PEANUT THE LEOPARD GECKO @peanuttheleopardgecko - Tumblr Blog

Keep your messaging simple:

“Trump fired everyone in charge of airplane safety, and a week later planes started crashing into each other.”

That’s it. That’s the messaging. Don’t get bogged down disputing Trump’s false claims. Just blame him, in short and repeatable sentences.

queerculus

Trump removed bird safety regulations in his first term and now bird flu is killing so many laying hens that eggs are $5 a carton

Trump removed food safety standards his first term and now we have recalls every few weeks

Trump cut the subsidies for the solar farms under construction so now electricity costs more

Trump disbanded the pandemic response team and we now we have bird flu and tuberculosis outbreaks

barksbog

Isopod Table FAQ

how do you take care of the isopods and plants?

i can take the glass off it´s just layed on top and not really heavy. isopods also are very low maintance so are all the plants in there so i only really have to do this once a week

what isopods are that?

the isopods i keep in this table are Armadillium vulgare “magic potion”. A. vulgare are naturally just gray but these are a morph bred to have this specific color. they are very active isopods who don´t mind me knocking on the glass or putting things down.

are the isopods okay in there?

generally isopod care is very easy since they are detrivores and especially armadillium species prefer a dead leaf and rotting wood diet. don´t worry they won´t eat through the table they can only eat wood that has been claimed by fungus and become mushy! here is a great care sheet

i personally have been keeping isopods for the last 3 or 4 years and feel confident with this setup. i asure you i would never put any of my pets in a situation that is stressful for them!

wont the isopods eat the plants?

yes they will but Armadillium species are generally not as hungry for plants and other “fresh” food and prefer their leaves and wood. most of the plants are also just moss that i can easily replace or grow fast enough to not be concerned.

won´t they need air?

don´t worry there is ventilation. generally i prefer smaller ventilation area with isopods so humidity stays in better. they are crustaceans and actually breath through gills so you want to make sure their home is always damp. not soaked like a bog tho just damp like a natural forest floor!

can you explain how you built it?

i´m sorry but i likely won´t share a detailed step by step because i didn´t document it and i´m really not that skilled in carpentry so i think there are much better resources out there. the easy explaination is:

i got the main bodies wood custom cut, stained and painted it, sealed the outside with a few coats of clear paint, screwed it together.

than built the frame with the legs.

stained that and all other brown parts.

in the mean time i sealed the inside with epoxy and let it cure.

screwed the bottom to the top and put in the pond liner

added the brown side and top pieces

measured the final size and got the glass custom cut

put in the sidewalls made from black cork

set up the inside (more on that later)

put glass on top

this whole thing took me 2 months or so. time is a blurr in 2020 for everytone. it might be longer it was definetly a lot of work to even just gather all the material and i figured a lot out as i built it. it´s also built in a way that would probably make actual carpenters end me because i don´t have special tools i really just have a drill, jigsaw and some small hand saws.

okay can we talk about mold now. won´t it get moldy?

please look at this post i made just about mold and how the inside is set up:

https://spirellity.tumblr.com/post/623548985267961857/let-s-talk-about-mold

kaijutegu

Bearded Dragons, Sand, and You

One of the most common pieces of advice new bearded dragon owners hear from reptiblr people is “don’t keep your beardies on sand!” This is immediately followed with warnings about impaction and infection and the potential for all sorts of nastiness and death- and those are absolutely true.

But then you maybe see pictures like this and go “uh… that’s… that’s sand.”

And yes, yes it is sand. But it’s not the kind of sand that comes out of a bag from the pet store! But what makes it different? Why can bearded dragons thrive on this sand and not that sand?

I’ll give you a little summary now in case you don’t want to read the whole thing. Basically, Australian sand is more compact and has a heavy clay component and there’s damp soil for burrows available under the outer layers. This means that the soil is less dusty and less likely to cause impaction, especially because the humidity in the burrows means that the beardie is less likely to be dehydrated.

If you’d like to know why the sand is this way, there’s a little geology involved. So let’s talk a little bit about how Australian sand dunes work! The sand dunes in places like the Simpson Desert- in the central/arid zone- formed about 20,000 years ago. Once a sand dune has formed, any rain soaks in and the dune has a damp inner core. Below the sand there’s a clay swale- a layer of clay that holds water. These dunes are stable and actually hold burrows really well! On top of the dunes, plants like saltbush and other scrubby, small things colonize the more unstable areas, holding the dunes in place and keeping the soil/sand from getting too dusty.

What that means is that the sand’s actually quite damp and compact past the top layer and you can get beardies living quite happily in dugout burrows like this!

Loose, blowing sand sometimes ends up on the road, but it’s not the dominant soil type in the dunes where they live. This is a picture from the Rainbow Valley Reserve in Alice Springs, where that first pic was taken- see how the natural soil’s tamped down? This is a clay pan, which is one of the most common soil types in the Australian outback.

Furthermore, Australian soil is different from the soil anywhere else in the world. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Australia has no large native herbivores. This plays a huge part in soil development elsewhere- native hoofstock overturns the soil with grazing. In the grand scheme of things, this has meant that Australia’s soil formation has been very different from other continents’ soil formation. Also important is that Australia had no glacial period. On other continents, glaciers moved a lot of the soil around, stripping regions down to their deeper layers or bedrock, and forcing new soil formation processes. This created loamy, loose topsoils. That didn’t happen in Australia- the soil formation process was much slower and as a result, the soil there is a lot higher in clay. Sand particles in the desert are relatively large and solid and compact, and that compaction is a huge part of what makes it possible to hold burrows. Also, the inner dampness of the clay means that the humidity in those burrows is relatively high.

Now, compare that to the sand you get at the pet store. The grains are fine and the sand is super dusty- and there’s no clay in it! Also, when sand is usually put down in a bearded dragon cage, it’s in a fairly thin layer. It’s not deep enough to allow burrowing or to hold any humidity. Check it out- here’s a bearded dragon cage with sand in it.

Let’s look at that picture of the burrow again.

See how deep that is and how different it is from the sort of sand provided in the cage? The sand dunes in Australia are part of the natural ecosystem and are more than just pure sand. They’re quite complicated compared to the stuff you can buy at the pet store!

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Works cited:

“Sand Dunes.” Australian National Botanic Gardens/Australian National Herbarium, 2012. Available online: http://www.anbg.gov.au/photo/vegetation/sand-dunes.html

“The Soils of Australia.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 (updated 2012). Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article801966

tser

I’m not sure these additions will be helpful or not, but here are some simple examples of how these specific soils differ in pet situations.

Sand (real sand, not Calci-Sand, which has no place in any pet keeping situation) from the pet store, play sand, and construction sand, unless specified otherwise (such as aragonite), is silica based.

Natural silica sand is crystalline quartz or volcanic glass that has been worked by weather and other processes into tiny granules. The granules are generally rounded, whether rough or smooth. This means they roll and slide on each other a great deal.

Geologically, clay, such as that in the montmorillonite containing soils in parts of Australia and around the world, is a very fine-grained material composed of clay minerals – hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates. The particle size is particularly important to the identification of clay (< 0.002mm). It is also produced by weathering – in this case from granite.

The shape of these minerals is extremely fine flat planes rather than round granules. When moisture is introduced they are “plastic” (able to take and retain form).

As a safety note, if decomposed granite or clay gets dry it can still be dusty, and as it contains silica, take care not to breathe the dust (silicosis is caused by breathing dust, and the effects are cumulative over a lifetime; once you’ve breathed silica you can’t unbreathe it).

In Australia many animals seek the slightly moister earth beneath the surface. Even kangaroos dig pits to lie in. It is important to note that clay soils retain moisture for a long time (which is why if you have clay soil in a garden it can be compacted and have poor drainage!). Even in an arid environment like the deserts of Australia, there is moisture in the ground.

When pure silica sand is wet enough to hold its shape (such as making sand castles, or in hermit crab enclosures) the humidity would be high in the enclosure. Sand holds together in these conditions basically due to the water on the outside of the grains creation surface tension, called interstitial liquid bridges. This is why it must be saturated to hold its shape. Due to the particle size and material, the surface area will promote higher evaporation as well. So this is not appropriate for desert animals either, but works well for creatures like gill-breathing crabs that live on water-drenched beaches.

In the natural soil of Australia (and elsewhere), it is not pure clay, but a mixture of clay, organic matter (decomposed plants and animals, animal waste, microbes, mycelium, root exudate, etc. are all important to soil structure!), sand, silt, and other minerals. Pure clay or pure decomposed granite is not a good substrate either. This is why it is very important to research thoroughly before going forward with naturalistic arid bioactive vivariums or any enclosure with loose substrate, including the local topsoil and other ingredients available in each situation.

bufovivarium

AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I have looked for this information for SO LONG!

Here you go. Please, read this.

ice-block

So animal misinformation is very common within society so I thought about making a list of a couple of things that you probably should know about animals:

Do not flip rabbits upside down (it can literally kill them)

While we’re talking about rabbits, do not bathe them in water

Rabbits can’t eat lots of carrots, they have too much sugar

75% of their diet should be hay

that cage you bought for your hamster is most likely too small

Any tank or bowl under 5 gallons is way too small for anything unless you are keeping snails

Your aquatic animal needs a filter

Yes, your beta fish needs a heater (as do all tropical aquatic animals)

No, fish are not decorations

Goldfish and koi are pond animals, goldfish can live in some tanks but they need to be big

You can not just buy 2 fish that school (like guppies, neon tetras, etc)

Trust nothing that petsmart or petco tells you about fish they actually know nothing

When you purchase a reptile you need to be willing to take care of it for it’s entire lifespan (some of the common reptiles sold at the store can live up to 50 years)

Your reptile needs a heater

Live feeding rodents actually isn’t that good and can harm your snake (only do this if the snake refuses frozen)

DO NOT RELEASE REPTILES INTO THE WILD! ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN A WARM STATE LIKE FLORIDA!

your reptile needs a water dish

Your turtle can’t live in a fish tank that just has a floating log for them to rest above water on

Most birds are social and should have companions

If they do not have a companion you need to make sure you spend enough time with them daily to make up for that

They can’t live off just seeds

You can’t cohabitate large and small birds

You should not put bedboxes or encourage nesting for tropical birds unless you plan on becoming a professional breeder and taking care of the babies yourself when the parents are incompetent

On the opposing side, domestic birds like pigeons and chickens need a nesting box because they will lay eggs reguarly (although these eggs will be unfertilized)

The chicken eggs you buy at the store are not unhatched baby chickens

Chickens legit don’t care if you take their eggs, they will eat the unfertilized eggs if left in the coop for too long, the eggs have a lot of nutrients that can help them, but do long as the chickens are getting a good diet they won’t need to eat the eggs

Honeybees make way too much honey and taking it from them prevents them from swarming (something that most of the time ends in the death of the entire colony)

You know how your neighbor/farm down the road/etc has horses? Yeah it’s fun to pet them and all but do not feed them random stuff you bring, you don’t know if they have special diet regulations or what is/is not poisonous and sending a horse to the vet is very expensive if you want to feed them something ask the farmer beforehand

I shouldn’t have to say this but do not enter any cow/horse/large animal pasture without the owners permission

Cows aren’t as sweet as the media makes them out to be, never let your guard down around a cow

Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they eat meat and basically whatever else they can

The same applies to chickens

Do not release domestic or domestic raised animals into the wild. Ever

You shouldn’t declaw your cat (get those rubber claw covers instead!)

Also don’t let your cat be an “outdoor” cat

That doesn’t mean don’t let your cat go outside, but when they are outside it should be under supervision and on a leash

If you don’t want to leash train them, get a catio!

Your omnivorous or carnivor animals CANT BE VEGAN

Feel free to add more to this list!

Sad boi, no more mealworms

#cute #leopardgeckos #leopard geckos #leopardgecko #peanuttheleopardgecko

hannibalthekingsnake

Some helpful axolotl information!!!

hannibalthekingsnake

Baby BluegillxMosaic Axolotls for sale! They’re an uncommon morph, bluegills are a lot like leucistics but their gills have a blue color instead of red. The degree of blue in the gills depends on the individual, these were raised from eggs by us, Alotl Littl Axolotls! These babies were bred from a Bluegill Mom and a Mosaic Dad, and if you don’t know what a mosaic is, it’s PRETTY AND RARE haha google it Their genetics make them great for breeding, or just pets :D Ask me about their care if you don’t know! I think they’re really fascinating and adorable <3 We’re asking $60 right now per lotl, plus $15 shipping (if you live in upstate New York we can talk about skipping the shipping) OR $100 for two axolotls! (shipping not included) Shipping is to legal states in the US ONLY. Paypal or Venmo only SO NOT ONLY THAT but when you order one it comes with a free keychain of any of the above art depictions of the lotls! <3 Email at [email protected] for questions, serious inquiries only

exceptionalreptile

Zeiat vs. the Worm Sphere

omg-snakes

Hey! I was wondering if it would be cool to give a snake like an olfactory playground using like fruit juices on a cloth or something. I just feel bad for my snake because she loves to smell and one time I was using varnish in the room and she really wanted to smell it. I didn't let her, but maybe there's some things she can smell that are interesting and safe

Wow, what a fantastic ask! Thank you for this!

The answer is yes, this is very cool and very safe. You can use all sorts of stuff as olfactory enrichment for your snakey pal! Some possibilities include:

fruit juice on a cloth or paper towel

pesticide-free grass or other reptile-safe plants from your yard

small amounts of mild kitchen herbs like basil, parsley, and sweet mint

a bit of a shed from another healthy, parasite-free snake

an old sock or tee shirt that you’ve worn

rodent bedding (if you ask nicely your local pet store will give you a pinch or two in a baggie for FREE)

beach sand, sea shells, or a rock from outside

You can hide a single new smell in a paper bag or cardboard tube in her enclosure or you can set up a whole playground of stinky (but not too stinky!) things for her to explore during out-of-the-cage adventures time.

I hope you both have a lot of fun exploring new scents!

amazingpetenclosures

This is fun :)

catchymemes

Heat index was 110 degrees so we offered him a cold drink. He went for a full body soak instead

peanuttheleopardgecko

Some species of frogos drink from their butts so he might actually be drinking :)

hannibalthekingsnake

We have some Blue Gill Axolotls for sale over at Alotl Littl Axolotls! They are a rare morph that are worth up to and over $250 full grown! They are a fun and interactive pet, are fully aquatic, easy to care for, and require a minimum tank size of 15 gallons fully grown. You do not need a heater (require lower temps, they are cold water!) or gravel (they might eat the gravel and get impacted - stick to sand or bare bottom) in your tank for these guys! Feel free to message me with questions about genetics of these guys or care. Their lines make them valuable breeders or just pets.

If you’re in the NY area, they are $50 on sale right now! We also offer shipping for $15 to legal states.

hannibalthekingsnake

Omg, I used to be pet manager there and my care and the people I got hired were so much better than that. After we all quit it really went downhill =/ I feel so bad for those animals

peanuttheleopardgecko

Please if you live nearby a country max go in and complain, leave bad reviews online. I used to work there, but walked out because of how powerless I was to help the animals; I know the upper management will stop selling animals if enough people speak up.

i-m-snek

“Breeding snakes is my business, i make a living off of it so I have to keep them in tiny drawers with just a water bowl so I can make money off of them!”

Find another god forsaken job. Sell vaping mods, you’ll make a killing. Snakes, and other animals, are NOT products and they deserve the best of what we can give them. Not a drawer small enough that they can make themselves into pee soup over night. Give them proper enclosures, with hides and a temperature gradient. Give them something to clamber over, swap out to a different type of substrate every once and a while. These are sentient, living, BREATHING beings that deserve so much more than people give them.

bisexuanal

Know what needs to stop? Parents allowing their children to mistreat their pets. Its not cute. It’s not harmless. It puts both children and pets in danger. If your child can’t play gently and safely with an animal (and like most toddlers for example can’t) then you need to create separate spaces for them. And closely supervise any interaction (in general even if they are gentle) and teach your child how to treat animals properly.

wheremyscalesslither

This is the standard of keeping ball pythons. Its the most common technique, and it IS widly spread.

We can do better than this. This kind of stuff doesnt allow for a range of natural behaviors. It makes us look like animal abusers. Yes, the animals survive, but they cannot thrive in this setting. There’s literally not enough room for even one of them to stretch all the way out.

We can do better. We have to do better because this isn’t good for the animals health wise, or even mentally. It also gives HSUS and PETA more grounds to ban reptiles as pets.

Enrichment provides animals with an outlet for natural behaviors and promotes healthy animals. There are tons of studies on the benefits of enrichment- it’s not an extra step- it’s necessary for the good of the animal and is part of proper husbandry.

Dont be like this picture; dare to do more.

(image source purposely withheld)

moth--ball

Do remember that ball pythons in particular are largely sedentary and would prefer to be holed up in a small, closed, dark place. I don’t think size is the issue here. I’ve never used newspaper as substrate but I have used paper towel and I feel like it’s more of a pain than something like reptichip. Odors/soils quickly. I can’t give an input on whether it’s actually harmful though because I’ve never used it but I notice my reptichip always smelling much more fresh. Idk sitting in ammonia can’t be good! Even if you change the newspaper daily, chances are you’re not going to get to it as soon as the snake urinates… I would assume that might cause health issues. Again though, I’m not certain, just speculating lol.

Other species, like carpet pythons, I really don’t like tubs for. Using carpets as an example, those guys are active and move a lot and will make full use of the space provided to them. Balls really won’t.

IMO it’s subjective like that. I’d like to see more enrichment in tubs overall (substrate, perhaps a hide just in case, maybe foliage) and I’ve been doing that myself but I wonder if it’s more for me than it is for the BP lol. I dunno! I like this conversation though, so please do interject, we all might learn something.

rainbowsnakes

Ball pythons have got themselves this reputation as being “pet rocks” in the hobby partly because of the persistent myths that they only live in termite burrows which they never leave in the wild. However, they are quite active at certain times of the year (breeding season) and males in particular are documented climbers, feeding off avian prey and even having very different parasite burdens in the wild compared to females because of this. Of course, ball pythons are also nocturnal. So even given the opportunity to make use of space and climbing things in captivity they often won’t be doing it at when the keeper is watching them. Reinforcing this idea that they “don’t do anything”.

Rack systems like the one in the picture are popular because they save money, time and space for the keeper when compared to setting them all up in fully furnished vivariums or large tubs. Giving them more space would address the concerns with them sitting in ammonia… If an animal does not have the ability to move away from its own waste that should be alarm bells that the enclosure is definatly not big enough (Though I know snakes love to sit ontop of it for no reason sometimes but at least they should have the option to be sensible).

But the issue is not JUST space because ball pythons are such a shy secretive species giving them more space also means they need proportionally more hides and visual barriers ect to feel secure… just scaling this tub up and saying “ta da- now you have more space” won’t work. So if you have a larger number of snakes…. That just starts to add up to a LOT of cleaning, a lot of space required and a large expense.

The ball python industry wants to hold on to the outdated opinion that ball pythons “are scared of space, never move, and thrive in tiny barren tubs - Just add water!” because it’s how they turn profits… They also promote it to new people getting in to the hobby because otherwise that would be admitting they are not doing the best they can… This is also why its not something thats disscussed rationally in facebook groups either. It angers/upsets people that are in too deep to change their ways without going to huge extra costs or dramatically reducing the numbers of animals they have to make room for fewer better enclosures… So they would rather deny any is wrong to avoid that .. The argument also gets wrapped up with irrelavent details or oversimplified to “tanks vs tubs”… or “vivs vs tubs”.. or “naturalistic looking vs non naturalistic looking”…

At the end of the day this is an issue about good husbandy, good enclosure design and good animal welfare..which is not always cheap, nor is it always good for “productivity”. The truth of it is that there is NO scientific studies confirming that small barren tubs allow snakes to thrive and PLENTY of evidence that environmental enrichment is beneficial for their welfare. Restricting stimuli captive animals are exposed to is not good for their physical and psychological well-being and can negativly impact behavioural expression,neural development, learning ability, activity levels and even lead to chornic stress, immunosuppression and thus increased disease susceptibility.

Ball pythons are victims of their own hardiness and adaptability…they may not show stress or appear to suffer when kept like this as much as a more active colubrid might…. But that still doesn’t make it an acceptable standard. They still eat, shed, poop and breed, which is all well and good, but not necessarily an indicator of good welfare.

It also sets a worrying trend for how the hobby itself measures and assesses reptile welfare and quality of life…. Already the model of “ if it eats, poops, sheds and breeds then its thriving” has spread and is applied to keeping other more active species… I’ve seen arboreal asian colubrids in the same 6″ high tubs with no climbing stuff, even etbs, gtps, atbs, kept in similar barren set ups…..retics and other large constrictors in boxes they can not even stretch out half their length in ect ect…unless they drop dead or rub their faces off in stress the individual animal or even the whole species, will get the stamp of approval for “doing fine in a tub!”.

This is not how animal welfare scientistis assess welfare. And as @wheremyscalesslither mentioned when our hobby is under attack from animal rights groups we have GOT to do better… and promote husbandry based on science.

TL: DR, You said you made the effort to provide some enrichment yourself. Rest assured it is not just for you, and will absolutley benefit your animals! If you are interested to read more about it I also have an article on it here

https://rainbowsnakes.tumblr.com/post/119229812584/environmental-enrichment-for-reptiles-what-why

wheremyscalesslither

i know i seriously just reblogged this a minute ago but it is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT that im doing it again.

hellherper

I’m by no means an expert, but I’ve been in the reptile industry for years now and I feel like I should throw my 2 cents in.

This is not really what I would consider common practice. I’ve never seen animals kept like this in real life. On the Internet, sure, I’ve seen all kinds of disturbing pictures like this. This image appears, to me, to be 2 adult animals in what I would consider to be a hatchling tub. This clearly isn’t proper practice. There isn’t enough space for one adult animal let alone 2. I’m not denying that this is wrong, it is wrong and I’m not denying that animals are kept like this somewhere. But to generalize and say this is common practice is a misstep. I make a point of visiting other breeders facilities if they’ll have me and I try to keep myself a familiar face in my local community. I’ve visited upwards of 30 other breeders and not once have I ever seen an animal kept in a rack system like this one. Maybe I’m just lucky, maybe my part of town just has good people in it, or maybe only the people taking proper care of their animals allow other breeders to visit, but I’ve never seen it.

Now I keep my animals in a rack system, I have for years. I’ve had fewer illnesses, shedding problems, injuries, and other issues in racks then I had when I was keeping everyone in tanks. I custom make my racks to fit tubs larger then the most commonly used tubs in the industry, and I make sure my animals have what they need. Each tub has a water bowl, 2 hides (one on the hotspot, one on the cool side), a piece of grapevine or deadwood, a flat stone, and cypress mulch bedding. I spot clean my tubs everyday and mist twice a day. I do a full clean every month. My snake room is temperature and humidity controlled. My animals are healthy, happy, and comfortable in their environment.

The animals health and happiness always come first. I know not every breeder is honorable or even give half a damn about their animals but I don’t think it’s fair to assume everyone with a rack system is a horrible bastard.

wheremyscalesslither

No one is saying all racks are bad- in fact the replies state “racks like this.” I myself have ball pythons in racks that allow them to have the option to perform a variety of natural behaviors, based on studies ive read grom their habitat.

Unfortunately in the United States, this is the most common technique for housing ball pythons. There is a deeply rooted belief they dont require anything more than a small, empty tub and a water bowl. Too few breeders consider giving them enough space to even stretch out. I wish I could say this wasn’t so, but the large profit breeders have made this the norm.

purple-r0se

But ball pythons don’t NEED enrichment. They have a very basic predatory brain. The studies that show males eat birds makes people absolutely believe that they climb trees, when people seem to forget birds land on the ground too. If your ball python is active every day and night, causing you to think it needs space and things to climb on, then you need to fix the enclosure. They have short stalky bodies that are defiantly not designed to climb, so just because they physically can doesn’t mean they should. Some balls do fine in a 20 gal tank, some will absolutely go off feed and become stressed as hell. So it’s your job as an exotic animal owner to meet the needs of your animal, whether it be a tank modified to meet proper temps and humidity, or a well established rack system

wheremyscalesslither

It seems like you didnt take the time to read this thread before commentingn which is a shame since you seem to be very misinformed. EVERY animal benefits from enrichment. I literally cannot believe i just read that. There are studies upon peer reviewed studies on the benefits of enrichment from mammals to birds to fish to reptiles. There are literally 0 studies that show ball pythons dont need or benefit from enrichment.

purple-r0se

What exactly is enrichment for an animal that spends a majority of its life hiding from light and waiting for pray to come to them in holes in the ground? Because handling is for our own selfish reasons, not the snakes. And having a large open tank can be just down right stressful. The only thing I consider enrichment is a bio active terrarium for the snake. I agree with rack systems, and I agree with a tank no larger than a 40 gal breeder for an adult snake. This picture just looks like two put together for breeding purposes

wheremyscalesslither

Please read the thread before attempting to comment further as it address the very myths you are bringing up. Thanks!!

purple-r0se

I hate the climbing myth. 1. they don’t have the body structure designed for climbing 2. really think about it. They aren’t fast moving snakes. A bird would realize a large thick slow moving snake is coming towards it 3. Like I said if your snake is active every night, and especially day, it’s stressed in its environment. There’s a reason people don’t find them everywhere day/night in Africa and have to purposely look under ground for them And 4. Yes. Even a bird lands on the ground sometimes

wheremyscalesslither

Actually, there are many studies that show birds are a large part of ball python diet. In one, it was discovered 70% of males diets are comprised of hatchling and juvenile birds of species that nest in trees. 70% is a LOT to be relying on your prey to fall out of trees. keven females prey upon birds 40% of the time) They have also noted to eat bats which certainly arent hanging out on the ground. Ball pythons have also been found readily in trees.

Here’s the studies:

1- “Survey of the status and management of the Royal Python (Python regius) in Ghana” 2- “Food resource partitioning of a community of snakes in a swamp rainforest of south-eastern Nigeria” 3- “Why do males and females of Python regius differ in parasite load” 4- “Sexual size dimorphism and natural history traits are correlated with intersexual dietary divergence in royal pythons (python regius) from the rainforests of southeastern Nigeria” 5- “Species trade and conservation: Snake trade and conservation management (Serpentes.spp.) An assessment of the impact of the pet trade on five CITES-Appendix II case studies”

Its important to note that these studies were completed in their natural habitat as opposed to the one frequently quoted about how ball pythons only spend time underground. That study was completed in anthropogenically modified habitat that was converted from a forest to farm land where there are no trees. Futhermore that study even stated they did not have a good representation of where to find ball pythons due to the fact they looked for them during the day when it is hot and they would be aestivating.

reptiliaherps

Honestly, nothing is more astounding to me than people who argue to not provide certain species of animals enrichment just because they don’t “NEED” it. They don’t NEED a huge amount of space. Hell, they can survive in something the size of a shoebox with no light, no substrate, no hides. They’ll live. They’ll even grow. Is that what is in the best interest of the animal, its natural behaviors, and its health? No.

The three ball pythons I have utilize all of their space at night. All of it. And they climb all over the things I provide every night.

Stop looking for excuses to minimize care for the animals who depend on you to survive.

herp-hoarder-blog

I now see why so many large scale reptile keepers stay off tumblr.

Would anyone in this thread argue that a house is a “natural” habitat for a human? However is it less stressful than living in an open field?

When an animal is brought into captivity and protected from natural dangers it’s behavior changes. Where most people err in judgment is anthropomorphizing animals. Each animal is different and would require individual habitat needs. This is an unrealistic burden on the trade and would prevent many people from seeing these creatures beyond Hollywood renditions.

Do the dog owners reading this provide live prey for their dogs to hunt, as wolves would? Most must answer no, In fact if that activity was performed it would be criminal in the U.S.

As soon add I read “this is the standard…” I LMAO. The image portrayed is not the standard, except in instances of rehabilitation and a few extenuating breeding events.

All the other posts I read here shows snakes in a general light. Each snake is it’s own creature. My boa is least stressed(actual perceivable muscle tesion in her body) when she can watch tv from her hide. Does this mean all snakes must be able to watch t.v. from their hide?

If any keeper keeps all their snakes in this manner that is wrong, but of all the breeders I see/follow online this not like anything I have ever seen, Dave the extenuating circumstances I mentioned above.

Sorry this is scatter brained it was written in segments.

wheremyscalesslither

Man… I just first of all am insulted that youre claiming this isnt the standard. Ill give you the benefit of the doubt though, because based in your reply I can tell you are not invvolved in the ball python community to the extent I am.

In the United States this is not an extenuating circumstance in ball python keeping. I didnt take one image out of context and run with it. This is how 80% or more of ball pythons are kept. I am VERY active in the ball python industry, and have been for the last several years. Dont disillusion yourself. This is a HUGE problem.

Whats more is pet owners are looking to breeders for information on how to care for ball pythons and theyre greeted with these tubs and insistence that THIS is the best way to keep these animals. Ive seen many pet owners go from large enclosures that maybe didnt have exactly the right temperatures be told its “too hard” to maintain temps and hunidity and to put them in empty tubs.

I actually admin for a facebook group that has over 13,000 people that has a good mix of pet breeders and keepers. Just from a few posts yesterday ive screenshotted this morning, this is what I have found:

Please take note of the post dates. They were all posted by entirely different people yesterday.

If that’s not enough, here’s more:

Do you need some from other facebook groups as well? I have those too

I apologize for not getting the time stamps on all of those. I had to make the decision on whether to include the time stamp ot the whole image.

While we are at it we can take a look at some other reptile groups as well!! Lets see here…

Oh, and in case anyone still doubts the severity of this situation… Heres a thread I found of people proudly showing off their racks. Granted it is from last year. i tried to find the one that was posted two days ago but facebooks search function doesnt work well on my phone so im sorry for the oldness.

While we are at it we can also tall about how it’s also a problem in other snake communities:

Regardless if they are breeders or pet owners… if yoy dont have the resources to cover ever aspect of care- you should not have those animals.

rainbowsnakes

These images are the grim reality, hell I now actively avoid ball python groups for this exact reason….

@herp-hoarder your assertion here;

“When an animal is brought into captivity and protected from natural dangers its behaviour changes”

Is an awful oversimplification. Firstly, snakes are not domesticated, ( making your comparison to people living in homes or pet owners not hunting their dogs to feed them completely irrelevant, but even so I will point out people WALK their dogs or train them or provide them with mental stimulation that caters for those instincts which will vary depending on breed ect. Nobody would consider locking a dog in one room with a water bowl to be good practice!!)

Animals are hardwired to perform natural behaviours linked to their survival, these are intrinsically rewarding for them regardless of their necessity in captivity. These instincts DO NOT go away Eg) Some animals often still choose to actively forage even if an “easy” option of a bowl full of food is provided (called contra-freeeloading), indicating they find the act of foraging and performing that routine of behaviours that have evolved as essential parts of there survival more rewarding than simply EATING.

The ability to perform natural behaviours is extremely important for animal welfare and allowing for it in captivity shouldn’t be viewed as an “ unrealistic burden on the trade”.

In fact most “ behavioural changes in captivity” develop because there is an element of natural behaviour which the animal cannot express for some reason, sometimes this can manifest as obvious stereotypical behaviours….Sometimes these changes are subtle and hard to asses without structured behavioural analysis.

The field of welfare science in reptiles specifically is new but thankfully growing. But we KNOW enrichment benefits reptiles and even fish.

And its not based on anthropomorphism it’s based on actual differences in brain development, learning ability and resistance to stress, better activity levels, better muscle tone, better immune function….better standards of welfare. And the hobby is resistant to those ideas because they only operate on the completely unscientific basis that “ if it eats, sheds, poops and breeds its thriving” hence the above pictures are not only normal and widespread but considered by many to be gold standard!

I hate that so many breeders I’ve seen approach this issue with “aw what’s with all the rack hate, different people just have different approaches you just gotta let people do whats best for them!” Because where the animals are concerned, the two arguments are NOT supported by equal evidence.

wheremyscalesslither

here have an obnoxiously long but amazing post

wheremyscalesslither

You all thought I forgot about this didn’t you?

Hey @dogpantry you wanna tag your new friends in this? Yknow the ones saying animals don’t NEED enrichment?

Im all up for educating them today :) :) :)

Of course animals don’t NEED enrichment to survive. As keepers we should be less focused on survival and more on providing them with the ability to thrive.

AN ANIMAL CANNOT THRIVE WITHOUT ENRICHMENT.

So tell me this- are you a good keeper who is concerned about your animals’ welfare? Or are you the person content with outdated information because you’ve been doing it the same way forever?

thefireflii

Look, this is all you need to ask yourself. Which one of these looks like an environment a snake could THRIVE in? You don’t have to be in the snake or even reptile community to participate (bonus points if you’re not).

You don’t have to be in the snake community to see how wrong this is. If you can’t see it, you need to rethink what you think you know.

fjordfolk

revolutionary idea: pet ownership is not a human right.

cats scratch. dogs bark. certain rare pets are not adapted to living in a regular domestic setting. if your home is not suited for an animal to express their most basic natural behaviours or your situation makes absolutely predictable traits into dealbreakers, then you should not have that kind of pet. “but i want one” is not an acceptable excuse for owning an animal you can’t provide for.

kedreeva

This includes feeding them the diet they require, not the diet you think they should have because of your own moral beliefs.

ladydrace

Also: can’t afford the vet, don’t get the pet.

vampireapologist-archive-deacti

Honestly something that bothers me more than most things is having my compassion mistaken for naivety.

I know that another fish might eat this bullfrog right after I spend months rehabilitating it.

I know that turning a beetle back onto its legs won’t save it from falling over again when I walk away.

I know that there is no cosmic reward waiting for my soul based on how many worms I pick off a hot sidewalk to put into the mud, or how many times I’ve helped a a raccoon climb out of a too-deep trashcan.

I know things suffer, and things struggle, and things die uselessly all day long. I’m young and idealistic, but I’m not literally a child. I would never judge another person for walking by an injured bird, for ignoring a worm, or for not really caring about the fate of a frog in a pond full of, y’know, plenty of other frogs.

There is nothing wrong with that.

But I cannot cannot cannot look at something struggling and ignore it if I may have the power to help.

There is so much bad stuff in this world so far beyond my control, that I take comfort in the smallest, most thankless tasks. It’s a relief to say “I can help you in this moment,” even though they don’t understand.

I don’t need a devil’s advocate to tell me another fish probably ate that frog when I let it go, or that the raccoon probably ended up trapped in another dumpster the next night.

I know!!!! I know!!!!!!! But today I had the power to help! So I did! And it made me happy!

So just leave me alone alright thank u!!!!

shrineart

THIS.

the-rain-monster

I heard a story about this, a parable I guess.

There was a big storm and a ton of starfish were washed onto the beach, stranded much further up than they could get back and beginning to bake in the post-storm sunshine. A little girl was walking down the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. Some guy comes up and asks her what she’s doing. “Saving the starfish,” she says.

He looks around at the huge beach and the hundreds of starfish, and says “You can’t possibly save them all. I’m afraid you’re not gonna make much of a difference.”

She throws another starfish back into the ocean, and replies “It made a difference to that one.”

the-real-seebs

Yeah, I mean, we know we can’t change all the things. But have you ever noticed how much better life is when you’re around people who change things when they can?

theangriestlittleunicorn

Kindness is a choice. Even if it’s small, it’s worth it.

itsladykit

This is what I’m talking about, when I say that kindness and compassion do not equate with ignorance, stupidity, or naivety. Being cynical does not make someone more intelligent or more worldly.

Kindness is not weakness.

Kindness is brave. Especially when you also know that your kindness might not be returned, may even be met with anger or cruelty. It’s reaching out with an open hand, knowing that it’s just as likely to be bitten as it is to be held.

Kindness is hard. If you can’t find it in yourself to be kind, then fine. But don’t make it more difficult for those that can.

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