Rebecca

I have experience with dogs and have raised a rottweiler and lab from puppyhood until old age and have never experience any issues with housebreaking - it was almost too easy. That is until my miniature bull terrier. He comes from a good line and was flown in from poland a few weeks ago - he's adjusted very well. In typical bull terrier fashion, he's quite stubborn and is pretty difficult to get his attention on me when I'm trying to work on commands but my main challenge is the housebreaking. Ill spend half an hour outside with no luck and as soon as we get inside, he'll go on the floor - carpet, tiles, the couch - he has no preference, just as long as its indoors. I am crate training him and he is also more of challenge in the crate - but he's getting better with It. I'm just looking for any tips that would work better with this breed. Currently, if I see him about to go, I say STOP loudly and firmly and pick him up and take him out immediately. This is what I used to do with other pups and when they would go outside I would praise. Problem with him is - he seems to be able to wait me out. 30-40 min outside and he won't finish his business. It's frustrating.

This is a question for people or keep hots or who have been around others that keep them.

Do you handle your snakes? And not in reference to regular husbandry, like cleaning, moving from one place to another,,,I mean just handling them.

If you do, what precautions do you take?

Why do you think celebs name their children such ridiculous names?

Case in point:

Gwen and Gavin's sons - ZUMA Nesta Rock Rossdale and Kingston James McGregor Rossdale.

Ashley Simpsons son - BRONX Mogley Wentz

Nicholas cage named his son Kal-El after superman.

Jason Lee's son - Pilot Inspektor

Gwyneth Paltrow - daughter Apple

Courtney cox - Coco

Sylvester Stallone - Sage Moonblood.

Bono - Memphis Eve.

Forest Whitticker - OCEAN

Robert Rodriguez - rocket Rodriguez

The edge (from U2) - Blue Angel.

This is one of my fav's - jermaine Jackson named his son Jermajesty Jackson!!

Frank Zappa - Moon Unit and Diva Thin Muffin

Shannyn Sossamon - Audio Science!!!

I could go on and on but it's getting really long so I'll leave it at that. So why do celebs do this to that children???

My butter pinstripe ball just died and he was very special to me. Fought a nasty RI for quite some time - two rounds of antibiotics, several vet visits, cultures ... The whole bit. Fought for him hard and really sad to see him go. He was one of my original male breeders and for some reason discarding him in the garbage just doesn't feel right...he was much more than just a breeder and so trusting. He endured me poking him with needles, visits to the vet, even shedding his skin for him near the end and never once got pissy with me so I'm quite sad.

What are some ways you would discard of a special pet who's passed away?

I want to make a custom enclosure for an asian water monitor and I want to know if anyone has any good plans or links to websites, maybe forum discussions where someone has posted pictures or plans....

This could either be a room type enclosure which would be a converted garage....obviously more expensive and more work and probably harder to maintain temps. Or it could be a custom made enclosure that wound be 12' long 6' deep 6' high.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

When you Acquire a new snake, how long so you quarantine for? And do you quarantine different snakes for different amounts of time, like boas for longer than pythons for example,.....or same time regardless of type of snake?

So Ive taken in an adult white lined gecko - it's a rescue and I'm just fostering it. I've had him for almost 2 weeks and as far as I know he isn't eating.

I've offered crickets and he doesn't eat any of them. Ive offered wax worms, silkworms, phoenix worms.....nothing. I've put some mashed up fruit and veggies in there to and again, nothing.

I'm aware of the temps 82-84 hot spot with ambient temp of around 75-78. Nighttime stays btw 72-75 and humidity is always consistently around 65-75%. He's got a 20 gal tall aquarium and I also provide very low level UVB (I know it's not required but I think low level UVB is beneficial for nocturnal lizards).

Ive never really kept geckos but like I said, he's a foster and I need to get him eating regularly. I know it takes a while to settle in before they eat sometimes but this is getting ridiculous. Once I get him feeding I'll most likely adopt him bc I don't want him going through the stress of being re-homed again as soon as he settles.

Otherwise, he's ok. Feet stick well and he's very active. I don't handle him because he's not tolerant of that at all and that's ok. I know they aren't known for being good with that. He's fine as a display animal but I need any advice from people who have skunk geckos - any tips on feeding these guys!? Any type of food that you know of thats irresistible to them? Any knowledge is welcome. Thanks!!

So one ot my Suriname boas - he's about 2 yes old and I feed him frozen/thawed medium rats - he's a ferocious feeder .... Like really ferocious. Whenever he takes the rat, he strikes and contstricts it so hard that the stomach and guts explode.

It's not an over heating issue - I don't eat with boiling water or microwave. I thaw it on the counter for a few hrs and then I slowly heat with warm water in a ziplock bag. He of course grabs the head and constricts the chest/stomach and squeezes so damn hard that the rats stomach just explodes. It's nasty and then he won't eat it because it's guts are hanging out. All his bedding and cage needs to be cleaned and disinfected and the rat does to waste.

It's really annoying and time consuming. None of my other snakes do this and he's not the largest by any means - he's just a crazy a*s feeder. So far today we're on the 2nd rat. Just cleaned his cage and far him another one and BAM - explosion.

Fed up - any tips for this....

I'm not planning on breeding rats to feed all of my snakes - too much work and nastiness but I often have at least a couple picky babies in my collection that require live or fresh killed. So I may breed a pair of rats. What the most humane way to euthanize rats? I'm not looking for anything that involved whacking them off a hard surface or breaking their neck. C02 chamber? How does this work?

I've heard with c02 or carbon monoxide, it can make them itchy and almost feel as if they're suffocating to death? Am I totally off on this?

Anyone who euthanizes their own rats, or who has experience with how to do this - thanks in advance for any tips.

Has it been done successfully yet? I know that Henry Piorun produced a leucistic albino when he bred a jaguar carpet python to another jaguar carpet and they were het albinos. His luecistic albino is a little wonky but it's doing ok now.

As far as I know, any jag x jag crosses that resulted in leucistics, have seen them either die in the egg or last no more than 24 hrs. So is this is lethal combo or has it been done successfully yet?

Other question is in regards to jags - I often hear people say that they can have neurological problems and be a little "weird" or "retarded". So how common is it for jags to display this wonkiness?

Has anyone done this and had successful clutches? Would you breed two albino boas or an albino to a het albino boa?

Most of my larger boids are housed in 6 ft long enclosures similar to animal plastics and they work great but Im considering converting a big walk in closet into an enclosure for my burm. He's still little so I've got time. I want to know if anyone's done this and if so, any tips?

I was thinking of tiling the whole thing and possibly installing heated tiles on part of it... Lighting on the ceiling? I don't really know, how would I install a thermostat to regulate heated tiles? Maybe replacing the door with a clear acrylic locking door.. I'm totally challenged in the carpentry and blue printing area so any advice is welcome...thanks.

I've heard of people doing this but don't actually know anyone who has.

I recently bought my first burm home and overall he's doing great - no concerns. He's a real hisser though. Not really in a defensive manner, which is why it's kind of strange. He's just really vocal and hisses a lot but he's quite tame and easy to handle. Compare to the other pythons and boas that I keep, he hisses a lot. Im looking for answers from people who own or have experience with Burms specifically if they're naturally vocal like this is he just extra grumpy?

I just upgraded my growing Suriname boa into an acrylic 6ft long cage. I usually go with clear or white but there was a great deal on a black one. It's functioning great but only problem is it's so dark. I want to create some light in there. I feel like my snakes in blackness all day and the natural light seems to do nothing. I've never used lighting strips inside the cage and Many have advise to drill a hole in the back of the cage and run the cords out the back and attach a strip light to the top/back part of the cage with a 12 hr on 12 hr off timer.

Now maybe this sounds ignorant seeing as I've never done this - but how do stop the snake from getting burnt? Wouldn't any light source in the cage run a risk that the snake will come in contact with it and possible get burnt?

Any advise from anyone with experience here...thanks.

I have a 2 and a half yr old son and of course living in a house full of snakes hes starting to catch the bug - and wanting to handle and help out with the snakes a lot. Hes really young and gets really excited easily. So my question is to snake owners who have very young children. How do you help your little ones handle the snakes. My concern is that he'll be jerky or frighten or startle the snakes. I'm just nervous letting him Handle them. Any tips?

Just curious on the general consensus - taming baby Mexican kings snakes. Is less more is frequent handling better?

I have a baby who's only ever eaten live. I've tried thawed and pre killed. She nudges the prey with her head and then just completely ignores it and slithers away. However if it's live, she doesn't even hesitate. Ive tried different colors, sexes, rats and mice and I've done the zombie mouse dance to no avail. I'm running out of ideas.

Tips???

I know that MBK are known for having a high incidence of cannibalism. When breeding this species of snake together, what precausions can be taken to make sure the snakes are safe?

I know with balls, you can leave them together in the same enclosure for a couple days when breeding. Is this the same with MBK's? How much cause for concern is there really?

Any tips from people who have successfully bred these snakes or have a lot of experience in the area. Thanks!

I'm just got 2 new MKS's and their pretty little. I'm keeping them in a PVC enclosure (3ft long with a divider build in to separate them). Obviously I'll be moving them into larger ones as they grow. What's the ideal enclosure for these guys in terms of overall size - height, floor space and also the type - molded plastic, aquarium type. Thanks for any tips you provide.