Adding More to Pampered Snakes

Check out some of the latest listings in my NEW Etsy Shop Pampered Snakes! 

While you're there, be sure to "Like" the page!

A NEW Etsy Adventure

I've expanded my Etsy career by creating a new shop!

Pampered Snakes 

This is where I will sell snake hats, snake bedding, snake emergency warming blankies, snake sacks, etc. I'm just getting it started, but I will continually be adding things. 

CLICK HERE to go to the shop!

Fatty Lucy (the snake)- Before & After

We adopted Lucy from my rescue sister Marybeth in December 2014. She had been found literally starving to death after being abandoned in a box with three other snakes. The rescue they were dumped at figured Lucy would be the first to die and they gave her away. Luckily she ended up with Marybeth who kept her alive.

When we got her, she was barely 2 pounds and ate like a horse. I loved having a ball python who ate 100% of the time. She had a lot of muscle damage in her back end from starving.

Tonight, Lucy came out so I could change the paper towels in her tank. She went off food for at least 6 months last year and is barely starting to be consistent with eating her rats. I figured I might as well weigh her since she was out.

SIX POUNDS!! 

This girl is a chunk!!

While I'm blogging, she's exploring my incredibly messy desk that will be (maybe) cleaned off tomorrow. She's not overly worried about the mess; she is liking the heat from all the electronics.

Lucy will always be my baby girl snake. We have no idea how old she is, but she's my baby girl. She's a true survivor and a sweetheart.

P.S. My vet says it's pretty common for snakes in dry climates (like Utah) to have little wrinkles on their eye caps. There's not much to do about it. She's hydrated (I watched her drinking yesterday) and healthy, but wrinkly since she's a Utahn. :)

Snake Leggings

One of my best friends from college, Laura, just opened a LulaRoe shop on Facebook and sent me a message asking me if I'd like to join her site. I haven't actually worn leggings since the 1990's when I was in high school. I said sure! (especially since she asked me instead of just adding me). When she asked if there was a particular type of legging I'd like to look at, I randomly asked her if she had any leggings with snakes or lizards.

This girl delivered!!! I did not think she could!

She networked through other LulaRoe consultants until she found them for me. :) Score! And she beat out someone else who wanted them. Double score!


They are adorable and I can't wait to wear them.

Yesterday she showed me hedgehog leggings for Valentine's Day! :O They are super cute too!

Anyways, if you would like a chance to look at LulaRoe leggings & outfits, check out Laura's link HERE on Facebook. Click on the link and hit the "Join Group" button. She's amazing and I'm blessed to call her one of my besties. Tell her "The Beardie Lady" sent you.

Reptile Roll Call for January 5, 2017

Here's most of my reptile zoo (minus the 3 ball pythons who didn't want to leave their hides to have their pictures taken; I have Lucy, Sunny, & Bones). Also, Gumby, the MBD leopard gecko didn't want to come out either.

First the Torts. I only have FOUR! That amazes me. 

Georgie, my female Leopard tortoise 

Hermy, my hibernating Desert tortoise

Leo, the happy little Russian tort

Otis, our house tort

And now my beardies-- 

Baby Sawyer, with a little pudgy food belly

Dash, my old man who is shedding

Flame, who is also shedding 

Gen, my big girl who is sorta bruminating

Max, my big boy who is 6 years old

Neville, the latest addition 

Noel, who is looking sickly this morning

Smaug, my big boy who is looking for a home as the ONLY beardie

Tiger, who has been wheezing again :( 

Ziggy, who has pretty much trashed his tank in the last few days 

 And last, but not least, Lady Squinty Dink the Dainty Skink of bluTonguesville!

Couldn't get the lighting right for a good pic 

We also have two dogs (Belle & Teddy) and a hedgehog (Pixie).

An Incredible Conversation I had at my Vets' Office today

(reposted from a local Facebook reptile group I help moderate. I posted it there and got an amazing response, so I'm pasting it here too. Just something to think about.) 

I learned something mind-blowing today at the vet. And fairly controversial.

Dr Scott Echols is one of the reptile vets at Parrish Creek. He is also an international trainer on small animal surgery techniques and has been conducting significant studies on cardiovascular systems in birds and reptiles. This past summer, Dr Echols and another vet released a shocking study documenting the rise of deaths in pet snakes caused by Metabolic Bone Disease.

The first thing out of my mouth was the first thing out of many vets across the country: "Snakes DON'T get MBD!"

He spent 15 minutes with me showing me bone density scans, CT scans, cytology and pathology reports for Green Tree Snakes and even some desert ground dwelling snakes, both normal and MBD snakes. One of the most common indicators with the GTPs is that they lose their teeth and have to be assisted with feeding. X-rays show their skulls riddled with holes and missing teeth. An extensive pathology report done on a normal and MBD GTP showed that it was not an infection that triggered the loss of teeth in the snake, it was a lack of bone density.

Wow.

Reptile vets are still wrapping their brains around this growing epidemic and are starting to come up with hypotheses why snakes are getting MBD. The main guesses are 1) lack of movement caused by the rack system; 2) poor quality of feeders; 3) lack of UVB.

There has never been a good study done on whether or not captive snakes need UVB. Obviously snakes in the wild are constantly basking in sunny spots, but researchers always assumed it was for the heat radiation only. There may be a benefit to captive snakes having a UVB. Also, wild snakes are very very active with the exceptions of waiting for prey. Most captive snakes (like the GTP in the lobby of Parrish Creek) don't move at all other than to shift positions. Exercise has proven in humans to prevent osteoporosis and that may have an impact on reptiles too.

It's amazing to me what the higher quality of scanning equipment is allowing vets to discover with pet animals. Parrish Creek will soon be adding a CT scanner that will allow them to provide even better diagnoses and treatment for all of their clients.

Honestly, my head is a bit rattled by this, but I've seen all the evidence and can't dispute it. 

Kids & Pets or "Trust but Verify"

When we picked up Noel, the dad (who refused to even pick him up) said it was his kids' lizard. As if somehow that relieved him of the burden of his care. (eye roll) That has gotten me thinking about what it means to let your kids have pets. The best way I can explain my belief to you is to show you how I handle my 13 year old son's 1 year old ball python, Bones.

Bones' tank is in my son's room. It's his job to keep the tank clean and keep the water dish filled. Thankfully, he does a great job. But, as a mom, I still check. It totally helps too that you *smell* when the tank needs cleaned. :)

We are trying a new feeding plan this year and I'm willing to let my son have more responsibility for feeding Bones. I created this calendar for him. It is taped on the wall above Bones' tank.

I'm going to trust him to remember to feed Bones. BUT, that will not be the end of it. On my main calendar downstairs (where I record the entire life of my family), I added the feeding dates to the calendar with a red B.

I will also keep adding each feed to my snake feeding schedule that's by my calendar:

I want him to have more opportunities to be responsible for his pet, but I'm not going to shrug it off and let him be 100% responsible. I've seen too many reptiles starved because the parents stopped getting involved.

If Bones consistently goes without feeding, the consequence will be the removal of her tank from his room and he will have to work to earn the privilege of caring for her back.

NOTE: 4 years of rescuing have taught me one thing: if BOTH parents are not on board and both willing to care for a new pet, you should NOT get a new pet. Especially when it comes to the moms! If the mom isn't willing to help, then don't get a pet. No amount of kid or partner promises can make up for the fact that the main home care provider is not willing to help. A pet is a family deal and the entire family must be onboard. If not, it's only a matter of time before the pet gets bounced.

Escaped Snake

My rescue sister was given this juvenile ball python this week. It had escaped two months ago and the owners found it the other night. They decided they didn't want to keep it anymore. 

Two months being loose was not kind to this poor snake. He immediately got a nice long bath. 

Look at the difference when he got out. 

Same snake. Promise! 

Even though he was very stressed at being moved and such, he still ate immediately. 

If you have a snake, make sure their enclosures are escape proof! Most lost snakes are found dead or in very bad shape. :( 

Update on the latest Rescues

Sunny had surgery on Thursday and had a rough weekend. The 3rd day always seems to be the worst day. She's more active today. 

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Leo the Russian tortoise is doing GREAT!! He eats and drinks everyday and looks & acts so much better. He loved the raspberries I gave him today: 

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The unnamed chameleon is putting on weight and still hates my guts. She should be ready to be adopted out soon. 

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Drake is doing terribly. :( He's going to the vet again tomorrow. His eyes used to seal shut every few days, but now it's almost twice a day. He acts like he can't breathe either. I'm not sure what else we can do for him. He hates me cleaning his eyes and the stress of it makes him struggle to breathe. 

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Dash has been eating like a pig!! He will be able get back up to normal weight easily. He loved the raspberries today. I had to flick them with my finger to catch his interest. 

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Curly will be headed to his new foster home tomorrow. He is active and loves eating. I had him wrapped in a blankie the other night and he loved it! 

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3 of the 6 snakes are going home tomorrow. Phew! That will leave me with 3 snakes, 1 tegu, 1 chameleon, 6 tortoises, and 9 bearded dragons. Only 20 reptiles! That's sorta low for me. :) 

Six Snakes at Sarah's

I currently have six snakes, all ball pythons. Lucy (my one and only), Bones (my son's), Sunny (the baby), and three cool morphs that I've been babysitting for my rescue brother. 

There is a caramel morph, a pinstripe, and an albino. 

Don't let that last sentence fool you. I really have NO idea what I'm talking about. I've never learned morph types for snakes or beardies. Morphs aren't important to me- just their health level. 

Crazy Day

Today might have set a record for craziness. And it didn't have a single thing to do with Thanksgiving tomorrow! 

Here's a good pic of the chaos: 

I brought home a full grown Argentinian tegu, 2 young ball pythons, and a young chameleon with metabolic bone disease. 

The snakes ended up in the living room. I don't like overhead lights for snake tanks, but this is temporary. 

Luckily, I learned my lesson after the last two chameleons and saved my nice set up. The chameleon was in a 29 gallon tall tank with fake plants on one side and the wrong kind of lights. Now she's in a good mesh cage with a ton of climbing branches and a mercury vapor bulb on top. 

The tegu will stay with us for a couple days and then go to his new home. My boys love tegus. But I don't have a picture of him. 

Everyone is in a basic set up and is fine for the night. Tomorrow I'll fix them all up better. I've been fighting a chest cold all week and I'm exhausted. Tomorrow I can improve all the set ups. 

Sunny, rescue 159

This sweet baby ball python keeps prolapsing (her intestines start to fall out when she poops). She's prolapsed three times in the last three weeks. 

My vet says it's not uncommon for babies to prolapse and his first treatment will be a small stitch in her vent. 

If that doesn't work, they will surgically attach the cloaca to the abdominal wall so it cannot be pushed out. 

We'll start with the stich on Monday and see how she does. 

Snake Drama

Somehow this morning between my morning check and coming back to clean her cage, baby Star wrapped herself around the temperature gauge in her tank, pulled it off, and got herself stuck to the adhesive.

Thank goodness for a Facebook post a few weeks ago that taught me to use coconut oil to remove snakes from sticky rat traps. 

I used Shed Aid with no success and then coconut oil which was successful. I had olive oil in reserve just in case. It took a few minutes to work her skin free and, though it was stretched out, it did not rip.  

Phew! Thank you Facebook! 

Star & Elliott

I'm helping a rescuer friend by rehoming Star, a baby ball python she had taken in, and by fattening up her rescued baby Elliott. 

I just love babies! 

Don't you just want to boop that little nose?! It's so cute!