I thought I'd post an update/introduction on two very special girls in my collection.
First off, we have Boo. I was given her in September at an expo by someone who thought I'd like her.
Here she is when I first got her: http://i.imgur.com/2UW57Qt.jpg
She was a whopping 20 grams and had already eaten 3 meals. She hatched out of a 12 gram egg.
Feeding her has been a challenge. She was so, so, so afraid of her little pinkies. I tried live and f/t, and after a few weeks of refusals, I decided to assist feed her. I continued to do so every other week for 2 months, with trying to tempt her to eat on her own on the alternate weeks. She was still just terrified of her prey. And then FINALLY, in December, she took down a live pinky mouse all by herself. I wanted to cry I was so happy!
Now she is a chubby 50 grams, and probably the sweetest thing in the entire world :)
http://i.imgur.com/mSCIktl.jpg
Next up is Maisy the vanilla cream. She was given to me by a friend who had given up all hope of her surviving. He hatched her out months earlier, and she had only kept one meal down. She was very intent on starving herself to death. She was about ~38 grams and so emaciated and weak, we didn't really think she'd survive the drive back to my place. She was also practically translucent, with almost no pigment left in her skin. I took her just as a "final attempt" but was fairly confident she wouldn't make it. She was too weak to move or drink, and her skin was literally sagging off her bones. But then, by some stroke of luck, she actually kept down the pinky I assist fed her once we got home. I put her in a high humidity tub in the hopes of replenishing some water, and assist fed her until the same day in December that Boo decided to eat herself too. Up until 5 or so feedings, she felt limp when I held her and looked ready to die at any second. But then she found a little spunk, and while she was still too weak to eat on her own, she atleast looked a little lively when swallowing her food.
Now she is a 68 gram sausage :D She is still very pale, but I'm hoping she'll regain her colours with time.
http://i.imgur.com/af9DNKm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Iv2TSXV.jpg
And here she is with her sister VC (who's in shed) for an interesting size and colour comparison
http://i.imgur.com/l6CfgPP.jpg
Maisy is also the softest snake I've ever felt! She feels like satin :)
I've learned a lot with these two girls, and most of it was trial and error. I'm pretty proud of myself for somehow figuring out a way to help both thrive at the same time with zero previous experience with such small animals. And lucky for me, now I have two wonderful additions to my team.
Anyways, thanks for reading :)
