Okay, Mike Cavanaugh... I'm in the community!

[anatess]

I'm probably the only one in this site that is scared of snakes...
My short story: The husband has been asking for a snake for 11 years. Did I tell you I was scared of snakes? So, of course, the answer was no... But then, 2 months ago, I finally said, okay, what the heck. As long as it stays in the tank and nowhere else... so, he came home with this:

Her name is Curly. Well, she's really cute, even the vet said so. I finally had the courage to touch her after 2 weeks. Then I held her after another week. It was awesome, because, usually, we get a pet, then 2 weeks later, I end up feeding/cleaning/etc after these pets... well, this pet doesn't bark, doesn't eat furniture, eats only once a week, and doesn't pee all over. I built the tank (my favorite part of the entire experience! It's like miniature HGTV, hah hah.). I only spot clean the tank and only had to overhaul it once since we owned it.
So, when my son asked for his very own snake, I said, sure, why not... and I found this for him from the internet:

He is Salazar. He's a pretty one. And I was excited to build him his tank as well.
We had both snakes checked out by the vet and the vet thinks that Curly is a female and Salazar is a male. So, they need to be separated at all times, I guess, since the vet doesn't neuter snakes.
Then last night, I went and got african rats from Mike for the hubby, since he thinks african rats are better than american rats. But, before the hubby got home, the kids and I were already playing with the rats. They are sooo cute. Hubby was gonna feed one off today but before hubby can bop one upside the head we all screamed, NOOOOO!!! So, now I'm an owner of a few pet african rats as well.
Mike sent me a link to this forum and encouraged me to join so I can learn what to do with all these creepy crawlies, so here I am!
Thanks, Mike!

[RoyalGuardian]

Creepy crawlies?? Don't you mean Adorable and slithery? lol! Welcome to the site! I'm Luna, its a pleasure to make you acquaintance! I know you will just LOVE it here! As for your ratties i know just how you feel... but with fancy mice.. I fed off all my feeders but one.. My male Prometheus. I fell in love and now he is my little lap mouse! This is a great place to learn and grow in your love of snakes. I know that in time you will catch the addiction of Ball pythons. Everyone does... its like they have Mind altering Fazor beams of love that shoot from their eyes and peirce your heart making you fall head over heels for these Sweet and scalies... I'd give it about one or two more months and the addiction will set in..

[rabernet]

A pastel and a spider! No, no, no - you don't want to neuter or spay (I don't know anyone that does anyway).

Just think - once the girl is all grown, you can breed them and make bumblebees!

I don't bop my live prey - I drop them in, in the opposite end of the enclosure as the snake and let the snake take care of things!

[RoyalGuardian]

Holy cow! I was being blind and didn't even notice it was a Pastel!! OMG yeah Go for some Bumblebees.. And PLEASE send one my way

[juddb]

Mike is an awesome guy, and a friend of mine, happy to hear he recommended you here! Welcome

[filly77]

I was in your shoes in the beginning. I was petrified of snakes.

i just kept looking at snake photos and I found myself thinking, wow they are really pretty!! so I figured why not fight my fear and get one. I often think back at how much I was afraid of them (almost 4 short years ago) and I think to myself. how could I have been so afraid of these beautiful creatures! I wish I had gotten into snakes a longgg time ago! I've been missing out lol

Welcome to the board, there's so many nice & friendly people here and they know their stuff!

[Mike Cavanaugh]

HOORAY!!!! Welcome!

Get nice and comfy, get yourself a drink, and READ READ READ!!!! You can never know too much, and this community is as good as it gets!

Enjoy!

Mike

PS... Yeah, no need to "knock" the rats before feeding. Just drop them in there, and watch until snake has constricted and it is dead.