Other pets (pics and discussions)

[d_virginiana]

And around here, they're a dime a dozen. Available at most pet stores but I find them in the wild too. Eastern and ornate box turtles run wild around here. (not native) People buy them, get tired of them and release them and/or they escape. Found one in my sister in laws backyard. Another one crossing my street. At a local fishing hole they are often seen crossing the road. Some don't make it.

Huh. Maybe it's because they're not native there? NC, VA, PA, and FL all have really strict laws about ownership, but only for the native subspecies. Probably other states too, but those are the ones I know of. In NC you can't buy or sell any species of turtle or tortoise anywhere in state.

[Floof]

Gorgeous boxie, Lora. Glad to hear she's recovering.

And around here, they're a dime a dozen. Available at most pet stores but I find them in the wild too. Eastern and ornate box turtles run wild around here. (not native) People buy them, get tired of them and release them and/or they escape. Found one in my sister in laws backyard. Another one crossing my street. At a local fishing hole they are often seen crossing the road. Some don't make it.

Sounds like some interesting field herping, lol. Is that here in Washington, then? I need to get out more often... I remember the mail carrier in my home town once telling me about a box turtle that they found running wild (this in coastal Washington). It's such a shame when people decide the best recourse for their unwanted pets is to set them loose...

[Floof]

I make such an awful garter snake enthusiast... LOL. I have been a member of this forum for 2 years (and pining after garters for longer than that), and still don't have one! Last weekend at the Puyallup reptile expo, I barely managed to keep from caving on a gorgeous little Concinnus! ... But I'm moving (1200 miles... urgh) next month, had just lost my beardie, and already have my hands full with half a dozen non-feeding corn snake hatchlings... So still no garters for me. Bah humbug.

I may not be a proper member of the group yet, but might as well share some of the "other" critters with the group in the meantime, right?

This is my little Leopard tortoise. He's my only chelonian right now, and probably my only for awhile. He may still be small at 4.5" SCL, but he sure does command a lot of enclosure space! About 6x3 feet of it... And that's just his grow-out cage!


This pretty gal is a Kisatchie (aka Slowinski's) Corn Snake (Pantherophis slowinskii). Nameless for right now.. My roommate gave her to me a couple months ago, when she decided she officially didn't want snakes anymore.


The roommate also gave me a male Kisatchie (Vrael) and their 16 fertile eggs, which have hatched into 16 healthy babies (many of whom haven't quite grasped the concept of dead food, a few of which haven't even grasped the concept of mice at all). This is my favorite, who, unfortunately, is also a non-feeder at this point.


For comparison sake, this is one of the normal-looking hatchlings. Number 2, who recently decided that mice aren't so bad, after all... And, hey, those dead ones taste almost as good as the live ones!


Nigel is awesomesauce, extra 4 legs and all. Chaco Golden Knee tarantula. Still young and small, at around 2-ish inches leg span? Something like that. I need to hold her up to an actual tape measure and stop eyeballing it.


My little jewel, a Taiwanese Beauty rat snake. Wyvern. I am just loving getting to watch her grow up. This is an older picture. She's quite hyper, and difficult to get a good picture of if she's not focused on nomming my arm! :P


Well, there's a little sampling of my scaly menagerie. I'll have to post pictures of everyone else one of these days when I'm looking for an excuse to procrastinate packing (urgh).

[ConcinusMan]

Umm... those front two smaller "legs" on the spider are not legs. They are pedipalps. I see only 8 legs, 2 pedipalps. Perfectly normal. Nothing extra.

[guidofatherof5]

Beautiful group of creatures.
If you come through the Omaha/Council Bluffs area stop by the Ranch and pick out a couple radixes for free*

*Certain restrictions apply. B/W and high reds are not available with this offer. Coupons may not be doubled.

[Invisible Snake]

I make such an awful garter snake enthusiast... LOL. I have been a member of this forum for 2 years (and pining after garters for longer than that), and still don't have one! Last weekend at the Puyallup reptile expo, I barely managed to keep from caving on a gorgeous little Concinnus! ... But I'm moving (1200 miles... urgh) next month, had just lost my beardie, and already have my hands full with half a dozen non-feeding corn snake hatchlings... So still no garters for me. Bah humbug.

I may not be a proper member of the group yet, but might as well share some of the "other" critters with the group in the meantime, right?

This is my little Leopard tortoise. He's my only chelonian right now, and probably my only for awhile. He may still be small at 4.5" SCL, but he sure does command a lot of enclosure space! About 6x3 feet of it... And that's just his grow-out cage!


This pretty gal is a Kisatchie (aka Slowinski's) Corn Snake (Pantherophis slowinskii). Nameless for right now.. My roommate gave her to me a couple months ago, when she decided she officially didn't want snakes anymore.


The roommate also gave me a male Kisatchie (Vrael) and their 16 fertile eggs, which have hatched into 16 healthy babies (many of whom haven't quite grasped the concept of dead food, a few of which haven't even grasped the concept of mice at all). This is my favorite, who, unfortunately, is also a non-feeder at this point.


For comparison sake, this is one of the normal-looking hatchlings. Number 2, who recently decided that mice aren't so bad, after all... And, hey, those dead ones taste almost as good as the live ones!


Nigel is awesomesauce, extra 4 legs and all. Chaco Golden Knee tarantula. Still young and small, at around 2-ish inches leg span? Something like that. I need to hold her up to an actual tape measure and stop eyeballing it.


My little jewel, a Taiwanese Beauty rat snake. Wyvern. I am just loving getting to watch her grow up. This is an older picture. She's quite hyper, and difficult to get a good picture of if she's not focused on nomming my arm! :P


Well, there's a little sampling of my scaly menagerie. I'll have to post pictures of everyone else one of these days when I'm looking for an excuse to procrastinate packing (urgh).

Nice diverse collection you have there. I look forward to seeing more pictures of your collection

[Floof]

Thank you for the generous offer, Steve! If I ever find myself in your neck of the woods, I'll be sure to make a pit stop. I'll bet the Ranch is an awesome sight to behold, with or without the free garters. LOL.

Umm... those front two smaller "legs" on the spider are not legs. They are pedipalps. I see only 8 legs, 2 pedipalps. Perfectly normal. Nothing extra.

I think you misunderstood my meaning... By "extra 4 legs" I meant 4 more legs than my other legged creatures... 8 as opposed to 4. It was just an incredibly lame attempt at a joke. I'm well aware that my dear little arachnid's number of legs is perfectly normal.

[ConcinusMan]

Sounds like some interesting field herping, lol. Is that here in Washington, then?

Yes. They've already outlawed some species of aquatic turtles because released/escaped ones such as the red eared slider establish themselves and thrive here, and end up directly competing with declining native species. However, box turtles do not compete with native turtles since they aren't really turtles. They're terrestrial (tortoises) not aquatic.

So yeah, in many locations across the northwest, ornate box turtles, and to a lesser degree, eastern box turtles, thrive here. They don't require much in the way of habitat and so they do thrive in urban and suburban areas where they have escaped or were released. I just know that in Clark county, WA they have pretty much become naturalized. People find them in the wild all the time. The climate and plenty of forested areas and moist meadows is perfect for them.

They have been around that fishing hole I speak of (Lacamas Lake, near Camas, WA) for decades. We seem them around there a lot but they can also be found in your suburban yards, crossing streets, etc.

I've looked up info about them online the last time I found one. For some reason people keep saying they make lousy pets. Bull spit. They do just fine in captivity but if they escape or are released, apparently, they also do just fine and have minimal, if any impact on the native species that live on land. They just eat vegetation and worms/slugs.

[Floof]

Very interesting! I was aware of invasive RES (seems like they'll thrive just about anywhere), but completely clueless to the box turtle population in this state. I haven't seen or heard of any up here in the Tacoma area... The mail lady's wild boxie was found in northern Pacific County (Raymond/Menlo area).

I agree, they are certainly great pets. I had a nice little female Eastern box turtle when I was in high school. Great little animal, with lots of spunk. Thinking about it, I can see where our climate up here is accommodating for them... Never saw that little gal more active and satisfied in her outdoor enclosure than when it was raining.

[ConcinusMan]

They're likely to pop up just about anywhere, but mainly around communities where they have escaped. Establishing a breeding population is another matter. In the case of the Lacamas Lake area, that's just a popular place for people to release their unwanted boxies (apparently because there are native aquatic turtles there, people figure it's a good habitat for boxies) and so they have established a self sustaining breeding population there.