Collection Update

I'm definitely not their mother, I prefer a more gender-neutral term like caretaker or parent (snarent if you're not against baby talk lmao).

Everyone is doing well, except Cloud. :( He continues to look very dark and still has the weird bone popping issue...every time I pick him up, I feel a popping like when you pop your knuckles, all down his body. Usually he's a pale, yellowish color, but his whole body is a dark brown now. He's getting paler, though, so maybe with some more time with more food, he'll come around. I've taken him to the vet a few times, but they have no clue what could be causing it. X-rays come up normal, he has good sized feces after he eats, his organs and skeleton *look* normal, but the vet hasn't really heard of this happening before. Our best guess is maybe his power feeding when he was younger is causing problems, or he isn't getting enough exercise. Which would be weird, because he's 6.5' in a 6'x2'x3' enclosure with climbing, so surely he's exercising enough? I don't take him out as often, but none of my other snakes show issues. All fecals I've done so far have come up negative, too. For now, I guess it's just a waiting game.

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I'm definitely not their mother, I prefer a more gender-neutral term like caretaker or parent (snarent if you're not against baby talk lmao).

Everyone is doing well, except Cloud. :( He continues to look very dark and still has the weird bone popping issue...every time I pick him up, I feel a popping like when you pop your knuckles, all down his body. Usually he's a pale, yellowish color, but his whole body is a dark brown now. He's getting paler, though, so maybe with some more time with more food, he'll come around. I've taken him to the vet a few times, but they have no clue what could be causing it. X-rays come up normal, he has good sized feces after he eats, his organs and skeleton *look* normal, but the vet hasn't really heard of this happening before. Our best guess is maybe his power feeding when he was younger is causing problems, or he isn't getting enough exercise. Which would be weird, because he's 6.5' in a 6'x2'x3' enclosure with climbing, so surely he's exercising enough? I don't take him out as often, but none of my other snakes show issues. All fecals I've done so far have come up negative, too. For now, I guess it's just a waiting game.

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Hang in there! My thoughts are with you and Cloud and hoping everything works out. Waiting and not knowing exactly what is wrong is the worst though. I sympathize.

Best of luck!

So I haven't been on here in a long time. :O Not much has happened here. Everyone continues to be healthy and growing, and everyone, including Cloud, seem to be improving more the longer they're out of that trailer. Cloud still has some bone popping issues, but is lightening up and gaining weight. He's getting a bit sluggish and his old wounds from a cat attack during his baby years are getting more obvious. I'm going to see if any of the vets I've been to will be able to take a look at him and see what's going on, it almost seems like arthritis.

I'll probably update everyone's threads with current information here in a bit, but I figured I'd put the important stuff here all together.

Howl dropped his first sperm plug last week, so maybe he'll be ready to breed when I decide to pair them! I want to try to PCR test everyone, but if I can at least do Dominika and Howl, I can start pairing them if they both come back negative on the panel.

Bud and Draco are still out of state, but we've tentatively scheduled to have them shipped back in the spring. I've been told both are doing well, and Draco continues to mellow out with age. :)

River pushed her face about a month back, only the second time in the ~3 years I've had her. One of her teeth got irritated and stuck out somehow, and when she pushed she actually managed to get the lip covering that tooth pierced onto the tooth and pushed up to the root. I was not able to do it myself, so I took her in to the vet's to have them put her under and free it for me. I was super worried about having her under anesthesia, but she did good and healed up no problem. She did drool a bit on the round of anti-inflammation meds she was given, but about a week or two after the meds were over, she went right back to normal. She's gained quite a few pounds, and I believe put on some length. She was quite the sweetheart at the vet's, and even with her painful tooth, she let us poke and prod without even a hiss. She was a bit moody for a few weeks once she got home, but she's back to normal again after healing up and getting a few meals in her.

Both of my big 6'x2'x3's are out for the count, so Cloud and River will have to be downgraded, but at least that way I can get them out of my mom's house and back with me. Cloud will get a 4'x2'x1', and River a 6'x2'x2'. I want to build some more cages again once I'm in larger accommodations. We're having a hard time finding somewhere affordable locally, so we may have to hang out here until we're ready to move out of state. I was hoping to at least find somewhere with more room in the meantime, but what can you do?

Cloud and River have been in their new enclosures for awhile. Cloud seems pretty cramped, but hopefully I'll be able to upgrade him again soon. First things first is to find a bigger place. I could have big cages in the living room, but it wouldn't stay warm enough in the winter, so I'd rather find another place with a large room.

Cloud has actually grown some! Last month, I weighed him at 10 lb 3.5 oz vs his previous weight of 8 lb 8.8 oz back in March 2017. He also measured in at 6'7" vs 6'5" back in April 2016.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/NI3pZM6.jpg

I also weighed Dominika for the first time I got her in Dec 2016. The breeder said she was 13.5 lbs, and she weighed in at 14 lb 4.5 oz last month.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/MmW54DG.jpg

Nymeria is somewhere between 4.5' and 5', and weighed in at 1,080 grams. She's been moved up to medium rats and 3 week quail every 2-3 weeks. She's become super faded out, which I've heard could be due to her poss het anery gene, but I'm not sure how reliable those signs are.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/FQVwvdA.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/anRqWZI.jpg

Crona last weighed in at 600 grams last month, and is just over 3.5'.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/zrIbzyU.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/5OxsRuF.jpg

Tirel needs a new weight once she's out of shed, but last weighed in at 1,168 grams last Dec, and is estimated to be 5'.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/3QSmUvK.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/ueQwJ87.jpg

Not much has changed with Howl, and I don't have any updated pictures yet (he's in shed so hopefully it's warm when he's fresh and digested the meal I'll give him once he's shed). Demigod is also doing about the same, he'll be 6!! years old this year, so he may not be around for more than a few more years. :tears:

River is estimated somewhere 10'-12' but I don't really have a way to measure her. Her last weight was 21 lbs last month.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/GGjoeAi.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/CAY2nuS.jpg

I'm currently in the middle of coordinating the shipment of Bud and Draco back home, so hopefully by end of April or May they'll be back. :)

Glad to see u stick in there when things got tough! Glad everything is looking up!

Oh yeah and don’t think I don’t see the slipknot shirt in ur avatar pic

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Originally Posted by Danger noodles

Oh yeah and don’t think I don’t see the slipknot shirt in ur avatar pic

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Thanks! It's been pretty hard, between losing 4 snakes in the span of ~3 years, and the chaotic moving situation, but I'm glad things have stabilized. I've been working on slowly curing myself of my anxiety around my animals. I've been spending the better part of the past year fearing that every time I walk in I'll find someone else dead or ill, but as time goes on and nothing happens, I feel much better. Plus, I wonder how much of a coincidence it is that all the snakes that passed away came from the same breeder...

lol Yeah that pic is super old, it's almost 10 years old! I still like Slipknot, though. :P Just don't listen to them as much anymore, I like Ministry, Rammstein, etc. a lot more nowadays.

Slipknot and ax7 got me through a lot when I was down. Funny how people think it’s the devils music. Lol they put rammstien and marlin Manson through the ringer with columbine.

Collection is looking really good cloud and it's nice to see you back around on the forum and that your getting yourself well and back and your feet,
good luck and hope to see more pics of the crew when they out if shed

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Danger noodles

Slipknot and ax7 got me through a lot when I was down. Funny how people think it’s the devils music. Lol they put rammstien and marlin Manson through the ringer with columbine.

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Yeah, but they use that argument for any band that makes them slightly uncomfortable, and have since the beginning. lol

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Collection is looking really good cloud and it's nice to see you back around on the forum and that your getting yourself well and back and your feet,
good luck and hope to see more pics of the crew when they out if shed

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

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Thanks! I'm pretty spotty overall with my activity, I've tried a number of times to become active again, but ultimately my hermit nature overcomes my desire to engage. lol

Definitely expect more pictures! I hope to grab more backyard pictures before the mosquitoes start overtaking it. They swarmed so much last year they made mini black clouds...and mosquitoes looove me.