pics of drake!

just a couple pics of my new guy slithering his way around my coffee table. i looooooove his little face. in the second photo it looks like he has huge eyelashes the way his black eye stripe is :) ahhhh i love this guy!!!

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...rake-may06.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...drakemay06.jpg

He looks good. We need some closer pics!

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...ake--may06.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...ke---may06.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...rake_may06.jpg

how's that? :D

Much better!!

jamie, you forgot to gush over how gorgeous he is! :P

He definitely is gorgeous. I could be wrong and I certainly don't want to be a party pooper but he doesn't look like a pure hog to me. Was he sold as pure? Again, I could absolutely be wrong!

yes he was... but then again, the breeder chose not to mention to me that he knew there were mites in his setup!!! he has hundreds of snakes... i just can't even wrap my head around why you would want your breeders etc to be battling mites all the time???

i won't be purchasing anything from him again.
which is too bad cause he's so close :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

yes he was... but then again, the breeder chose not to mention to me that he knew there were mites in his setup!!! he has hundreds of snakes... i just can't even wrap my head around why you would want your breeders etc to be battling mites all the time???

i won't be purchasing anything from him again.
which is too bad cause he's so close :(

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Its the sad truth that there are a lot of less than reputable people out there. I can't even imagine how he managed to get mite infestation in his whole collection. Breeders all have a quarantine room that new acquisitions go in. You can tell right off if there are mites and treat immediately. Regardless, he is a beautiful snake and I am sure once you get past the mite situation (no more of the mineral oil though, as it could very well have caused the loss of some scales) I am sure all will be fine. Most important is that you love him and think he is beautiful!

so please explain so i can learn... what makes you feel he's not a true hog?

regardless i love him very much and will for his lifetime and beyond... :)

Ok, from my point of view, the dark saddles are the tip off. Pure hogs don't have saddles that dark or defined. Look at the picture of mine again:

http://www.glassreptiles.com/picture.../rob042606.jpg

He appears to be a cross of some sort..Again, he is beautiful and this shouldn't make a huge difference but if he sold him to you as a pure hog, I don't believe he was telling the truth. Some closer pics would be better though.

i'll take some more pics tomorrow... and without the mineral oil making him all glossy...

either way... i love him. i did specifically ask henry though if he was a true hog as i didn't want a cross... :(

And keep in mind, I absolutely could be wrong. Maybe some others will weigh in (Kara??).

actually here's some photos from the day we bought him...

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/drake1.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/drake2.jpg

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/drake3.jpg

don't worry jamie... i appreciate you sharing your thoughts... regardless of the outcome!!!

I gotta say, after seeing the close ups, I am less sure.

I don't know... my first thought, looking at those saddles, was that he was a cross. His tail seemed a little too defined for a pure hog, as well. But it's hard to tell. It's possible thre's Columbian blood somewhere way back in the line making those saddles a little more defined.

In any case, he's a beautiful little boy! I really like that stripe behind his eyes... and his coloring is gorgeous. Nice find!

He's beautiful! I'm sorry he has mites but you'll get them dead ASAP when you get the PAM...great stuff. Do be careful with it as it is some serious pesticide...

ya i'll be spraying it outside so my tarantulas and crickets don't die!

He's a cutie pie.. I have to agree though, he's awfully dark to be a pure hog. He has more of a chestunut brown than the orange typical of a hog island boa. I've seen a few that look like yours being sold as pure hogs, but I don't trust it completely.

You can look at mine for reference too..

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../divafeb06.JPG

he is very chocolate in colour... what do you think he's crossed with?

Probably a colombian BCI.

He could be a hog.. I don't have a lot of experience with young ones, though most of the pictures of pure baby hogs you see are obviously pure.. pearly white heads and rich orange tails.

you mean a red tailed? like the big long red tails??? :eek:

colombian red tail.. the most common, generic red tail. Males can occasionally get to 8', but crossed with a hog probably not.

Still, yours could just be a dark pure hog. He's got the head of a hoggie.. very light color, it's just his tail. But, there are a lot of dark tailed hog islands out there. I just don't care for them so I tend to forget seeing them..

hahahaha forget seeing them? i wonder where i can get some pictures... off to search the net.

Heh.. sorry but I'm extremely particular about hog island boas. I like very few of them. In fact, I disliked them until I saw Diva (my female hoggie)

here's a nice ugly one.. I would not think 'hog island' if I saw him. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_c...&cat=11&page=1

'nother dark one. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_c...&cat=11&page=1

average babies http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_c...&cat=11&page=1

a couple decent looking babies http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_c...&cat=11&page=2

thanks april... i posted drake's pics on a boa forum and no one has responded yet. hopefully i'll be able to find out if he's pure or crossed.

so i have a story to share... i thought i'd take drake out and see what colour he is (since they change colours depending on the time of day) and i wondered if he would be more orange at night... so i opened his enclosure and took him out. held him for a while and then he started to explore the couch. i took a few pics... and i went to pick him up. he hissed at me!!! scared the sh** out of me and then i was too scared to pick him up and get him back into his enclosure. so... i ended up pushing him off the couch into his enclosure... what a chicken i am. my son... who's 12 was a bigger chicken than me though... he was NO help at all... except to suggest i put on gloves which... if drake wanted to bite me he wouldn't be biting my hands which would be behind him... instead he'd be going for my eyes :eek:

well,... here's the pic... and yes... i've lived to tell the story *faints*

(please note he was guarding the phone so i could not call for help!!!)

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images...raketheman.jpg

Lol... yay Hoggy attitude! They always think they're so tough :)

so will they strike or just pretend to?

and how do you all handle them when they do this? tips and suggestions for the next time is appreciated!

I don't have a hoggie, but when I was just starting to handle P Snake I'd make sure to hold him behind his head so he couldn't reach around and snag me.


I've been tagged a couple of times by Felix and once by Wrigley. My new boa Hera got my finger really hard, but she was new to our house. I was handling her just yesterday w/o any problems after scratching on her hide, removing it and then stroking her back, but I made it a point to grab her behind her head.

You might want to consider light (but LEATHER) gloves for a little while to avoid getting tagged. If Hera actually gets nippy, then I'll use them, because when she nailed me, my finger was swollen for about an hour and bruised for about a day. (The punctures are almost gone, and it's been a little over a week).

I'm sure Jamie, 4th, and Shelby (who DO have the hoggies) would be good ppls, but w/Hera being 6.5#, she's a lot different than Oreo or even Wrigley who's still a baby. lol

Good luck! Just don't let him intimidate you. ;)

R.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sweety314

but w/Hera being 6.5#, she's a lot different than Oreo or even Wrigley who's still a baby. lol
R.

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I know I'm supposed to understand that... but it's late and I don't. :(

off to bed...
Aleesha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

I know I'm supposed to understand that... but it's late and I don't. :(

off to bed...
Aleesha

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Sorry about the confusion! I'm just saying that Hera (my new boa) is 6.5 pounds < a pretty good sized girl > and she's the one that tagged my finger---comparing her to when Wrigley or Felix bit me, who are both pretty small still. Oreo is just there as a size reference. Being my worm, Oreo hasn't gotten any sort of mean bone in her squiggley body. lol

R.

He's a guy-snake, right? And if you'll notice in the picture, he's not actually guarding the phone...he's guarding the remote!! There ya go....that's why he hissed at you. Keep him away from the remote in the future and you should be golden. :P ;)

My hoggie hisses all the time but doesn't bite. They just like to talk mostly.. he most likely will not bite you, but if if makes you feel better, just wear gloves until you guys trust each other more. But like it was said.. don't let him intimidate you, if you're going to pick him up, just go ahead and do it.. don't hesitate.

In his lighter color phase he looks more like a hog island.

so when he hissed... if i just picked him up regardless... chances are he would not have bit me?

wow, i am a chicken (feeling myself about to lay an egg) LOL

the whole time he's looking at me with those puppy dog eyes and he's just soooo gorgeous and i'm thinking... "but drake, i love you... how could you hiss at me?" (in my best soap opera voice)

i'm going to contact the breeder and ask him about drake.

He prob wouldn't have done anything. Mine was very hissy at first too..

so you would just hold him regardless or leave him alone when he hissed at you?

i'm totally into respecting his wants and don't wants... but at the same time i don't want to feed negative behaviour.

I have a feel for whether why snakes want to be bothered or not. You will have to get that feel for your snakes. I probably would have picked him up anyway as long as he hadn't eaten within 24 hours and wasn't in shed. It'll take time for him to get used to you. Also, when Hoggies are out, they want to be the boss. He probably wanted to stay out and explore. Hogs are not timid like Ball Pythons.

i think that's what i was. he was looking at me like... i finally got off of you and now i'm on the couch and don't you DARE pick me up and lock me away again! LOL

Could be. He'll get used to you quickly.

Baby boas are very vocal critters.. my baby suri hisses open mouthed, but never bites. I can just pick her up no problem. Drake is just trying to impress you. ;)

well he sure did... and the poor guy got dumped into his enclosure because of it :( i feel so sorry for him but i just didn't know what to do. i'm such a chicken :(

i won't be next time though.. now that i know it's all show ;)

Baby boas are such show offs.

And let's put it this way.. even if he DID bite you.. what's a little baby boa going to do to you anyway? He won't sever a finger, I promise. ;)

okay... i've watched too many nature shows and scarey movies LOL

lol.. well snake bites are highly overrated. A lot of baby snakes won't even bite when they strike.. they do a closed-mouth bluff.

But, he's got tiny, sharp teeth that would just make itty bitty pricks that don't even hurt as much as a paper cut.

you do realize he's about 3-4 feet long don't you?

okay so someone thinks this:

Quote:

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Your boa MAY be bred by a Hog X Sonoran
Go to the bottom of the page and click on Orange phase Sonaran
http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/boas_mexico.htm

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Well from the pictures of you holding him in your hand he looks 2-2.5'. Still, he's a little guy. :)

i'm hoping he doesn't get too much bigger! :eek: