Other pets (pics and discussions)

[ProXimuS]

I can see it, and I have never once set foot on twitter

Same.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I would just like to report that this reply is # 5001 in this thread. YES!!!

BONUS PICTURES!

This is Spaz




Not my pet.... but instead an image I took on our trip down to the everglades this year! I should post that whole series of photos!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Here is Sage - A duck headed dirt snake that lives in my care.... she belongs to my mom. I took the first photo when she was a hatchling, and then 3 years later, I took another Can you believe it took her 3 years to crawl from the driveway to the grass?!

[Steveo]

I can see it, and I have never once set foot on twitter

Ok, it must be the firewall or whatever at my office because I can't see it here. Carry on.

[ConcinusMan]

I guess that's probably why the guy didn't confiscate your garters. It's probably also why at reptile shows (here in WA) it's not that uncommon to see garters.

There's a reptile zoo in Monroe WA and they have a rubber boa. That's how I even found out about those guys in the first place!

They didn't confiscate them because #1. extremely common #2. Not a game animal which is really all they're concerned about #3 Not a potentially dangerous wild animal that might also carry disease such as rabies, distemper, etc. #4, I told them I had already had them for years and they were beloved family pets. Under the rules they would have to destroy them if they confiscated them. #5 If escaped, they pose no threat to the local ecosystem. #6 They rely on good relations with the public and since I was very cooperative they wanted to give me some kind of break. #7 the cages were roomy, appropriate conditions, clean, and the animals were well fed and cared for. So, you see it's really a lot of things that added up to them choosing to not enforce in this case. Garters really aren't a concern of theirs anyway. They just happen to fall under the umbrella of native wildlife and in the case of garters they just didn't want pet stores to be able to import natives or be selling local species for obvious reasons. They don't really care if a citizen wants to keep a few as pets so they don't enforce in cases like that.

As far as the shows you're talking about, not all garters would be legal at WA shows. They can't be any subspecies of T. sirtalis, and can't be T. ordinoides. Most shows in WA and Oregon just say "no garters" at all in their rules just so they got it covered. They might make exception for a few albino checkereds and that's about it usually.

How I first found out about rubber boas was, I walked out into my backyard one morning (In Vancouver) and there was a fairly big one stretched out on my lawn, just sitting there. At first I thought, "wow, that's a really long dog poo"

They are very hard to find in the wild

Not really. If you know when and where to look you can find dozens of them in a single afternoon. There's spots like that in the columbia river gorge, western WA, and a few spots in Oregon that I know of. You can't pick up any cover without finding boas hiding underneath but usually only in cool weather in the spring and fall when conditions are moist. They can be locally extremely common and numerous and yet you would never encounter one unless you're looking for them. It's just knowing when and where to look that's the hard part.

[charliegirl]

They probably aren't as popular in captivity because they are not active, you rarely seem them above cover, they can be very particular eaters, and they only eat for a handful of months out of the year. I have one that I keep and they are quiet fascinating and tend to keep you on your toes as far as care goes.

-Thomas

Maybe I should reconsider the rubber boa... ...

[ConcinusMan]

I had one that didn't eat for an entire year. Didn't seem to hurt anything though.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Snakes are just as well adapted to going without food as they are at stuffing their faces...

[ConcinusMan]

Rubber boas from around here seem to prefer cool temps. I never see them out and about or even anywhere near the surface unless the weather is cool/cloudy. So, I didn't keep him very warm. (just a localized warm spot at around 80 F which he seemed to avoid) That, and they expend very little energy. They move slowly like a slug. Very slow metabolism. They don't need to eat much. Adults could probably stuff themselves only once or twice a year and they would still get enough to eat. Great if you want a snake for handling. They're very docile and great for handling but if you like to see your snake and watch their activity, forget about it.

[ProXimuS]

So my female guppy had babies I had started noticing she looked possibly pregnant, but wasn't sure. I went to feed them this morning and saw a little teeny tiny line swimming around, and upon further inspection, it was a little teeny tiny fish! So far there are only 3. Not sure if there were possibly more, and the adults ate them. I'm also not sure if she's done. Anyways, here are some pics:

P1180460 (2).jpg

I had to buy them a little mesh nursery, so they wouldn't be eaten....This is them in it.

I read the babies should be big enough to not be eaten in about two weeks. By that time I want to get a mesh tank divider and split up males and females. Hopefully by two weeks they will be big enough to visually sex.