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mad_andyOK, my knee is so goddamn swollen I can hardly walk, I'm absolutely exhausted, Slay is sulking because I don't want to cook him dinner (WTF?!) and I'm grinning like a fucking idiot.
Why?
Zico has his appetite back.
:D
He ate a sparrow yesterday (cat kill, lovingly abandoned under my computer chair, waste not want not), and as I was defrosting some mice for some of the others tonight I thought I'd give him a go...
Barely had I the viv door open and held the mouse toward him (using tongs, thank fuck!) and WALLOP, he snatches it from the tongs and retreats, hissing at me through a mouthful of mouse to warn me against the idea of trying to steal his dinner back.
:D
The very first time I met Zico - before I was even sure what species he was, before I handled him, before I met the band whose name he was to bear! - I'd been told to feed the snakes in the tubs at the shop, and knew only that he needed a large mouse. Tossed one in and promptly jumped almost out of my skin when he hit it like a freight train and growled and hissed at me the whole time he was eating it.
He ended up getting three that day, just for the absolute delight I took in watching this snake eat so ferociously.
And there's more than a glimmer of that tonight.
:D
Zico's getting better.
Been a hell of a day at the shop today. I was on my own (Steve being ill, *snort*) as Chris had gone down to one of our suppliers to check out their stock and see if they had anything good in.
Well, he brought back a load of animals we've been unable to source from anywhere else, so we should have good sales this weekend.
But I could have smacked him when he breezed into the shop, promptly made a hell of a mess of everything I'd so carefully cleaned and tidied, left a list of instructions as to what to do to the new stock and buggered off!
OK, I admit, there was an element of frustration in my reaction; had Steve come to work, I should have gone with him. *Sigh* But I dipped out. Maybe next time.
Oli the Burm is settling in nicely. I sat and checked my flist earlier with him curled up on my hand and wrist - he got a little snakey when I first approached him but soon chilled out. And it wasn't as though he even got upset, he just hissed and wriggled a bit. I kept nice and calm and soon we were checking out the 'net together. *Grin* He's going to be a lot of fun - and now he's in a more humid environment his colours are even more stunning than I thought.
Almost all of the corn snake hatchlings at the shop are feeding well and on sale now; there are a couple, though, that are not doing very well at all. To the point where if we don't get them going soon they're not going to make it...
Well, I managed to get magpie the little black rat going, so I thought I'd give one of the no-hopers a try. Keep 'em crossed - brought home a nice little silver-and-black anery corn, so we shall see what transpires. If I can get it feeding we can sell it on - there's a lovely snow that's being a bugger too, so if I can get this one going I might try that next.
I hate to see hatchlings just fade away like that. Some do, and there isn't anything you can do about it, but at least here at home I can try a few things we simply don't have the time to try at the shop.
Sally the young female yellow rat snake is doing well, putting on weight and growing pretty quick; not as fast as I would have expected, but we'll see what the next year brings. I don't think she's a full blood yellow rat; there's more than a dash of everglades blood there from the colour and the pattern. In other words, I was conned, guv!
Magpie (named by the nieces because he'll be black and white when he grows up) is eating like a bloody horse. I've never seen a hatchling eat so bloody well, and he's growing almost more quickly in girth than he is in length, so perhaps I need to throttle back on the feeds for a bit...
Well, when he nearly ended up a cull for being a no-hoper, I like to see him eat, yanno?
Mice are doing well, I'm about to get another litter of baldies and Dora the lemming is either going to drop another load or explode. The pygmies are breeding too, although since I weeded out the subadults for sale they've become much more secretive. Obviously the population has to be at a certain level for them to feel confident enough to emerge when there's observers!
Did I mention the stinkpot turtles? I think I did. Anyway, the female is missing her right front foot, apparently as a result of some injury which I would guess was sustained whilst being shipped to the UK. And watching her feed - she's worked out that people mean FOOD, so she's up at the front of the tank demanding to be fed whenever someone goes in the bathroom - it appears that she's right handed.
How can I tell?
Well, when a turtle (I give in, I surrender to American nomenclature!) has grabbed a food item that it can't swallow all at once it reaches forward with one front foot, digs its claws in and pulls away with the claws while ripping in the opposite direction with the beak. Now, with Peg (because of the missing foot, peg-leg, geddit?) it doesn't matter which side of her mouth the offending item is sitting she always, but always, reaches forward with her useless right front stump first. Waves it around a bit, then changes 'hands' and uses the claws on the left to rip/pull with the beak.
Having the turtle tanks where you can watch them whilst in the bath or on the loo yields surprising behavioural observations, huh?
She copes very well with three functioning legs and a stump, and manages to totally dominate the little male (as yet unnamed!) and grab the lion's share of the food. When I drop a defrosted cube of bloodworm (or krill, or whatever other delicacy they're having that day) into the tank she's figured out that if she grabs it she can be halfway across the tank and into a hiding place before he even realises that dinner is served. Then she stuffs her beak, occasionally pausing to threaten him with an open mouth promise of a bite, while he hovers around the periphery trying to pick up scraps.
Unless the food drops in closer to him, in which case he grabs it and runs like hell - underwater, you understand - and she chases him with an expression of great outrage. When he eventually drops it she bulldozes him away from the food and tries to bite him before turning away to eat her breakfast, keeping an eye on the beaten adversary all the while.
They're both growing at a good rate, though, so I'm not worried that he isn't getting enough - he's actually a lot more patient than she is when it comes to checking out places where scraps may have come to rest during feeding time squabbles. She, of course, is too busy sitting at the front of the glass demanding attention to care...
Barclay watches it all from her tank with a supercilious air; she knows that she is First Turtle, and the stinkpots are mere pets. Her appetite is still phenomenal, although her growth has slowed down now. Still need to find a male for her, though!
And now I'm going to give in to exhaustion, and maybe go and find some food. Catch y'all later.
Why?
Zico has his appetite back.
:D
He ate a sparrow yesterday (cat kill, lovingly abandoned under my computer chair, waste not want not), and as I was defrosting some mice for some of the others tonight I thought I'd give him a go...
Barely had I the viv door open and held the mouse toward him (using tongs, thank fuck!) and WALLOP, he snatches it from the tongs and retreats, hissing at me through a mouthful of mouse to warn me against the idea of trying to steal his dinner back.
:D
The very first time I met Zico - before I was even sure what species he was, before I handled him, before I met the band whose name he was to bear! - I'd been told to feed the snakes in the tubs at the shop, and knew only that he needed a large mouse. Tossed one in and promptly jumped almost out of my skin when he hit it like a freight train and growled and hissed at me the whole time he was eating it.
He ended up getting three that day, just for the absolute delight I took in watching this snake eat so ferociously.
And there's more than a glimmer of that tonight.
:D
Zico's getting better.
Been a hell of a day at the shop today. I was on my own (Steve being ill, *snort*) as Chris had gone down to one of our suppliers to check out their stock and see if they had anything good in.
Well, he brought back a load of animals we've been unable to source from anywhere else, so we should have good sales this weekend.
But I could have smacked him when he breezed into the shop, promptly made a hell of a mess of everything I'd so carefully cleaned and tidied, left a list of instructions as to what to do to the new stock and buggered off!
OK, I admit, there was an element of frustration in my reaction; had Steve come to work, I should have gone with him. *Sigh* But I dipped out. Maybe next time.
Oli the Burm is settling in nicely. I sat and checked my flist earlier with him curled up on my hand and wrist - he got a little snakey when I first approached him but soon chilled out. And it wasn't as though he even got upset, he just hissed and wriggled a bit. I kept nice and calm and soon we were checking out the 'net together. *Grin* He's going to be a lot of fun - and now he's in a more humid environment his colours are even more stunning than I thought.
Almost all of the corn snake hatchlings at the shop are feeding well and on sale now; there are a couple, though, that are not doing very well at all. To the point where if we don't get them going soon they're not going to make it...
Well, I managed to get magpie the little black rat going, so I thought I'd give one of the no-hopers a try. Keep 'em crossed - brought home a nice little silver-and-black anery corn, so we shall see what transpires. If I can get it feeding we can sell it on - there's a lovely snow that's being a bugger too, so if I can get this one going I might try that next.
I hate to see hatchlings just fade away like that. Some do, and there isn't anything you can do about it, but at least here at home I can try a few things we simply don't have the time to try at the shop.
Sally the young female yellow rat snake is doing well, putting on weight and growing pretty quick; not as fast as I would have expected, but we'll see what the next year brings. I don't think she's a full blood yellow rat; there's more than a dash of everglades blood there from the colour and the pattern. In other words, I was conned, guv!
Magpie (named by the nieces because he'll be black and white when he grows up) is eating like a bloody horse. I've never seen a hatchling eat so bloody well, and he's growing almost more quickly in girth than he is in length, so perhaps I need to throttle back on the feeds for a bit...
Well, when he nearly ended up a cull for being a no-hoper, I like to see him eat, yanno?
Mice are doing well, I'm about to get another litter of baldies and Dora the lemming is either going to drop another load or explode. The pygmies are breeding too, although since I weeded out the subadults for sale they've become much more secretive. Obviously the population has to be at a certain level for them to feel confident enough to emerge when there's observers!
Did I mention the stinkpot turtles? I think I did. Anyway, the female is missing her right front foot, apparently as a result of some injury which I would guess was sustained whilst being shipped to the UK. And watching her feed - she's worked out that people mean FOOD, so she's up at the front of the tank demanding to be fed whenever someone goes in the bathroom - it appears that she's right handed.
How can I tell?
Well, when a turtle (I give in, I surrender to American nomenclature!) has grabbed a food item that it can't swallow all at once it reaches forward with one front foot, digs its claws in and pulls away with the claws while ripping in the opposite direction with the beak. Now, with Peg (because of the missing foot, peg-leg, geddit?) it doesn't matter which side of her mouth the offending item is sitting she always, but always, reaches forward with her useless right front stump first. Waves it around a bit, then changes 'hands' and uses the claws on the left to rip/pull with the beak.
Having the turtle tanks where you can watch them whilst in the bath or on the loo yields surprising behavioural observations, huh?
She copes very well with three functioning legs and a stump, and manages to totally dominate the little male (as yet unnamed!) and grab the lion's share of the food. When I drop a defrosted cube of bloodworm (or krill, or whatever other delicacy they're having that day) into the tank she's figured out that if she grabs it she can be halfway across the tank and into a hiding place before he even realises that dinner is served. Then she stuffs her beak, occasionally pausing to threaten him with an open mouth promise of a bite, while he hovers around the periphery trying to pick up scraps.
Unless the food drops in closer to him, in which case he grabs it and runs like hell - underwater, you understand - and she chases him with an expression of great outrage. When he eventually drops it she bulldozes him away from the food and tries to bite him before turning away to eat her breakfast, keeping an eye on the beaten adversary all the while.
They're both growing at a good rate, though, so I'm not worried that he isn't getting enough - he's actually a lot more patient than she is when it comes to checking out places where scraps may have come to rest during feeding time squabbles. She, of course, is too busy sitting at the front of the glass demanding attention to care...
Barclay watches it all from her tank with a supercilious air; she knows that she is First Turtle, and the stinkpots are mere pets. Her appetite is still phenomenal, although her growth has slowed down now. Still need to find a male for her, though!
And now I'm going to give in to exhaustion, and maybe go and find some food. Catch y'all later.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-18 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-18 09:17 pm (UTC)And I love your tales of your brood, herd, whatever. *grin* It's like we're sitting, sharing a cuppa, and you're filling me in on their doings/
Take care of your knee - I'm sure you know the drill. *hugs* Keeping my fingers crossed that it's something simple and easy to heal.
And sleep a little, would ya? You're gonna drop!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-18 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 12:08 am (UTC)Very cool about Zico. I had a feeling he'd pull through since he's named after a determined band ;)
Hee hee, I like all of your stories about the animals. They're very amusing :D
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 12:33 am (UTC)Also, how can you tell a male turtle from a female? Not doubting you or anything - just curious!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 06:29 am (UTC)Ah, sexing turtles. :) Some species are easier than others, but certain indicators are fairly reliable. Males tend to be smaller overall, have longer claws on their front feet (for courtship - they tap the female on the nose with them), a concave plastron (the underneath part of the shell), and a longer tail with the cloaca more than halfway along it.
The concave plastron, long tail and longer claws are all adaptations to allow the males to mount the females in the water - no easy business!
But the younger and smaller the turtle (or tortoise, come to that) the harder they are to sex. I got it wrong with Barclay - I thought she was a he! Part of why I bought the stinkpots was that I was checking them over when they arrived at the shop and noticed that this tiny little turtle had the longest tail I'd ever seen, and when I compared him to several of the others it was as clear as glass that he was a boy and they were girls.
So now you know how to sex turtles :D
no subject
Date: 2007-10-20 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 01:30 am (UTC)And take care of your knee.
And I love the stories of your menagerie. Yes, you need to write up your experiences!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 09:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 01:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-19 02:03 pm (UTC)