Meet the Animals: Ball Python!!

This is Peanut, our wonderful Ball Python. He is a sweet little guy who is always curious! We bought him for m y birthday at a Petsmart after nearly a month of searching on craigslist. The ladies there we very helpful after he refused to eat for two weeks. He looks a little weird in these pictures because he was about to shed. Normally he is much nicer looking! He lives in a nice 50 gallon tall glass aquarium with plenty of room to climb and bask in! He eats frozen pinkie mice once every four days or so. Occasionally we have to force feed him because he is kind of a reluctant feeder, but were hoping he will get the hang of it soon enough. Other than that he is just the most wonderful pet snake anyone could hope for! He has never bitten or acted aggressively against anyone and he is super cute! He loves to hang around in my shirt and generally chill out. He adores being held and is very curious. Sometimes i get him out and put him in my bed. He loves exploring all the nooks and crannies in my bed and is very fun to watch and hold.

In our opinion Ball Pythons are the best snake to have as a pet, being extremely docile, loving to be held, and growing to a very small size, perfect for beginning snake owners! They are also relatively easy to find on craigslist, which is always better than buying one at the store.

Meet the Animals: Garter Snake!

Meet Anna-Beth, the feisty garter snake! If you've ever walked on a trail or path when the sun was bright and shiny, chances are you've seen a snake just like Anna-Beth laying out and catching some rays. Garter snakes are extremely common in our part of the world and seem especially fond of the intense Colorado sunshine. We almost always find one or two on just about every hike we take!

Anna-Beth is probably a full-grown garter snake...they don't get much bigger than this beautiful girl. Although she is very active and curious, she doesn't have an aggressive bone in her scaly body...unless you're a little feeder fish, then your days are numbered! Anna-Beth is fun to hold and loves to slither from one hand to the other. Kids enjoy watching her twitch her tongue as she explores her surroundings. Her favorite past-times include hiding under wood, hunting fish in her water bowl and just chill'n on a Friday night with her peeps. For a snake loving family like ours, Anna-Beth gets all the attention and adoration any garter snake could ever hope for.

Meet the Animals: Leopard Gecko!!

Meet Zappy, our resident Leopard Gecko! Zappy is one healthy, beautiful girl! We acquired the Zapster when her previous owners lost interest in her and needed to find her a new home. Leopard Geckos are neat looking, nocturnal insectivores that, given the right temperature gradient and moisture level for shedding, are pretty easy to keep pets that are plentiful in the pet trade...but please make an effort to find one in need of a new home (from www.craigslist.org or even your local humane society) first!

As you can see from Zappy's spiffy looking markings, Leopard Gecko's received their name from the leopard-like spots that cover their bodies. If you'll notice, too, that Zappy's tale is a bit chubbier than your average lizard. This is because she stores extra fat in her tale to make up for any times when food might be scarce. Zappy doesn't run into this problem at our house where crickets, meal worms and the occasional grasshopper are pretty plentiful in her enclosure so her tale stays pretty darn chubby year-round. We enjoy watching Zappy in her favorite past-time: cricket hunting! She's also pretty amusing to watch lick up water droplets with her cute, pink tongue!

Meet the Animals:Darkling Beetles!!

These carefree giant beetles are very interesting critters! They live in the custom-made tortoise table along with our three Russian tortoises, Eon, Era, and Ages. These curious little bugs are important benefactors to the tortoises they live alongside, eating all of the tortoise's left overs and poop. We have several of the darkling beetles living in the tortoise table and they are very interesting to watch as they interact with our tortoises. They grow up to two inches long, making them the biggest native insects in Colorado! They do not bite, but have a very foul smelling spray which has earned them the slang name of 'stinkbug'. One time, I (Sebastian) picked one up and it sprayed me all across my hand! It took days for that smelly stain to come off! Though they don't really have a personality like the tortoises or many of our other animals, they are still very good pets, being extremely easy to care for and very fun to watch. We actually caught ours here in Colorado, and though they don't live very long, they reproduce so fast we never need to catch any more! Overall, they are very cool pets that you can actually buy at the petstore; their larva are called superworms, and they are sold as reptile food. If they are left in their container in a warm spot, they will turn into beetles after a month or so. We have done this before and, with any luck, the superworms turn into curious, fun-to-watch darkling beetles!

Meet the Animals: Russian Tortoises!!

Tortoises are such sweet, adorable animals! :) We have 3 Russian tortoises who live in a large, custom tortoise table in my daughter's room. They share their habitat with some neat beetles who love to eat grasses and dandelions almost as much as the tortoises do!

This beautiful girl is Era. She is our newest Russian tortoise. We provided a new home for her when her previous owner could no longer care for her. She is the most outgoing of the group. When we take the trio outdoors for a bit of Colorado sun and fresh grass, she is always the first to start chomp'n away and exploring. She is also the largest of our Russian tortoises. Her hobbies include eating grass, wandering around in the yard (supervised, of course) and digging in her substrate.

This cute little girl is Ages. She is also a rescue tortoise who needed a new home. Ages is our most "reserved" Russian tortoise; she's a little on the shy side. When we take the tortoises out, she is usually the last to venture out of her "shell" and explore. Once she gets moving, though, she really gets moving! One sunny, Sunday afternoon when we brought the tortoise trio out in the yard, one of my daughters followed her around for about an hour as she "speedily" crawled from one end of the yard to the other and back again. Ages is our smallest Russian tortoise and likes to be held, hide under things and bask in the spot light, when the other two tortoises aren't hogging it up.

This is Eon, our very first Russian tortoise. Sebastian got him for his 8th birthday from a pet store...something we don't really recommend. It's much better to rescue an animal in need than purchase one from a pet store, but, way back then, we did not realize how many animals like Eon were in need of new homes. Eon is a very confident tortoise who, in spite of Era's boisterous personality, is the leader of our Russian tortoise trio. He has enjoyed a wide variety of habitats since we brought him home, including a large storage tub, a small train table turned tortoise table, a huge fish stand turned tortoise table and now, the trio's permanent home, a custom built tortoise table with a viewing window and second-level watering hole. Eon has a few scars on his carapace (shell) from an old Golden Retriever who thought he might be a fun rock to chew on. Eon was a little bewildered at this encounter, but seems emotionally fine now. :) Eon's favorite food is romaine lettuce (an occasional treat for the tortoises during the winter) and he has learned to "beg" for food when he sees us come into the room. He enjoys the great outdoors (after an initial warm up period) and nice long soaks in a bowl.

Tortoise make great, long-lived pets. In our opinion, they are the best pet reptile to have! They are relatively easy to care for (proper lighting, moisture and diet are very important) and fun to watch. They do live for a long time, so be prepared to care for them for decades. Some people have even needed to leave their beloved pet tortoise in their will to someone who can care for it!