Men and Snakes

All this talk about men and marriage lately has reminded me of something that happened in karate recently. Sensei was telling everyone to invite their friends to come to class. He really wants to build up the adult class, because it has kind of fallen off. He said, "We need to get more guys in this class." I--being a bit cheeky--said, "What about girls?" Sensei responded, "Yeah, girls, too." I thought about that a moment, and said, "Wait a minute. I don't know if I want any more girls in class. I kind of like being in here with all these men!"

I know I've been promising a snake update for a while now. I pretty much quit going to that snake forum I used to visit. There was just too much petty childishness on it. The final straw was when one of the newer members--a teenager--had repeatedly been referring to poisonous snakes, which we know there is no such thing. One of the long time, experienced members gently corrected her, informing her that snakes are venomous, not poisonous. One of the perpetual victims (you know, the "everybody hates me and is out to get me" types) pitched an absolute wall-eyed hissy fit, saying that newbies can't even ask a simple question without getting jumped all over, belittled, and made to feel stupid. This wasn't the first time she'd pulled such a stunt, but it was the last one I was going to put up with. I haven't been back to the forum, and you know what? I don't even miss it.

Anyway, here are my snakes in all their glory. We've just finished a blues fest here in the house. Blaze and Scarlett shed last night. Snow shed the night before, and Onyx a couple of days ago. Monty and Sunset shed last week. The only one who hasn't shed within the last week or so is Slider. So here we go...

First up is Onyx. I've had him the longest, though he isn't my oldest snake. He has the most personality, and I must admit is my favorite. Saturday in Petco, we saw some baby California Kings, and they were soooo cute. I'd forgotten how tiny they are when they first hatch.

This is Snow, and she is a snow morph corn snake. Snows are important because they were the first double recessive corn snakes bred in captivity.

Sunset is a male amelanistic corn snake. When I first got him, I wasn't sure of his gender, but his second summer with me, he displayed such obviously male breeding behaviors that now I'm certain without a doubt.

This is Blaze, in his blue phase. This is what they look like when they are getting ready to shed. The blue milkiness is caused by fluid building up between the old skin and the new skin. Blaze is also an amelanistic corn snake.

Scarlett is my bloodred female baby. She isn't actually a baby, though. She will be two years old in July. She is the one I thought was going to die a year ago because she kept throwing up her meals. A snake's metabolism is very different from a mammal's and regurgitating is a very serious thing. A snake who urfs three times usually won't survive. Scarlett has urfed much more than that. However, she hasn't urfed since September, and I'm pretty sure she is out of danger now. She is still very small for her age, and I have to take it very slowly with her.

Finally, we come to Slider (top) and Monty (bottom). They are ball pythons and are in the midst of their hunger strike. Ball Pythons are known for going off their feed for months at a time. They don't suffer any ill effects from it, but their owners usually sprout a few new gray hairs.

Well, that's the snakes...