Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Progress Report after only one week:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

They're doing so much better! Seem to not be particularly fond of crickets though. Ironically, the one with the worst looking mouth is the biggest eater - I have to sit with the other one holding a bowl full of mealworms and waxworms to make sure she gets some, since she doesn't feel nearly as heavy as the other dragon.

Anyway, just posting their progress. Thanks for all your help!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

You're a good "dragon" mommy! They are both progessing nicely. Don't expect them to eat daily. I'm lucky to get my adults to eat twice weekly, even in the summer, and they really slow down in the winter. Several of the dragon keepers on repticzone have had great success with chicken and kiwi (and one says figs are highly prized by her female). High quality chicken cat food works, but these people are such good owners that they stir-fry chicken for their dragons. keep us posted!
Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

OMG that was a really sad site too see, I cant believe it. (Sorry didnt see pics before i saw this post) looks SO much better now, and look at that throat coloring, absolutley beautiful. Great job.

may i ask what happened to her? I didnt see any orignal post, i dont frequent here often.. but im just curious

nevermind just read the original post, very sad

Sorry for the delay replying, I've been in Colorado without internet access

Yeah, they were very sad looking when I first took them in, and they're doing so much better now it's almost unbelievable. Thanks for your kind comments!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

wow, they all look so much better! are they at a rescue or did you just take them in?

Took them in. I think you posted a reply to the original post - their whole story is down there.

They're both really awesome dragons. Ironically enough, the biggest eater is the one with the worst looking nose. I have to take one out and feed it seperately to make sure they both get well fed without getting TOO well fed!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

yes, i did, realized that after i posted though. CWD are amazing animals, are you keeping all of them? i know you mentioned you were a snake person. it kinda makes sence, the one with the battered nose would probally have been the most active, thats why his nose got like that, and the active ones poop more and therefor have to eat more. good luck with the little (well, big) guys!

I doubt I'm actually going to keep the pair, they really need a much larger cage and someone with more time than I've got. Between college and my job there isn't much in the way of free time. I'm waiting until their noses no longer need daily cleaning/are totally healed up and then finding a more permanent home for them.

In response to your post below - yes, it's incredibly sad how many reptiles die in the first year or so. I work at a petstore and we currently have a few red iguanas in stock that I am guarding like an overzealous motherhen because I've tamed them. They're sweet and nice and everyone goes "Oh how cute! I want one!" and when I tell them how big they get and how involved their care is, so far everyone has changed their mind. I really wish I had the space(and time) for an iguana, I'd take one of them home myself!

The petstore I work at allows people to give us their unwanted animals, so I'm just waiting til about a month or two after Christmas when parents will get tired of caring for the critters they got their kids and will be dumping them back on us. Ah, the joys of the holidays.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

i feel esp. bad for iggies, i heard someone in the petstore the other day say "oh how cute, can I get one" , this person was about 15. i then went over and told him they get 6 feet, need over a 200 gallon tank, and it will cost hundreds to get a set up for them. then he just replied "ill get rid of it then".

it's really the parents faults, the shelter by where i live doesn't let ppl. adopt animals the week of christmas.

good luck with your dragons and keep me posted about how they're doing! ps. is it a sexed pair?

I hear the "oh I'll just get rid of it" thing alllll the time. Even a 200 gallon tank would be too small - ideally an adult iguana should be housed in something that's AT LEAST 6' by 6' by 8'. Most people just don't have the room or money for an enclosure that big and the things that go with it.
Same sort of thing happens to the bigger birds - people want that cute little caique that flips himself over on my hands and whistles, but don't realize it's like having a 2 year old child... for the next 50 or so years.

I wish we could not sell animals during the week of Christmas. My store is about to start carrying neutered bunnies. That is going to SUCK come springtime...

The dragons are both female, I'm 99% sure, although the lady who gave them to me called one a male and one a female. The one with the worst nose was the "male", but aside from the neck spikes being slightly more pronounced than the other dragon's, I don't see any real male characteristics.

I'll see if I can get some pictures of them over the next few days. While I was in Colorado my brother was not quite as diligent as I was about cleaning their noses but they're still coming along well.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

yeah, 200 gallon is way to small, don't know the gallon size, but at least 8'L, i mean, they are 6 FOOT long lizards, that barely gives them enough room to turn around. i'de get an iggy if i was a millionare and owned a zoo but otherwise, no.

i don't know too much about birds, but i've seen stuff like that. thats why i like herps, they're pretty clean, they're quiet, and different. i feel so bad for the macaws and large parrots, esp, the imported ones. i saw a amazon parrot once in a tiny cage plucking it's feathers out and the person told a buyer it was just molting- it was picking them out and had bald patches. i don't know much about birds, but i know thats not good.

sorry, why is it going to suck with the neutered bunnies? no babies? i like bunnies, I have two. they're sweet, ones like a dog. are the dragons full grown? males are larger than females.

do you like greek gods? - your pets names
we're doing them in school now, very interesting, did you read the play Odysseus?

I desperately want the red iguana we have at work, but don't have the room for him. I worry for when we actually do sell him.

Birds pluck out their feathers when they're bored or stressed, and it's usually impossible to cure them once they've started doing it.
I like reptiles for the same reason - they are perfectly alright if I go a week where all I have time for is to do the basics of food, water, and poop pickup.

I have a bunny and love her to pieces, but having bunnies at Petco is going to be a pain due to the average Petco customer. Dogs and small children will be banging on the glass, making faces, and in the case of dogs, barking, at the bunnies almost constantly. We're not going to have the time to pay attention to the bunnies, so they'll probably be as neurotic as the chinchillas. Come springtime they'll get bought for easter, and once the parents get tired of caring for the bunnies, they'll end up at shelters or dropped back off at the store.

The "male" dragon is only slightly larger than the other, and otherwise looks almost exactly the same.

I am fond of Greek gods, but Odysseus is my mom's dog and was my mom's idea to name. I did read the play Odysseus. It's easier to understand and remember if you read it out loud. I'm pretty sure our horses still think I'm crazy.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

Do you have two bathrubs and one free one? That might work. I've thought about that, with a big piece of glass and grooves in the tub to hold up sliding glass... just an idea. I've only seen red iggy's once, don't they loose their red color when they get older? If you do sell him just make sure they know what they're doing, I'm sure you will. You could say that if they ever didn't want him to call you, I did that once and I got a lizard out of it. At the time I thought they really wanted it, and I think they did, but about six months later... a lizard. Thats another good thing about herps, you can leave most of them, especially snakes. Since you know about snakes I thought I'de ask, do vine snakes or parrot snakes make good first snakes? I've had a lot of experience w/ other herps, but I've never had any snakes.

Poor bunnies, there be some rule about buying animals the week of certain holidays. I'm not yet old enough to work at a pet store so I haven't really seen it like you, but I can only imagine.

I agree, I don't think I would have understood one word if we hadn't read it out loud and analyzed it. I have a frog named Darwin

Your best bet for a first snake is a ball python, a cornsnake, or a kingsnake. I really recommend a kingsnake, they're extremely... intelligent, as far as snakes go. I haven't heard much about parrot snakes, but my understanding of most vine snakes is that they're lizard or amphibian eaters, which is not something you want to deal with when it comes to your first snake.
Always make sure the snake you get is eating at the time of purchase, especially with ball pythons and baby cornsnakes. Ball pythons are finicky by nature (my female has refused every meal since the first of September, and I figure she probably won't eat again til February, since it's breeding season and she does this pretty regularly.) but a baby cornsnake that's not eating well is probably going to be a problem animal that won't make it.

Shakespeare's another one you really only get if you read it out loud. I actually like Shakespeare - but only if I can read it out loud to/with someone It's absolutely awful to just sit and read quietly.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

i was extremely close to getting a ball python at a show once, but then i saw a dart frog... i'll probally only have one snake so I want to make sure it's the right one. i like ball pythons a lot, but what about hognose snakes? i know they can be difficult to feed too, but i know a breeder who has both species eating. their faces are so cute! I don't really like corns, i don't know why. i like their personalities and all, but i like snakes with thick bodies, small snakes, or green snakes. as far as docileness goes, i wouldn't mind if i never got to hold it. thanks for all your help!

we haven't read Shakespear yet, I think we're doing it later on in the year. We're doing Romeo and Juillet. That should be fun!

Ball pythons are extremely awesome snakes. I have three and love them to pieces. Their setup is simple, their requirements are, for the most part, simple, but they're still extremely fascinating and fun to interact with. They're very long lived with proper care - if you're in California I'm guessing you're in the first two years of highschool, so this is a snake that'll be around when you hit your midlife crisis at 40! I've had my first ball since I was 5 years old, and she's about to turn 15.
Hognose snakes... I agree, their faces are cute, but I'd do research into which particular species you were going to get along with its specific husbandry requirements. Some need much more humidity than others, and that can be extremely tricky in a dryer climate or when you don't have much in the way of a flexible schedule to mist or spend time moistening substrate.

Whatever snake you get, do your best to make sure its captive bred and eating well.

Haha, Romeo and Juliet was so ridiculous. I know it's supposed to be a tragedy but when you think about it it's really rather funny.
Romeo: "We've known each other for less than 24 hours, let's get married!"
Juliet: "Oh Romeo, you're so romantic! But of course!"
...
Romeo: "Oh no, I must flee because I accidentally killed your cousin!"
Juliet: "Oh no!"
...
Juliet: "I don't want to marry the whats-his-name that Father has set me up with! I shall fake suicide!"
...
Romeo: "I have returned, dearest Juliet! What is this? You're dead? I must kill myself!"
Juliet: "I have awakened, dearest Romeo! Oh no, you've killed yourself! I must kill myself!"

Rather silly, really.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

omg, that has got to be the funniest translation of romeo and juillet ever! and you're absolutly right, they've known eachother for so little time and they are head over heels in love.

wo, thats a long time. i did research a while ago and the oldest ball python i could find was 47 years at some zoo, it may have been the Clifornia zoo. thats a long time for a snake. if i got a hognose it would be the western hognose because they are small, common (as far as hognoses go), adorable, and i know a guy who is selling them. he's a snake breeder who has hundreds of snakes, all extremely healthy. would misting 2x a day be enough, i could do it four if need be. i have two other animals that i mist an average of 4 times a day, so that wouldnt be a problem. for the snakes, i would probally be able to see their parents, plus this guy only sells CB stuff.

Most of Shakespeare's plays are absolutely ridiculous like that. Quite a few "serious" novels are a bit silly too, when you think about them. The Great Gatsby, for instance. What man really pines away for a woman for years upon end?
Makes those truly awful novels you usually have to read a bit less awful when you can boil them down to bare bones and then mock them mercilessly

I honestly don't know a whole lot about hognoses, since for the most part I've focused on boids and I'm just starting to play with kingsnakes. As long as you do the research and it's a snake you really like, then you should have no problems (well, not too many problems).
Having hundreds of snakes does not necessarily make someone a good breeder Not saying your breeder friend isn't a good breeder, it's just something to keep in mind.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

i've never read that one. sounds funny though. i've done a lot of reaserch over tha past year, but just never had the money to go out and buy it. i know having a lot of snakes doesn't make someone a good breeder, but he is. all the tanks are immaculate, everything is a good weight, clean water at all times, all CB stuff... i get what you were saying though, sometimes people with the most herps are the worst breeders, they just breed them and breed them with no regard to the health of the breeder stock, or the babies.

I hated the Great Gatsby.

Good luck with whatever snake you do end up purchasing!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

u also!