# my other passions, besides tortoises



## Meg90 (May 27, 2009)

Most of you here know that I keep other species than just Greek Tortoises. I have ball pythons, and crested geckos, and until just recently, African Clawed Frogs as well.

I have always loved reptiles. I had them from about kindergarten on, Anoles being the ice breaker. For a few years in my teens, I didn't keep any. Then, alittle over a year ago, I got the itch. So I found a good breeder and bought my first snake, a ball python that I named Gimli. He was the first reptile that I really owned without my mom's help. And subsequently, my reintroduction to the world of reptile keeping. Since then, I have aquired another ball python, two African Clawed frogs, my Greek Nigel, and my hatchling Anouk, plus two Crested Geckos, Santi and Faye.

My snakes are a big part of my love for the hobby. They, belive it or not, are very close to torts personality wise. They are curious, timid, LOVE their food....The only times I have ever been bitten I can 100% say that it was _my own fault_. I have been nipped once, out of fear (the cat was shadowing poor little Gimli, and I reached down) and twice near/after feeding time. Both of those incidents I should have had enough sense to read the body language, and keep my hands to myself for an extra minute. I guess I really just want to say that they are not evil. They bite for the same reasons any animal bites, and not just to cause harm.

These are my boys, Spike, and Gimli. Spike is a "spider" ball python. He is a color morph. There are over 100 different color morphs associated with this species.
The enclosure





The boys




Gimli








Spa day!




Spike, yawning




Spike's gorgeous colors









I am also really getting into Crested Geckos. They come in an AMAZING variety of colors, and are very docile, sweet geckos. I have two right now, Santiago and Faye-Faye, who in a few months, I plan to try to pair up and breed them. Faye is growing like a weed, getting bigger every week....





This is Santi (some of you have seen him before)





And this is Faye





My mom also keeps Cresties, and hers are retired breeders that I purchased for her from my breeder. He is the same guy that produced Santi, Faye, Spike and Gimli. I go to him for everything else but my torts. These are two of hers (she has four ladies now, but I only have pics of the first two girls) :

This is Grandma (yellow) and Sylvia (red)





Both Girls came with a surprise however!









I have four eggs incubating. The two in the first picture are 14 days along, the second two are 8 days into incubation. I have high hopes for atleast three of them at this point, and one of the other girls also looks gravid. We are checking the enclosure daily for new eggs. I also had another clutch, that I believe was produced by Grandma, but one of the eggs was crushed when I found it, and the other went bad after about 10 days of incubation. I am SUPER excited though...I have candled both groups, and do see some development in atleast 3 out of the 4 that I have at this point. I have never actually hatched anything....this is my first foray into it.

Sorry for such a LONG post! I just thought I would share a bit!


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## Stazz (May 27, 2009)

Wow what a wonderful collestion you have Meg !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love people sharing hehe, so dnt apologise 
Your snakes are lovely - I myself am scared of them, but they really are beautiful creatures. And all your others too!


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## Isa (May 28, 2009)

Thanks a lot for the pics Meg, they are amazing. You have a beautiful reptile family. It is the first time I see a snake yawn, adorable .


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## chadk (May 28, 2009)

That's cool Meg. I have a BP, and 2 dumeril's boas. A few leo geckos, 2 torts, 2 water dragons, and one beardie for my herp collection.

Looks like your BP is having a difficult shed in one pic. I'm guessing the screen top is part of the problem. With the heat lamp and the screen top, you loose too much humidity. If you cover 3/4 of it with foil or something, you'll be able to up the humidity to 80% during shed and you'll have perfect one piece sheds every time.

I stopped using any lighting for my snakes other than what is already in the room and just use UTH's on either rehostats or t-stats to control the temps. This helps with the humidity as well. 

Oh, and if they soak often, that could be a sign of mites.

Also, as they grow, watch for signs of aggression toward eachother. Keeping 2 together isn't usually a good long term plan. If they seem like they are 'cuddling' that is often simply one trying to dominate the other as they try to get the best spot in the hide.

Even thought I'm not a fan of 1/2 log hides for BPs (they like smaller, darker, snug on all sides hides), I gotta say that setup looks very nice.


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## Meg90 (May 28, 2009)

lol. my screen has two plexi panels over it for humidity, and I switched to bedabeast this winter to help with that as well. Gimli only had that tiny piece on his neck stuck. It was the first time since I've owned him that he had shedding issues. I also only used bedabeast because it has a realllllllly low chance of harboring mites in the petstore, vs cyprus. Everything else is sanitized before entering the enclosure. I know the drill about mites. 

He was soaking to remove that piece of stuck shed. He shed on Feb14 and the water was cooler than he would have liked it, which is why it got stuck in the first place. When I saw that, I filled it with treated warm water and he had his bath.

Both boys are good eaters. Spike gave me hell while I was switching him to f/t (spiders are notoriously picky eaters) but I've gotten him to eat for several weeks in a row now. They have been living together for months....since September I think? So almost a year. I have not had any problems because of that. its a 40 breeder, and my two are just babies. If I have problems later on, I will address it.

I really wasn't looking for advice on my boys, but I thank you for it all the same. I had done over a years worth of research before I purchased Gimli, thru books, online, the whole shebang. And I have had him for over a year without issue.

There is usually a rock wedged in that log as well. I moved it when I re-wet the substrate....Oh, and that lamp is not for them. I use their tank as my stand for it (not much space in my apt) but one piece of plexi is painted black, and the lamp sits on that one, so the light does not disturb them.


I always do my research when it comes to my animals. I was poking around for several weeks before I even considered owning tortoises, and geckos etc. I also avoid the petstore route. 

I'm glad that someone else here likes snakes.


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## dmmj (May 28, 2009)

I had a ball(royal) python for 16 years the most even tempered snake anyone had ever met. I named her monty, before I knew the sex, she died recently and I was sad cause she was cool, but ball pythons are my other passion besides torts.


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## chadk (May 28, 2009)

Meg, I have no doubt you take your research on your pets seriously and you care for them well. Just taking note of a few things that may or not may not be helpful 

As for mites coming in on aspen and cypress - those would be wood mites and NOT snake mites. Wood mites are of little concern to your snake. Most pet store snakes will come with snake mites or at least snake mite eggs (to suprise you a month or so later). And the snake should not need to soak at all for a perfect shed. If the snake does need soaking to help with shedding, your humidity is probably too low. I keep mine around 50-60 normally, and then up it to 80% when I see them starting to shed. They have perfect sheds and I don't even have a water dish (I go back and forth on that one - but it is not really required).

I go back and forth between cypress and aspen. I like them both. My dumerils especially like to borrow in it. I use Provent-a-Mite and it works wonders. You can pre-treat your substrate and you'll never have mite problems. I simply spray it on a few paper towel sheets and let dry. Then when I change my substrate, I put the towels under the aspen\cypress and any mite (wood or snake or other) will die.

I have had no problems switching all my snakes over to F\T rats. They all came eating live mice. But f\t rats is definatetly the way to go.

Best of luck with your pets!


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## Jacqui (May 28, 2009)

Nice pictures! I have a BP too. Just love the size they get and I have a thing for the ETs or ghost markings on them. KC is our third and only current BP. He dislikes the frozen, so we go with fresh killed. He's one of those who routinely will go off food during the winter months.

We have Leopard and Fattailed geckos, but I have to admit I really like the Crested geckos the more I see them. Good luck with the eggs. I look forward to seeing the hatchlings.


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## Meg90 (Jun 10, 2009)

3 out of my four eggs still look fertile at 27 and 21 days incubation (little less than half way there!)

And when I candled tonight, I saw an embryo in the second clutch MOVE inside its egg! I was SO excited! It was totally mind blowing!

So, in about three or four weeks, I should have atleast one crested hatchling!!!


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## richalisoviejo (Jun 10, 2009)

How neat Meg!

When I was younger I had a red tail boa, her name was boa derrick. When she got to be 6 foot my parents made me find another home for her.


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## Isa (Jun 11, 2009)

Good news Meg!!
It is very exciting


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## dannomite (Jun 11, 2009)

Awesome collection Meg! I used to have a Veiled Chameleon named Chameleo Esteves, RIP


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