sweet faces

[cnspotts]

Okay they''re not furry, or exactly cuddly but who could honestly resist those two little faces peeking out of their box?

I love they''re little painted lips too. Their coloring is shades of browns, greys, pink, peach, tan, white so they blend into the leaf litter on the ground.

They''re Madagascar Ground boas, there are not many in the US (est <100), more in Europe. Madagascar has not exported them for years and they''re a threatened species nearing extinction. I''m lucky to have these guys plus another one. They get large. Males around 9ft, females up to 13ft. In terms of snakes they''re easy to keep, love to eat, and non aggressive. I love them.

 

[cnspotts]

Colors

 

[cnspotts]

Hanging on

 

[sumbride]

I think they''re pretty! Not really cuddly, but fascinating!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I''ll admit that snakes give me the creepy crawlies but they are very pretty indeed. How old are they and what do they eat? I love your avatar, by the way!

Jess

 

[lyra]

I love the bannister pic! I''m not afraid of captive snakes, or non-bitey strangly ones in the wild. They are beautiful. I just don''t like the feeding them part.

 

[monarch64]

Erm...I love animals....but I wish you would''ve put a "warning!" on this thread title! Yowsers! I am not a reptile lover at all...I prefer to appreciate their beauty from afar which is what i guess I''m doing right now...

But when your laptop/computer monitor screen is a mere two feet away from your face and you click on a thread and you get snakes in the face it''s a whole new story, LOL!

they are beautiful snakes. I just can''t picture myself living with animals who would gladly eat me if their food supply ran out. I''ve had lots of friends who appreciate the reptilian world and I have visited with some big snakes (eeeesh) but I just can''t get used to the whole thing.

Then again...I used to rescue field mice from my parents'' cat when I went home to visit. And I have killed snakes before when I''ve been attacked walking around the natural spring fed ponds on my parents'' land. (Yup, I know it''s not their land but the snakes land.)

Not to say I don''t appreciate beautiful creatures in captivity. They really are beautiful in their own unique way. It just freaks me out knowing they could kill me if they wanted to or were hungry enough.

 

[Elmorton]

Okay, I''m not a snake person either (when in a pet store, I go straight to the snake section, look at all of them and make sure they''re all in their proper places and not sneaking up on me, and then I wander on to wherever else I was planning on going in the store) -

-but those are two cuties!! I like the painted lips, too. Their heads are so interestingly shaped - they really do look almost like the cartoon snakes in Robin Hood and Jungle Book.

 

[iheartscience]

Those are pretty little faces! Their colors are gorgeous, too. I was just in Costa Rica last week and I saw a boa in the woods at Manuel Antonio National Park. It was really cool until other people noticed it and started crowding it to take pictures-I was worried the snake would freak out!

I''m not really scared of snakes, probably because I grew up in a rural area. There were a few different poisonous snake species in the area, but I only ever saw maybe 3 or 4 poisonous snakes the whole time I lived there.

What kind of "house" do your snakes have? I imagine it must be big considering how big they can get!

 

[Dandi]

Ooooh they are divine! What amazing markings! I''d love a pet snake (heck, I''ll take a pet anything! A friend of mine used to keep a tank with half a dozen huge Mexican tarantulas, I was always mesmerised by them!!) but hubby HATES snakes.

 

[AmberGretchen]

They are very beautiful - thanks for sharing your pictures of them, I especially love the bannister one

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 3/24/2008 11:41:28 AM
Author: AmberGretchen
They are very beautiful - thanks for sharing your pictures of them, I especially love the bannister one

Ditto.

 

[Pandora II]

Yay!

Another snake fan. Yours are beautiful - I love boas, but they''re a bit too big for my house. I was very tempted to get a Burmese at one point - but they eat too much!

I have two Royals. They''re just over a metre long and incredibly tame. I''ve had them for 7 years now and never been bitten.

It''s illegal to feed live food in the UK, so they have ratcicles - frozen rats that you defrost. They go on long fasts which is worrying when you first get them - mine haven''t eaten since November, but they haven''t lost much weight. It''s a bit cold here, even though their viv is really warm - but they should start eating soon.

Here are mine:

 

[CrookedRock]

HMMM.... Snakes! Not usually a fan, and can''t bring myself to touch one, but I do appreciate their beauty. Their head are so unique, I don''t think I have ever seen any like that before...

And Pandora, yours almost seems to be smiling... is that possible>? LOL

Thanks for sharing/waking me up today!

 

[Pandora II]

You''d be amazed how cuddly a snake really is - and they feel beautiful, kind of like an expensive leather handbag (python skin on bags tends to feel rougher than the actual animal does).

They also have very different characters and personalities. Mine will even curl up and go to sleep with my parent''s cats in their basket - I don''t leave them alone as I don''t trust one of the cats 100%.

Here''s a friend of my parents - when my pythons were living with them, if he came round for lunch or dinner he used to ask for Portius (my male python) as soon as he got through the door and then wear him till he left.

Here he is having dinner...

 

[Pandora II]

Royals look like they are smiling all the time - it''s rather sweet.

They do have moods - if I open the viv and they want to sleep they will just hiss a bit, but that''s once in a blue moon. When I first got him (at 3 months) he was so tiny (about 14") with this little goblin face and he used to tap on the glass with his nose when I got home to come out for a cuddle.

It''s pretty rare for a snake to want to eat a person - mine are unbelievably picky about what they eat. For example they only like all white rats - I''ve they have a brown splodge or something they won''t touch it.

They are also incredibly low maintenance once you have the system set up.

Mine have a 36" x 24" x 24" wooden vivarium with glass doors, which my father built climbing poles and shelves into for them. A big water bowl that they can sit in if they wish (but they never do) - and a big woven basket with a hole in so they can hide. Snakes like to be able to feel all the walls around them or they get very stressed - so you need a small hiding space in a viv big enough for them to exercise in.

For heating I have a ceramic bulb connected to a thermostat. I used to use the coloured spotlights but they don''t do well in high humidity and I was forever replacing the system.

As long as they have water and heat I can go away for up to 3 weeks without having to worry. My cleaning lady will check and top up water - but nothing more!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Sweet faces indeed!

This is one of the strangest threads I have come accross is PS! But strange in a good way, it is awesome! I love all pets, but never had the urge for a big pet snake. When I was a little kid I used to catch garter snakes in the field beside my house. I'd just hold them and feel their skin then let them go. I found a baby once in my front yard, it was about 6 inches long, and I kept it for a day or two in a little terrerium I made. Then I let it go cuz I didn't know how to look after it. I must have been about 10.

DD

 

[bee*]

I love snakes-they''re so beautiful. I love the colouring on them.