innocence, my brother

[laurelhach]

There she is, the dirt princess, the sauce herself, SALSA

[daedricsnakes]

@the-long-dog

Ope I forgot that you can't reply as a post on mobile... that's unfortunate, but at least there's still some traffic!

I'll probably do the same with this blog. I like seeing everyone else's animals but can only take so many photos of Nocturnal 😅 I might post more of my dog and cat to fill it out a bit but we will see! For now I'm just happy to hear from you!

[daedricsnakes]

So how's everyone been? I've been absent for like 3 years (sorry), I'm not sure who is still around reptiblr. What's everyone up to?

I'm hoping to get active again, a bit. There's 3 snakes in my house now and only 1 of them is mine, but I miss the people here!

I'll hopefully start sharing more pics of Noc, but she IS a little feral 😅 she just gets the zoomies anytime I try to handle her, and if she's in her enclosure she just wants to eat, so it'll be interesting trying to get photos that aren't just the same thing every time, or incredibly blurry lol

[daedricsnakes]

Feral creature

[daedricsnakes]

Does anyone have experience with rainbow boa wet specimens? I'm trying to decide what sort of memorials to do for my snakes... Oblivion was one of the ones I lost, and I'm debating going that route with him. But it's the more expensive option for him, and on top of memorials for the other snakes, it's going to be a hefty bill, so I'm curious if anyone knows how much color they tend to lose when preserved that way? I know he will definitely lose some color but I don't want to pay extra for it if it is going to completely wash him out :/

[daedricsnakes]

Hey all...

Sorry I've been absent for awhile again. Lifes been... up and down. I'm not sure how active I'll be for awhile either, but I wanted to give everyone an update.

4 of my snakes have died in the last 2 weeks. I am completely devastated by it. Idk what to do now...

[daedricsnakes]

Tomorrow is my birthday so I got myself a present 😊

[daedricsnakes]

I have no idea if this is going to post with any sort of quality, but fingers crossed... here are the baby buttons being cute. 

2.2 seconds after I stopped recording, the one on top of the cork launched itself off of it. 

[daedricsnakes]

The buttons are here!! Meet Pidgey, Spearow, Torchic, and Piplup <3 

They are the absolute cutest most precious things I’ve ever seen, I love them so much. For most of the day, they’ve been sleeping near the CHE. We went in to check on them after leaving them for a few hours, and they were waking up and more active. So I moved their food and water closer to make sure they knew where to find it, and sprinkled some food on the ground for them to forage a bit.

It took them a second but as soon as I tapped my finger in the dishes or on the rocks to show them where to look, they got the hang of it. 

They're so funny. They are shy but not nearly as timid as I was expecting. They are surprisingly good climbers. When they aren't napping in a pile or soaking up the heat, they have started exploring the cage. But when one wanders off a little too far and loses the others, it peeps until they peep back and guide it back to the group. They will also respond to whistles! If you "peep" at them, they will come right over to see what's up.

One of them is wild-type, one is cinnamon, and I’m fairly certain the two darker ones are blue-faced, but not sure if they’re single or double factor. 

[daedricsnakes]

One more week until I can get my birds 😁 not necessarily that I'll have them. I may have to wait a little longer for enough to hatch. But after the next week, I'll be able to pick them up as soon as they're ready ❤

[daedricsnakes]

It's done (after I clean up the top and some of the edges, and seal it). The monster is finally done.

It actually turned out better this time so I guess having to tear it apart and redo things wasn't so bad after all. I'll be sealing it in a couple days so it can cure while I'm out of state next week/end. And then the following weekend I'll start setting it up with substrate.

And at some point, I'll have to talk myself into starting the second one... that'll be a challenge lol

[daedricsnakes]

What do people do with mealworm and superworm beetles?? I keep the worms for my Ts but don't have anything to eat the beetles

[daedricsnakes]

My button quail home is almost done! Probably about 90%. I’ve got a couple more little things I want to put in it.. some pebbles, moss, excelsior, and other tactile things. I also have to escape-proof the bars, boink-proof the top, and set up the waterer. I will also be adding a heat lamp, since the babies will need it for a few more weeks after I get them.

There are 4 hides, not counting all the little cork caves. And tons of plants, so they will have lots of options for cover to feel safe and secure and comfy. They have a box with play sand, a box with a mix of top soil, peat, and sand, and a bowl with chinchilla dust, so they can dig and play and dust bathe. And they’ll have lots of treats and yummy food!

It’s probably about 2 weeks from now that I’ll get to bring them home! I’m going to be getting four chicks, to hopefully increase my chances of getting at least 2 females, since we won’t be able to tell the sex until well after I have them. 

@wombatscallywag

[fisherfurbearer]

YOOOO!!! OH MY GOSH THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!

They’re absolutely going to LOVE it, this is so great!! I love how much variety you’ve included, and the different “zones” they’ll have access to! This is so high quality!! Your birds are going to be so happy with this, its like a quail paradise. This is exactly what folks should strive for with these birds. I’m so so happy to see this. c’:

[theequeerstrian]

Are button quail as teeny as the name implies?

[daedricsnakes]

They are! They're the smallest species of true quail. Newly hatched chicks are not much bigger than bumblebees. They max out at about 4-5 inches tall and a couple ounces in weight. And they're freaking adorable!

[daedricsnakes]

My button quail home is almost done! Probably about 90%. I've got a couple more little things I want to put in it.. some pebbles, moss, excelsior, and other tactile things. I also have to escape-proof the bars, boink-proof the top, and set up the waterer. I will also be adding a heat lamp, since the babies will need it for a few more weeks after I get them.

There are 4 hides, not counting all the little cork caves. And tons of plants, so they will have lots of options for cover to feel safe and secure and comfy. They have a box with play sand, a box with a mix of top soil, peat, and sand, and a bowl with chinchilla dust, so they can dig and play and dust bathe. And they'll have lots of treats and yummy food!

It’s probably about 2 weeks from now that I’ll get to bring them home! I’m going to be getting four chicks, to hopefully increase my chances of getting at least 2 females, since we won’t be able to tell the sex until well after I have them. 

@wombatscallywag

[daedricsnakes]

So like 2 weeks ago when I was sealing the grout and stones on the waterfall... I made a very Large and Unfortunate mistake. And I've been real mad about it, so I haven't touched it since.

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I will have to redo the stones on the actual waterfall part, so that will be my project for the next couple days. But since I have to pull the old stones out and replace them, I got some new prettier tile to use (wanted it the first time but the store was out of stock). So while I will still be grumpy while I am working on it, I suppose it will be for the better.

I'm hoping to finish that one by this weekend, and then I will finally start the second (which will hopefully go much quicker since I have hopefully learned from my mistakes).

Pictures to come!

[daedricsnakes]

I made a little "forest" for the birds. There will of course be more plants in the enclosure, but this cluster is meant to provide a large area of dense cover, with plenty of room underneath for them to move around.

[daedricsnakes]

wombatscallywag replied to your photo “I won't be able to actually get my button quail until the beginning of...”

Ah, I have a pair of button quail! I've had them for a little over a year now and have learned a LOT since keeping them. If you have any questions let me know!! These little guys are AWESOME but they're pretty Different from most other birds but so far it looks like you're doing a great job. Just be aware they are SO TINY they'll reach their heads right through those bars and with a dog, I'd be a bit worried about that. Maybe consider putting some 1/4" hardware cloth around the bottom half so they can't reach out and get hurt? ALSO I can't recommend having some (rinsed!!) sand for them to dust bathe in, my two LOVE their sand and it seems like having some to bathe in keeps them a lot calmer. 

Two more things!! TREATS! These guys LOVE treats and LOVE foraging. Scattering and burying seeds gives them something to do and keep busy, and roosters will spent a lot of time finding goodies for their hen. And if you find that they're pretty nervous for a while, try LOADS of fake plants or at least an area of them, that they can hide behind and feel safe. They'll be a lot calmer that way. c: 

@wombatscallywag Thank you! I’ll definitely hit you up with any questions, I appreciate the offer! 

I did consider hardware cloth for the bars, but I’ve worked with that stuff before and I hate it... I didn’t want to risk leaving any exposed sharp edges. So I’ve ordered tulle that I’ll be wrapping around it in two or three layers, so there will be a soft but sturdy (for tiny quail) barrier to keep them inside. The dogs and cat won’t ever be interacting with the birds or even be in this room once the birds are here; Sully was just being WAY nosy about what I was building lol. 

There will definitely be plenty of fake plants before I finish. I have several ivy vines and leafy picks from craft stores so I can provide lots of cover in addition to the various hides I’ll be adding. I have Oxbow brand chinchilla dust for them to bathe in, so should be covered there. Also have Mazuri 30% protein gamebird crumbles for their main diet, along with finch seed mix and spray millet to offer them. Plus, I have colonies of mealworms and phoenix worms already for my tarantulas, so I’ll be offering those as yummy treats for the quail too ^^ and of course grit: both granite and oyster shell :) 

For the foraging, I’d love to offer that, but is it safe to just scatter seeds in the aspen and carefresh, or should I set up an area with different substrate for that purpose? I’m concerned about them eating the substrate by mistake? I could definitely set up a large area of 1″ or so deep soil mix if that’d be safer for them to dig in.