# My little Zoo... (Dial Up Warning! LOTS of pics... Seriously!)



## Floof (Apr 24, 2012)

Finally! The sun has been coming out, and the temperatures have been warm enough here in the PNW to get the animals out for nice new spring pictures. So, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites... And then some!

This is Mallie, my adult Anerythristic Corn Snake. She hates the camera, and _always_ insists on hiding her head!





But I managed to wrangle a nice head-shot out of her:




And a shot to show off her gorgeous coloration:





Then there's DeeDee, a juvenile Corn snake... I think she's Ultramel Anery, either het or homo Motley, but I really don't know for sure. Whatever she is, I can't wait to see how she colors up as she grows! Her parents are absolutely wild-looking!




She doesn't like to hold still, either, so, when she DID finally settle down, I didn't bother trying my luck trying to get a full body pic with her head showing...





I recently decided to sell Dexter, to someone who would appreciate him more. He found a GREAT home, as a very nice young woman's first snake. Apparently she'd been drooling over her hobby breeder friend's Lavender corn snake for a long time now--so Dexter, a Hypo Lavender, fit the bill perfectly! I had a little mini-photo shoot with him the day before he left for his new home...





Some here may remember Astraea. She was a birthday gift from my dad last year, and I posted pics of her here on TFO when I got her. Back then, her name was Raven, but the name didn't fit... So I tried Starfire. Nope--still not right. More recently, my roommate suggested I try out a couple Greek names. I fell in love with the name Astraea, and it fits perfectly! (Though I can't remember for the life of me who "Astraea" is in Greek mythology--some kind of goddess, I think..) Anyway, she's grown quite a bit over the last year, though she's still growing a bit slow by BCI standards. Here she is... Astraea, my little Salmon Boa Constrictor!









Atlas was a somewhat spontaneous addition, toward the end of January. A week or two before I moved back up to Washington, I stopped in to a store in Salt Lake. Brand new, and the first "reptiles only" specialty store in Utah. We oggled the corn snakes, handled a few Rosy boas, chatted awhile with the owner, and, at the last minute, I asked to look at the little boa constrictor, who'd been curled up under a log the whole time. It was love at first site! "Atlas" is by no means a "normal"-looking BCI. I have no idea what his deal is, because the store was selling him on consignment and had simply been told he was a regular Colombian. Regardless of what he is, he very thoroughly stole my heart. So, I went home to work out an enclosure, etc, and, just days before the trip, brought him home. And I'm so happy I did! I can't wait to see what he'll look like as an adult!













Now someone with a bit less drawn-out of a back story... Toby, a San Diego Gopher Snake. He's getting so big now!









Volvagia, the Whitewater Rosy Boa. She was pretty good for the shoot--didn't even try to eat me! 









Amun-Ra, the Woma python, is my pride and joy. Named after the Egyptian God of Gods (equivalent of Zeus, if you will). 









And a more recent addition to the family... This is Vrael, a Kisatchie Corn Snake. My roommate was given him and his former tankmate, a nice female Kisatchie. Of course, I had to go and fall in love, and then my enabler of a roommate had to go and declare him mine. LOL. He's a BIG boy, at 750 grams!









And finally, Shruikan, the Anza Borrego Rosy boa. She's kind of a jerk, in the sense that she thinks EVERYTHING is food. I haven't been quite brave enough to take her out for a photoshoot yet... But I didn't want her to feel left out, so here's a pic from earlier this year. She's truly a glutton... She was constantly tracking and lunging at my hand and the camera during this shoot, trying to latch on and eat ANYTHING she could get her mouth on, lol!





Surprisingly, while I DID get bit during that photoshoot, it wasn't Shruikan that got me... You might have noticed I commented that Volvagia was "pretty good" for her outdoor shoot. Well... She's not as bad as Shruikan, but she's pretty gluttonous, herself!!




Owie...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, on to the things with legs! We'll start with the 8-legged thing. Nigel is a Chaco Golden Knee tarantula. I was very lazy when I named her.. Instead of coming up with a "real" name, I kept calling her "Number One." Which, of course, made me think of one of my favorite childhood cartoons, Codename: Kids Next Door. So she became "Numbah One," aka Nigel. I figure I'm planning ahead, for when I inevitably wind up with more Ts. I've already decided I HAVE to get one of the red knee/leg Brachypelmas. My pipe-dream is B. auratum (droooool!), but I know I'll at least wind up with a B. smithi!









When it comes to the four-legged variety, we have Man Ray, the Bearded Dragon. He's a spoiled little prince.









Then there's the toads. These are Boreal toads, a subspecies of the Western toad. I think the scientific name is something like _Bufo boreas boreas_...





And, of course, there's the tortoises! Who are all still nameless, because I'm lame like that.
First is the little Leopard tortoise. He's grown SO much. And it's all coming in smooth! Yaaay! (I'm considering naming him Wartortle... Because I'm a Pokemon dork like that...)









Then the Russians. First the male.




I did since trim his beak. I'd been putting it off hoping to have it done at a vet, but I got fed up and decided to trim it down myself--AFTER this picture, I should add! It looks much better now, and he seems to appreciate the change.




And the females... The first one came in with the male, the second one was a Craigslist pick-up. Their shells aren't very pretty, but otherwise they're in good health. 

















This girl is a recent addition. I was browsing Craigslist one day, and came across an ad for two Russian tortoises and their supplies, for $20. Male and female. So I emailed... And waited a week, until, finally, I got an email back. They were still available... phew! The girl wasn't willing to sell the female separate, but did give me her blessing on rehoming the male later on (thank goodness--I don't need another male!). So, we met up, and I was thrilled to find that the female is a big gal at about 7" SCL! I actually found a good home for the male very quickly (with someone who fully understood that he was still new-to-me and needed a fecal, of course), and this big gal is staying here.





Okay, now for the furry things, and that should be it! Lol!
Here's Stump, my humble little prince. He's a Brussels Griffon mix (weighing in at 30 lbs--phew!), and he's 5 years old now. 




Samantha is the Queen of the household. Or, at least, that's what she thinks. She's a 12 year old boxer. My family got her a little over 10 years ago. So, she's essentially been bossing me around since I was 9 years old. LOL. Here she is the other day, exercising some serious self control. (That's one of those dehydrated chicken breast treats on her nose.)




And here she is 10 years ago, once again exercising serious self control in dealing with 10 year old me. 





And the rodents... My roommate has been wanting to get rats again... And... well... We went to pick up some feeder rats, and forgot to call ahead asking him to pre-kill them. So, we wound up bringing home live rats instead... And falling in love with 4 of them. Then we fell hard for a pretty little girl at Petsmart. Bo (not pictured--one of the would-be feeders) passed away of unknown causes, but otherwise everyone is doing well.
This picture isn't great... But, here's 4 of the original 5: Ash is the Dumbo Black Berkshire; Trick (immediately behind him) is the cream-colored male. Next to Trick is Morrigan, the Black Berkshire girl, and last but not least is Kenzi, the black berkshire with the white face. 




Some time later, we saw an ad on Craigslist (yes, I know, I REALLY need to ban myself from CL!!) for 4 female ratties, hairless, rex, and dumbo-ears, and their huge cage. I'll admit, the cage was a little bit of the appeal, because our girls' cage wasn't big enough.. But the other part was that I have always wanted a Hairless. So we wound up with a few more...
Here's two of them. Nora is the Dumbo PEW Hairless, and Sally is the dumbo.. hooded? Capped? Not sure what it's called. Eh.. She's the not hairless one. Lol.




We also have Julia, a dumbo hairless with the same markings as Sally, and Suren, a normal-eared, hooded rex. I love Suren. She's my baby. <3 I'll have to get a picture of Julia and Suren later--I don't have any yet...

I also decided to start breeding mice on a small scale, to help keep the snakes fed. Here's one of my favorites, "Gold Mom." She's not pregnant... Just really fat. I was told she's an American Brindle, which are pretty prone to obesity. It doesn't help that she never uses the wheel...





Phew! Sick of me yet? Well, I have good news for you, then--that's all!! Lol! I DID say it was a zoo, right?? And that's not even counting the roommate's animals...


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## wellington (Apr 24, 2012)

All very, very nice.. Well except the spider. I can't do spiders Sorry


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## Floof (Apr 24, 2012)

Thanks, Barb! And that's okay. I used to think spiders were way too creepy, too.  Then my manager made me hold one, and I realized they aren't that bad... Well, Tarantulas aren't--I respect the beauty of "true" spiders, but they still really creep me out, lol! Nigel's a really cool little T. She's very easy-going and docile.


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## tortadise (Apr 24, 2012)

Nice. Looking good.


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## lisalove (Apr 24, 2012)

Nice!! I agree with the exception of the Trantula.
I could have used a little warning!!!!


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## Momof4 (Apr 24, 2012)

Nice zoo, except those snakes. I scrolled down real fast. I love rats!! That was one of my best pets growing up.


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## terryo (Apr 24, 2012)

All your pets are fantastic, but I LOVE that Trantula.


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## Floof (Apr 24, 2012)

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Terry--I'll admit, I didn't expect you to be the one who really appreciates the Tarantula, lol!  She is a GREAT little T. I'll be sure to post pics as she continues to grow!


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## terryo (Apr 25, 2012)

About a hundred years ago, we drove all over the country and through Mexico for our honeymoon. We went through a small town in Mexico and there were small children with Tarantula's on a leash. They were so big, and some had beautiful color to them. I thought they were so beautiful. They were willing to sell them to us for $.20 (twenty cents). My husband said no, we could buy a pack of cigarettes for that price.


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## Missy (Apr 25, 2012)

Beautiful pics. Not a spider person but I like to look at them


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## acrantophis (Apr 25, 2012)

Great collection! I have caught a few Anza borrego rosey boas before. We live an hour or so from the park. Nice woma too.


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## Floof (Apr 25, 2012)

Terry--That's so cool! The thought of getting a leash on a tarantula made me giggle, too... Determined kids, or easy-going Ts, I guess! 

Acrantophis--Thanks! And that is so neat. I would love to find some of these guys in the field. It's actually pretty sad, I've never even found a garter snake in the wild. (And not for lack of trying. I must be really bad at field herping.. Lol!)


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