The Den of Abbadon

[the-awkward-turt]

My Reptile First-Aid Kit

Disclaimer: I am not a vet. The information presented comes from discussions with my reptile vet, other experienced keepers, individuals with experience rehabilitating and treating injured reptiles, and from personal experience, research, and reading on the subject. If your reptile is seriously hurt, ill, dehydrated, etc it should be seen by an experienced reptile vet. This information is not a substitute for veterinary care.

Keep reading

[abbaden]

Satan’s been home for about two weeks now, and she’s practically been inseparable from this box. I still consider her to be in the ‘adjustment’ period, but so far she’s proving herself to be a rather genial animal. Once she’s settled in the box, she’ll stay there for several hours at a time just occasionally poking her head out. I think she and the dog have the same sleep cycle.

[wheremyscalesslither]

Snake Enrichment

As keepers, we must all strive to keep our animals healthy, but what often falls to the wayside is mental health of reptiles. Enrichment is an object or activity that stimulates the animal mentally and/or physically. Finding enrichment for snakes can sometimes be a challenge, but you’ll want to focus on olfactory and tactile enrichment, due to the fact that snakes are very centered on both of those systems. Remember- we want to bring out the natural behaviors of the animal, not just to add or take away objects at random. The olfactory sense is perception of smell. There are many fun and different smells you can place inside of an enclosure to provide stimulation. You’ll want to avoid any artificial scents such as perfumes and body sprays, because that can be a detriment to your animal’s health. Remember, they only have one functioning lung, so you don’t want to overload them with chemicals. You also don’t have to leave the object in the enclosure, you can use it to rub smells all around- in hides, on the walls, on branches, etc. You’ll also want to be careful to not put anything indigestible into the enclosure with rodent smell on it. No rags or towels that were in with the rats, and I would also suggest not putting too much prey bedding into the snake enclosure either, just in case.

Scents I have been successful with include: -different plants and fruits (flowers, leaves, strawberries, grapes, etc) -a PINCH of rat bedding -other snake’s sheds and bedding -things with my smell on them Pretty much any object is going to have a smell. It’s hard to go wrong unless you place something toxic in there. The tactile sense is the perception of touch. It’s good to give a variety of objects for snakes to feel as they wander their enclosures. 

You can use things from outside, just do so with caution. You won’t want to put anything that has been treated with pesticides or other chemicals or is potentially toxic in the enclosure as they have the potential to kill your snake. But if you know things in your yard are are safe, you can bake them in the oven to sanitize them. Put your oven on 250 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake the objects for 2 hours.

Fun things to try are: -different substrates. Use aspen one week then switch to repti-bark, newspaper, paper towel, sphagnum moss, etc. -Use a mix of substrates- half aspen, half paper towels, etc -dirt and soil of different textures. Organic potting soil is a great alternative.(Please use caution when feeding on loose substrate and put something down so your snake doesn’t get mouthfuls of substrate) -Rocks of different shapes, sizes, and textures (be careful there are no sharp edges) -different branches -leaf litter -smooth gravel/river rocks -Tiles of different kinds (do NOT place the tile over UTH because that will cause them to overheat and damage your enclosure and/or snake) -fake plants

The possibilities for enrichment are virtually endless and entirely beneficial to your snake. Additionally, it is fun to watch your snake explore and become interested in the new objects you placed for them.

Other tips: -Pay attention to the species. Are they diggers? semi-arboreal? entirely terrestrial? This is a good indication of when and how you should enrich your enclosure. Digging species are going to need layers of substrate, and you can bury items in it. Arboreal and semi-arboreal snakes are going to want to climb, so place perches and branches of different textures and you can even scent things that are on the ceiling of the enclosure or the top of those branches. -make sure to secure any objects you place in their enclosure so they will not fall on and injure your snake. -Snakes don’t like open spaces, so the less you have the more likely they are to explore. -Trade enrichment items through your snakes’ enclosures. If it was in one snake’s enclosure, place it in a different enclosure. It will then have the smell of the first snake on it, which can be stimulating to the other snake. I do not suggest doing this between Boas and pythons, however, due to the risk of IBD spreading. -Once you are consistent with providing enrichment, you can even give little to no enrichment once in a while- that’s still enrichment! -Some snakes are not good with change. Be sure to observe your animal for negative changes in behavior. (For example: stress, which may cause your animal to go off feed. If you have a snake like this, make small enrichment changes less frequently. Some snakes may be comfortable with you doing an entire overhaul all at once, where others may be shy about it.) -be careful with oranges and other strong citrus smells. This may cause some respiratory issues as the oils leach into the air of the enclosure. It is best to rub the peels of citrus around the enclosure without leaving any physical pieces inside

As always, if you have any inquiries, feel free to contact me! My ask box is always open :)

[abbaden]

Scare

We had a bit of a scare with The Aggadh’s tub last night; her heat pad either malfunctioned or became so entrapped with heat that it melted the aluminum foil, the aluminum tape and the riser and also scalded off an entire layer of wood from the dresser. The Aggadh herself seemed to be just fine, though.

Fortunately, we had a spare heating element that we were able to strap in. It just really goes to show that you can never be too careful.

We were also able to upgrade Omega into Scully’s old tub, Duke Wimbledon into Omega’s old tub, and then Ridley into Duke’s old tub. Everyone seems to be adjusting alright, although Omega is refusing to go into his hide. It’ll pass, though. Ridley has taken to probing his front legs out of the cross-current portholes, which isn’t terribly problematic, but is a little nerve-wracking because of how delicate he seems.

[indigoforest-deactivated2019041]

Becoming buddies...

I’ve had Juno for one month now, and she’s definitely warming up to me. One of the things that sold me on leopard geckos was watching videos of them coming up to the front of their enclosure when it was opened to “greet” their human. Juno has always been curious of the spray bottle I use for misting and filling her water, and has poked her head out of her burrow to watch before. Today, however, after watching me mist, she walked up and put her two front feet on the lip of her exo-terra viv to look at me. I tried to feed her, but she wasn’t doing this out of hunger. She was simply being curious.

Like many people, I suspect, I had grown up hearing biased statements about pet reptiles and the people who keep them. Things like they have zero interest in humans, and that people buy them as status symbols, etc.. I think people are simply accustomed to expecting all pets to act like cats or dogs. Reptiles, if you give them a chance, are wonderful, fascinating creatures.

[ofelvesandmusings]

But Jazi How Dare You Make a Snake Live in a Tub!

Okay I have a secret. This:

Is not inherently better than this:

Actually, for a ball python, the second one is better. They’re terrestrial snakes and really don’t want a lot of floor space. Snakes as a whole aren’t roaming animals. They like to find a nice hole to hide in and they move around when too hot/cold, too wet/dry, or too hungry to stay wherever they’ve hidden. It’s not a matter whether it’s “ghetto” (ugh) or even a “poor man’s tank”- the tub is probably the poor man’s custom reptile cage since those cost several hundred but that’s really where the similarity ends.

Quetzal’s got as much space as he needs and more. He needs space for two hides and a water bowl. He doesn’t need the branches because he’s a terrestrial snake, but I put them in anyway because they still will use them when exploring. He has a lot of floor cover as well which he doesn’t really need but I like giving a shy species plenty of hiding places.

So all of the “that’s kinda ghetto” and “but I’m not poor” responses I get when I suggest that they get a tub instead of fighting with a tank can go away now please.

Now how do I set such a creation up?

Well first you buy it and get a soldering iron and something to wipe off the melted plastic. Tub = $16 at Big Lots. Soldering Iron = $7 at RadioShack. Paper towels are easily obtained at a dollar store if you’re that stingy.

Then you poke holes in it with the heated iron. You can use a drill bit but that leaves a 90 degree angle on the hole (read: mildly sharp) and the iron leaves a rounded edge which I like better. Wipe off your iron after every hole because melted plastic can and will catch fire if left on too long, plus it starts smoking and smells like balls.

I waited 3 hours to make sure that the holes were dried and not letting off fumes. Toxic fumes + sensitive respiratory systems + 1 functional lung = bad things.

I added the substrate, hides, water bowl, and branches after I was sure and set up the cool thermometer.

And ground cover! Positioned strategically around the air holes so that ventilation isn’t sacrificed.

Bungee cords to keep him inside!  These are very tight and a pain to remove which is unfortunate but whatever works is good for me. Soooo much easier than a tank to set up and maintain. The difference for Q is astounding too, so from now on all of my snakes are going to either be in a tub or in a custom reptile cage. So done with tanks.

If I get one more person protesting tubs because they’re trashy/ghetto/lazy/obviously you have no money/blahblahblah I will skin you and make you into a chew toy for my dog.

[ofelvesandmusings]

WHY DID THIS RESURFACE NO

[yourhusbandrysucks-blog]

Because it’s very well done! We’ve been talking about tub enclosures today on my blog so here’s another great example for you peeps of what can be done with tubs.

[cup-noodle]

Hi! I was reading about your experience with Pasta from a reblog from That Salt Blog, and I just wanted to ask how old Pasta was when he started becoming symptomatic of his condition and what the general onset of his wobble was like? (I don't want to come across as nosy, please excuse me!)

It’s no problem! I will gladly explain :’)

I got pasta at a reptile expo about a year and a half ago when he was 1,5 years old. Mainly because I wanted a reliably feeding and slightly older ball python and I fell in love with his temperament. The breeder let me hold some ball pythons and out of all the snakes, pasta was calmest, yet most curious. He was sold to me as a ‘wobble-free spider’ since I asked the breeder about the wobble and if it impacted the snake. Looking back to it right now, we was probably very desperately trying to save his sale. He was kinda iffy about his feeding pattern too. Said he fed live to his snakes, but he would most often refuse anything other than f/t. He was on the lean side, but not skinny either.

On the way home while I popped him out of the box he was already wobbling (read as: shaking his head sideways and upside down). I thought it was just the bumpy car ride, but when we got home and I popped him in his new tub he wouldn’t stop. He didn’t eat for the first month and I took him for a checkup. By this time he had started corkscrewing, stargazing, sleeping and slithering with his belly and chin up and doing a lot more weird movements. He did it at night when he was active.

He didn’t eat for 8 months and I took him on other checks, in a panic that he might have IBD or another very terrible disease. Because after all, he was wobble free! We did find an odd number of pinworms (?) In his stool, but all other tests came back negative. He was treated and he continued to wobble. I completely stopped handling him after 5 months of not feeding and have only held him about 4-5 times since.

In a year’s time he has eaten 5 times and is currently on another feeding strike. It was only when I started browsing for the spider gene more when I realized Pasta had a terrible wobble quite unlike the spiders that are usually set as the default. Currently I find him wobbling during the day and nighttime, probably being confused about finding his hide and trying to wrap up in them. My vet said it would be wisest to schedule a euthanization if he continues to lose 25% of his body weight from this point on. Wether it will get to that, I don’t know. We are 1000% sure his wobble is causing him discomfort and is the reason he is not eating.

I have a terrible headache right now so I can’t really think clearly and idk if I covered everything, but if you have any more questions, I’m open to them :)

[gifsboom]

[tastefullyoffensive]

Video: Baby Snake Plays in His New Mini Sandbox

[snake-rattle-and-roll]

Walkies

[moresnakes-blog]

Say Cheese - Jungle Carpet Python, Morelia Spilota Cheynei.

[oracle-bone]

ca. 1900

[wheremyscalesslither]

Yes

Yes

Y E S

[fattynoodles]

So I’m looking through this chaps pictures (photographer is named Robert Runyan) and I ran across some more pictures which are really cool!

Here we have a very nice portrait, I’m surprised that rattlesnake is staying still (unless it’s not alive).

Here is one of the guys teaching about rattlesnakes to the troops. Did they defang them or were people just ridiculously bold back then?

Here we have some VINTAGE forced perspective. Technique has been in use for nearly a century!

Arguably the best picture of the bunch. “Draw me like one of your Texan-with-Mexican-heritage-because-you-stole-our-land girls!”

[abbaden]

#Yikes

There’s a boa group that I joined on Facebook, and there’s an ongoing thread right now polling what kinds of hides folks use for their adult boas; the number of people saying they don’t have hides is enough to make me cringe, but their justifications are even worse:

“Nothing, I want them as used to human interaction as possible”

Don’t get me wrong, I socialize with my sociable animals constantly because I like to reinforce positive behaviors by being receptive to them, but I also like to provide the extreme alternative where they can abscond themselves to total isolation because privacy seems to be a universal concept among all manner of fauna, even for the ones who live in open water.

And I understand the desire to keep minimalist housing for hygiene purposes, because I definitely only use disposable/one-time-use substrates and enrichment pieces with smooth, wipeable/rinsable surfaces but...

“Nothing. And adding extra shit in there is just more for them to smear crap urates onto. Good square footage for the animal, good size waterbowl and go.”

Honestly, this kind of bums me out and I’m seriously going to start looking into other boa communities, because this seems to be the norm attitude in this group and that makes me really uncomfortable.

[abbaden]

Satan-proofing

We went to visit Satan the other day (and pick up the kids’ snacks for the week), and I got to experience her wrapping around my neck for the first of what I imagine will be many times (if Phoster’s behavior is anything to predict by). She wasn’t constricting at max capacity, so she was relatively easy to de-tangle and release easily enough----especially since she was more than willing to be moved onto my crutch instead. Meanwhile, she was astonishingly nonchalant and passive when we were standing in the vicinity of my partner and one of the guys while they were handling a gorgeous Boraha chameleon. I honestly expected to have to be more proactive about her getting nosy, seeing as she sometimes seems to be enticed by the other enclosures over in her block in the store, but not at all!

But I can definitely see where she will be more than a handful if she becomes aggravated, so I’ll wind up doing my first several handlings at home with my partner around for safety’s sake. And while space is limited and she’s obviously going to smell and see the other residents of the house, I’m still not going to endeavor to ever introduce her to any of her reptilian broodmates. (Zoomer never met any of his python siblings; I was totally paranoid of cannibalism. I haven’t even introduced Phoster to his younger broodmates because I’ve been so nervous about him being double the size of the yearlings.) Accidents are random, so I’m not bold enough to say that an incident could never happen after this initial trial period, but I’m hoping that as I get to know Satan better I can boa-proof our quarters as best as possible to minimize the risk of incidents. I already know that mostly I’ll be handling her on the bed, which is enclosed within a gauzy canopy, which I think she’ll find really interesting. There are some sturdy shelves on the wall that have some open scaffolding that I can already see her trying to wrap around, so I’ll need to be mindful of that. I read a thread once on one of the forums about someone getting a house plant or a coatrack to ‘park’ their boa when they went into their child’s nursery so they wouldn’t have to juggle the infant and the snake at the same time. I like the idea of safe, supervised out-of-the-enclosure enrichment options for reptiles a lot.

(Sidenote, these posts I’m logging are starting to give off serious mommyblogger vibes, and I don’t know how that makes me feel.)

[kaijutegu]

Reptile Science Digest: Leopard Gecko Enrichment!

At least two behavioral measures of good welfare increased in captive leopard geckos with every type of enrichment used.

(With the exception of the visual enrichment, which was a mirror that let the geckos see their reflections.)

The Citation: Meredith J. Bashaw, Mallory D. Gibson, Devan M. Schowe, Abigail S. Kucher. Does enrichment improve reptile welfare? Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) respond to five types of environmental enrichment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science: In press, available online 25 August 2016.

The Article: link here! It’s a docdroid link, which is the site I like to use for uploading PDFs. Clicking that link will not start an automatic download, but will open the PDF in your browser instead. It may load funny at first. If it does, give it a moment and then refresh if it doesn’t fix itself!

The Take-Away: 

Enrichment is really important for your reptile’s overall wellness!

You can provide enrichment in even a simple tub and plastic hide basic enclosure and your gecko will benefit.

Much of the value of enrichment is based on novelty and variety. Enrichment doesn’t mean just cluttering up the cage or adding more hides! It means adding stuff to do and adding new stuff to do!

Enrichment introduces small changes, not major environmental shake-ups.

Enrichment doesn’t have to be complicated! You can make or buy many simple items that will improve your gecko’s quality of life!

Want to know why? There’s loads of science after the jump!

Keep reading

[abbaden]

More housing changes

Scully’s been fully upgraded to a bigger tub!--it’s actually Caligula’s old tub, which I soaked in bleach and scraped all the residual gunk from the old tape holding all the bits and pieces in  It felt a little bit ‘wrong’ and ‘morbid’ when I first thought to do it, but as soon as I started washing the tub out, those prejudices washed away, too. The mattress my partner and I have is one that a family friend died on, and it’s still just as structurally sound and comfortable as any other mattress; the same could be said for Caligula’s/Scully’s enclosure. She took to it just fine.

Satan’s enclosure came in the same day, and I managed to get it all set up and warmed up. Environmentally, it’s spot-on. Enrichment and space-management wise, I’m still brainstorming. Part of me really wants to take a gamble with getting this haunted house geared toward cats and using that as a hide; from what I can tell, it’s a simple cardboard structure with a textured floor that measures 15″ x 15″ x 15″, which is a fair amount of space to curl up into for the time being. I’m strongly considering putting it on top of a traditional black hide to offer some tiered hiding opportunities (when Mulder had a stacked hide, he absolutely loved it.)

For the moment, all the other reptiles’ housing seems to be adequate. Most of the smaller critters definitely need some updates ASAP, though.

[poikilomatters]

Tubs aren't "cheap"

…if you bother to set them up correctly. Not everyone has the strength or helping hands to lift heavy glass tanks. Not everyone lives in a place where the tanks won’t get moved often. Not everyone will feel safe picking up a tank cheap from Craigslist or other pet supply forums. And remember, some reptile species will do better in a modified tub as opposed to a glass tank, not to mention it’s also difficult to modify a glass tank too.

Just because a plastic tub is cheaper than a similarly sized glass tank doesn’t mean you’re entitled to shit on tub users.

[faunwoods]

Diadophis punctatus, Ring-necked snake.   I’m also on instagram!