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My OTHER Hobby

Dragoness

For the love of Science!
I have a 'reptile room' in my house, where temps are a bit more consistent than the rest of the house. And during the winter, warmer, lol. I nap in there when I let the rest of the house get cold. Last winter was ridiculous - power bills climbed up past what my monthly mortgage payment is. Working on fixing that.

Anyways - here are a few pics of my reptiles.

My oldest current reptile, Houdini (named because he periodically escapes his tank - I don't know how, but I suspect he climbs the filter.) He is 18 this year. I have had him since he was a hatchling.
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My first snake ever (she is 9 years old this year) Sinthia (Short for Mors Absinthia) Here she is with her second clutch:
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Calypso is our bearded dragon. She is cageless, and has the run of the reptile room. A station is set up for her, from which she doesn't usually stray too far. She has a pool, basking spot, heated cave and a window ledge to call her own.
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This big girl is Akasha, a BOa constrictor. She is around 10 feet long, and weighs close to 50 pounds. She is about 7 years old, and still growing.
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Vladimir is a Boa constrictor also, but one of the dwarf subspecies. Possibly Nicaraguan. This boy is 35 inches of not-so-intimidating trouble. He is very special, and sometimes injures himself, resulting in vet bills that devour an entire paycheck.
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Jacket is a Jungle Carpet Python. Mailed out to me all the way from California
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This is Alistaire, who died recently of Leukemia. I didn't even know he had it, but when he died suddenly, without warning, I took him in for a necropsy.
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This is Peaches, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, and the whole reason I ever got into reptiles. Saw a picture of one of these in a textbook when I was young, and was instantly and irrevocably in love. Did my research, and found out they were not a beginner snake, so I started with something easier - Ball Pythons, which in turn led to an addiction.
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Detail of skin iridescence:
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It isn't all of them, but some are a lot more willing to be photographed than others. Colubrids won't hold still long enough for good pics.
 
I bred reptiles for years and even though I've seen a million of them.......I can't say that it ever gets old looking at a nice Epicrates.
 
Snakes!!! I only have corn snakes, but I love boas and pythons, can't wait for the day when I can have a Brazilian rainbow of my own.
 
I have a couple corns, but they do not intrigue me as much as the 'fat' snakes. Boas and Pythons, and maybe someday, a Mangrove snake.

About half of my reptiles are rescues and adoptions, handed off to me when their owners lost interest or ability to care for them. Most came in good health, but a few were in questionable condition upon arrival.

At least it gives me a warm place to hang out when the rest of my house is 57ºF, and the reptile room is still 80ºF.
 
This is sick, you're one lucky person to be taking care of these awesome guys. Peaches looks beautiful, they all do! Don't know much about reptiles, but is Akasha about to molt?
 
Those are some fantastic looking snakes, and I have to tip my hat to you for successfully keeping them as long as you have. I've dabbled here and there, but always ended up selling / giving them away, for one reason or another.

No cresties in your collection?
 
Akasha is indeed about to molt in that picture. The skin that came off a couple days later was a whopper, and I'm framing parts of it.
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The skin is always bigger than the snake. Usually, the snake is about 80% of the length of it's shed skin. So a 10 foot skin would mean about an 8 foot snake.
 
I have a couple corns, but they do not intrigue me as much as the 'fat' snakes. Boas and Pythons, and maybe someday, a Mangrove snake.

About half of my reptiles are rescues and adoptions, handed off to me when their owners lost interest or ability to care for them. Most came in good health, but a few were in questionable condition upon arrival.

At least it gives me a warm place to hang out when the rest of my house is 57ºF, and the reptile room is still 80ºF.

My Mangrove was a rather interesting snake behaviorally speaking. During the day it was very docile and would tolerate any reasonable handling with no trouble. At night however, it's inner Black Mamba came out, it would strike a pose, huff and puff and hit anything that moved in it's range. It was a wild caught adult, captive bred behavior may be different. Regular maintenance was definitely a 9-5 affair!
 
  • #10
My Mangrove was a rather interesting snake behaviorally speaking. During the day it was very docile and would tolerate any reasonable handling with no trouble. At night however, it's inner Black Mamba came out, it would strike a pose, huff and puff and hit anything that moved in it's range. It was a wild caught adult, captive bred behavior may be different. Regular maintenance was definitely a 9-5 affair!

I have heard much the same from other Mangrove owners, but it seems almost all of them were wild caught. Not much captive breeding with these guys just yet.

Green tree pythons seem to have very similar characteristics in terms of their day/night Jekyll/Hyde thing going on, and with them it doesn't seem to matter if they are wild caught or CB, so I'm not sure a CB mangrove would be any different.

Mangroves are beautiful snakes, either way. Worth the trouble, IMO. I just have to find a vet who is willing to see one before I get one, just to be safe. And design a cage that can be closed off in compartments so my pet-sitters feel safe cleaning it in my absence.
 
  • #11
GTPs vary in temperament based upon their island of origin as well. I haven't kept them but had a good friend who was a nut for them, and had over a dozen individuals from all the various islands they're native to. I remember distinctly that at least in his collection Biaks tended to be much nastier than Arus. He had several Arus that could be handled without hooks by skilled people without getting bit, but no way was anybody getting one of his Biaks off its branch barehanded without getting tagged.
 
  • #12
I don't mind getting tagged by non-venomous reptiles. It isn't pleasant, but it's happened enough times I don't flinch anymore. Usually, I laugh. Then I grab the camera. Even when my 7 footer tagged my face. She's a bit bigger now, that was about 4 years ago.
 
  • #13
I don't mind getting tagged by non-venomous reptiles. It isn't pleasant, but it's happened enough times I don't flinch anymore. Usually, I laugh. Then I grab the camera. Even when my 7 footer tagged my face. She's a bit bigger now, that was about 4 years ago.

I have a strong suspicion you've never been tagged by an adult GTP or Amazon Tree Boa, or the worst of them all, an Emerald Tree Boa. Non-venomous bird eaters tend to have nasty teeth, like rough cut blades for a reciprocating saw. If you take a good grab on bite from any of those without flinching you are one tough cookie. A 4.5' Amazon gave me the most painful bite I've ever experienced, far more painful than the 12' Indian Python that got me around the same time.
 
  • #14
No, I have not experienced a bite from any of the tree boas, though I have seen the teeth on Corallus caninus.

They are still on my wish list.
 
  • #15
Wow dude, Ive never seen such an extensive army of domestic reptiles. Thats cool dude. Always wanted a boa or a cornsnake but never had the funds time or space for them..
 
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  • #16
Thanks. They don't cost as much as you might think - most of mine ar rescues, so the animal itself was free, and many came with cages. Many of the enclosures are re-vamped furniture that was put together on a shoestring budget. I do work in fast-food after all.
 
  • #17
I personally like tortoises, but my dorm won't allow them
 
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