And friends

Danger noodles and wiggle sausages

[valistarri]

haha i got back into don’t starve hggnggngn take my art and my soul 

[rocketumbl]

Pea Car

[oso-de-cocina]

@bunjywunjy

[bunjywunjy]

Bike Wazowski

[nightwonder7]

heard you were taking skin requests... Uncorrupted wortox if you can please?

He’s got a soft spot for these critters UwU

[metalslugx-deactivated20220413]

I love snakes bc they always make the :3 face but they don’t have any arms so they can’t go :3c

[maeborowski]

:3< (tail instead of paw!)

[metalslugx-deactivated20220413]

HOLY FUCK

[mcdodgerman]

:3/// (coiled)

[metalslugx-deactivated20220413]

NOW THIS IS GOOD CONTENT

[screaminglesbians-deactivated20]

iguanamouth 

[iguanamouth]

!!!!!!!!

[acidpanter]

Blu is a smol, sleepy pup.

[snake-candy]

This is a great video showing some of my favorite things about legless lizards: their tongues look like a cross of a snake and gecko tongue, they have cute blinky eyes, their jaws are much more solid than snakes and they can chew, and many have tougher scales than snakes which is why they have that seam on the sides, it gives them flexibility to eat and breath.

[the-cichlid-fairy-blog]

It always amazes me when people know virtually nothing about their aquariums or what kind of fish or how many live inside of them

Like I try to help them with things like fish compatability and food and they don’t even know how big their tank is or what fish they have or if they’re even still alive

Like imagine if people were this negligent about any other type of animal

Like “Hey I have this thing living in my house, what do I feed it?

what is it? Oh I don’t know it’s kind of black and has fur, I guess it’s a decent size I dunno like maybe this big *iffy hand gestures about its size* maybe a little smaller I don’t know let me ask my 6 year old son HEY SON HOW BIG IS THAT CREATURE YOU PLAY WITH SOMETIMES *son makes unrealistic hand gestures*

I guess it might be a cat? Or a guinea pig?? It has legs

Hold on let me call my wife she might know what it is

Hey honey I’m at the pet store what is that thing that we have in our house? it’s a chinchilla? Oh okay thanks

My wife says she thinks it’s a chinchilla

Also do you think I could put this *squints at a price tag* long haired Syrian hamster with it? I heard I could put that with it once and it would be fine”

[the-cichlid-fairy-blog]

oh all the posts I thought would break 500 notes, this wasn’t one of them 

I feel like I voiced the internal frustrations of a thousand fish store workers or something 

[bettabubble]

i once had a woman argue with me that she didn’t have a betta, she had a molly (she showed me pics, it’s a betta for sure) and then proceeded to ask me if she could put a “nemo” in there with it. she actually didn’t know the difference between saltwater and freshwater

[splendid-splendens]

I once had someone ask me what would happen if they bred a betta with a clown fish. This wasn’t even at work. People are just that stupid everywhere.

[sealedbeastnue]

floor dinner goblin

[mvmvmvm]

a small but large man

[corneliuscaramelcornsnake]

Cain the Biak Green Tree Python

[cryptid-creations]

Daily Sketch 89# Danger Noodle

Daily Paintings Book now available: http://ForgePublishing.com/shop

For full res WIPs, art, videos and more: https://www.patreon.com/piperdraws

Twitter  •  Facebook  •  Instagram  •  DeviantART​

[kaijutegu]

How do you feel about feeding your herps live mice? I know a lot of people that are in favor of bringing out the “hunting” instincts of their pet, but I think herps in human care have different needs than those in the wild, and that they could get hurt or sick when a mouse dies clawing and biting. I was wondering about your stance on this, and an effective way to make a point to others without just shutting them down? Thank you!!!

I’ve never fed live and never will (barring as an absolute last resort for an animal that refuses all other food, and even then I’d probably stick to pinks, which can’t fight like an adult can).

As for how to make the point, I usually just like to show people what can happen when you feed live. 

Now, the chances of this happening if you feed live are slim.

But the chances of this happening if you feed f/t are 0%.

Why take the risk?

[corneliuscaramelcornsnake]

This is why I make the utmost effort to have all mine on f/t

[fimbry]

Don’t peep on me…

Python brongersmai

[reptiliaherps]

I love how clearly defined the scales are in this picture though.

[hotwngz]

step 1: triangulate exact distance 

step 2: E X T E N D

[the-awkward-turt]

A word about oxytocin

It happens a lot in Reptiblr that someone uses “reptiles don’t produce oxytocin” as evidence that reptiles do not experience social bonding or love.

Here’s the thing though: There are some reptiles that do forge cooperative, long-lasting social bonds and they do so in the absence of oxytocin production.

Something is motivating these animals to protect their young (ex. crocodiles), seek out their siblings to bask with (ex. rattlesnakes), stay with one mate for many years or for life (ex. shingleback skinks), or form family groups and adopt unrelated youngsters (ex. monkey tailed skinks) and it isn’t oxytocin.

Essentially oxytocin is not necessary for the formation of all social bonds in the animal kingdom. In fact birds don’t even produce oxytocin, they produce their own homologous “version” of bonding hormone called mesotocin. And reptiles have an equivalent hormone called arginine-vasotocin that regulates things like egg laying (which is why vets sometimes administer oxytocin to egg-bound reptiles to induce laying).

The argument that most reptiles are not social (or at the very least not cooperative) and experience stress when being cohabbed is totally sound and I am not in any way critiquing that argument. Just wanted to point out that using the “they don’t produce oxytocin” as evidence is a bit mammal-centric and not really definitive proof.

[thepearlyboop-deactivated202307]

As a zoologist I find this sort of thing fascinating. The concept that oxycytocin is he only bonding chemica out there has never made sense to me. After all, we have thousands of complex phenotypic traits that evolve in parallel; one such example is flight, which has evolved independantly in nearly every animal family! It would therefore make sense that the ability to bond, even temporarily, would have evolved multiple times and using multiple chemical pathways.

That being said, I would argue that the presence of such a chemical pathway is probably lost/not evolved in snakes, which do not display the complex social connections and attachment to young that can be seen in some lizards and crocodilians.

Who knows, though? There is yet to be research done on such a thing.

[the-awkward-turt]

@thepearlyboop Actually rattlesnakes are quite social. Mothers guard their young until their first shed. In many species all rattlesnakes return to the den where they were born to hibernate, so it’s basically a big communal family reunion. And even though they were off in the forest living alone during the warmer months these rattlesnakes returning to the den still recognize their siblings and prefer to bask coiled up with them than with other snakes.

I believe there are examples of complex social behavior in other snakes too (garters for example) I just know the most about rattlesnakes.

It’s funny no one talks about how cozy rattlesnakes are with each other (they literally bask in big cuddle piles). I suspect it has something to do with humanity’s ingrained hatred for venomous snakes.

It is possible that other lineages of snakes (boas and pythons for example) did lose that neurochemical pathway or use it exclusively for egg-laying and mating behaviors, but I don’t know if anyone has looked into that.

[pdapythons]

This can and will happen when co gabbing any species. Its not just retics,

[i-m-snek]

Anon from before asking about Brian from bhb reptiles. I'm on mobile and checked the tags and only like three things came up and it was just other anon asks? is this because im on mobile or??

Ah it is likely because you are on mobile. I’ll copy paste some stuff:I never understood that about BHB. Brain Barczyk is not only the guy who introduced me to the reptile hobby, but he has come out and said he has a deep seeded love and passion for snakes and other reptiles he breeds/keeps. Looking at his collection through the BHB website AND his Youtube show, it truly astonishes me that he can talk about loving these animals with a passion, and yet so readily keep all of his snakes in such bad conditions. I mean, have you seen the containers he is keeping his pythons in? Almost none of his Ball pythons or Boa constrictors have enough room to fully stretch out, his Green Tree Python enclosures are literally just a single PVC rod in a tub, and don’t even get me started on the size of the enclosures he keeps his Reticulated Pythons/Anacondas in.On top of that, His animals may as well be in solitary confinement unless they are actively being bred or fed( Yes, im aware pythons are not social creatures, but the only time these snakes that are intended to be pets are handled is if they are being showcased, fed, or moved to another enclosure for breeding) . These tubs have substrate, a water bowl, and MAYBE a hide if the snake is breeding/is a  finicky eater (I’m talking about his Ball Pythons)Those small breeders who say their animals are happy and healthy in crap conditions? They think that because of how Brian keeps his. I mean, he tells people that this is the correct way to keep snakes so people follow him and do it as well, which is why I am so so so against him, because he is making everyone else think that is the healthy way to keep the snakes, when it’s not. Brian has done a lot of good in the past. I would not have Thresh were it not for Brian. (He was the first to import pinstripes). But that is all in the past. Good people can become corrupt and hungry for money and influence. Now he is just smearing the reptile community. Everyone now thinks every reptile keeper shoves their snakes into too small boxes and doesn’t interact with any of them because of him. I can tell he loves a select few of his animals (Sunshine, off the top of my head) but he still takes crap care of them. It just angers me because he has so many followers that would jump off a cliff if he told them to, who all defend his keeping methods and it just. It makes me so sad for the animals. Thousands of animals sitting in a tiny box for their whole lives. No stimulation other than eating and breeding. Just. Sitting. The most exciting thing they ever do is go to a show or get sold. It just upsets me so much. BHB reptiles claims to be the ‘face of the reptile trade’, they are a huge facility with tiny tiny racks (racks aren’t inherently bad, they just have to be the right size, theirs are way too small) he sells sick animals, with mites, RIs ect(you can find reviews all over the internet with pictures), you will see lots of people uptalk them because they don’t know better (I used to be one of them). If you watch his videos, he keeps his bearded dragons and leopard geckos in ‘breeding groups’ constantly, which we all know is bad. His monitor cages are too small, he keeps massive snakes who need a whole room to themselves in a rack where they curl up and take up half the cage, and many many more. I just refuse to support them anymore. That and the owner of the franchise, Brian, will not answer any questions about the health of the missing scaleless ball python, and will not answer questions about the scaleless project to people who gave him thousands of dollars for future scaleless heads. That is a huge red flag to me.

[calleo]

The ‘bonus’ video seems to be gone from their channel now, but he used to have up a video showing how ‘aggressive’ that big Burmese python, Satan is. Except, what I saw was zero aggression and a very terrified, defensive snake. They let her out, then proceeded to move suddenly around her, make sudden movements, poke her with hooks, make darting movements at her head to “show” how aggressive she was when she reacted defensively and out of fear, and it was just overall awful.

That snake isn’t aggressive at all, she’s tormented and fearful and every time she’s reacted “aggressively” in their videos it’s because she’s been pushed beyond her limits and prodded and irritated until she lashes out so he can be all, “SEE?! THIS IS WHY WE CALL HER SATAN I LOVE HER SO MUCH EVEN THOUGH SHE’S MEAN LOL!”

It’s just…awful.

[i-m-snek]

All of this. It’s ridiculous

[cave-gecko-sol-deactivated20160]

He thinks he’s a modern day Steve Irwin and that by riling the animals up, he is living out this stupid fantasy. I have misgivings about how Irwin handled some animals, but Brian does the man shame to be carrying his message like that. He thinks it’s edu-tainment and that by reeling people in with outrageous or sensational shows, he can win them over. He’s a massive hypocrite as he condemns things like modern Animal Planet, thinking he can bring back that croc hunter magic, while in reality he is no better. I have no doubt he started with noble intentions, but he is no Steve Irwin. Not in my eyes.

[poikilomatters]

He is definitely no Steve Irwin. For those who aren’t able to see the video links, here are some pictures I’ve found on this forum (source):

What’s doubly depressing to me is that how many people are commenting on his atrocious husbandry - none.

Look at that poor African rock python. And the others in the tubs above. They have no room to stretch out fully, and they don’t have hides or any form of enrichment.

(https://flic.kr/p/8sC882)

And this reticulated python as well - it’s living in similar conditions.

(https://flic.kr/p/8sFhgs)

Not to mention that the tubs for the colubrids look way too small as well…

And then some of the ball pythons look a bit off to me. Underweight perhaps? I am not too sure, but it doesn’t feel right.

If you Google image search, “BHB tour rock python,” this is what I also found if the previous posts, videos, and images didn’t convince you:

And then there’s the horrible video of “angry” leopard geckos that were just terrified and fearful: http://scalestails.tumblr.com/post/129755815824/scalestails-bbreptiles-fimbry-talks

There’s just so much bad air around BHB and Brian, and for good reason. I can’t possibly understand how anyone could call his husbandry great because it’s just not. That is unacceptable care. If anyone tries to say the quality of life Brian gives his animals is good, they are no friends of mine.

[alottalotls]

He did announce that they were going to totally gut their collection to focus on the welfare of the animals, so there is that…

[i-m-snek]

It is good that he is doing that. However it does not excuse what has already been done, plus I doubt his conditions are going to change, and he isn’t going to treat the animals any differently. He’s got 100,000 animals at the very least, getting rid of a few thousand is going to make no difference. He is doing it for the attention in my opinion.

[odorpatrol]

I feel like the promise to lower their numbers is in a way to appease the people who criticize his horrendous husbandry practices. I know this doesn’t pertain to forums, but in areas where he can control what sort of things are being said, any and all criticizing comments are removed and he makes a FB post or a YT video complaining about how people “just don’t understand.” Many people over the years have spoken their mind to him, he’s just not wanted to listen. And I agree, simply downsizing is not going atone for what he’s already done to his animals. He needs to do a total re-haul of every aspect of his husbandry, and stick to it. It won’t make what he’s done better, but if he can show others he’s willing to change and do what’s right for the animals, there may be hope for him and his company yet. If they could change their outlook on animal keeping, he could actually become a positive influence. He already wins over viewers who normally don’t like snakes, now all that’s needed is the promotion of responsible herp keeing to go along with it. It’s much harder to dispell incorrect information than to provide good information at the get-go.

[taylovely-blog]

Brian is a HUGE part of the reptile community and I’ve been watching his videos for years, spoken over the phone with him, and gotten animals from him (including ball pythons). I’ve never had a snake with mites, bad sheds, signs of poor care from previous living or anything like that. I’m not saying it’s great to be stuck in a little tub like that because it’s not and a snake needs room to stretch but this is the guys business. He breeds snakes and sells them to make money. He is paying employees and taking care of his family. You don’t make as much money with huge enclosures and expensive hides and all that. He’s making a living and none of you need to complain because he seriously has been a huge part of one of the most beloved snakes in the pet trade and has created beautiful morphs and has worked hard to get where he is. It’s hard running a business so he’ll do what’s best for him and his employees. I’m not disagreeing about his living conditions of his collection, I think it needs to change too, but I’m gonna defend him because he’s a good guy in his own right.

[i-m-snek]

That is no defense. “Well it’s his business!” And?? Animal lives are more important than money making. If he wants to support his family then he needs to figure something else out, because he shouldn’t just shove the welfare of his animals away just because its ‘how he makes his money’.  Basically what you’re saying is “I am defending him because he has a huge establishment even though he exploits animals for his own profit!” 

[poikilomatters]

Breeding animals is not and should not be a profitable primary business. It just doesn’t work that way. It’s very difficult to make animal breeding your primary business WHILE providing the best quality of life for your critters. You cannot treat or view animals as simple things because once you do that…this sort of husbandry happens. Bare minimum husbandry is still harmful, and how do you think people who already have a negative impression of the reptile industry are going to see us? They’re going to think, “Oh, they keep reptiles and probably give them really shitty care like the dude at BHB/big name in the industry does.”

And we DON’T want that to happen. We want to promote good husbandry - environmental enrichment, breaking the minimum standards, no sand as a sole substrate, warning others to avoid bad purchases, etc. Essentially, we want to represent ourselves as good, ethical people. Brian should not be the face of the reptile industry because it’ll bite us in the asscheeks later.

Why do most breeders have side jobs? Or have hobbies where they can take on commissions or sell hand-made goods? Why do you think there is a gradual shift from recommending large-scale breeders to small-scale breeders (hint: quality over quantity)? Why do you think people detest puppy mills so much?

People will always make excuses to defend Brian, but it doesn’t matter - I don’t care if it’s Brian or some other big name in the reptile/amphibian/animal industry, but if you start treating animals like inanimate objects to be sold solely for profit, I don’t think you should be keeping any living things at all.

[spaghetti-tails-inc]

The Five Freedoms-Standards Of Animal Welfare

Within the animal keeping community, there is a general agreed upon rule that all keepers follow. This is known as the Five Freedoms, and I’m going to share this with you. These are good thing to think about when considering getting an animal, can you and are you willing to provide the following things to whichever animal you choose? If the answer to any 1 of them is no, the animal is not right for you.

Freedom From Hunger and Thirst- this one may seem self explanatory, giving an animal constant access to fresh, clean water and food. However, this means maintaining a diet for an animal that will give it what it needs to remain healthy and be itself. Examples of this are feeding cats and ferrets diets high in protein and meat content, or feeding a lizard live crickets. If part of an animals natural diet makes you uncomfortable or you feel you cannot give it the diet it should have for whatever reason, that animal is not for you.

Freedom From Discomfort- This means providing an animal with an appropriate environment to thrive in, fit with a shelter and comfortable resting areas. This includes giving an animal the space it requires for caging, like not putting a fish in a bowl or keeping a mouse in a small glass tank. This also includes providing hides to animals that need them, keeping their areas clean and if you are keeping outdoor animals (such as chickens, rabbits, horses, etc) providing them with a place to go to get out of bad weather or the sun. If you are unwilling or unable to provide an animal with a properly sized and put together enclosure, that animal is not for you.

Freedom From Pain, Injury and/or Disease- This means being able to take your animal to a vet should it fall ill, proving it with immediate medical attention should it hurt itself or suddenly become very sick. This also goes back to the freedom from discomfort. If an animal is caged incorrectly, it could lead to injury or illness. If you are unable or unwilling to take an animal to a vet should it require it, the animal is not for you.

Freedom To Express Natural Behaviour- This means you must provide an animal with all the things it needs to truly be happy and be itself, proving sufficient caging/space, as well as toys. If the animal requires the company of others of its kind, you must also provide that. For example, rats need to chew so you must provide them with toys and things that they may chew to file down their teeth. They also require the friendship of other rats, they must live in groups. If you are unable or unwilling to provide this for an animal, that animal is not right for you.

Freedom From Fear and Distress- This means ensuring conditions and treatment that do not create mental suffering. Keeping an animal is not something to be taken lightly, and by not providing any of the above 4 things, you will create mental anguish in your animal. By providing all of these things, you create an environment in which your animal can be truly happy and healthy. However, this also means not subjecting your animal to things that may upset or disturb them such as making loud noises at an animal that scares easily, not taking a cat who is afraid of dogs around a dog, or not getting in to a dogs face with your face as this makes them very uncomfortable. Of course, you can scare animals on accident, it happens to all of us, but if you are unwilling to not do things that would disturb or scare your animal, that animal is not for you.

Always do your research before getting an animal, and ask yourself these 5 things when considering one. If you cannot meet all 5 of these requirements with an animal, consider one that works better for you and your lifestyle instead.

[nocturnal-halcyon-deactivated20]

Imagine if other pets were treated the same way as fish

“Ugh not again these animal SJWs telling me to take my dog on a walk…”

“Oh yes, I clean my cat’s litterbox once in six months!!! :))”

“I want a lizard that eats poop so I won’t have to clean my snake’s enclosure.”

“I’ve had hamsters as pets before and they all lived for a week, so I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING!!! >:( ”

“But the pet shop clerk told me that my boa will be fine with a leopard gecko!”

“Hello, I want to buy 5 corn snakes for this 1 gallon terrarium for my 4-year old son.”

“I have this 30cm x 30cm cage sitting at home, I’d like to buy 10 cockatiels to put in it.”

“I had a dog when I was a kid, it lived for about 5 months LOL”

“Well I got my cat for free, so I don’t care if it dies. I’ll just get another one.”

[catsindoors]

I actually have had someone complain about me being an animal SJW for talking speaking against free-roaming cats lmfao