The Diva & The Dragon at the Vet

[MedusasOwl]

First... I bag the snakes.

Me, as I open the cage: Oh, thank the gods, he's sleeping.

Neptune: Zzzzz

Me, as I lift up his hide: Here we go...

Neptune: Zzz..mrpf? RAWR!

Me, as I scoop him up: Oh, shush, come on honey...

Neptune, flailing: RAWR HISS

Me, trying to get his head in the bag: In here, Neptune!

Neptune: I BITE YOU! Nippy nippy nip nip!

Me, unimpressed: First... you missed. Second... I'm wearing gloves.

Neptune: Curses... I BITE THE BAG! Die, pillowcase!!

Me:

Neptune: F33R ME!

Me: No. Now get in the bag.

Neptune: NEVAR!

Both, struggle with opposite aims for a bit.

Me: HAH! I got most of you... DRAT!

Neptune, head popping out of bag: FREEDOM! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Me, grabbing his neck: I have hands! Eat that, snake boy!

Neptune: Curses!

Both, sit panting and glaring for a moment.

Me, scooching the rest of his 7 or 8 feet up around my arm: Hmm...

Neptune: FOOL! NOW I CONSTRICT YOU!

Me: Yeah, you do that...

Neptune: Sssss... wait, how do I do the constrict thing again...

Me, stuffs him in bag and holds it shut!!

Neptune: MRPHRRAWRMPH!

Me, pokes at his tail till it finally slips in too and ties the bag : I WIN AT SNAKE BAGGING!

Neptune, curses me out in Parsel Tongue/Sauron Black Speech from within bag as I turn to Ma-tsu.

Me, as I open the cage: Hi Ma-tsu sweetie!

Ma-tsu: Hi, Mommy! I was just taking a bath!

Me: Come on, time to go honey.

Ma-tsu: Otay! Ooo, I'm in a bag! Look, I'm a Scooby Doo Ghost!

Me: That's very cute, sweetie.

Done.

Then I drive 45 minutes out to where the herp vet is. Dr. K is very nice, and so are his assistants! They don't get many Asian ratsnakes, and while Dr. K has bred and raised all kinds of ratsnakes he admitted that Asian ratsnakes are not his specialty. Which is cool, because he's still the best herp vet in the area and Asian ratsnakes are weird and obscure to begin with, people are still learning about them. The receptionist cooed at Ma-tsu and looks forward to me bringing in a clutch of cute babies.

So first he was going to probe Ma-tsu, then went "Oh, never mind I don't need to... she's ovulating! So, yeah, female." He counted 9 eggs in there, and they might or may not be fertilized, so she might be gravid!! She also might reabsorb them. He said if we plan on breeding them this year I should get them together ASAP to make sure. Tempting... but I really think we ought to get started with that next season... thinking... He did probe her anyway just to show me how that works. Didn't do a fecal though, because she's ovulating and he didn't want to hurt her or the eggs squeezing out a sample.

As far as Neptune, it sounds to Dr. K like he's just being a breeding adult male ratsnake. Cranky! So get those babies used to how things work now so they don't turn into a Neptune! He suggested leaving the f/t dinner overnight and bets Neptune will take it, otherwise he looks quite healthy. They both do! And Neptune had an excellent poo sample, no bugs and a VERY high sperm count! He also showed me how to probe, which is cool. Annoyed at being probed, Neptune everted at the doctor. Hello! Dr. K handled Neptune masterfully, no need for gloves. I wanna be that snake savvy someday.

Both of them weigh a little over 3 lbs, and what I fretted might be RI is really just that their sinuses are dried out and they need more humidity. He gave me some humidifying tips, and told me that when we have hatchlings to bring them on down and he'll show me how to pop them, easy peasy.

I am... SO relieved they're healthy! Load off my mind

[Karma]

HAHAHAHAHAH wow... that was entertaining.

[JLC]

Ahhhh Sheree! I just love your snakie stories! They always leave me in little fits of giggles!


And how awesome to have them both checked out healthy and hale! And Ma-Tsu "in a female way..." LOL!! I know you want to wait a year to have babies and I'm quite sure that is the wisest course....but I can't help but find myself hoping that it's too late and she'll drop a nice clutch of fertile eggs on ya! Aren't these Beauties all about jumping (getting pushed??? LOL) into the deep end without any floaties?

[frankykeno]

Oh Sheree that was too good! What a wonderful way you have of making each of us part of your snake experiences LOL. Poor Neptune was just being a manly man snake after all (note the very high sperm count and all that)! Keep us up to date on whether your lovely female ends up gravid or not. How exciting! Sounds like you have a wonderful vet, isn't that a blessing.

[Shelby]

hehe.. I needed a funny story!

Neptune sounds exactly like my Beauregard.. he's a pissy male in breeding mode too! SUCH a tough guy.

I can't believe they weigh 3 lbs! Wow, that's some hefty colubrid!

[tigerlily]

Sounds like you might want to have an incubator handy!! I'm in complete agreement with Judy! I understand you wanting to be more prepared, but eggs would be SO COOL!! Of course if you had one, then I'd be tempted to get one.... and that's just not good!! Must conserve for Daytona.

[JLC]

Must conserve for Daytona.

Awwwww...but one wee little baby colubrid...don't take up hardly no space atall!

[MedusasOwl]

My snakes entertain me, I think I reflect that in my posts

I gotta get me an incubator! I have lots of mixed feelings about her maybe being gravid! Nervous and excited! We shall see, it's entirely possible they locked up before I got them. Also good to know that Neptune's just being all testosterony, lol!

A little more than 3 lbs actually! I forget the exact numbers though, I know Ma-tsu weighs more than Neptune by a bit, and together they weigh at least as much as my cat if not more, lol! People don't believe me when I say I have *big* ratsnakes. Seriously, they're humungous, it's just hard to tell till you see them in person since they're so slender.

I need to add the weight to Blue Gorgon, as well as the humidity info. But for tonight I think I'll take a breather after all that Long day and lots of excitement...!

[4theSNAKElady]

That was a very goood snake story....you paint such a vivid picture in my mind of how it happened......and it sounds like your herp vet is awesome!!!!!