Some Snake and Spidey Pics
 

I found this girl stretched out on the ground in the front yard a couple of days ago, after being alerted by a mob of screaming Bluejays and Mocking Birds, which I could hear from inside the house with the AC and the TV on. She's a three-foot "Greenish" Ratsnake, which is a naturally-occuring cross between a Black Ratsnake and a Yellow Ratsnake. She's also gravid, meaning that she's "pregnant" with eggs. You can feel a whole line of little oval lumps inside her, ready to be laid soon. She has not attempted to strike or spray musk.

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This is my old male Eastern Coachwhip, who is one of my main "PR" snakes that I take to educational presentations, because he's so calm and gentle. Even little kids can hold him. He's about eight feet long, and has fathered some really nice clutches of baby Coachwhips for me(yes, I have a couple of female Coachwhips). He has just shed his skin when I took these pics, though he always has to have help with shedding, for some reason. This time, his eye caps got stuck and I had to pull them off with tweezers, but he did not even struggle. He's used to the "drill", I guess.

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Last but not least, one of my red color-phase Chilean Rosehaired tarantulas moulted yesterday morning, emerging prettier than ever, so I have to show her off, too. She's just too nicely-colored to ignore!

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pitbulllady

What pretty friends you have, PBL. Thanks for sharing. The last pic of the freshly-shedded Eastern Coachwhip is really something special with the reflection of the flash in the eye there. Where will Ratsnake lay her eggs and what colour will her babies be?

She's in a plastic "sweater box" now, lined with newspaper. As soon as she lays an egg, each egg will be removed and put into a different Stearlite container, this one half-filled with moist Perlite. This is where the eggs will incubate. I have no idea what color her babies will be, though, since "Greenish" Ratsnakes are very variable in color and pattern. Some could wind up looking like purebred Black Rats, while others could look more like Yellows, and you never know-sometimes a real surprise, like an albino, could show up. With Ratsnakes, you really can't tell until they're over a year old, since all baby Ratsnakes hatch out basically a pale silvery color with black blotches, and change drastically as they mature.

pitbulllady

Most impressive specimens there, PBL - I like your Eastern coachwhip particularly. I found a spider lurking in my bathroom today (and possibly he's still there), but it's obviously not much of a patch on that gorgeously-coloured rosehaired. Still, I'm sure he's special for what he is. :D

very cool, PBL!

You should post more pics of neat looking creepy crawlies. I love the snakes, and the spider scares me.:cheese:

Just a question, how easy is it to get permission to keep these wondorous animals?

you can probably walk into a pet store and purchase almost any type of non-venomous snake. I never concerned myself with permission to "own" (i actually think of it as living with an animal) an animal. Once, one of my families german shepards bit a Garter Snake and wounded it pretty bad, so I brought it into the house an rehabilitated it. When I brought it in it had bites all up its sides, and when I released it, the wounds had healed up nicely and it was fat on various insects (and arachnids) i had offered it. I really like reptiles and amphibians in general.

In the US, regulation, or lack thereof, of keeping non-traditional(meaning not a dog or cat)pets is up the individual states and counties and municipalities within the states, with the exception of animals or plants that are listed as "Endangered" on a Federal level. In South Carolina, my homestate, there are no regulations or permits required to collect, keep and breed any reptiles or invertebrates, with the exception again of those that are listed as Endangered, for which you'd need a permit from the US Dept of the Interior. In fact, our state Dept. of Natural Resources ENCOURAGES anyone who wants a pet snake to consider one of our own native non-venomous species,rather than an exotic species like boas or pythons, since they don't have to worry about those getting loose and creating an invasive population that will wreck havoc on the environment. Some cities do have regulations against keeping venomous reptiles or really large constrictors, and the state has a permit system for keeping alligators, which are actually regulated as a GAME animal, like White-tailed deer. I don't know of anywhere in the state that has any regulations against keeping any sort of invertebrate, except for zebra mussels, which are an invasive species that cause all sorts of problems in waterways and sewage systems and reproduce like crazy. My family owns the property on which I live, so I don't have to worry about landlord issues.

pitbulllady

IIRC some crack dealer in Troy or Albany had a Gavail as a guard dog in his appartment. I think the little guy went to a zoo when they busted him.

They're so cute when they're young. I would like a Gavail that styays small (maybe 2-3 feet long). I think there is a breed like that but i don't think they are legal to get from Brazil. Endangered, i believe.

Yeah, those things are extremely endangered, and very delicate crocodilians. They are difficult to care for even in the top-notch zoos and reptile parks. It's hard to understand how one could have been kept alive in an APARTMENT, and if I was gonna get a crocodilian as a "guard dog", I sure believe that I could have found a species that was a whole lot mean, tougher and cheaper! I've never even seen one offered on any reptile sale sites; they're normally only available as zoo-to-zoo direct trades.

pitbulllady

yeah i was a bit confused as well. I think an Akita would be a much more effective animal, personally.

NO kidding! I used to breed Akitas, actually. I stopped when I began breeding Pit Bulls because the Akitas would get out and get ahold of the Pit Bulls and just pick them up and shake them to death, like a terrier shaking a rat. A stray Akita(not one of mine) in the neighborhood where I lived at the time killed my neighbor's horse. They are big, beautiful dogs, but the Japanese have never messed around when it comes to creating weapons, whether they are of metal or flesh and bone.

pitbulllady

yeah. I know a 3-legged 13 year old Akita that i would NOT mess with. Nasty animals.