Have you heard about our lord and savior Godzilla?

My beautiful girl. We're starting daily antibiotics in the next two days. She's grown so much since I first got her.

After dinner massage. The works.

Bleep

So Persus had never been taken to a vet before in his life. So we took him for a checkup and had a chat with our family exotic vet. After showing her a few pictures from when we got him she was quite happy we have him now. He’s still a bit underweight and showing signs of vitamin A deficiency. So we’ve adjusted his diet a tad for now to help alleviate all this and he goes in for a blood test next month to check his organ function. But we have a healthy dragon with a much improved temperament.

LETTUCE IS NOT GOOD FOR DRAGONS! Please do not feed them lettuce. It has zero nutritional value. It’s like eating ice chips. Our buddy here was on a pretty lettuce heavy diet and this is what happened.

Please note this is after three months of us having him.

Let's Talk: Coping With Depression

People love talking about mild depressed feelings and romanticizing the concept that someone can fix you or make it go away. If it stems from a situation then go for it and use that nifty little trick to get out of your funk. Here’s the ugly reality of the situation though. Depression comes in more forms than you can possibly imagine. Some of us are functional and some of us aren’t. There are those of us that can snap out of it and perk up. For those that have MDD, Major Depressive Disorder, it is not that easy. We can’t use little DIY tricks to get out of it. Here are a few things I use to help myself and they’re not fun, but they make the difference. 1. Get help. Professional help will always beat friend therapy. Yes. It is hard to talk about it because we feel like a burden, but we need it. We need to take that step to help ourselves form healthy methods of coping and recognize our own dangerous behaviors. We need to recognize that we are not a burden and we can be happier more often. 2. If you need medication don’t feel ashamed. This is you taking that step in a healthier direction. Pills suck, but they are a needed step to the process for some of us. 3. Realize you are not a burden. People that tell you that your depression is causing them problems is likely not a healthy influence on your life. Supportive friends understand sometimes we don’t have the energy and if we aren’t up to it today maybe another time. We missed an event? Ask for videos or pictures. We have things like Skype! We can be there with them. 4. Self care… this is one that is regularly abused by media. Self care is cleaning, going to work, talking to your doctor, or making yourself go outside for a few minutes for a little change of environment . Self care is removing toxic people and removing yourself from the drama of other people. Self care is recognizing hurtful behavior and forming new ones. Self care is letting yourself cry it out knowing you are merely changing your hormonal balance and releasing bad feelings that have been boiling up. 5. Find supportive people. Not people that make a game of mental illness. It’s not a flip a switch situation. Having friends and family that know this and still treat you well is important to your own mental health. 6. Remember that depression is a chemical imbalance and not caused by any one particular happenstance. It’s a legitimate medical problem and needs to be diagnosed by a professional. It is not a label that should control your life. There are ways to live with it. 7. This is not a be all end all help guide. Remember that I’m just someone with MDD/Clinical Depression. And this is from my life experience.

Pretty sure this is just a pancake with legs.

All praise sun god. Eos has a thing about staring straight into her light and trying to boop it. Thankfully she's started basking again and as you can see she's still wiping snot on the glass. Thankfully her test results should be in today or tomorrow and we can kick this systemic infection in the butt. Infection is a result of poor breeder care for those who are new to my page.

Aggressive Behavior Tips: Cute Snakes, Salty Behavior

1. Use your judgement. If you don’t feel safe putting a hand in the cage do not push yourself to do it. Nervousness and fear can endanger both you and your scale buddy.

2. Don’t feel bad using a hook. Snake hooks are meant to keep you both safe. You don’t want your snake accidentally pulling a fang or hurting themselves out of fear. Gently introduce the hook. Lean it against them after very slowly showing it to them. Your snake may tag the hook. Don’t panic. It is a normal reaction to things that startle them or feel dangerous/potentially hostile. If this happens leave it in the cage with them. Let them either explore it on their own or slowly over the next hour move it closer. If it takes a few days to get them comfortable with the hook that is okay. Just remember scales are sensitive just like our skin.

3. Towels can be used to black out portions of the cage and calm anxious or upset behaviors and create a calm environment in a pinch. Paper and other materials can also be used to black out the sides of the cage. This is especially helpful with new, ill, or anxious reptiles.

4. This is a personal one I do with my snake to avoid striking. Especially when she smells food. She has her own specific towel. When going to take her out I watch for a moment to determine her current state. If she’s showing strike ready behavior I locate her middle/rear portion and get a hand ready then gently drape her towel over the front portion of her body. Most times she will immediately freeze out of confusion allowing me to take her out and move her as long as I am quick and efficient. I mostly use this after she has eaten and had a few minutes to settle her meal. With the smell of rat still present she can be a bit strike happy.

5. Gloves are also a useful tool some pet stores and breeders use. Keep in mind what the material it is made of and do not jerk your hand if they do strike. While fangs do grow back it is best to avoid pulling them when possible.

6. Barehanding is not bad with behaviors like this. Keep in mind you may get bitten if they are afraid or in hunt mode and you try to come from the front rather than the back. If they strike and latch on there is no reason to panic. Most times the strike is scarier than the actual pain of the bite. If you are dealing with a larger constrictor [3+ feet] I do recommend having a spotter in case they begin to constrict to help uncoil them. You will lose feeling in your hand a lot faster than you think you might. If they remain latched it is an easy fix. Take them to a sink and run room temperature water over them until they release or put rubbing alcohol near, but not on their nose. The most important thing is to keep calm. Just remember to pick your snake up from the side or back rather than their upper body.

7. Find what works for you. These are things my fellow snake lovers do as well as a few things I do as well. Judge your snakes behavior. You know what they need as a snake parent. Remember, they are most likely scared or hungry rather than being a jerk.

Warning: Do not use this as a guide for hot snakes or Burmese pythons as their fangs are a lot more dangerous. They require entirely differently handling in most cases and I recommend utilizing an expert with these types of snakes. This is meant for domesticated pet snakes such as corn snakes, ball pythons, milk snakes, ect.

Mom… Leave me alone.

@rafacopter94 and I found this little Lake Erie Water Snake reading a sign about himself at the Columbus Zoo.

Cornflake!!!

Snake Care 101: Respiratory Infections

Let's start with the basics here. Snakes do not frequently sneeze, cough, or drool. In fact, if you see something like this keep an eye out for other signs of illness aside from drooling. Snakes that eat fish or frozen/thaw can look a bit drool covered after. It's normal. However, if you do see continued signs of excessive mucus and yawning a vet visit may be a good idea. Before anyone panics about this and assumes they have a sick animal let's go over a few other things. Snakes sneeze. Hell. They even cough. On a rare occasion it's nothing to snuff at. Perhaps an offensive smell or they got dust in their nose. But if you notice it frequently look for other signs. If you see their tongue sticking together it can easily be a sign of RI and should be looked into. Common signs are sticky tongue, propping their head up on things for excessive periods of time, mucus streaks on the glass, sneezing, coughing, and excessive yawning with what looks to be a very saliva filled mouth. If you notice these signs make sure to monitor or simply get them to a vet right away. I will not give you treatment tips as I am not a registered veterinarian. All I will say is listen to your vet, especially if you have one that specializes in exotic animals. If your snake seems sick then up your cage cleaning game and sanitize everything more often. Monitor them and make sure they are at least drinking water as sometimes they will go off feed. Mine will not always eat while she is not feeling well and a few days or weeks won't hurt them so long as they are not dropping dangerously low on weight. Sick snakes can become scared easily as the inflammation from infection hurts and can cause them to strike. Move slow and watch their behavior. You as their human know what to look for. Some of the biggest causes for this are husbandry related so always make sure to monitor your temperature and humidity. Be careful introducing new items and animals. Always above all sure to sanitize your hands before handling your animals. Snakes can get germs too.

I'm not sure if he's ever had an elevated basking spot. He was extremely apprehensive of the propped up wood and artificial basking space for several days and finally figured it out. He didn't leave it until he got hungry then seems to have gone right back. Can't wait for his new cage set up. He'll have some official basking rocks. He is essentially a rescue and we are still dealing with his old tank until we can replace it with a more adequate set up.

Beardies eat so strange.

Witchy 101: Scott Cunningham

Mr. Cunningham is a staple for most new witches. And I happily agree with this. While I am not Wiccan I do find the information simple enough to be applied to many paths of The Craft. His passion for the craft makes reading so enjoyable I find it hard to put his books down and own a decent portion of the books he had written during his life. I definitely recommend him for those curious about Wicca or The Craft.