Reluctant Reptile

I am going to attempt something crazy with Barbossa tonight. My sister was mandated to get two live pinkies instead of just one and I will try to tempt reluctant reptile to eat. He can't possibly be afraid of a pinkie, right? Stay tuned and find out.

We might be acquiring a gecko that has gout. He needs a home and people who will give him his medication (which he has to take for the rest of his life). I have no problem with taking care of him, on the contrary, but I asked my sister to make sure he is stable and that he eats regularly, because I don not want a tragedy on my hands. not after Maat. So we'll see. My mom has seen it and she says he is adorable.

My Baby, Maat

Maat died last night.
I am still reeling from the shock and the grief. I wasn't sure I was going to post anything today, but I think some things need to be said.

A few days ago, while I was giving her Pedialyte, I thought that she had a bit of grey in her mouth. I had my sister hold her while I opened her mouth, and sure enough, her top palate was teeming with grey patches of skin. That can only mean mouth rot.
Since she has never eaten since I've had her, and I've been extra meticulous with her heating and humidity, it means she's been sick since the moment my mom bought her at PetCo. It really comes as no surprise, but it hurts.

I am just so tired. Tired of going into the pet stores and seeing the reptiles with empty water bowls and looking so dehydrated that their skin has grooves and wrinkles. I am tired of complaining, someone telling me they'll take care of it, and then everything staying the same. I am tired of people taking care of their shoes more than living creatures. I am tired of people buying fancy cases so their iPods don't get scratched but passing by an empty water bowl and not filling it.
I am tired, but I am also angry.
I feel ashamed at sharing genetic code with these beings that, just because they have opposable thumbs, think that the world is theirs and every other creature is inferior and therefore of less value. We, as the more intelligent creatures (although I am seriously having doubts), have a responsibility, an obligation, to take care of those that are weaker and defenseless. This increases ten-fold if we have them in cages. If we have the nerve of putting a wild animal in a cage, the very least we can do is make sure he or she is happy. We (I most definitely include myself) tell ourselves that even though they don't have their freedom, they are at least well-fed, healthy and safe. We trade off freedom for safety. It's not a fair choice, because we are not GIVING them a choice, but it's something that exotic pet owners deal with every day. We can live with it.
We cannot live with the mistreatment of these, or any, animals.
I did everything I could for Maat, but it makes my blood boil that she never had a meal in her short life. She was sick probably from the moment she hatched in whatever hell-hole they keep the eggs, while they wait to make money off of them.
My little baby didn't even have the hope of anti-biotic treatment because, since she's never eaten, the medication would have destroyed her organs. The only thing that I could do, and what I did do, was give her fluids. I'd been injecting her with liquid fuel for the past few nights, but that didn't stop her from getting weak and lethargic. The only consolation, and it's a poor one, that I have is that at least she didn't die alone. Odin was wrapped carefully around her, keeping her company. It's astounding that a little snake, a supposedly "stupid" being, has more compassion and understanding than all the "higher beings" who work in these pet stores.

It is a sad day.

Incognito

Odin and Maat are getting along beautifully. They sleep all curled up, like they've known each other since they were born.
I took Odin out this morning, just for a few minutes, but to start getting him used to humans handling him. He was pretty good today, not too scared. I'm dying to take a picture of him to post, but he is still skittish and bringing a camera into the equation would probably not be a wise move on my part.
What I can do, however, is try to get a picture of both of them curled around each other while they sleep. That would be adorable!
*grabs camouflaged hat and rubs dirt on face to fit in to the scenery. Which is a library.*

Strange Activities

Barbossa is pacing his cage. Do you think he is training for a marathon?
Neither do I.

I'm sure he's just looking for a place to poop, which means I'll have to check throughout the day so His Royal Highness doesn't throw a hissy fit.

Topkapi has been behaving really well for the past few days. I'm getting a bit scared of this exemplary behavior. It never bodes well with her.

Last night I offered Maat a live pinkie. I placed it at the opening of her hiding place, moved it around (sorry mouse) and then left it inside. I turned off the lights, since sometimes snakes like to eat in complete darkness. If the mouse were bigger I would never have done this because it's not safe to the snake, but since it was a baby mouse it was fine. I checked on them 20 minutes later and Maat had left the premises. She refused to take it, yet again. I sighed and gave her Pedialyte.

I handed the mouse over to Tybalt who ate it in about three seconds.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 23

Some babies ate today, some babies did not.

Damascus of course ate the mouse I offered him. It was a pretty large mouse so at one point I really thought he was having trouble swallowing it. I was preparing myself to jump to the rescue (don't ask me what I would have done if he really was choking, I have no clue) when he managed to slide it down a bit more down his throat. I almost had a coronary.

Maat, say it with me, did not eat. I gave her Pedialyte and checked her for the millionth time to make sure she has no injuries or anything that might give a clue as to why she is being so stubborn. I found nothing, of course.

Talulah ate fine.
I did not offer Coral food since she already ate earlier this week and I don't want her to explode. She looked disappointed, but she'll get over it.

Upgrade!

I'm trying a new thing with Maat. My sister brought an article from the wildlife center about feeding reluctant colubrids, which is what Maat, as a corn sake is. This would also include Coral, but thankfully, she likes her food just fine.
One of the recommendations they give in the article is to check and see if the container the snake is in is too big. Snakes live in dens in the wild, so they prefer smaller, more constrained spaces. For an older snake this is no problem, since they are used to being in captivity, but for a really teeny tiny one like Maat, a smaller cage would maybe make her feel safer.

I have a ton of containers, but none of them are really appropriate. I was standing in the snake room, casting my eye around, when I tripped over an idea. What if I switch Tybalt and Talulah into Maat's tank, and put her in their's? The two siblings are getting chunkier by the hour it seems, so a new tank is not such a bad idea. Maat's is roomier so they might, I say might, be tempted to, I don't know, maybe MOVE a bit. Lazy snakes.

So that's what I did. I scrubbed the two cages and placed fresh paper towels in them. I placed Maat inside her new home and she seemed pretty okay with the move.

Tybalt and Talulah, not so much.
They are still up there bemoaning their fate, but hopefully they'll realize their tank is actually bigger. It's an upgrade, guys!
I know it's hard, but have faith in the human who's been taking care of you for a year. Geez.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 22

Today feeding time was short. Coral has still not shed so I knew she wouldn't eat. I attempted to feed Maat for the millionth time and she again refused. I ended up giving her Pedialyte. I think she's becoming used to it because she grimaces less. Yes, she actually grimaces.
Talulah ate. I can always depend on her gluttony. Damascus also ate although he was shedding. I love ball pythons, I don't know why everyone says they are picky eaters. I've never had too much trouble.
Tybalt ate on Wednesday night, since he is still eating live pinkies, he has to eat when my sister brings the baby mouse from the wildlife center.

I have Topkapi to feed tonight and that's it for this week.

Tomorrow I have to get up bright and early to go to my French class. It's every Saturday from 8:30 to 11:00 am. It is looooooooong. But at least the teacher is good.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 21

Today was feeding day from hell. All the snakes had some problem or other with the food item I provided.
I started with Coral, who usually does not give me any trouble. On the contrary, she was getting so chunky that I put her on a bit of a diet, but she had refused a mouse last week so I was a bit worried when she didn't take one today. I pestered her a while, and then I brought out the live pinkie I had saved from Wednesday. My sister got me two from the wildlife center and Maat didn't eat hers, so I kept the baby mouse alive until today. It is a ridiculously small item for Coral, but I thought maybe if she sees it moving she'll be enticed to take it. I was not disappointed.
I then tried again with the frozen/thawed mouse, but she did not want it. I hope she is not going to throw a tantrum and only want live mice.

Then, it was Damascus's turn to be picky. Something about the fuzzies I offered did not please him. I do not know what, they are the same I always give him. He finally ate one, but ignored the other one. Since I had a leftover adult mouse I decided, hell why not, and placed it in front of him. If someone ever tells you that snakes don't have expressions you can tell them I told you they're liars. As soon as his tongue flicked and picked out the new scent his eyes seemed to widen in surprise. You could almost hear him thinking, "now what is this delectable smell?" (in an English accent, because that's how I think of his voice).
He took it and ate greedily.

Talulah also gave me trouble. I had to pretty much bribe her to take the fuzzie. She did eat it, but still what the hell was going on? Was there a hunger strike I was not aware of?

Maat, of course, continues to refuse food. I have tried absolutely everything. I have written to many forums and I have tried every suggestion I was given. Nothing.
I did try something new today. If you are squeamish, though, I highly recommend you get far away from this post.

Ok, when I realized she was not going to eat the fuzzie and that I would have to give her Pedialyte again, I had an interesting idea. What if I open the thawed mouse, take the organs out, the blood, and the brain matter, crush it as small as it will go and then mix it with the Pedialyte? I could not think of any reason not to do it. So I went to action. I am not sqeamish in the least, which is a good thing when you own snakes, so I had the mouse open and was crushing and mixing in a matter of seconds. I took Maat and started giving her the concoction with a syrynge. She was not that happy about it, but at least I know she got some mouse nutrients on top of the stuff provided by the Pedialyte.
Alright, you can stop gagging.

Belly Scales

This is a perfect example of the crazy stuff Topkapi does on a regular basis.

I was sitting, using the computer and of course I have my snake queen on my lap. I was engrossed in whatever I was reading and didn't notice that she was slowly slithering off.
When I realized "hey, where's the snake I had on me?", I shifted my eyes and saw her doing this. Whatever it is.


I'm pretty sure she was trying to scan her belly, but you would have to ask her.

In other news, my sister and I are going nuts trying to catch lizards for Maat. I read in some web pages that corn snakes can sometimes be enticed to eat if the prey item smells like a lizard. Which is all well and good, except where the hell am I going to get a lizard from? Hence the backyard chase sequences we've been stars in. Those little buggers are really fast.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 20

Maat is driving me up the walls. I am really concerned.
My sister brought 2 live pinkies on Wednesday, one for Tybalt and one for her. Tybalt ate his of course, she did not. So I had an extra baby mouse on my hands. I decided to keep it for a few days, to keep trying with Maat. So, I took care of it for two days and nights. For me this really sucked.
Do you understand how cute a baby mouse is? I had to give it milk with Pedialyte every four hours and I had to keep him warm, but I also had to keep myself detached, because he was destined to be eaten.
I tried again today and again Maat did not want it so I decided to give it to Tybalt since he is the only one who eats live pinkies. It was horrible.

Damascus ate fine as did Talulah. Coral was really moody today and she did not want her mouse. Maybe she's pissed I put her on a diet.

I baked some cookies today. They are double chocolate chunk, yummy.

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
8 ounces chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Melt chocolate with butter. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa. Add to chocolate mixture.
Place in prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Talking Dogs and Sulking Snakes

Maat continues to refuse food. I am getting close to a code red. I'm going to try again with a live pinkie on Wednesday, but if she doesn't take it I might have to give her fluids. She's just so damn little.

My snake room/library had a bit of a makeover this past weekend. The desk has been moved around, and so has Damascus's tank. Barbossa, although the change did not apply to him in any way, is throwing a little bit of a hissy fit. He does not like where the desk is and he lets me know it by somehow managing to move his basket so that it is facing the wall. Now, he is curled up in there, refusing to even glance at the rest of the room.
Well, I might be exaggerating a bit, but he really is annoyed.

I finished reading "The Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhurst. I was pretty sad that I finished it so quickly because it is a truly gorgeous book. When I picked it up I wasn't sure if it was really my thing, a man that tries to teach his dog to talk so she can tell him what happened the day his wife fell from a tree. A bit too sci-fi for me, or so I thought. Actually, the book is written in a very careful way, toeing the line of the believable in very artfully. I'm very glad I picked it up, and I want to read more stuff by Ms. Parkhurst

Weird Week

It's been a weird week. I haven't been feeling my best, which is why I haven't written as often as I do. My babies have been great, doing their usual stuff, it's just me who's been a bit off.
I fed them yesterday. Well, I fed some of them. I tried again with Maat and still she won't eat. She seemed interested for a few seconds then changed her mind about eating. I tried and tried but she wanted nothing to do with the pinkie. I ended up giving her some Pedialyte drops instead. At least I know she is getting some nutrients.
Topkapi ate, as did Damascus. You know, I always read that ball pythons are picky eaters, but I've not had a single problem with either one of them. I really recommend them as a first snake.
Talulah ate. She was very funny yesterday. I grabbed her and positioned her to take the pinkie. She struck, let go, and then struck multiple times, as if she were a venemous snake. She then proceeded to constrict the dead pinkie. She's never done that before. I guess she was feeling frisky.
Tybalt was still shedding so I didn't feed him.
By the way, I did end up buying the humidifier, so I will be using it the next time the snaked are shedding. Since I have them all on the same feeding schedule, they usually shed at the same time, which is good.
I did not feed Coral, because, although I hesitate to publicly announce this, she is looking too chubby. I've had to put her on a diet, so I'll be feeding her every other week instead of every week.

I finished the last Dark Tower book in the Stephen King series. I was devastated by the ending. Don't worry, I'll not give anything away, but really it was astounding. A lot of people complain about the way it ends, but, although I was surprised by it, I think it was really the best ending possible. If you haven't read the series, I highly urge you to do so.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 19

Maat did not eat Wednesday night or today. I tried the live pinkie and nothing. I am getting a bit concerned. I've checked and double checked her temperature, but it is always in the correct range. She has hiding spots, I've not handled her in days, I don't know why she refuses to eat. I did manage to give her some Pedialyte, she was not too happy about it, but she drank quite a number of nutrient filled drops. She kept opening and closing her mouth in disgust. Sorry, Maat but it's for your own good.
So Tybalt ended up eating the live pinkie. He was still shedding so I had to convince him to eat, but he finally took it.

Topkapi just finished eating. No problems with her as usual.
Damascus, Talulah and Coral all ate and look very full and happy. All in all, a good day for snakes at my house.

The Elusive Coral

Finally, a picture of Coral!
It's not a perfect picture, I know, but I am always alone when I take her out and I can't really hold on to her and a camera at the same time.
With her it really feels like a rodeo. Some days she lets herself be picked up without issue, then a minute later she starts freaking out, wanting me to PUT HER DOWN. But, if I do, she goes running in the opposite direction at the speed of light, and I run the risk of never seeing her again, so no, I do not put her down.

I am going to try tonight to feed Maat a fresh pinkie. My sister is going to bring a live one and I will inch my way a little more into the gates of hell by killing it first and then offering it to her. The best way to do this (I have done it before) is to put the mouse in a bag and smack it against the wall or the floor as fast and as hard as you can. It sounds monstrous and it is, but it is also instantaneous. Hopefully she eats, although I am sure Tybalt will take it if she doesn't.

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.

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).