This is what Topkapi does on Sundays. One of these days she's going to ask for a cup of coffee and the paper. Yes, she is under my covers with her head on my pillow, enjoying the "feel of cotton". I guess it makes sense, about a year ago I knit a little blanket for Barbossa in a beautiful white, soft yarn, which I put in his cage when it gets a bit cold. Topkapi does not have one. So, of course the most reasonable thing is to let her take over my pillows. Just plain common sense. So I just sit next to her reading and enjoying some serpentine company.
I'm going to change Talulah's and Tybalt's cage today. Since they are so little, they don't have mulch in their cage, they have paper towels. Mulch looks very pretty but it is a pain to change and for little babies like the sand boas it is actually dangerous. As I've mentioned I feed them frozen mice, or in their case pinkies (which are baby mice) so when they thaw they are obviously wet. The mulch can get attached to the wet fur and they can end up swallowing it. For the bigger snakes it is no problem, they can digest it but for the little ones it can get impacted in their stomachs. So, to avoid a meltdown on my part, because I like drama but not that much, I keep them in safe paper towels.
They have a small cage so it's easy to scrub it with a bit of soap. I have to make sure that it is very clean but it doesn't smell like soap, ammonia, alcohol, nothing that could create fumes once the heat lamp is turned on.
Snakes are really picky, if it's not obvious by now. When I clean their cages, all of them, and I mean all of them, throw a hissy fit. They do not want to touch the new paper towels or mulch and they try to crawl out of their cages. Barbossa slithers up his basket and curls up on top, refusing to let even the tip of his tail touch the alien mulch. After a few hours, they realize that it is not boiling lava and they calm down.
You would think they would be grateful. And, of course, usually the first thing they do is poop in a corner. Just to spice up my life.
gah!
ReplyDeletei applaud you for not being afraid of snakes. I think i would have an anxiety attack if i came within 20 feet of one. just seeing them in pictures scare me!
do they bite? can you actually just let them, er, slide around? are they curious, i mean what r they like?
None of the ones I have bite. They are as tame as puppies. Of course, if I am touching a mouse and then try to touch the snaes they might bite because I smell like food.
ReplyDeleteI take them out "walking" around my house, for the little ones sometimes it's just on my bed, and they are unbelievably curious. They try to get inside everything. Topkapi even crwals through my bookcases.
Thanks for commenting!