My experiences as a snake owner and as a snake enthusiast. With a healthy potpourri of other stuff...




Friday, July 30, 2010

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 18

Damascus is a lucky boy today. He got three fuzzies to eat and he seemed more than thrilled to be taking them. Talulah is still mid-shed and she did not want hers, so she graciously donated it to The Fund of Damascus.
Coral was truly hungry. That's what you get for missing a meal, girl. As soon as I placed the mouse in front of her she grabbed it. Usually I have to do a bit of a song and dance to get her interested, but not today.

Why have my snakes decided that striking is not in their repertoires any more? Except for Barbossa, none of my other babies strike the food they eat. None of them try to constrict them, nothing. They seem to be on to the fact that the food is dead already. They just put their noses up to the food and open their mouths so I can place it inside. Tell me that is not lazy!

I forgot to write about a movie that my family and I saw the other day, "Clash of the Titans." We had a hard time deciding if it was better or worse than "10,000 B.C.", but we finally decided that it was a LITTLE bit better. Seriously, what the hell are Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neison doing in this movie?! I guess they had bills to pay. I don't think any of the writers, directors, etc. had ever picked up a Greek mythology book. What a mess. Unless you are very open minded or if you are looking for something that will make you crack up for all the wrong reasons, don't even bother with this one. Ralph Fiennes, you owe me an explanation.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Awwww...

Maat has shed and she looks impossibly cute. I can't get enough of looking at her beauty and gawking like a moron at how precious she is. I tried again today with a pinkie and still nothing, I will try again a few hours from now and if she doesn't take it I'll get my sister to bring a cricket from the wildlife center when she goes to work on Sunday. Sometimes baby corn snakes prefer crickets when they first start eating, the are smaller, easier for them to swallow, and it provides the same nutrients.
Tybalt ate his live pinkie yesterday without issue. I guess he is set on continuing my soul's progress to hell. Is it bad that it doesn't bother me quite as much anymore? I think it is.

Everyone else is dandy. Coral has been quite active for the past few days. I think she might be hungry since she did not eat last week. She'll get her mouse tomorrow, although I'm sure she would like it today. Sorry to disappoint, Coral.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Maat


That's my new baby, Maat. The name is Egyptian, and it means truth, balance, order, justice. It's also the name of a Goddess of Ancient Egypt, which doesn't hurt. I thought it beautifully appropriate for MY new ophidian goddess.
She is seriously cute. Her eyes are huge compared to the rest of her head so she has that wide-awake look that is always funny. She hasn't shed yet, which means I still haven't see her in all her glory. I am looking forward to that and to taking more pictures of her.
I tried this morning feeding her a thawed pinkie, but she was not interested. Hopefully I can tempt her in the next few days. I'm pretty sure she hatched only a couple of weeks ago, so she probably hasn't eaten anything yet which gives me a good chance of training her to eat pre-killed mice.
She also has the sweetest personality, and is not scared of anything. The first day I got her, she was crawling all over my hands and up into my hair. Little brave beauty. I can't stop looking at her.

I am baking some cookies, they're actually in the oven now.
Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
preferred jam

Mix flour, salt. Add sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract. Roll into balls, press center with thumb. Put spoonful of jam inside. Bake at 350 F. for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness).

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Addition to Family

I have another snake! My mom came home today with Barbossa's mice and a tiny (I mean tiny), beautiful corn snake. She is shedding, but I can already see how gorgeous her coloring is and how sweet she's going to be. I say she, but I really don't know if my new baby is a female or male. When she gets older I'll sex her and fix the pronouns accordingly. No name yet, I'll try to pick one that can apply to either sex. She is sooooo cute!
Thank the Gods I had an extra tank, an extra lamp and thermometer and hydrometer that my sister got for me, so I was pretty much all set. I'll see if she can swallow the same fare that Talulah and Damascus eats, she looks so little, but she can probably handle it. I'll let her shed and get adjusted for a few days and then I'll try to feed her.

Yesterday, my sister and I went to see "Inception". It was very good. For the first half hour or so I was a bit concerned that the movie was going to be a lot of undoubtedly cool special effects, but nothing more. As the story progressed, however, it stopped being so much about visual as about plot, which made it a great movie. It can get pretty complex at points, I can imagine the writers with pulsing migraines while they thought it out. The ending is evil. Go watch it and I'm sure you'll agree.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 17

Today it was Coral's turn not to eat. She decided that she was refusing the mouse, no matter how many times I placed it enticingly in front of her face. She is looking a bit on the chunky side anyway, so a week without eating will do her some good.
Topkapi has not shed yet, but she doesn't have blue eyes anymore, so she might take a mouse tonight. We'll see.

This morning I took Barbossa out on his walk in the upstairs hallway. I had brought my laptop and I had placed it on one of the stair steps and with me sitting on the step below. As soon as I opened up the laptop and turned it on, my baby decided that he needed to investigate. Now, if you've read any other entry you'll know that Barbossa is not what I would call brave. Understatement of the century. So I was quite stunned by his impulsive behavior. I did not want to move a muscle and scare him, so I stayed really still while he flicked out his tongue and traversed the plains of my keyboard. He, of course, pressed down all kinds of keys, so my poor computer was going a bit nuts behind his head, but he continued walking. He continued down my lap, another surprising thing, since he still thinks I'm about to beat him with a stick half the time. All in all, quite an interesting adventure he had while I was trying to check my email.

I finished "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri yesterday and I quite enjoyed it. I am not one for short stories, but most of these kept me entertained and felt important, which is a problem sometimes. Some authors give you little vignettes that might be well written but really mean very little. Substance does not equal length and vice versa.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Lull


Those are little baby Quaker parrots. My sister brought them home yesterday from her job, because they needed a place to stay for the night. Since they're so little (they must be a day old) they need supervision and no one stays overnight at the wildlife center. Someone brought them in because their nest fell off a tree. It's incredible how defenseless they are. Only one of them has his eyes open, the other two walk around blindly, bumping against each other. Poor little babies.

They are adorable. We're keeping them here for now, and we'll see in the future if we can find good homes for them, and if not, they can stay with us. We already have a Quaker, an adult one, so maybe he can foster them. I don't think that's likely, but you never know with animals.

My ophidian babies have been surprisingly calm the past few days, no shenanigans of any sort. That does not bode well. They're probably planning something cataclysmic for the future.
Topkapi has bright blue eyes, she's a few days away from shedding, but she still walks around without too much concern, sure in my protection. Which she, of course, has. She's so spunky.

I am baking a cherry pie right now, I can smell it already.
Here is the recipe:
For dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. cinnamon

For filling:
3 cups pitted, sliced cherries
3/4 sup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Mix flour, salt, cinnamon together. Add the butter and water. Mold into a ball, wrap up and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Put cherries in saucepan with water, cook for 10 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and cornstarch. Cook 5 more minutes, until it gets thick.
Take dough out and roll onto pie pan. you can save some and make lattice strips, if you like.
Pour cherry filling. Bake at 350 F. for 45 minutes.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Dark Towers

Today it will just be a quick book rant, so if that's not your thing, I'll see you later.

I am finishing the last book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and I am in complete denial. I'm just reading along, pretending there's another book in the series, ignoring the fact that after about 400 pages I will be left destitute in my Tower-less world.
You might think I'm kidding or exaggerating (and I am just a tiny bit) but you do not realize the way that I immerse myself in books. You mix a great story with charming characters and then you make that into a mind blowing series and I am lost in a parallel universe. For those that have read this series you'll know that the use of the word "parallel' is especially appropriate.
I don't want it to end! Do you think if I stalk Stephen King he'll write another one? No, I don't either.
I can't believe that in a few days (if I really stretch it out), I'll know how it ends. Will Roland get to the Tower? Who of the ka-tet will die? (I hope it's not Oy)
What's going to happen to Mordred?
I want to know and I don't want to know!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Famous Snake

All the babies have hatched at the center. I think there were six of them in total, with two eggs that were not fertilized. My sister says that they are really feisty, striking at everything that moves around them. They still haven't shed, like most snakelings do, so they probably won't eat yet. Hopefully they are drinking water, though.
Yesterday, they had "Lizard Day" at the wildlife center, which is a day where you can bring you lizards and showcase them, with the chance of winning some fun herpetological prizes ie. heat lamps, magazine subscriptions, feeding tongs, etc. I didn't go because lizards are really not my thing. My sister was working so she got to see some cool monitor lizards and iguanas.
They are going to have "Snake Day" in August, and of course I will be there cheering for my ophidian friends. I never take any of my babies because they get needlessly stressed, but a lot of people take their beautiful, unique specimens in the hopes of winning "best in show". You get to see a lot of cool snakes.
Last year, Venom One brought a pair of black mambas in a huge cage so people could get relatively close to them. They were incredible. The year before, which is even cooler, they did a presentation with the black mamba that was in the movie "Kill Bill" (volume two, I think). A movie star snake!

I finished "The Swan Thieves" a few days ago. If you are interested in a review, head over to my other page by clicking on the link on the right called The Auburn Haired Magician.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 16

Guess what? Tybalt did not eat. Yeah, it's no big surprise to me either, but I was really hoping that he would get back on frozen/thawed after last week's success. Now he's going to have to wait for next Wednesday for his pinkie.
Talulah ate fine and Damascus, the little greedy one, ate three fuzzies. Two that were originally meant for him and Tybalt's. Of course, he still asked for another one.

Coral was strangely reluctant to eat her mouse. She did finally take it, but after a lot of goading on my part. I don't know if maybe she wasn't hungry, she is a grown snake after all, and can go longer without food. I'm glad she did end up eating it and she is now curled up in her water bowl, digesting her meal.
Topkapi is looking really dull which means she must be getting ready to shed. She'll probably still eat tonight, though.

I watched "Nine" with my parents last night. I did not enjoy it, they did. It seemed like a cheap imitation of "Chicago", and no one except, maybe, for Fergie, could sing. Is it really so hard to find actors that are possibly not as famous but can actually sing? If it's a musical, there should be real, honest-to-God singers, period. Apart from that, the acting was fine. Of course, Daniel Day-Lewis was superb, as in everything he does. The rest of the cast was alright, not memorable, but not really annoying either. It just felt like a "blah" movie.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tale of the Tail

I walked into the snake room/library this morning, minding my own business, getting ready to go to a voice lesson, when I see Coral trying to escape. Yet again. She was pushing her little snout against the edge of the glass sliding door. I could almost see her little brain working: "I did it once before, I can do it again!"
I thought we were past all that. I thought we were getting to be good friends Coral, why do you have to go and mar our budding friendship?
Yes, it's a bit melodramatic, but it was kind of what I felt for a split second, before logic could give me a swift kick in the backside.
I made sure she couldn't escape and went on my way, still a bit disappointed.

I just saw the strangest thing on TV. I was watching "Snake Wranglers" on Nat Geo Wild, and it was an episode about Malaysian Pit Vipers, who by the way, are gorgeous, and the featured herpetologist was trying to catch some for research. Everything was fine, until I saw how she was getting DNA samples. She actually cuts the tip of their tails off! The narrator said that it was a "harmless cut", but she was actually sawing off the tip of the tail, how can that be harmless?! Wouldn't it be easier to get a sample of blood for DNA? It worried me a bit. I have never seen that before, and it seems a bit excessive. How would you like someone to come and cut off a toe for DNA samples?

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Snakelings

My sister called a few hours ago to tell me that the first Burmese baby had hatched! She said he is very cute, green and brown. I wonder if any of the babies will be albino, like their daddy. I hope so.
Unfortunately, in the state of Florida you need a permit to have a Burmese python, so I can't get one. Otherwise, you can imagine how fast I would have made it to the center this morning.
It's so frustrating, especially when I know both of the parents and have handled the father quite a bit. Oh well, hopefully they go to good homes.

I just finished baking banana bread. It's a little different from the recipe I usually use, but I was getting a bit bored. This one uses more bananas.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mashed bananas

Sift flour, add baking powder, salt. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add cinnamon, vanilla extract, eggs. Add the bananas. Mix well. Add the flour mixture, until just blended. Bake at 350 F. for an hour.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Eggs and Swans

No, not Bella.

The Burmese Python in the wildlife center is about to become a mom! She had laid a number of eggs a while ago, but they had looked like they were unfertilized, which has happened before with this particular snake. Snakes incubate their eggs by coiling up around them, like any other animal does, except for one tiny, little detail: snakes have no body heat. So, to provide warmth for her eggs, the momma snake starts making her muscles contract, making them twitch, which creates friction, which creates warmth for her babies. Nature is amazing. We think we're so smart.
Anyway, she got off the eggs today, and the staff checked on the condition of the babies. They seem to be fine, and they are now being incubated for the remainder of the week.
It's so exciting!

I started reading "The Swan Thieves" by Elizabeth Kostova. I had read her previous book "The Historian" and loved it so I picked this one up from the library on Saturday. So far, it is not disappointing. Good, concise prose and a quick but clear plot that keeps your attention on the characters. I'm not even halfway through, but I can already tell I am going to love this book.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Amusing Children

I almost wrote autistic children. Jeez.

I went yesterday to help at the wildlife center. The snakes look a bit better than they did last time. Mostly, it's because my sister took it upon herself to arrange the cages so that they had more and better hiding spots. Nothing makes a snake more anxious than being constantly visible to anything that passes by their cage.
While I was cleaning, checking for feces, etc. a man and his two daughters walk up to the reptile hut and start looking at the snakes. At that moment I was working on the pine snake cage. The smallest girl asks me why I have keys and why I am opening the door to the cages. I told her that I was making sure everyone had water, was okay and had a clean cage. She seemed very interested. She asked me if the snake would see if she put her hat on (she had one of those really floppy sun hats), I told her no, the snake could not see the hat. She proceeded to put it on anyways, I guess to make sure I wasn't lying. Not bad, find things out for yourself, not because someone tells you it's so.
The older girl told me that she had seen a black snake, just like the Indigo that's in the center, I asked her, knowing how rare these snakes are, if it was as big as the one in the museum. Behind her, her father made a negating gesture with his head. She said, well, no not quite that big. It was very amusing.

Barbossa ate today. They were really crazy mice. One of them kept jumping all over the cage. Finally I had to grab him with the feeding tongs so that Barbossa could get him. Cruel, but it must be done.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 15

Tybalt ate!!! He finally accepted a dead pinkie! I am so relieved. I hope that he continues like this, it would make things so much easier.
Talulah also ate without problems, but that's not much of a surprise, she is a little eating machine.
Coral ate with gusto. Now, I just have Topkapi to feed tonight, who already seems quite impatient. The problem is, with her, if I start feeding her early, she'll think that's it's eating time all the time (just like she thinks she's getting fed every single night) and that just wouldn't do. Someone's bound to loose a finger.

Tomorrow I'll probably be going over to help at the wildlife center. I'll help my sister clean the snake cages, change the mulch, etc. I do miss those snakes, so it'll be great to see them. Then I'll head over to the library to see if there is anything new and interesting in the animal department, and of course, to check out some good fiction books that I have had my eye on. We'll see what I find.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Triple Threats


That is not my picture and she or he is most definitely not one of my snakes. That is a black mamba, probably my favorite venomous snake. If I had my way and if I were more experienced (and had a permit, and did not have family members worrying, etc) that's the snake I would get. Alas, I can only dream.
Most people think the King Cobra is the ultimate snake, but for me, although I love the cobras also, the mambas are the most impressive snakes. Especially the black ones. They are incredibly venomous, aggressive, and fast. Triple threat.

I am listening to Fiona Apple. I love her songs, too bad her singing voice is not really the prettiest. Actually, it's a pretty ugly voice, but her songs have a kind of power that make you forget (most of the time) her vocal faults. I wonder when she's going to come out with a new album, it's been a few years.

This week I did not make my sister get me a live pinkie for Tybalt. I am going to attempt to feed him a dead one tomorrow and see if I can get him back to eating pre-killed items. I really hope so.
Topkapi was already looking for food this afternoon. Sorry Topkapi, you're a day early.

By the way, I started a live journal account. It's mostly about books, reviews, recommendations, etc. So if that's something you might be interested in here's the address: http://valca85.livejournal.com/
Comments, questions, snide remarks are welcomed.

I started another part in my magical training today. After weeks of doing the LBRP (Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram) it was time to step up to the next challenge. This next ritual is called the Middle Pillar Ritual. It is performed after teh LBRP, but before the Tarot contemplation. I did not have it fully memorized today, but even so I could already feel what a strong tool it will be in the future. Looking forwards to truly learning it.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Famine

I ran out of dog food this morning. Yes, the supermarket is only a few blocks away, but do you know how damn hot it is outside? I do not have a death wish, thank you very much.
Of course, the dogs, all three of them, are acting as if the famine had reached Miami. They come and whine at me, then they go lick their empty, sad bowls as if I were purposely hiding their food.
I am boiling them some pasta so that I am not followed around by wide puppy-dog eyes (you know the ones I mean) all day long. They love pasta so there should be no complaints.

I took Barbossa out this morning and he refused to move. At all. I was sitting there like an idiot watching what could have easily been a snake made out of marble. He did not even deign to flick his tongue out.

I am probably going to be baking this afternoon. I have my eye set on a particular bread recipe, so I'll post it if I do it and also, hopefully, a good picture.

Here is the recipe for nut filled sweet bread:

3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 package fast-active yeast
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
For filling:
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp. butter

Place yeast in warm water, let dissolve. Add sugar, milk, eggs, egg yolk, butter, salt. Slowly add the flour. Knead and place in a warm place to rise until doubled (about two hours). While the dough rises, place chopped pecans in skillet with the butter and cook until browned.
Knead bread again. Make dough into whatever shape you like, and spread filling on one side of it. Fold the other part of the dough over the filling and let rise in warm place until double, again. Bake at 325 F. 30-35 minutes.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Snake Bully

I have Miss Topkapi on my lap right now. She's in one of her lazy moods. This morning, however, she made up for that thoroughly. I was sitting at the kitchen table, attempting to read, with Vinicius calmly chewing a bone beside my chair. Topkapi, for some obscure reason, decided to see what he was doing. She started slithering down the table, on to my lap, and down..towards the dog's mouth. Now, if you are new and have not seen pictures of this particular dog, I encourage you to do so by clicking on his name in the tags section. I'll wait.

He is a monster. Now, imagine Topkapi's little head heading straight for his mouth and front paws. She was almost touching him by the time I woke up and realized what was going on.
She must still have whiplash from how hard I yanked her back. She's insane.
It's incredible to me that she is the same python who used to snap at every moving thing that passed her way, including the dogs. If one of them got near her all hell would break loose, and now she provokes them. She's so confident that I will protect her no matter what that she goes out looking for trouble. Spoiled, bullying snake.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Independence Day

I'm going to keep it short today because apart from being Independence Day, it is also my sister's birthday. She turned 22. Ha, she's old!
Wait...that makes me even older. Damn it.

I baked her a Sacher Torte using one of my grandmother's recipe, so I cannot share it. Sorry. But it turned out tasty, so it is a good recipe.
Barbossa also got his mice today, so he's having a good day.

Yesterday we watched "Shutter Island" and let me tell you that is one freaky movie. I highly recommend it, but it is a tough movie in more ways than one. Leonardo DiCaprio of course does a wonderful job, as usual, and so does Ben Kingsley as the head psychiatrist. It's a movie that looks predictable, but it really is not. It tricked us, and we're pretty quick at catching twists in movies. Watch it, you'll see what I mean.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 14

Everyone that was supposed to eat today, ate.
Coral decided that she needed to keep her coils wrapped around my hand while she ate, so I was sitting there with half her body loosely holding on to me, waiting for her to finish swallowing the mouse. At least she seems to trust me enough to let me touch her while she eats. Thank the Gods she is smart enough to know she doesn't need to constrict the mouse, because otherwise I would have had a few unpleasant moments with her coils. She's little, but if she can kill a mouse with the pressure, it's bound to hurt a bit.
I gave Damascus two mice to keep him happy, and he was greedily expecting the third one.

SO, they decided to put the carpet python down. Another vet saw her and found tumors in her head so it was deemed the right choice to euthanize her. Poor baby, but it is better than her starving to death.
There was a huge argument, a ridiculous one, between my sister and the "reptile keeper" (my disdain for this boy warrants the quotation marks). He wanted to skin the snake after she died. He's done it before, never successfully preserving the skin because he is an idiot who can't even read an instruction manual, but this time it really was ridiculous. He should not be allowed to keep the skin after NOT taking care of the animal while she was alive. He want to put it on display in the museum! How disrespectful is that to the poor snake! Let her rest in peace. But I really can't expect much from a guy who likes to go hunting. Ponder that for a second, someone who works at a wild animal rehabilitation facility likes to go shooting wild animals on his free time.
The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

Finally my sister won. Her skin will not be a trophy for the person who failed to take care of her. Some justice exists in the world.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

People of the Plague

I'm reading a great book called "Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague", by Geraldine Brooks. It was her first novel, and it is beautifully written. I'm only half-way through but it is the kind of writing that completely immerses you in the era, the characters, all of it. Very briefly, it is about a town that gets infected with the bubonic plague and decides to seal itself off completely from the neighboring towns to avoid spreading the disease. It focuses on three characters, a maid, a pastor and his wife.
I've read one other of her books "People of the Book", which I still think about with awe. So well written and planned out. I got it from the library and I still haven't bought it, although I mean to as soon as I can.

Of course, with Topkapi around, it's pretty hard to read much of anything since she requires constant attention and lays exactly on the page I'm reading!