R.I.P Marie.. You will be missed!

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:53 pm

Today is a good and bad day for me. I just learned that the girl i like on x-factor US is out! (not a pet matter haha!)Anyways, my mature adult Asian Forest Scorpion (Heterometrus longimanus), Marie Antoinette, just passed away. She's a beloved friend and my first date to the world of scorpions. It was a well-spent four years together. She's also my first dead scorpion >__<With her babies last May: The last photo i've taken with her: I also went to the pet store to grieve and get a new pair of african clawed frogs or a leaf turtle but unfortunately they were already out of stock. (Wait, i think this is a rant lol).For the good news, Marie's 5 babies are already pre-molt at 3i going 4i. Hope they carry on with their mother's legacy. Also, my Mexican Pink T, Cynthia just had a good, upright molt. An unusual molting position for a T but a good one nevertheless. My leo also had a nice shed last night and i got to see it first hand. (He usually sheds inside the hide or super late night when i'm already asleep). My two fire-bellied newts also got rehoused and i got my first, nice, bloody bite from my yellow vinesnake, Coldplay.That's all folks!Moral Lesson: When planning to get a non-sling scorp, better start at 5i or 6i for a longer time together Good memories with her bestfriend, Sebastian Cynthia Sorry no visible bite photos, i fear my own blood lol

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:13 am

EEEEK! you have some strange pets! snake doesn't bother me ..the spider and the scorpian EEEEK! sorry about it dying though, I hate to hear about any pet passing.. I had a male aquatic african clawed frog for about 13 yrs. he died ended up getting bloat? or what the vet said was congestive heart failure? he didn't look like normal bloat and we treated him for it and it never went away. he rubbed a hole on his back and he looked better for a bit but then mold / ick got him.. i cried so hard

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 6:16 am

Haha! Omg that's too old. The longest time i kept an albino african clawed frog is 5 years and that pair was probably more than that age since i got them quite big then.It's funny how my scorpion doesn't perceive Sebastian as a threat. She probably thinks he's a moving rock. Sebastian also doesn't seem to mind having the scorpion around. Having pincers and all he probably thinks the scorpion is just a skinny crabby otherwise they would have gone to defensive modes. Since they're both South-east Asian natives, their ancestors probably bumped into each other in the jungle floor all the time

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:54 pm

My 32 pound cat is named Sebastian. My frog was albino to I forgot to say. He was a rescue from a pre school room that was going to leave him in 3and half gallon tank in freezing room w no food for 2 weeks or turn him loose in pond. So I bought him for 10$ brought him home named him bud ugly and when he sang it sounded like he was saying his name. The pet shop had some awhile ago I almost got one but all the had were female. I want an other male because they sing..

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:15 pm

I reckon that's very fat and lazy cat?! Lol but i love fat cats. Always been a cat than a dog person. Dead frogs can be a traumatic sight. They're all bloated and soggy and swollen. I'd definitely cry if i see my only tree frog dead @__@Haven't heard them make any sounds yet. Would that mean all i had before were females?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:21 am

@Tongue Flicker, so sorry to hear about your scorpion, I know it stinks to loose a pet so I feel for ya.I'm also curious about the snake, I know this rule only applies to snakes here in the US but your snake appears to have a wider head than neck so the question is, is it venomous?I noticed you were handling it with a snake staff which also raises questions as to the safety of the snake.lol

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 8:43 am

I don't know about your breed of frogs if only the males sing but the albino aquatic African males do. He wasn't all bloated when died he was just wrinkled and looked normal but had if I or mold on him? Fat cat didn't used to be this fat until he got fixed.He has been tested for thyroid and other things. He is 8years old and now we are dealing with uti and bath room issues. We use a super large tote for a litter box with a hole cut out. I have to wash his butt once in awhile or he gets poop balls, yes gross! He cOnt wash himself except his face and paws. When it's time for him to either be put down or passes on , no more cats. I have them in my life since I was 3, I am now 50' the body is getting tired. Even taking care of the crabs is getting to be to much.

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:01 am

@crabber: thanks! Yes it is rear-fanged and mildly venomous. No serious fatality has ever been recorded here regarding this snake as they are generally docile and mild-tempered by nature. I always use a hook to pick her up out of the enclosure as i do with all my snakes regardless how docile they are. Besides, 30 of my 34 snakes are rear-fanged, 2 is front-fanged and dangerous and 2 is purely non-venomous.@laurie: i haven't seen a dead wrinkled frog yet @_@ hmm i think i know how that feels since my mom, who is 63 now, would usually complain a lot to me that she's having a hard time cleaning the cat. Now i'm curious and excited, i wanna hear ACF sing and croak

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:48 am

@TF Awesome!! Snakes are so pretty and cool along with tarantulas, but the scorpion I'm a little leery of. I use to work at our state park in the nature center and handle the nonvenomous snakes (don't think I could get enough courage to handle a venomous one though).Course my hubbie thinks the only good snakes, scorpions, and spiders are dead ones. He's been bit or stung by all at some point in time just in the wrong place at the wrong time I guess. However I was there with the scorpion. The scorpion decided it wanted to sleep with us in the middle of the night. It was about 2 or 3 in the morning and he moved the covers and the next thing I know he jumped out of bed and was hollering something bit him. I get out of bed roll back the covers and there sits the scorpion all ticked off. Thankfully it was just a common rock scorpion so his leg swelled up just a bit and it hurt the rest of the day but then started feeling better the next no serious consequences.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:16 am

@Tongue Flicker, I figured the snake was venomous but wasn't sure as I know that not all venomous snakes present with a narrower neck than head.lolHonestly I'm not bothered by any of your animals I've lived in the country all of my life so I have had to deal with all sorts of critters.lolI'm one that doesn't believe in killing anything if it can be prevented as with snakes your essentially doing more damage to the ecosystem by removing/killing the snake than by leaving it alone.I've learned that most wild animals don't like coming into contact with humans and will attempt to get away if we just sit still and let them, they know we are too big to eat so unless we provoke them they will do their best to just leave us alone.I do know that adult snakes, scorpions and the like can moderate their venom output and usually don't like wasting it on animals/humans which are just too big to be worth the effort and so will not dump the whole venom load if they have to sting/bite us because we provoked them because it takes such a long time for them to build their venom supply back up.

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:07 pm

@jenok: I love my scorpions but i dont want them anywhere near my bed! Haha @crabber: almost 99% of arboreal snakes are really slender bodied and have big heads with eyes. Mild venom is evolved to capture slimy and feisty prey like frogs, lizards and birds. I don't fear them since i've been bitten by a cobra, seasnake and a viper before when i was a kid.I just love them. Snakes were, are and will always be my first passion. It's in the way they move i guess

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 3:13 am

Yeah they don't make good bed partners, just so you know.Crabber I agree and we only kill something if we are going to eat it or if it presents a threat. Such as spiders and scorpions in the house or venomous snakes in our yard or poisonous spiders in our yard. Or if the dang black snakes get in my quail pen and eat my birds. I had a black snake get in the garage before my cat just stared at it like what are you doing in my space. So I tried to shoo it out with a broom but it kept going the wrong way so I finally had to pick it up holding it by the head so it wouldn't bite and took it down in the woods and let it go. Just another FYI snake bites don't feel good and get infected easily if not cared for properly.Sometimes I take my daughter to the nature center where I worked and if they have a snake or two that can be easily handled she gets to handle them (which my hubby disagrees with, but what he don't know won't hurt right). I won't ever own a snake cuz there's just to many family members against it.

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:16 am

I know the feeling. Being the youngest member of the family 15 years back, it certainly took some time for me to convince everyone that i was ready and responsible enough to keep snakes. My dad views snakes as the devil and my mom was squeamish about anything without legs or more than four legs for that matter so it was really hard lol

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:59 am

@Tongue Flicker, thanks for the info on arboreal snakes that was very informative. I've handled my fare share of snakes both venomous and non and I've yet to be bit thank God but I don't just go looking for them nor do I go out of my way to handle them its usually in the case of they are too close to where people live so it ends up being me who has the honors of taking the snake and releasing it elsewhere.lolLike I said earlier I've lived in the country all of my life so it comes with the territory to find snakes, spiders and scorpions either already in the house or trying to get in and I've come to learn that the bigger the scorpion the less you have to worry about as its the small ones that can kill you. We mostly get the black tree scorpions and they are easy enough to handle as they are not very aggressive and don't move very fast so I usually just scoop them up into a Kritter Keeper and then go far away and release them since theres no sense in killing them.I don't fear snakes and the like I just have a healthy respect for them which if more people did instead going out of their way to run over or otherwise kill the poor animal the natural world would be better off.I respect those who respect the wild and all of its inhabitants and I really don't like those who kill out of fear and misunderstanding.

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:02 am

Well you know the saying: people fear what they don't fully understand