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  1. #11
    BPnet Senior Member richardhind1972's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Looks like the exchange girls had loads of fun with your reptile family
    Keep up the good work


    Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

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  3. #12
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Please check out the link below to a thread which shows my niece and nephew with Katie and the reptiles.

    I'll try not to be redundant here, but Katie is doing incredibly well with the reptiles and I am so happy and proud.

    She adores Solana (the new Scaleless Sunglow Motley Corn Snake Baby - 9G) and that has sparked her passion a little with all the reptiles.

    Today she spent an hour with me and Meghan and Christopher (niece and nephew) and the reptiles. However, instead of observing, she was the one handling the reptiles and showing them to the kids. She worked with them holding and touching the crew, etc. All I did was take pictures and observe.

    It was wonderful to see her happy and confident with them and being both reptile handler and "teacher" to the kids. Katie has come a long way. Very relieved and very happy and very proud.


    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...61#post2629861

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  5. #13
    Registered User SunshineWalker's Avatar
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    I'mmmmmm Hereeeee

    This is my "So this is my life now" face

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  7. #14
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Katie and my buddy, Scott, who volunteers with us at Monday Night Social Club with the Special Needs/Mentally Challenged Crew, came over for lunch today and to hang for a little bit.

    He's very unlucky and very lucky at the same time.

    He has colon cancer, and is fighting it off, and going to be fine. He has his last dose of chemo this coming Tuesday, and then two weeks of chemo pills. I say unlucky, because he's close to my age, a relatively young guy, and he had to deal with this. However, lucky, because he went to the hospital because of weird pains, which I think turned out to be gas pains, not something serious, but in the process, they found a huge tumor in his colon! If he hadn't had a bad taco that day, they never would have found it and he wouldn't be with us today. Weird how life works sometimes. G-D works in mysterious ways.

    Worked that way for me too. When I got degenerative kidney disease at 23, I was taking a medicine that got broken down in the kidney and developed toxicity from the medicine. That had very unique symptoms. The doctor who was prescribing it recognized them and sent me to the hospital for an IV flush/fluids to get the medicine out of my system so it didn't cause damage. When I got the to the hospital, I was severely dehydrated and they couldn't get a vein in 15 tries. They brought the "expert" in on the 16th and finally got one. They drew blood and ran labs and found a) I was in deep kidney trouble, and b) my potassium was 7.8 and at 8.0 your heart stops. Your kidneys regulate potassium, but since mine were shutting down, they weren't doing a good job. I was an orange juice and banana for breakfast guy. Not good. They gave me a medicine to flush out the potassium (99/100 people crap it out and it lowers their levels fast). I projectile vomited for 5 hours. 2 hours after the first blood test, the second one showed my potassium at 7.9. The Rabbi came and spoke with me and the doctor's explained that if I lived through the night, I would have kidney damage, but that otherwise, I would probably be okay.

    Well, I did live through the night, and I am here today, with a wonderful fiancé, great friends, a killer reptile collection, and my mother's kidney.

    The point here, and I have digressed and will get back to the actual point of this post, is that if I didn't happen to be on that medicine, I would have died that night, and never would have gotten to meet Katie, have all these cool animals, continue to have great friends, etc. So, yes, life can be strange sometimes, and yes, G-D can work in mysterious ways.

    Back to Scott, the unlucky/lucky guy. He can't work right now and has been going a little crazy at home. So I invited him over for lunch, some male bonding, and some reptile time. He likes the reptiles, but has had very little experience with them. Also, his previous experience has been with his teenage girls, and they dominated the time with the animals. So today, he really got to spend time with the animals he wanted to see and hold. He had a great time and it was a real eye opener for him.

    He gives so much to his community and it was great to give something back to him today and cheer him up, even if it was just a little.

    Pictures below:

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  9. #15
    BPnet Veteran Dianne's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    It’s great to share our love of reptiles with others, and I always enjoy seeing that point where people begin to think differently. You can almost see the gears turning when they realize there are more to snakes and other reptiles/amphibians than they may have originally thought. It’s also cool to have someone over to share your specific pets with by letting them see and handle them. My bp’s are always great for this because of their calm demeanor and reasonably small size...plus those little faces.

    I ran into an old friend recently and he asked if I still have my “pets”. We were in a small local pharmacy and this started a whole discussion with him and the staff on keeping snakes as pets. He is truly phobics about snakes...another of his friends literally made him turn white and fall to his knees by draping a rubber snake around his neck as a joke...so not funny. But even with his fear, he always asks about them, the types I have now and how old/big they are. He’s willing to learn and hear about them in an abstract way, though he just can’t handle being near them. And he knows they mean a lot to me, so he asks about them...something I appreciate greatly.
    Other Snakes:
    Hudson 1988 1.0 Colombian rainbow; Yang 2002 1.0 Corn snake; Merlin 2000 1.0 Solomon Island ground boa; Kett 2015 1.0 Diamond Jungle Jaguar carpet python; Dakota 2014 0.0.1 Children’s python

    Ball pythons:
    Eli 1990 1.0 Normal; Buttercup 2015 1.0 Albino; Artemis 2015 0.1 Dragonfly; Orion 2015 1.0 Banana Pinstripe; Button 2018 1.0 Blue Eyed Lucy; Piper 2018 0.1 Piebald; Belle 2018 0.1 Lemonblast; Sabrina 2017 0.1 Mojave; Selene 2017 0.1 Banana Mojave; Loki 2018 1.0 Pastel Mystic Potion; Cuervo 2018 1.0 Banana Piebald; Claude 2017 1.0 Albino Pastel Spider; Penelope 2016 0.1 Lesser

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  11. #16
    BPnet Senior Member richardhind1972's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Looks like Scott enjoyed his reptile day with you, nice when you can cheer a friend up especially one one that's having a tough time at the moment.
    Everyone looked to be nice and chilled, little feliz looked nice and relaxed too but looks so tiny compared to behira she's proper filling out now and looking nice and stocky, such a great collection Dave

    Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

  12. #17
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Quote Originally Posted by Dianne View Post
    It’s great to share our love of reptiles with others, and I always enjoy seeing that point where people begin to think differently. You can almost see the gears turning when they realize there are more to snakes and other reptiles/amphibians than they may have originally thought. It’s also cool to have someone over to share your specific pets with by letting them see and handle them. My bp’s are always great for this because of their calm demeanor and reasonably small size...plus those little faces.

    I ran into an old friend recently and he asked if I still have my “pets”. We were in a small local pharmacy and this started a whole discussion with him and the staff on keeping snakes as pets. He is truly phobics about snakes...another of his friends literally made him turn white and fall to his knees by draping a rubber snake around his neck as a joke...so not funny. But even with his fear, he always asks about them, the types I have now and how old/big they are. He’s willing to learn and hear about them in an abstract way, though he just can’t handle being near them. And he knows they mean a lot to me, so he asks about them...something I appreciate greatly.
    I agree, it's very nice when people who don't "get it" or even like reptiles, or snakes, ask about them because they know they are important to you. That sounds like a good friend and a good person Dianne.

    I always tell people I am not a pusher. If you want to see them, I will show you. If you are ambivalent and don't know what to expect, they might surprise you. Many people have been blown away with how calm and docile my pets are and end up touching and/or holding them. Some just get closer than they expected. Others get just as scared as they thought, but appreciate that I put them away, or respectfully keep my distance. I am not here to perseverate fears. I am here to help people overcome them and help get rid of the ignorance that surrounds these wonderful and interesting creatures. If ignorance is creating or contributing to a person's fear, I want to help get rid of that, if they are willing.

    Quote Originally Posted by richardhind1972 View Post
    Looks like Scott enjoyed his reptile day with you, nice when you can cheer a friend up especially one one that's having a tough time at the moment.
    Everyone looked to be nice and chilled, little feliz looked nice and relaxed too but looks so tiny compared to behira she's proper filling out now and looking nice and stocky, such a great collection Dave

    Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk
    Yeah, Scott had a great time. He needed it.

    Everyone was on super good behavior, although Figment was a Spaz, per usual, to start. I had to show Scott how to really support to him and gently restrain/guide his neck to keep him focused and calm(er). Everyone else was great as usual. To be clear, Figment never freaks out or gets scared or strikes, etc. He just loves to move and explore and gets super distracted, or so it seems, all the time. "What's over here? Oh, what's over here. Okay, saw that, now what's over there?" Solana is the total opposite. She's the chillest corn snake I've ever met. Most corns are in between, but she's boa like and he's Spaz City. I've had them both since 9G, so it's just individual personality I think.

    Behira is definitely starting to fill out. She's still super chill and awesome and a joy to handle though. She was really good with Scott and he was blown away with her strength at 1,200G. I'll be interested in what he has to say at 6,000G+. . She's so gentle, it won't matter.

    Feliz, wow, what a sweetie. He's chill as can be. I've also been working with him every other day and we've been getting to know one another. We've both been very respectful. The other day, I took him out. He was wrapped up and it was clear he didn't feel like exploring and was a little nervous. We had a little "chat." He said, "Dad, I'm a little nervous. I'll tell you what. If you let me stay wrapped up around your fingers and in your hand like this where I feel nice and safe, I'll stay really calm, and there won't be any hysterics or nipping, or hissing, or anything like that, okay? If I feel like exploring, I will, otherwise, I'll just chill here and feel safe, okay?" I said, "Sure Baby. You do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I want you to learn that I am here to protect you and care for you. I will never hurt you or make you uncomfortable on purpose. I'll let you chill for a minute or two, but if you don't start exploring, I'll call it a day and put you back."

    After a few minutes, I put him back and let him be. Today, different snake. He was happy and exploring and calm and curious.

    Notice Shayna and Yafe didn't come out. Yafe needs to heal and doesn't need the excitement of a new friend right now. Shayna is basically brumating. Additionally, the Leopard Geckos didn't interest Scott too much, so I let them be.

    Rich, I envy your Boa collection, so it means a lot to hear you say how much you like my collection. I went for rarity ((either in species (Feliz, Ezzy, and Ferry) or morph (Solana, all the Leopard Geckos, certainly when I got them)), or both (Yafe - IJ/Darwin Albino Hybrid), or a species I really wanted but made sure the animal was something I've wanted for a long time (Frank - BTS, Shayna - Albino BP, wanted since 1992, Behira - BCI, since I was a kid), and I wanted all of them to be the most handleable/calmest the breeder had. I don't just want display animals. I like to interact with my animals and bond with them and allow others to experience them that way as well.

    I have zero complaints about the collection at this point.

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  14. #18
    BPnet Senior Member richardhind1972's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Thanks dave
    I too like to interact with my reptiles and like you have chosen most that not many people have in the UK too so pretty rare over here.
    I used to own corns so really get the difference,they very rarely keep still , lol and alot of people are like why won't they just sit and chill with me but I feel it's just a corn thing.
    Boas on the whole are the opposite, I've got a few that virtually never hold on to me and that can be a challenge if they slither off you onto the the furniture, and you see there Tails slide right off and then I've a couple that hold on for dear life, my red pastel the other day when I took my last pics, I really couldn't get her off that twisted branch,I had to get help.while I held the snake they twisted it out, boy is she strong she's over 2000 now and as you say I really don't know how people cope with a snake 6000+ .
    I didn't expect to see yafe in the pics as I know he is getting back to health,fingers crossed he's passed the worse niw

    Really look forward to seeing your in-depth posts most mornings, keep them coming better than the depressing news to read while having breakfast

    Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by richardhind1972; 11-29-2018 at 03:56 AM.

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  16. #19
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    My mother came over today and spent some time with the reptiles. Here are some pictures.

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  18. #20
    BPnet Senior Member richardhind1972's Avatar
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    Katie: Reptile Convert and Love of My Life - Post about converts you know!

    Looks like mum had a great time with the critters today’s


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    Last edited by richardhind1972; 12-02-2018 at 04:07 AM.

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