Meet the gang!

[kibakiba]

I only feed them together because if I move them, no matter how starving they are, they curl up in a little ball and sit there like I'm going to put them in a stew. I could leave them in a warm, dark area for all of eternity and they'd just sit there. With Mama, as long as I'm not holding her, she'll eat. Snakey will only eat if he's in the tank, so I get Mama out before I feed him, then when he downs his pinky it's straight to my shirt to sleep and feeding time for Mama.

Thumbelina may be the only one who will eat, anywhere. She doesn't care if I'm holding her, if she's in a container, on the floor, on my bed, in my shirt... Haha. All the others get nervous, though.

[ConcinusMan]

oh I know, many of mine won't eat when they've been moved. I was just saying I do pretty much what you were saying. The one's I know are going to cause trouble, I move them to a tub. Then I can feed the others where they are since they aren't too aggressive. When that's done, I can put the trouble makers back one by one and feed them in their tank. I just can't feed the others when the aggressive ones are in the same tank because they're so dang pushy.

Miss piggy will run them all over trying to get the food, and won't give the others a chance. That little pastel checkered from Shannon is the same way. He won't back down to miss piggy either! He's got guts.

[kibakiba]

Oh, that's exactly how Snap is. Thumbelina is too, and she will not back down to anyone. She'll chase Ember around the tank and snap at him if I let her. It's a funny sight, Thumbelina is 6 inches, and Ember is a bit over a foot and a half. He is terrified of her. We got a 20 gal. tank from the thrift store I had been planning to put Snap and Ember in, since they seem too nervous for their own good. However, it's a locked top one, without the top, and my mom bought a 30 gallon snap top, obviously too big... I don't trust it. I can easily see them getting their heads stuck trying to get out.

[ConcinusMan]

Even when you get a top that fits the tank perfectly, you need to get clips for it to hold it on tight, or else set bricks or other heavy object on top. Also if you'll notice, the slide lock tanks have plastic tabs. They don't last long and end up wearing out and breaking or failing to lock.

[kibakiba]

I've had my slide lock top tank for 3.5 years with no problems. It locks just as if I got it yesterday. The used one is all cracked and had bunches of tape all over it.

I do plan on using the tank I got, it's just my mom needs to stop buying 30-50 gallon tops, saying she'll modify it. Everything she "modifies" ends up breaking within a day. Really, if you tell her 20 gallon tank top, she'll buy a bird cage, if you tell her coho salmon, she'll buy some fish I've never hear of. She only goes shopping in the morning, which is when I go to bed so I cant go get it myself... And the bank card is hers and I cant use it without her there.

[ConcinusMan]

Don't even go by gallons. The tops I've seen for sale don't even do that. They are sold by dimensions because that's the only thing that matters. The top doesn't care how tall, or how much capacity the tank is. For example, a common standard 10 gallon tank is 24X12 inches and a 20 gallon long (like the reptile tanks) is 30X12 inches but if those tanks were taller, and therefore more gallons, the tops would still fit. I don't know who else sells them, but petco has clips for just a couple of dollars that hold these tops on. You cannot get by without them, or else you have to put something heavy on both ends of the top which sucks for placing lights on top.

Here's a useful link for tank sizes. Comes in very handy if you want to know how many gallons a tank holds. As long as it's not custom, you measure it and find the gallons here: Chart of Tank Sizes

Not that us reptile people care how many gallons it holds. What mainly matters is floor space dimensions. Don't tell mom "20 gallon" tell her 30X12 inches. They're way cheaper online though. Even after shipping they are only half as much money as pet stores charge. Petco charges $25 for 24X12 top. Online they are about $12 shipped.

[kibakiba]

She does have the dimensions of it, she doesn't bother with it, though. If you knew her you would understand how she is. She really doesn't pay attention to anything you give her until the 20th time she fails at getting it. We don't have a petco here. We have a no name pet store. They're all about being fancy pretty much. They have the right top at 15 dollars, we might as well go pick it up because we already need to grab some stuff from the store.

[ConcinusMan]

Well maybe they sell the clips too. You just bend to adjust them, then they clamp the screen to the underside edge of the frame, nice and tight. Need at least one on each end.

[kibakiba]

Snap has snapped. She tried to rip Ember and Runt to shreds for no reason. I have her separated from all of them. She was striking, biting and hissing. I've never seen her act that mean. Richard, are you absolutely sure that she's a concinnus? She acts like an infernalis! My mom was in the room and when she turned to leave, Snap struck at the glass about 10 times within a few seconds. She also appears to have a little mouth infection. I guess that's where Ember got his. With how she's acting, I wouldnt be surprised if she bit him just because... I haven't fed them in a week, and I've only noticed the infection come up a couple days ago. It's feeding day, so after I let ember and Snap calm down a bit I'lll clean their mouths and hope to god Snap won't bite. She's big and her teeth are even bigger than they were last time she bit me. That time hurt, I cant imagine how she'll be now... Hah.
Every time I so much as blink, she goes in a little cobra pose and strikes.

[ConcinusMan]

That's weird. Are you sure she's not getting too warm?