mad_andy

Guess what? Guess what guess what guess what?!

( Guess what I found in my car this morning?! )

OK, 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.

( And in other, related news... )

And now I'm going to give in to exhaustion, and maybe go and find some food. Catch y'all later.

Just got back from taking Zico to the vet.

See, this morning I was pottering around the bedroom when I heard the most horrible noise coming from his vivarium - and sure enough, there was poor Zico decorating the wall of his house with yellowish-green mucus. Poor lad, he was holding his tail out of the way and even had a somewhat pained expression on his face... it's interesting, though, that he always uses the same corner of his viv to defeacate. Snakes aren't supposed to be that bothered about it.

Anyway. I grabbed a pot and scooped up the most foul smelling mess it's ever been my misfortune to encounter from one of my own, and dashed off to the surgery to package and send it off to the lab. Thank god, they're couriering all the samples as there's a postal strike on - and not charging the clients any more for it, even though it's costing the practice considerably more.

Tipped the yuk into a pot, sealed and labelled, wiped the last greasy, sticky remains off with a swab, put that in the transport medium and sealed, labelled and packed that, too. Collared a sympathetic vet, got her to figure out which was the best set of tests to ask for, add her chop to the form and a brief history, then printed it and packaged the whole bally lot up. The lab should get it in the morning, and - fingers crossed - I should have results back by late wednesday or thursday morning.

Spoke to AJ, the vet who's most into treating 'exotics' - and has a passing interest in reptiles - and asked if she would be interested in looking at my snake. A lot of vets will treat torts and some lizards but don't like snakes... had she been reluctant it would have been off to Swindon armed with credit card to see the specialist herp vet. Expensive, but apparently very good.

See, hopefully it's something simple. And the treatment Zico has got so far - panacur (wormer) and antibiotics, as well as oral fluids, electrolytes, and probiotic - certainly won't do him any harm. The antibiotic we're using is broad spectrum and very safe for use on reptiles; if he's got a bacterial infection, the Baytril will knock it out. If it's worms, the panacur will do the job. If it's protozoal then the fluids will keep him going until we can get him onto the right meds to sort that out.

She gave him a good exam, checked skin, vent, eyes, nostrils and mouth, felt along his whole body so we're sure he doesn't have a blockage. No issues with any of the systems we can check visually, so it's a case of two more doses of wormer, six more doses of antibiotic... and wait.

Which is the bit I hate, of course.

Poor Zico, you can tell he's sick - everyone commented on how easy it was to open his mouth and how good he was when the dosing needle was gently pushed into his oesophagus... I've wormed otherwise healthy snakes and believe me, they do not sit and just glare at you while you do it. They wriggle and swear and poo and try to vomit and bite and it's quite exciting, really. Zico, although he was alert and curious about his new surroundings, just shot me a series of dirty looks.

Still. Keep 'em crossed for the poor lad, and we'll see how it goes.

*Sigh*

Just my luck.

You are The Lovers

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

The Lovers represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made.

Originally, this card was called just LOVE. And that's actually more apt than "Lovers." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that the you have or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

But interesting, considering what's been going on.

( Some days, life is a wee bit busy. )

Perfect end to an exhausting day!

I need a name.

I need a name for my mandarin ratsnake.

To help those of you in a naming mood, he is definitely a he, and his species (Euprepiophis mandarinus) comes from mainland China as far as Vietnam, Taiwan and all that sort of Indo-Chinese area, almost up as far as Japan (where their ecological niche is taken by the Japanese forest ratsnake, another lovely little species).

He looks like this:



-- only he's a little more grey, not quite as bright. (Pretty though, huh?)

Oh, and he's a good eater, although a shy little man. Needs a good name. ;)

Well.

Been a lot happening since I last updated. Most of it animal related. So are you sitting comfortably?

( Then we shall begin... with a visit to Aladdin's cave... )

( So what did I come home with, then? )

( So why, you ask, have I got all these new beasties? )

( But what of the reptiles, I hear you cry? )

So that's the beasties. Today I still have to muck Barclay (now confirmed as female, dammit) out, although she's currently out in the garden. Sulking. Cos she hates it out there. Oh, and do the ferrets and the fishies.

Well, it'll keep me out of trouble, I guess!

Doris makes me smile.

I got home this morning and she was curled up happily in her water bowl, chin resting on the edge, apparently enjoying a nice bath. I went to check on Sam and Mojo (who has shed, and I can't wait to see her in her nice new skin!), and when I turned round again Doris had shuffled so that she could watch me, still in her bath, chin now resting on the opposite side of the bowl.

I wish I could find my damn camera - it would have made a great pic. "Oh, morning biped...what you doing?"

She's now trying to decide which way she wants to get out of her bath; about six inches of neck is showing, and she's swinging round lazily to try and find the best spot to lie in to dry off. Looks like she's going to drape herself elegantly across the bogwood in there, showing off her colour and physique to any that care to glance her way.

You know, she's such a love. I never would have imagined that snakes have such personality!

I just got home and found my sand boa dead. Dammit.

Doris has laid eggs!

I saw something pale in the laying box, and wandered over to investigate - I thought she'd probably just pooed in there but no! She's curled up around a clutch! I can see about eight eggs, most of which I think are infertile - but there seem to be a couple of good ones at the bottom, so we'll see.

Pics to follow!

God, I'm excited!

ETA: ( Eggses! )