Mother mentioned at our most recent Sunday dinner that she has not actually met any of my current snakes. I'll get her in my apartment at some point soon so she can officially meet all three, but I thought I could also help all (two) of you virtually meet each one on this here blog. Each legless fiend will be introduced, complete with pictures and the clever commentary that you have come to expect on this blog, or you had come to expect before my ten month long blogging hiatus. And now without further ado, this is the scaly family I have decided on...
Ace was purchased while I still had Vixen. I had never thought of purchasing a milksnake, but its brilliant red color and cool striped pattern attracted me. After almost making it out of the reptile show without another pet, Ace wormed his way into my life, almost quite literally as he looked a lot like a big worm when I got him.
Ace is, on the whole, the most flighty and finicky of my three snakes. He spends the most time hidden and when I pick him up I have to deal with a lot of wiggling and attempts at flinging himself out from my clutches. In the next few months I'm going to work much harder taming him. Fortunately, he never tries to bite, so taming will only involve trying to get him more used to human contact. However, Ace's biggest quirk, which I have only recently accepted as unavoidable, is his feeding preference. Ace refuses to accept one appropriately sized food item, instead preferring to eat food way too small for him in larger quantities. Recently, I have joined quite a few reptile themed pages and groups on Facebook. I asked if anyone else had milksnakes with the same habit and I got a few bites, pardon the pun, so it seems to be a trait of milksnakes. My current theory is that Ace is either too lazy to stretch his jaws too wide, or afraid of anything he perceives to be bigger than him.
Name: Slade
Namesake: A DC comics villain aka Deathstroke
Type of Snake: Diffused Caramel Cornsnake
Fancy Pants Name: Pantherophis guttatus
Approximate Age: 2 years
Approximate length: 3.5 ft
Fun fact: Diffused Caramel refers to the color morph of the cornsnake. The Diffused gene causes the pattern of the snake to fade each time the snake sheds. This can eventually result in an almost pattern-less snake.
Don't tell the others--or do, snakes can't really hear anyway--but Slade is my favorite. His colors become more beautiful everyday as his pattern fades more and more. He is also currently the biggest of the three, though Harvey is hot on his heals. As my friend Katie mentioned on our most recent reptile show trip (of which there have been many in the past year), she always gravitates towards the cute little babies, while I gape at the big impressive adults. I often feel the urge to feed my own snakes more often in hopes of making them get adult sized quicker. I specifically enjoy feeding Slade, because the way he consumes food is highly entertaining. At the first sight of food dangling before him, Slade will grab the mouse and wrap a third of his body around it in less than a second. Every time I see it, I'm still amazed how something with no legs can move so quickly. And unlike Ace, there is absolutely no hesitation. He knows exactly what to do with it.
Slade's favorite place to hide is a used paper towel roll. When his attempts to fit his entire body inside a thin tube started to become too comical, I had to start cutting them in half. He still doesn't tolerate being handled as well as I would like, but I find that if I support his entire body he calms down quite a bit. He's going to have to start getting used to it anyway, because I think he needs some exercise. Slade is still a sub adult, so I hope as he grows longer his body mass will even out, but at the moment he looks like he has some childbearing hips going on, and he can't lay no eggs. He better shape up, cause my last and final snake is putting herself in the running for favorite...
Name: Harvey
Namesake: Harvey Dent aka Two Face, the Batman villain
Type of Snake: Banana California Kingsnake
Fancy Pants Name: Lampropeltis getula californiae
Approximate Age: 18 months
Approximate length: 3 ft
Fun Fact: Harvey is the same species as my first pet Henrietta, but has a different pattern and color morph. Like Henry, Harvey has a name incongruent with her gender, except this time I did it on purpose.
Oftentimes you choose the name of a pet and hope the pet will eventually grow into its name. When I bought a kingsnake this time, I had the fortune of actually knowing it was a female before I bought it. Unfortunately, that put me in the difficult position of having to think of a good name for a girl snake. For some reason, I've always had an easier time thinking of boys names that I like. I probably have this problem because, I usually draw my names from comic books, which, surprise surprise, have "occasionally" been described as male centric. Sure there are girl superheroes, but often times their names are just borrowed from their male counterpart. Ex: She Hulk, Batgirl, Spiderwoman etc. And if they do have the fortune of having their own individual name, it is usually pretty lame. Um, Star Saphire, Starfire, Dazzler... What's with all the star inspired names? Anyway, this is not the place for a blistering, intelligent and complex critique of the comic book industry that I'm sure I could deliver effortlessly...
After making some lists I finally settled on Jezebel, but with the knowledge that I could be swayed to change her name if a better one came along. Well, sometimes a pet chooses its own name. A few weeks after purchasing my new girl I discovered an interesting and disconcerting habit of hers. Occasionally, she will go from being completely still to racing around her cage, flailing her body and contorting it in weird angels and directions. To this day, I don't know for sure why she does this, but it has gotten less frequent. She also eats and grows normally, so it does not seem to affect her quality of life. Maybe she's just going through growing pains? Maybe she has a slight neurological defect? Whatever it is, it inspired me. She seemed to demonstrate a split personality. Most the time she is sweet as can be. But every so often, her spasms seems downright demonic. So I thought to myself, who do I like from comic books who suffers from a split personality? One of my favorite villains, of course, Two Face, who was once a crusader for justice, Harvey Dent. I had a brief internal debate about whether it was fair to name another female snake a man's name, and starting with an H no less. Then I quickly got over it, because snakes display gender just about as much as a chair does (Take that French people!). So she's Harvey. Or, as Perri calls her, JezeHarvey.
But really, most of the time she is an absolute sweet heart. Once I get her out of her cage she is very tolerant of handling. She does seem to be quite cage shy. If I don't pick her up quickly she will try to run away, but once she gets a quick sniff of me she immediately relaxes in my hands. This is not to say she stays still. Once handling has begun she will usually choose one direction or location she wants to go. No matter where I move her, she will go back to that spot. I'll choose to attribute this habit to an inquisitive spirit on her part, and not an intense desire to get away from me.
I understand why many people don't see the benefits in having a pet snake. They don't show emotions like a dog or cat will. They are much happier when they are left alone. And when mine are being stubborn, I confess I temporarily lose sight of why I love these creatures so much. I don't think I could effectively put it into words, but I think I came close when aunt Alice visited recently...
A snake won't purr in your lap, or wag its tail when you come home. But when the snake that previously fled at the sight of you relaxes calmly in your hands for the first time, tolerance can feel a lot like love.
Name: Ace
Namesake(s): Batman villain. Old Bruce Wayne's dog on Batman Beyond. A playing card (red, black, white... get it? Get it?)
Type of Snake: Nelson's Milksnake
Fancy Pants Name: Lampropeltis triangulum nelsoni
Approximate Age: 17 months
Approximate length: 2ft
Fun fact(s): All milksnakes are kingsnakes, but not all kingsnakes are milksnakes. Also, Ace's gender is unknown.
Ace was purchased while I still had Vixen. I had never thought of purchasing a milksnake, but its brilliant red color and cool striped pattern attracted me. After almost making it out of the reptile show without another pet, Ace wormed his way into my life, almost quite literally as he looked a lot like a big worm when I got him.
Ace is, on the whole, the most flighty and finicky of my three snakes. He spends the most time hidden and when I pick him up I have to deal with a lot of wiggling and attempts at flinging himself out from my clutches. In the next few months I'm going to work much harder taming him. Fortunately, he never tries to bite, so taming will only involve trying to get him more used to human contact. However, Ace's biggest quirk, which I have only recently accepted as unavoidable, is his feeding preference. Ace refuses to accept one appropriately sized food item, instead preferring to eat food way too small for him in larger quantities. Recently, I have joined quite a few reptile themed pages and groups on Facebook. I asked if anyone else had milksnakes with the same habit and I got a few bites, pardon the pun, so it seems to be a trait of milksnakes. My current theory is that Ace is either too lazy to stretch his jaws too wide, or afraid of anything he perceives to be bigger than him.
Though Ace frustrates me in many ways, I probably relate to him the most. Or as much as a human can relate to a reptile (though I have often joked that I too am coldblooded, as I often have to regulate my body temperature and my hands are always freezing cold). Just call us two introverted creatures with cases of social anxiety, though I would argue her anxiety is more severe.
Name: SladeNamesake: A DC comics villain aka Deathstroke
Type of Snake: Diffused Caramel Cornsnake
Fancy Pants Name: Pantherophis guttatus
Approximate Age: 2 years
Approximate length: 3.5 ft
Fun fact: Diffused Caramel refers to the color morph of the cornsnake. The Diffused gene causes the pattern of the snake to fade each time the snake sheds. This can eventually result in an almost pattern-less snake.
Don't tell the others--or do, snakes can't really hear anyway--but Slade is my favorite. His colors become more beautiful everyday as his pattern fades more and more. He is also currently the biggest of the three, though Harvey is hot on his heals. As my friend Katie mentioned on our most recent reptile show trip (of which there have been many in the past year), she always gravitates towards the cute little babies, while I gape at the big impressive adults. I often feel the urge to feed my own snakes more often in hopes of making them get adult sized quicker. I specifically enjoy feeding Slade, because the way he consumes food is highly entertaining. At the first sight of food dangling before him, Slade will grab the mouse and wrap a third of his body around it in less than a second. Every time I see it, I'm still amazed how something with no legs can move so quickly. And unlike Ace, there is absolutely no hesitation. He knows exactly what to do with it.
Slade's favorite place to hide is a used paper towel roll. When his attempts to fit his entire body inside a thin tube started to become too comical, I had to start cutting them in half. He still doesn't tolerate being handled as well as I would like, but I find that if I support his entire body he calms down quite a bit. He's going to have to start getting used to it anyway, because I think he needs some exercise. Slade is still a sub adult, so I hope as he grows longer his body mass will even out, but at the moment he looks like he has some childbearing hips going on, and he can't lay no eggs. He better shape up, cause my last and final snake is putting herself in the running for favorite...
Name: HarveyNamesake: Harvey Dent aka Two Face, the Batman villain
Type of Snake: Banana California Kingsnake
Fancy Pants Name: Lampropeltis getula californiae
Approximate Age: 18 months
Approximate length: 3 ft
Fun Fact: Harvey is the same species as my first pet Henrietta, but has a different pattern and color morph. Like Henry, Harvey has a name incongruent with her gender, except this time I did it on purpose.
Oftentimes you choose the name of a pet and hope the pet will eventually grow into its name. When I bought a kingsnake this time, I had the fortune of actually knowing it was a female before I bought it. Unfortunately, that put me in the difficult position of having to think of a good name for a girl snake. For some reason, I've always had an easier time thinking of boys names that I like. I probably have this problem because, I usually draw my names from comic books, which, surprise surprise, have "occasionally" been described as male centric. Sure there are girl superheroes, but often times their names are just borrowed from their male counterpart. Ex: She Hulk, Batgirl, Spiderwoman etc. And if they do have the fortune of having their own individual name, it is usually pretty lame. Um, Star Saphire, Starfire, Dazzler... What's with all the star inspired names? Anyway, this is not the place for a blistering, intelligent and complex critique of the comic book industry that I'm sure I could deliver effortlessly...
After making some lists I finally settled on Jezebel, but with the knowledge that I could be swayed to change her name if a better one came along. Well, sometimes a pet chooses its own name. A few weeks after purchasing my new girl I discovered an interesting and disconcerting habit of hers. Occasionally, she will go from being completely still to racing around her cage, flailing her body and contorting it in weird angels and directions. To this day, I don't know for sure why she does this, but it has gotten less frequent. She also eats and grows normally, so it does not seem to affect her quality of life. Maybe she's just going through growing pains? Maybe she has a slight neurological defect? Whatever it is, it inspired me. She seemed to demonstrate a split personality. Most the time she is sweet as can be. But every so often, her spasms seems downright demonic. So I thought to myself, who do I like from comic books who suffers from a split personality? One of my favorite villains, of course, Two Face, who was once a crusader for justice, Harvey Dent. I had a brief internal debate about whether it was fair to name another female snake a man's name, and starting with an H no less. Then I quickly got over it, because snakes display gender just about as much as a chair does (Take that French people!). So she's Harvey. Or, as Perri calls her, JezeHarvey.
But really, most of the time she is an absolute sweet heart. Once I get her out of her cage she is very tolerant of handling. She does seem to be quite cage shy. If I don't pick her up quickly she will try to run away, but once she gets a quick sniff of me she immediately relaxes in my hands. This is not to say she stays still. Once handling has begun she will usually choose one direction or location she wants to go. No matter where I move her, she will go back to that spot. I'll choose to attribute this habit to an inquisitive spirit on her part, and not an intense desire to get away from me.
Final note:
A snake won't purr in your lap, or wag its tail when you come home. But when the snake that previously fled at the sight of you relaxes calmly in your hands for the first time, tolerance can feel a lot like love.
