guidofatherof5]

Seeley is looking good.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks...he doesn't look as skinny since he ate a couple of times now. He is still not as plump as I would like him to be...but he's looking much better. He actually looks much bigger than he is in these pics because of the way they were taken. Just remember, Bart...he is pretty small in diameter.

[EasternGirl]

Here is a pic of Seeley in Cee Cee's enclosure...having a visit. You can get a better idea of his size from this pic. I also took one with Cee Cee in it...she is the bigger snake on the bottom of the second pic...so you could see the size comparison. Cee Cee is almost 3 feet long and a decent size around.

39323933

[Bart]

Great! Actually, Izy looks pretty the same. So - male it is. :P

[Bart]

Yep. :P So much for experts (the one who sold me Izy). :) "She's 100% female" he said...

[EasternGirl]

Well, I thought Seeley was female for a year until he started trying to mate with Cee Cee...lol. Then I posted another pic of him and members confirmed he was in fact a male. I was pretty suspicious given his size in comparison with Cee Cee...he has always stayed so small and then he started the sexual behavior with Cee Cee and I knew.

[Bart]

Frankly, I KNEW something was "wrong" for months. I just kept myself away from checking it, because I was "afraid" of the truth (I saw with eyes of my soul Izy eating big mice, lol!). ;) There's still a possibility that Izy is a female though, but very slim at this point. Oh well - there's a good side of it - It seems Izy doesn't need a bigger cage in the future anymore. :D And I'll consider buying "her" a buddy (I wouldn't buy another female, because of lack of the room), possibly other species (or subspecies of T. sirtalis) to make it even more interesting. :D

[EasternGirl]

If you can ever figure out a way to get a picture of the cloaca...post it and we'll have a look!

[Bart]

I've tried, but I have only my cell phone to make photos and Izy is freaking out too much. Can't do it properly. :( But, srsly, I'm pretty sure Izy's a male. I know how female's tail looks (I've been here for a while and I've kept Kleo), and Izy's doesn't look like that. Plus - Izy's very active, doesn't eat like a vacuum eater, he's (?) timid and shy and so on. And pretty small for a yearling. Typical garter boy. :) It would be a miracle if Izy turns out to be of a female afterall. :)

[Stefan-A]

Stefan: are we talking about T. sirtalis parietalis? ;)
In this case, T. elegans vagrans.

[Bart]

But I believe red-sided garters are smaller than wandering garters, males especially. ;) Izy's between 45-50 cm now (when I use a program it pops different sizes, but when Izy's wandering around his cage, I clearly see he's around 50 cm).

[Stefan-A]

But I believe red-sided garters are smaller than wandering garters, males especially. ;) Izy's between 45-50 cm now (when I use a program it pops different sizes, but when Izy's wandering around his cage, I clearly see he's around 50 cm).
Red-sided garters hold the length record among the common garters, which makes them second in size only to T. gigas. As for the vagrans males growing larger and perhaps faster, that may be the case, but if one male vagrans reaches 45 cm in half a year, surely a red-sided can reach it in a full year.

[EasternGirl]

Hmmm...I thought I read somewhere that easterns were the biggest of garters...I know our females average 3 feet or more. Guess I was wrong though.

[Bart]

So I was holding Vita and decided to show her to Izy. Izy, very curious at first, approched and then, suddenly, backed off, frightened. Afer I took Vita away, Izy went crazy. He just cruised around his tank with his tongue out of his mouth, showing it's red colour, like: beware, milk snake! I haz venom and you better not mess with me, cuz I'll use it if I haz to!

Vita, in the other hand, was suspiciously interested. She was flicking her tongue just like when she smells pinky!

It was quite funny to watch, but, srsly, Izy was really scared (not like when he's freaking out at my sight). I have to add that Izy never reacted like this at Amon (Izy was very curious and not scared; I was holding Amon of course, there wasn't any danger for Izy). So much for an idea that garters do not recognise milk snakes as their enemies. ;) Smart little beasties. ;) Let's mention that Izy's twice as big as Vita. ;)

[EasternGirl]

That's funny. Sometimes I take little Hermes and hold him up to Cee Cee's tank so they can see each other. Cee Cee looks at him like he is a big tasty worm and licks her chops...Hermes isn't actually much bigger than the worms that Cee Cee eats :eek:.

[Bart]

Nah, Cee Cee wouldn't probably try to eat Hermes. But I wouldn't be so sure when it comes to Vita! ;) She likes to eat and is ready to eat almost everything at any time! :)

[EasternGirl]

Oh I don't know Bart! Let's just say I wouldn't put him in with her. She has definitely eaten worms bigger than Hermes...and these days she tries to eat everything she sees. When I feed her, she tries to eat my fingers, the dish, her hides, the plants, even the walls of her tank!

[Bart]

Good apetite, read: she's gravid. Good job, Seely! :)

[EasternGirl]

I don't know...I'm going to weigh her again...but I haven't seen any significant weight gain. I took her to the vet and he said that he wouldn't be able to tell me for certain without an x-ray...which was $100, and I did not have the extra money right now. But she and Seeley have not had any hanky panky for a while now. Maybe he is being respectful now because she is gravid? I don't know...

[kibakiba]

Snakey tried mating with Mama more when she was gravid than when she wasn't.... Not that they weren't trying to get it on almost every day, though.

[katach]

We need to plan visit Chantel!

[Bart]

Hi!

Because it's quite warm, I've decided to check if I can find any earhworms. I did actually. :D So I gave a very, very big worm to Izy - and he ate it like crazy. ;)

[guidofatherof5]

Great to hear from you Bart and good to hear Izy is eating well.

[Bart]

Well I was suprised I've found any worms. I've tried to find some again few hours later but without luck. I found a great rock for Izy though. :) Anyway, it was a first Izy's nightcrawler for few months. Glad he liked it. ;) Now we should survive well until they are avaible in fish bait shops again. ;)

[Bart]

Sooo, I was feeding my Izy with worms, because I can find them quite easy right now. A few days back I found particulary big nightcrawler. Izy tried to eat it few times, but this monster kept fleeing from his mouth, so after a while, he gave up and didn't want it even when I chopped it into pieces. :P Suprise, suprise. Today I gave him a swordtail and after heroic hunt Izy ate it whole, lol. :) Izy's picky eater again - he refuses rodents and smelts (I'm out of mice pinkies though, so it may be the case, since I offer him little rats and Izy eats rats only when he's in the mood, same with smelts).

It's beautiful weather and it's warm, so I went herping. Only three species can be found here, but who cares, lol! ;) I found nothing, zip, besides a few ducks and other birds and some kind of rodent (it wasn't a mouse though or at least not the one I'm familiar with). It's just my luck - when I'm hunting snakes, I find none, but when I'm not - I always see some grass snakes. Gee.

I think it might be this, the rodent I mean:
Bank Vole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Vole)

[guidofatherof5]

Come on Izy, give your dad a break. Eat your food!:D

[EasternGirl]

Hi Bart! Nice to hear from you. Same situation here. The weather has been warm and I go into my yard to look for easterns. I turn over pieces of wood, look under logs and leaves...I even found an old tree stump with many holes in it that looks like a wonderful place for a den...and nothing! Either there are no snakes living in my yard anymore, or they are hiding from me. I will have to find some other places to go herping. Glad Izy is doing well...tell him I said to eat!

[Bart]

Will do. ;) Actually, it's not like he's not eating at all, he just eats only worms and live fish. ;)

[EasternGirl]

Right...sounds a bit like Seeley. He doesn't like pinkies much. He loves his worms. He will eat fish fillet sometimes too.

[Bart]

Well, as far as I know, Izy likes pinkies - but only mice, not rats. I'm trying to make him eat hoppers (fur and stuff), but so far without luck. Yesterday I got some pinks with fur, so I'll try to feed him with them (probably in a few days, when I'll be feeding Vita so nothing gonna waste if Izy refuses, lol). ;)

[Bart]

Hello everyone! It's been a while...
Izy's fine, he doesn't eat properly though. Only worms and live fish. I'm low on fish, so I have to visit a pet store. They like me there, lol, a lot of strange orders from me. ;) Well, Izy's adult now and I guess he doesn't need much food since he isn't growing anymore. He's 60 cm and I doubt he'll grow much more. So much for my dreams of feeding him with adult mice, lol. :D

Anyway, I'm considering buying him a buddy (another male). There are some very cheap Natrix maura avaible and I was wondering if it's OK to join one of Natrix with my Izy. Anyone tried to keep Natrix maura with Thamnophis? Thoughts? Stefan? Steve? Anyone? :)

[Stefan-A]

Anyway, I'm considering buying him a buddy (another male). There are some very cheap Natrix maura avaible and I was wondering if it's OK to join one of Natrix with my Izy. Anyone tried to keep Natrix maura with Thamnophis? Thoughts? Stefan? Steve? Anyone? :)
I've read that others have done it and I've read claims that it works.

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry Bart, can't be much help here.

[Bart]

Hey, guys. ;) Stefan, is there any chance to point me a direction where I can find those claims? ;)

[Stefan-A]

Hey, guys. ;) Stefan, is there any chance to point me a direction where I can find those claims? ;)
Someone on this forum, whose name I've forgotten, and a very brief garter snake care sheet in Finnish. The latter I give absolutely no weight.

[Bart]

Are they easy to convert to mice? Males in particulary?

[Stefan-A]

Never tried. Got them to eat pinkies by mixing them with fish. But that was just something I tried a couple of times. They're fish eaters.

[Bart]

Can they thrive solely on european smelts? :P Do they eat worms? Sorry for those questions but I remember the circus with Kleo when it came to feeding...

[Stefan-A]

Can they thrive solely on european smelts? :P
Probably.


Do they eat worms?
Mine never showed any interest.

[Bart]

Jeez, just like ribbon snakes... :/

[Bart]

So - garters can't live solely on fish, but Natrixes can. Strange...

Ok, last question. Can they be feed with goldfish? I remember you mentioned once that Natrix natrix are immune to thiaminase, and Natrix maura, since they live in Europe, surely feed upon that kind of fish.

[EasternGirl]

Hi Bart! Nice to hear from you. Glad to hear Izy is doing well. Good luck finding a buddy for him. :)

[Bart]

Hope I will, thanks. ;)

[Bart]

Hi!
Izy just shed and ate a smelt. Finally.

But the funny thing is - he, Nefri and Vita shed in a period of 3 hours! Corn, garter and milk! WUT! Amon shed a week ago. Is this possible, that snakes do actually synchronise their shedding? No, srsly - what are the odds that three of my four snakes shed at the same time?

[kibakiba]

4 of my snakies are all ready to shed at this very moment. :D It's pretty cool when that happens.

[Bart]

But they are from different species... All of them! ;)

[guidofatherof5]

Hi!
Izy just shed and ate a smelt. Finally.

But the funny thing is - he, Nefri and Vita shed in a period of 3 hours! Corn, garter and milk! WUT! Amon shed a week ago. Is this possible, that snakes do actually synchronise their shedding? No, srsly - what are the odds that three of my four snakes shed at the same time?


654,980 to 1 :D

[Bart]

Well, that was just amazing.

[EasternGirl]

I have seen it happen, Bart. I have witnessed Cee Cee shed and then Seeley immediately go into shed mode as if on cue. I've seen my albinos do it too. It's pretty interesting to think about...to wonder if one snake shedding somehow signals another to do the same.

[katach]

Our snakes have their sheds around the same time too.

[Bart]

Hi, remember me? ;)

Meet Aurora. I found her one month ago. I'm not sure, if you can see how small she is (you may not be familiar with polish coins), but she's tiny like a newborn garter snake. That's strange, because she had to be born last year. Any snake I saw was way bigger than she is. I write "she" - because I'm pretty sure it's a female. I didn't mention about her before, because I wasn't sure if I'll keep her - she's so tiny I had doubts if she's even eating; she shouldn't be that small for a yearling - and she couldn't hatch this year, because it's too soon. I have a theory, that she was a typical non-eater that somehow managed to survive winter. Anyway, she didn't eat for a first week and then she ate a first guppie. Now she's eating live guppies and sometimes smelts, though she doesn't like them very much, just like Izy. She doesn't eat worms. Her poop looks healthy so I assume she doesn't have any parasites, probably because she hasn't much meals after her birth (little chance to catch some bug). She'll one day join Izy - and I hope they won't make love. ;) Hope you like her... I like to think I saved her life. She's so tiny...

Zdj (http://pokazywarka.pl/meh6eh/)
Zdjęcia (http://pokazywarka.pl/meh6eh/)
5542

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to see you on Bart. Of course we remember you.
Sweet looking snake.

[ProXimuS]

Very pretty! What kind is she?

[kibakiba]

I believe that is a natrix, Emily :)

[guidofatherof5]

European grass snake (Natrix natrix) Good call Chantel.;)

[ProXimuS]

Aahh cool, Thanks! I knew it could be a garter is it was WC(and also didn't think they come in those markings).

[guidofatherof5]

Bart is in Poland.

[ProXimuS]

Oopsie!! I meant to say couldn't. I read in his profile he's in Poland....just made a typo:p

[Bart]

Exactly. The point is - I was suprised such a small baby survived the winter. I found plenty of roadkills nerby - and they were much bigger than she is. He is 15 cm at most, she was smaller when I've found her though (she ate 7 guppies and a piece of smelt since then). She didn't poop for a week, so she couldn't eat anything before I found her, at least not recently. And for a good reason, because it was too soon for newborn fish, at least I couldn't find any and trust me - I've tried. There should be some toad tadpoles around probably, but I couldn't find any either. And she doesn't eat worms, so I wonder if she even ate anything since her hatch. I mean, she's too little to eat even small frogs and there couldn't be any in autumn... Lol, an X-File... Or maybe I'm just horribly wrong and know crap about grass snakes. :P

Anyway - she looks healthy. She's very timid though, but I think we make some progress - she eats guppies stright from my tongs now. Earlier she froze when she even saw me. Oh boy, I was so scared I couldn't keep this worm (and truly, she's around size of a worm, lol!) alive. When I put live guppies in her swimming pool I have had little hope she'll get interesed into them. My face when ( ^O^) I went back after an hour or two and noticed lack of one guppie in a pool and it's tail hanging from Aurora's little mouth. :D

[guidofatherof5]

It's always such a relief when they start to eat.

[Bart]

Yeah. ;) Anyway, I hope she'll trust me enough to grab scented pinky parts. ;) Or maybe I'll just keep feeding her with guppies until she grows enough to dig in whole! :)

[ProXimuS]

Glad to hear she's doing well,especially with her small size!

[Bart]

To be clear - I >think< it's a female, but again, there may be a suprise and I'll have to change her name as in case of Izy, lol. ;) Right now she has a typical female tail, but who knows how these guys change when they're growing up. ;)

Oh - and I just realised that my Aurora is like exotic animal to you guys, wow. :D At last, revenge! ;) Anyway, I hope she's close enough to a garter snake so it's OK to post some news about her here? ;)

[ProXimuS]

Ok ok, We'll let you have that one on us;)

If "she" turns out to be a "he" you could try Aries, the closest male name I could think of to Aurora.(just an idea that popped in my head)

[Bart]

Well, I thought about "Ary". ;) Does it sound reasonable? ;)

[ProXimuS]

That sounds good to me! But it seems like you've got plenty of time to come up with potential names, while "it" grows:)

[Bart]

No need. ;) I will shorten her name "Aurora" to "Ary" one way or another (just like I did with "Izy" -> "Isis", polish: "Izyda" for a gal, "Izy" -> "Izydor", english: "Isidore" for a boy), so "Ary" it is. ;) How cunning am I? :D

Oh, and I just realised, that "Izydor" is a greek name, that means: "Isis' gift".

[ProXimuS]

Haha I see, so either way it works. Very nice;)

[Bart]

Besides, "Ary & Izy" sounds very cool. ;) They're gonna be rommates some day (hopefully!) afterall... ;)

[ProXimuS]

They do sound good together! I bet they would look very nive together too, her gray, with a red sided:)

[Bart]

My only concern is that they don't try to breed. :P

[ProXimuS]

Ooh thats true... :/ I forgot about that. Hopefully it is a male so they can be roomies!

[Bart]

Hopefully they don't see each other as partners. :) They come from different continents afterall, are they not? :P They come from different genus and species, grass snakes lay eggs, garters are born, etc. But, as I read somewhere in here - nature will find a way. :) "Jurrasic Park" quote, lol... :D

[ProXimuS]

Hmm I hadn't thought about the egg thing, I don't know if that would be possible since they are different in that way. I'm guessing they are still both colubirds though?

Either way if it's possible or not, I'm sure nature would at least try :p(assuming one is male and one is female)

[Bart]

Gonna keep an eye on them. ;) Both even. ;)

[ProXimuS]

Good idea :D

[Bart]

I hope there are some more experienced guys, who may have knowledge about this stuff, especially Stefan, since he's from Europe and knows this and that about grass snakes. Or Steve maybe? ;)

[ProXimuS]

I'm sure they(and others) could give you alot of info!

[Bart]

Ok, back to Izy, shall we? Today, after a long time, Izy ate a pinky and a smelt (for months he was eating only worms, preferably caught outside, not from a baitshop; apparently Izy doesn't like them very much and smelts sometimes - that's why I didn't update very often, because there was nothing interesting going on). He was kinda angry, because I picked up his roof, lol. He striked a pinky voraciously (he grabbed it from tongs, dropped for a second and striked again) and I have a reason to believe, he would bite me too if I put my fingers in vincity. :D After he has calmed down, he looked still hungry, so I offered him fish. Yup, I was right all along, he was angry AND hungry, but I think my offerings and giving back his roof made the deal. ;)

I look at him and think he's getting thicker and his head grew even more. Well, that's a good thing. ;) Maybe I won't be able to feed him with adult mice as I planned (when I was thinking he was a female), but maybe hoppers are still the game? ;)

[guidofatherof5]

Glad to hear Izy is back eating even if it took getting him mad to do it.

[Bart]

Well, he was eating all along, just not pinks. :P He ate some smelts, but like I said he's not a big fan of them, but worms (caught) and guppies - without hesitation and every amount. ;)

[EasternGirl]

Ary is a lovely little snake! I just gave a baby eastern to Mike...who is named Ari...short for Ariadne. Glad Izy is doing well! Good to catch up with you Bart!

[Bart]

The pleasure is mine, Marnie. ;)

[Bart]

Ahhhhh... Spring is all around so it's time to wake up and update this journal. ;)
Izy, after another winter, is crazy hungry. He's eating almost everything what fits into his mouth, be it worm, fish (beside smelts - he never liked them), pinky or hopper (if it fits - can't be too big obviously - he examines it first from head to toes and if examination gives positive results - a feast is started, om nom nom nom). He didn't grow too much or maybe I'm not seeing it. He's still kinda jumpy, but his shyness disappears when food is involved, especially second pinky (when he knows for sure what time it is). I wonder how long his good apetite will last, hope for a long time!

As for rest of the crew, they also feel good, beside Aurora (outdoor baby Natrix) who fled just after few weeks and tens of eaten guppies (yay!). I found her feces just under my entry door, so I'm confident she went wild. Oh well... At least she left my home with full belly. :P

[Selkielass]

The spring feeding frenzy can be so much fun to watch!
I have a male eastern that loves hoppers. (Yep, they fit just fine, om-no-nom.)I I usually supplement hairier mice with the a worm chaser.

[guidofatherof5]

Good update Bart. Good having you back on the forum.

[Bart]

The pleasure's mine.
I had to concetrate on my career and, honestly speaking, there wasn't much to tell...