Snakes and Stones

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #60


Nephrite/Jade
This particular stone off-gases in my rock tumbler--if I don't 'burp' the barrel every few days....it will explode in my garage. Ask me how I know...
As for the snake: Don't let the light color head fool you, she is another Pastel Het for VPI Axanthic...

[Bogertophis]

...
Nephrite/Jade
This particular stone off-gases in my rock tumbler--if I don't 'burp' the barrel every few days....it will explode in my garage. Ask me how I know...
As for the snake: Don't let the light color head fool you, she is another Pastel Het for VPI Axanthic...

I'll bite...how do you know? (I've never heard of rocks that need burping! That's very interesting.)

[Ascended]

I love both snakes and rocks. Lord Sorill said I could post one of mine

[Lord Sorril]

I love both snakes and rocks. Lord Sorill said I could post one of mine

That is an awesome photo!

I think you could do that one with your BEL too!

[Lord Sorril]

I'll bite...how do you know? (I've never heard of rocks that need burping! That's very interesting.)

You asked!

It is the middle of the night the day after Christmas (Pre-Corona)...I am exhausted from hopping from house to house visiting different relatives for dinner. I finally get to sleep after belly-aching from a variety of food intolerances (of which I ignore during the holidays). Everything is silent. Then:*BOOM* it sounds like a car crashes into the side of my house. I jump out of bed and trip on my blankets and hit the floor with my shoulder. My clock says 2:22AM (neat huh?). I immediately look out the window and see nothing. I make my way downstairs (now fully awake and pumped up with adrenaline). I still see no fires or wreckage out my windows. I get ready to go outside and I hit my garage door opener from the main house (my house is large-separate wings) and I don't hear the opener activate and nothing happens so I am a bit confused. I try to turn on my garage lights and nothing happens. I grab a flashlight, go into my garage in my bare feet and I immediately notice the floor is kinda wet. I shine the light on my feet and there is grey residue on the bottom of my feet. I go over to the GFI outlet reset and there is grey residue all over the outlet reset as well. I pop the reset, and the lights come on and I see filtered dim light as to my horror most of my garage and everything in it (including one side of my car) has been spray painted grey on the inside with an angular pattern emanating from one of my larger tumblers (which is now on the floor). There was less than one gallon of fluid in the barrel, but, it was enough to cover the floors, walls, and ceiling of every exposed surface for 1/2 my garage in the direction of the barrel lid. The remaining barrels were reactivated when I turned the circuit back on and they were actually bulging and shaking from the pressure build up. I immediately took them outside and opened them and the lids flew skyward and a grit slurry fountain shot upwards (think Mentos in grey Pepsi) as soon as I freed the bolt on top.

Anyhow, that is the story. Certain rocks/minerals have pressurized gas trapped inside (frequently volcanic origin); when they are tumbled and/or the temperature changes the gas is released and expands. Obsidian is notorious for redecorating many Rock Tumblers abodes. Nephrite/Jade are not tumbled frequently and I had read nothing about them having issues so I was totally not expecting this outcome...

[Lord Sorril]

Photo #61



You might be thinking this is another Pastel Het VPI Axanthic...however, the colors are washed out from the camera flash, she is actually a Pastel Orange Dream.

I thought it was interesting that Pastel hides the OD marker near the base of the tail.
Image below: Side by side comparison of OD vs. Pastel OD.

[hihit]

I love this thread so much! I think maybe I'll have to start my own photo thread once I have a snake, though of course I'd need to come up with a different gimmick.

[Bogertophis]

You asked!

It is the middle of the night the day after Christmas (Pre-Corona)...I am exhausted from hopping from house to house visiting different relatives for dinner. I finally get to sleep after belly-aching from a variety of food intolerances (of which I ignore during the holidays). Everything is silent. Then:*BOOM* it sounds like a car crashes into the side of my house. I jump out of bed and trip on my blankets and hit the floor with my shoulder. My clock says 2:22AM (neat huh?). I immediately look out the window and see nothing. I make my way downstairs (now fully awake and pumped up with adrenaline). I still see no fires or wreckage out my windows. I get ready to go outside and I hit my garage door opener from the main house (my house is large-separate wings) and I don't hear the opener activate and nothing happens so I am a bit confused. I try to turn on my garage lights and nothing happens. I grab a flashlight, go into my garage in my bare feet and I immediately notice the floor is kinda wet. I shine the light on my feet and there is grey residue on the bottom of my feet. I go over to the GFI outlet reset and there is grey residue all over the outlet reset as well. I pop the reset, and the lights come on and I see filtered dim light as to my horror most of my garage and everything in it (including one side of my car) has been spray painted grey on the inside with an angular pattern emanating from one of my larger tumblers (which is now on the floor). There was less than one gallon of fluid in the barrel, but, it was enough to cover the floors, walls, and ceiling of every exposed surface for 1/2 my garage in the direction of the barrel lid. The remaining barrels were reactivated when I turned the circuit back on and they were actually bulging and shaking from the pressure build up. I immediately took them outside and opened them and the lids flew skyward and a grit slurry fountain shot upwards (think Mentos in grey Pepsi) as soon as I freed the bolt on top.

Anyhow, that is the story. Certain rocks/minerals have pressurized gas trapped inside (frequently volcanic origin); when they are tumbled and/or the temperature changes the gas is released and expands. Obsidian is notorious for redecorating many Rock Tumblers abodes. Nephrite/Jade are not tumbled frequently and I had read nothing about them having issues so I was totally not expecting this outcome...

I had NO idea this could happen! What a mess! But I guess it could have been worse too- at least you weren't standing next to it. I knew there was a good story just waiting... TKS!

[Lord Sorril]

I love this thread so much! I think maybe I'll have to start my own photo thread once I have a snake, though of course I'd need to come up with a different gimmick.

Thanks! I'm glad you like them!

If you are looking for a gimmick then maybe if you collect something colorful you can use those for photos? I was experimenting for a while with different things including Mardi Gras Coins, Tarot Cards, and Fantasy Swords/Knives/Axes (which I collected when I was younger). I considered making my own Ball Python themed tarot deck for a while, but, meh...maybe in the future...

[Lord Sorril]

I had NO idea this could happen! What a mess! But I guess it could have been worse too- at least you weren't standing next to it. I knew there was a good story just waiting... TKS!

Yes, I was disappointed I hadn't noticed the issue earlier. In the back of my mind I know that grinding assorted unidentified minerals into dust while mixing them with water is a potentially disastrous combination...