Powerlifting, Orchid-Growing, Now Snake-Keeping Newbie Here!

Hi everyone! My name's Janis. I just recently got my first BP from Stephanie of Slitherin' Sisters (you rock, Stephanie!!) and while I'm trying to handle her as little as possible right now, I did want to do some housecleaning in her enclosure so I thought I'd post my first image of her on this site from her "holding tub." The cool thing about this image is how clearly you can see what I assume are her eye caps in the beginning of her shed. So far, it looks to be all in one piece and I'm working hard to keep the humidity in a solid range to continue this.

http://i.imgur.com/Ojs6AdZ.jpg

I will have to post pictures of her once she's fully shed and had another meal. Her name is "Lara" and she's incredibly sweet and gentle. Here's a picture of her enclosure:

http://i.imgur.com/WBkCL8T.jpg

I plan on switching her over to a tub when she outgrows this setup, but to be honest, I'm actually really liking it. I'm thus far able to control the temperatures very well (and I'm having a little too much fun with the laser temp gun) and simply change out towels for humidity daily to keep the humidity up for her shedding period. I will probably go down to one towel for non-shed periods, but even that helps retain and promote humidity greatly.

So a little about me: I'm 27, I just completed my MFA (Master of Fine Arts, I basically have everyone I relate my degree to ask me what MFA stands for) in painting and drawing, and I'm currently studying to get a personal trainer certification. My great love is powerlifting, and I compete in the 114 weight class. I have competed at 105 and am tied for a #6 ranking nationally in that weight class. I hope to get in the top ten at 114 sometime before the end of this year. Here's a not-great picture of me doing some deadlift work this past week:

http://i.imgur.com/aH0ppp1.png

Sometimes I look like a crazed, jacked lifter chick, but most of the time I look more like this:

http://i.imgur.com/a3tITsP.png

I grow orchids on a casual level as well as a few carnivorous plants. I haven't been doing as much art in recent months as I used to, but I hope to get back to it more regularly sometime soon.

I've been lurking here and posting a little for the last month or two. Looking forward to seeing more eye candy and learning a lot.

Welcome to the forums and thanks for contributing to another member as well.

There are a few little tweaks I would do to your enclosure but I'm about to run some errands so I if nobody else touches them up while I'm gone then I'll do it when I get back. Gorgeous snake btw.

Welcome!! Nice goin with the powerlifting :)
I was looking at getting into carnivorous plants, I saw some at a reptile a couple months ago and thought they were awesome in person :)
nice snake too, congrats!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

Welcome!! Beautiful snake :D

Welcome to the hobby!!

Welcome aboard! Awesome natoianl ranking and nice snake!

Welcome! Congrats on the new family member!

And as a guy who is a fan of everything fitness, and an ex power lifter myself (before all the injuries and surgeries) I am glad to see people come on the site with a variety of backgrounds and interests. It's what makes this place interesting!!

Welcome again!

:colbert2:

:welcome:


Welcome to the forum; whose babies have you been eating??

Hope to see ya round here learning a lot.


Pretty snake....and I like the weightlifting pic...nice contrast with the "pretty girl" image lol

Yay! You introduced yourself ;)

That picture of her mid shed is pretty cool with the eye caps! I'm excited for you to see her post shed! I love the lifting pic, that's awesome :)

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Originally Posted by Neal

Welcome to the forums and thanks for contributing to another member as well.

There are a few little tweaks I would do to your enclosure but I'm about to run some errands so I if nobody else touches them up while I'm gone then I'll do it when I get back. Gorgeous snake btw.

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Oh, I'd love to hear your feedback on it! I imagine it may relate to the heat lamp..ultimately, I do want to get a ceramic one, but I was just very nervous about using a ceramic bulb in this lamp (it's a pretty standard fluker's one). I have a dimmer on it! I will upgrade, and if you have some guidance on that, that would be amazing.

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Welcome!! Nice goin with the powerlifting :)
I was looking at getting into carnivorous plants, I saw some at a reptile a couple months ago and thought they were awesome in person :)
nice snake too, congrats!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

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They're honestly really easy to take care of. You just have to remember that the substrate is a rather particular bark-ish mix (you 100% cannot use potting soil with these guys, they will die), that you shouldn't fertilize their soil (they also will die), and that you must water them with nothing other than distilled water--or at least nothing at a purity level below distilled. Usually they come planted in the correct substrate, and they don't NEED flies often to survive (at least the kind I have doesn't). Just hang them in a bright window and they'll really be fun to watch grow. Watching the pitchers develop is so cool. Interestingly, orchids require a similar care breakdown--except they do take fertilizer.

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Originally Posted by LooptyLoo

Welcome!! Beautiful snake :D

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Originally Posted by rexrem

Welcome to the hobby!!

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Thanks, I feel like this forum is really nice and positive/inclusive--you guys are great.

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Originally Posted by cory9oh4

Welcome aboard! Awesome natoianl ranking and nice snake!

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Thanks--I work HARD at my training and I'm probably more ambitious with it than anything related to my career. Heh.

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Originally Posted by decensored

Welcome! Congrats on the new family member!

And as a guy who is a fan of everything fitness, and an ex power lifter myself (before all the injuries and surgeries) I am glad to see people come on the site with a variety of backgrounds and interests. It's what makes this place interesting!!

Welcome again!

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Oh man, that's fantastic!! What weight class(s) and what feds did you compete with? Sorry to hear about the injuries; it's a pretty significant side effect of the sport. I have several ribs that don't like to stay in place because of my lifting activities.

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Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

:colbert2:

:welcome:


Welcome to the forum; whose babies have you been eating??

Hope to see ya round here learning a lot.


Pretty snake....and I like the weightlifting pic...nice contrast with the "pretty girl" image lol

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Haha, the "babyeater" name is actually my powerlifting nickname. I bulked up to 135 a while ago (before I started competing; I wanted to do a bulk to but on some lean mass and then leaned back down after it) and I was always eating so I joked around about eating everything, including babies. It just sort of evolved, lol.

If I wear relatively covering, non-gym clothing, you would not be able to tell I squat and deadlift more than some men by looking at me. Strength isn't always about size, and people don't equate a 114 lb-ish girl with strength. So I get to play both roles, it's kind of cool.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Yay! You introduced yourself ;)

That picture of her mid shed is pretty cool with the eye caps! I'm excited for you to see her post shed! I love the lifting pic, that's awesome :)

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Yeah! I really wanted to and I guess I technically have a few pictures of her now so I thought I'd go for it. I am SO happy her eye caps came off with the shed--I was getting a little nervous about that. Hopefully her shed will continue to go well and I'm going to start pushing the feeding relatively soon--still want to make sure she's settled in. She just switches back and forth between hides and seems content, so I think that's a really good sign.

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Originally Posted by babyeater

Oh man, that's fantastic!! What weight class(s) and what feds did you compete with? Sorry to hear about the injuries; it's a pretty significant side effect of the sport. I have several ribs that don't like to stay in place because of my lifting activities.
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Hadn't made my way to competition before I herniated the L5 disc in my spine and developed a substantial tear in my abdominal wall. Tore my rotator cuff during a lacrosse tournament and the heavy lifts never came back to what they were before - so I never got the privilege of actually competing officially. It was my plan... Was a very difficult thing for me to come to terms with, went from being 270lbs at 16% BF (at 18 years old), leg press was 1070 lbs x 3 reps, my deadlift was 440lbs.. but I lost 60lbs LBM (and all my strength) dealing with the injuries. I'm trying to get back into it, just coming out of recovery for another hernia repair.. The injuries came on one after the other in year increments and I spent the better part of three years in and out of the gym (more time out) :(

Thinking I may lean more towards bodybuilding this time and leave the powerlifting to the able bodied LOL

Still love everything power-lifting and bodybuilding related and love to see other people excelling! How about yourself?

Welcome! Powerlifter and ex bodybuilder here, Southern Powerlifting Federation! Competed NPC-Texas for many years too!