13 is a VERY lucky number!

Today, in our house, 13 is a really lucky number and I just wanted to share our happiness with our forum friends!

Some of you may remember Danu. She was a gravid wild caught import that laid her eggs for another person but reportedly never would eat for them. She went on to another owner who also had problems with getting this lovely lady to eat. She came to us back in June 07 at only 866 grams.

This is Danu from June 07.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...07866grams.jpg

This picture actually does really tell the story of just how skinny she felt in my hands. :(

Anyways, we left her to settle in quietly in quarantine in our master bedroom. We did what we'd done with Saoirse, our previous w/c adult female BP. After a time we tried Danu on various sizes of rats but no go. She'd defensively strike at them but never would follow through with the kill. We got pretty concerned as she was continuing to lose weight and down into the 700 gram range. We considered assist or force feeding but hated to further stress this poor girl.

Mike suggested we try ASF's so we got a trio of adults and being ASF's they promptly starting popping out babies. Well there you go.....the trigger for Danu! She adores ASF's, can't get enough of them quite honestly. Hits them before their little feet can barely get planted in her enclosure. :)

Yesterday we weighed all the snakes. Danu is 1,313 grams! I love the number 13!!!! :banana:

She's still got a ways to go and is still on the thin side. By her length and body build she likely should weigh an easy 2,000 grams but we're definitely on the road to good things with her. She's also allowing handling now and although one of the more head shy of our adults, she's not nearly as scared and defensive as back in the summer. She's even perked up enough to take a try at biting me last feeding day....whooohooooo go Danu!

I got so excited about her doing so well I completely forgot to take new pictures. She ate today (3 chubby ASF's!) so I'll make sure and get some pictures to add to this thread in a couple of days. Every minute we worried over this snake was so worth it to see those numbers flash on the digital scale!

Btw, to our dear friend Robin (rabernet) - thank you for being there for us through those first early worrisome days with Danu. I remember you looking up all the information you could from the Barker book to help us further understand the shock syndrome these adults can go through.

You were the first person I thought to call when Saoirse broke 1,000 grams and then when Danu passed that same milestone. Having a supportive friend like you Robin, just to talk to and brainstorm things with, to share the worries and the triumphs with - well it's one of the best benefits of BPNet. :hug:

Just for the record... I love the number 13.

Go Danu. I'm so glad she found her way to you Jo. Although shame on your for not taking another pic! FOR SHAME!!! :P

awesome man good luck with her!

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Just for the record... I love the number 13.

Go Danu. I'm so glad she found her way to you Jo. Although shame on your for not taking another pic! FOR SHAME!!! :P

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I know...I totally suck for not doing that! Can I also blame the fact that my camera batteries are iffy at best and need replaced? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

awesome man good luck with her!

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Thanks Justin! (hope that was a generic "man" or my husband's in for a shock :P)

Great news! I'm glad she's putting on weight for you!

Joanna and Mike,

It's always wonderful to hear the success stories, and I had no doubt that if anyone could rehabilitate this girl, it would be the two of you. You guys deserve all the credit! I know how many sleepless nights you had over her, and I can't wait to see pictures of her today! :hug:

That's awesome, congrats!

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Originally Posted by Holbeird

Great news! I'm glad she's putting on weight for you!

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Thanks so much. It's happy dance day when one of these kinds of snakes starts eating every week. :banana:

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Originally Posted by tmartin2347

That's awesome, congrats!

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Thanks!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Joanna and Mike,

It's always wonderful to hear the success stories, and I had no doubt that if anyone could rehabilitate this girl, it would be the two of you. You guys deserve all the credit! I know how many sleepless nights you had over her, and I can't wait to see pictures of her today! :hug:

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Once she's digested her meal, and Mike grabs me some new camera batteries, I'm all over that! All the credit in the end goes to Danu (and Saoirse). They decided to eat and thrive - we only provided the means to see that through. They've both taught us so much that I hope we can apply to the next one that comes our way. :)

Good for you!!!

(Patiently awaits pictures)

Yeah Danu and yeah ASF's! :snake: :gj:

thats a great story... good to hear.

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

Just for the record... I love the number 13.

Go Danu. I'm so glad she found her way to you Jo. Although shame on your for not taking another pic! FOR SHAME!!! :P

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Just Ditto what Christi said! lol Congrats on the success!!! :D

13 has always been my fav number its my birthday :)

I want pictures! :D Thats awesome I am always glad to hear that a problem feeder has started eating again and she is really packing on some weight:O.

What's ASF stand for?

yes it's offically spring now sorc is eating it's great to see them both eating. amazing how the take asf's

What is an ASF?!

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

What's ASF stand for?

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African soft furred rats...they are a small native rat species to west Africa and ball pythons seem to really like them. =)

Awesome...:gj:

Thanks for all your great replies folks! I love sharing this kind of happy stuff here. For our family, since we don't have many "snake" friends that live close to us offline, it's a real joy to have all of you online that understand how much this snake doing well really means. Some of our friends I think would probably roll their eyes at this news and think "gawd there go Mike and Joanna talking about crazy snake stuff again" LOL

I'll get some pictures of Danu tomorrow I promise. :)

Oh and here's what ASF's (african soft furred rats) look like. They are sort of in between regular rats and mice in size. I think an adult ASF is about 2 times or more heavier than an adult mouse. I read somewhere that some folks think they may be the evolutionary link between mice and the "true" rats. They are, however as far as I know, classed as a rat, not a mouse.

Here's one of our breeding trio's........
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...FTrioAug07.jpg

For an idea on size, here's Big Momma one of our breeder adult ASF's. She's carrying a litter in this photo but not yet really huge with it yet. Sorry the pictures so blurry, they are REALLY fast rats and I think she wanted to eat my darn dollar bill!....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ereference.jpg

Well as promised I snapped a couple of pictures of Danu early this morning. Let me tell you she was rather unimpressed with the whole business, likely having just gone to sleep when I hauled her out of her hide for a quick photo shoot. My odd sense of humor often wonders if in these circumstances the snake is thinking..."stupid big heat emitter, doesn't know it's time for bed! course what do you expect from something so stupid it doesn't even eat rats! hisssssssssssssssssssssss" :D

Anyways, here's Danu - growing, gaining weight and starting to look like a proper adult female.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...DanuMar081.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...DanuMar082.jpg

Definitely an improvment, and what a hottie to boot!

Thanks Christie! We do like her looks and she's definitely starting to look in better shape. Still a bit more triangular than I like to see a mature female look like but the way she's snarfing down ASF's every week should take care of that issue in good time. :)

Awesome job -
BT

Yay, go Danu! :gj: