Exotic Pets

[Guest greyhalo]

I WANT to breed her but I can't find a male African Diamond-head, I know lots of ppl with Burmese Ball Pythons but she's a completely different breed. She eats a large rat every 3 weeks to a month. Extremely friendly and loves attention.

Also she gets along great with my cat surprisingly, they are buddies. At first the cat was a lil scared but as soon as he relized how docile she was he seemed quite fond of having a slithery green friend hehe

The snake wouldn't try to eat your cat, would it? I don't want to sound ignorant, but I've heard stories about very large snakes trying to eat another family pet.

I know that you have to feed your baby, but I have pet rats, and it makes me squeemish when I hear about snakes and lizards eating feeders rats. But, I'll just try not to think about it...

[pomba gira]

The snake wouldn't try to eat your cat, would it? I don't want to sound ignorant, but I've heard stories about very large snakes trying to eat another family pet.

I know that you have to feed your baby, but I have pet rats, and it makes me squeemish when I hear about snakes and lizards eating feeders rats. But, I'll just try not to think about it...

No fears, that snake isn't nearly big enough to eat a cat. A kitten under a couple months, maybe. To eat a cat would take a heavy-bodied constrictor like a reticulated python. As a rule, a snake can eat prey up to 1.5 times its widest body diameter... and they're pretty good about knowing their limits. That one that tried to eat the alligator was an example of natural selection in action But with larger snakes it definitely is a concern- this is getting to be a big problem down in Florida where the climate allows dumped pet snakes to survive. I just read an article the other day where a lady heard her poodle barking and came outside just in time to see it eaten by an 8 foot python.

I'm still working on getting my Pussy Posse acclimated to my corn snake. They are hunters, but do understand that when I bring an animal into the house, it isn't prey (except for feeder rats- and they do understand the difference between feeder and pet rats... this was obvious in the recent situation with little Vermina). But sometimes they can't resist swatting at Ophelia. They keep their claws in when they do it, tho. I think it's more that they can't quite figure out what she is than anything else. Well, Lynx is just jealous... he whines and harasses me incessantly whenever I handle Ophelia.

[Angel of Death]

The snake wouldn't try to eat your cat, would it? I don't want to sound ignorant, but I've heard stories about very large snakes trying to eat another family pet.

I know that you have to feed your baby, but I have pet rats, and it makes me squeemish when I hear about snakes and lizards eating feeders rats. But, I'll just try not to think about it...

My snake loves my cat he's her buddy, they cuddle each other it's really cute acct. Usually I'll have my snake wrapped around me shoulders and my cat on my lap and she will crawl down to the cat and put her head between his ears and just sit there.

Also as a side note snakes have VERY keen sense of smells. She won't attack anything she smells me on. Once (when she was smaller) I bought her 3 mice and one of them was cute and I was petting it, she ate the other 2 but refused to touch the one I pet. This has also happened with a rat. If I pet it she won't touch it. It's a little weird but I like that about her. I can pretty much have wut ever kind of pet I want and as long as I have pet it and she can pick up the scent, she won't bother it.

[livininxtcgoth]

sluagh686 and i have two sugar gliders named romero and clive

our boys are the cutest little devils ever

and i do mean devils

they definitey take after their daddy (for those of you that know him)

[Guest greyhalo]

sluagh686 and i have two sugar gliders named romero and clive

our boys are the cutest little devils ever

and i do mean devils

they definitey take after their daddy (for those of you that know him)

Sugar gliders are adorable!

[Guest Megalicious]

Clem loves to take baths with her big brother!

[Rayne]

Clem loves to take baths with her big brother!

LOL, my Chi's do that too. Especially the older one (Zoomy) ... you can't even clean the bathtub without him jumping in. He LOVES it. Most of the time he'll jump in with whoever is in the shower or tub. I always have to take his collar off when giving the boys a bath because he'll act like he's helping then jump right in. I've always found it funny since Chihuahua's aren't supposed to like the water and aren't supposed to have that dog instinct on how to swim. Your supposed to have to teach them ... but both mine already know how.

They also like to swim in the kids pool.

[Guest greyhalo]

LOL, my Chi's do that too. Especially the older one ... you can't even clean the bathtub without him jumping in. He LOVES it. Most of the time he'll jump in with whoever is in the shower or tub. I always have to take his collar off when giving the kids baths because he'll act like he's helping then jump right in.

They also like to swim in the kids pool.

That is so darn cute--that comment is meant for both of you.

[pomba gira]

Clem loves to take baths with her big brother!

Ha ha I thought that was a 'possum at first!

[MissKitty]

My beautiful Fangora got to jump into a photo shoot.

EDIT: those pics were freaking huge. lol.

[TitsMcGee]

I think the closest thing I had to an exotic pet is a kitten that thought it was a tiger and tried to kill you every time you got near it. We named it spit fire.

[piggymama]

See my Gallery (click the purple button under my photo to the left). Most of my odd pets are there. I don't have any pics of my L6 Phidippus audax (from Arwen's first brood), yet, as it's still too small to photograph. I also have 3 L3 spiderlings of the same species (from Arwen's third brood), and what appears to be a juvenile Misumena vatia, which are also quite tiny. My mantis died last month. They only live for about a year. I also have a tiny North American Millipede in with my adult male jumping spider, whom I rarely see except for at night. It eats the scraps from the spider's meals, and helps to keep the cage clean. I plan on finding a small milli for my female spider's cage, too.

Spiders make AWESOME pets. They are easy to care for, once they get to be large enough to eat flies or crickets. I would recommend them to anyone who wants something unusual.

Keeping spiders is the end of a long journey for me. I had always been terrified of spiders, because of a cruel prank played on me during my childhood. Some older kids threw me into an old root cellar which hadn't been opened in about 30 years, and locked me in there for an entire day. It was dark, and full of cobwebs, spiders, and other crawling things. This experience sent me into shock, and I was mute for a long time after. For years, I dreamt of spiders crawling all over me, or towards me on my bedpillow, or even towards me on my desk at school. I couldn't bear the sight of a spider, dead or alive. Just the thought of one was enough to send me into a fit of panic.

My amicable fascination with spiders started about two years ago, when I began to take interest in photography. I was living in a basement apartment on a lake, and there were always orb-weaving spiders camped out near my porch light. I began to observe the largest female of the bunch, whom I would watch cut down the remains of her old web from the previous night before, and earnestly weave a new one. I named her Charlotte, and we began to have an understanding of one another. I was present to see her through various stages of her life; three moults, courtship, and laying a brood of eggs. I became very fond of her, and then of her many neighbors who lived along the awning. They became the main subjects of my photography. I call it my "Spider Awakening Phase."

I soon became obsessed with land-dwelling arthropods of all sorts, and began haunting websites concerning their classification and habits. It wasn't much of a stretch for me to begin collecting and observing them in captivity!

Now, I have an ever-rotating cast of arachnids and insects at my home, which I have affectionately nicknamed the "Crawl Inn." If it creeps or crawls and is NOT a pest, chances are, I've kept it (or have contemplated keeping it) as a pet! I feel like such a doofy for ever having been so frightened of spiders and crawlies!

Heads up Angel... the mantis's are starting to come out to breed. I was in a field the other day and a few were hanging around. they were about 2 inches longm which usually means they are female right? the males are alot smaller?? I used to have a mantis for a pet. I brought him itno school for show and tell lol. but if you want a mantis again, you should keep your eye out! few years ago had a 6 inch bright green one on our car! if you want to come over for mantic hunting, just let me know, GRG can take you over. lucky hunting!

[piggymama]

He's an "American opossum" from the order Didelphidae, and he's from South America. They have like 60-some different varieties of opossums there, and we only have one in North America. He's nothing like the large opossums we have here.

In case anyone is interested, there is a very cool exotic pet store in Clinton Twp. called All Creatures Great and Small. They are run by the vet that is located across the parking lot from them. Anyway, that's where I got Oscar, and I take him to that particular vet. He has to be seen by someone who is familiar with his species.

anyone in the A2 area that has exotics there is a GREAT VET that treats all kinds. birds, rats, reptiles, pigs, and on and on. they are across from the washtenaw county fair grounds on Ann Arbor/Saline RD about 5 miles south of I94 after the bend in the road. thier name is "Animal Kingdom". when my pig pickle got sick our vet, who we picked because of her 24hour hospital, said she count treat him because shes only set up for basic care. ended up in an emergency room in novi that wanted $1,000 for just over night. then we landed at animal kingdom. pickle was there three days, 2 nights and got tons of fluids and other meds. it only cost us $350 total!!! we were AMAZED!!! and he got ALOT vbetter. those vets really really care. he was up and good to go a few days later. we thought maybe he ate something poisonous in the woods, but we'll never know. all we know is we almost lost him if it wasnt for these winderful people. they take just about any exotic out there. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM!

[jynxxxedangel]

Heads up Angel... the mantis's are starting to come out to breed. I was in a field the other day and a few were hanging around. they were about 2 inches longm which usually means they are female right? the males are alot smaller?? I used to have a mantis for a pet. I brought him itno school for show and tell lol. but if you want a mantis again, you should keep your eye out! few years ago had a 6 inch bright green one on our car! if you want to come over for mantic hunting, just let me know, GRG can take you over. lucky hunting!

The ones you see are most likely Mantis religiosa, Stagmomantis carolina, or Tenodera aridifolia sinensis. M. religiosa and T. aridifolia sinensis are both introduced species-- the first from Europe, and the second being from China.

I would definitely like to come out and get an ootheca or two to hatch out in spring, as mantids usually die pretty quickly after they have matured into imagoes. Most only live a few months after.

The ooths can usually be found underneath the leaves of plants and trees. They are easy to collect and incubate-- one only needs to carefully scrape them away from whatever surface they are on with a straightpin or scalpel (without rupturing the outer case), then put them into an old nylon stocking tied up on one end. Keep it in a place without too much heavy sunlight, with stable temperature and mild humidity (you don't want it to moulder). Give it a very light misting once or twice a week.

With a little care and luck, you will have a few hundred mantis nymphs hatch out, come spring! It's easiest just to let them go in your garden, rather than to try and find small enough food for them yourself (trust me on this, if you aren't into keeping a Drosophila hydeii culture or going out and finding hundreds of aphids each day, don't try and keep small nymphs or spiderlings)! Once you start seeing larger ones that can handle house flies and larger prey, is when you re-capture and keep them!

I'm definitely curious as to what jumping spiders you all might have out that way. I am looking for Maevia inclemens; I saw a nice female a few weeks ago near Oakland Airport, and I didn't have anything to collect her in!

[Guest Megalicious]

. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM!

They are awesome! =) Thats where I take my furry child.

[Guest greyhalo]

They are awesome! =) Thats where I take my furry child.

I took my pet rats there when I lived in A2 a few years ago.

[Rev.Reverence]

I have a can of SPAM... his name is SPAMMY...

I also have a can of Vienna sausages... her name is D*G...

[Guest greyhalo]

I have a can of SPAM... his name is SPAMMY...

I also have a can of Vienna sausages... her name is D*G...

You didn't hear this from me, but there's a rumor going around that someone on the board is planning on eating your pets.

[Guest greyhalo]

I know rats aren't exactly exotic anymore. But, I love my little hairless rats and think they're unique. I currently have two hairless girls.

This is Gemma, a hairless dumbo rat:

[pomba gira]

I know rats aren't exactly exotic anymore. But, I love my little hairless rats and think they're unique. I currently have two hairless girls.

This is Gemma, a hairless dumbo rat:

I would say anything genetically engineered counts as "exotic"! She's cute, does she have that suede-y feel like a sphynx kitty?

[Guest greyhalo]

I would say anything genetically engineered counts as "exotic"! She's cute, does she have that suede-y feel like a sphynx kitty?

Yes, she does feel a lot like a sphynx--like warm suede. I love hairless cats too.

[Draco1958]

I had a snake but had to give her up. She got sick and took a while to get healthy. One of the rabbits ate thru an extension cord which killed the power to the heat lamp. I wasn't staying where the snake was being kept and no one noticed the lack of heat in the tank so she caught a cold. By then I couldn't handle her, she was aggressive. The shop I got her from knew someone who was good at retraining her to be handlable so I sold her. I want to get another one, just not sure on what I want. Either a Ball Python or an Anery Boa. A Red Tail Boa would also be nice. My one friend has an Iguana and another friend has a chinchilla. There's a shop at Gibraltar Trade Center in Taylor that carries snakes, lizards, spiders plus supplies. He seems very knowledgeable and friendly to talk to if you have any questions.

[Aralis]

I have a chinchilla. His name is Reznor but I usually just call him ChiChi Boy.

I also have a long haired Norwegian Forest Cat. She is tortie/calico. Her name is Bella and she is my baby!

[Scales]

Err..

I have a 7 foot long African Diamond-head python. I wubs her

Cool snake.

[cptdeath]

i raised alot of pets. the best are pythons. burmese are usualy very friendly but grow much to large for cumfortable captivity. i have done very well with the australian jungle carpet python. his name was rahkinishu. he got to be an unheard of 12'. usually the female is larger and they only get 7'. i raised him from little for seven years. i had to move and could'nt keep him. i found some good people at gibralter trade center who take good care of all there exotics. they found a breeding farm for him pretty easy cause of his freakish size. he could get tempermentle when handling but not a bighter. he would panic if you didn't support enough of his body weight and would start to clime up. if really stressed he would pee on you way before he would bite you. What is not known about this species witch is commonly a bird eater

is that it has retractable teeth hidden and rarley used besides the teeth on it's gums. three large thick clear needles on each side two are 5 inches and the middle is 7inches in length. a smaller 1.5 " set around the big ones. this is not documented anywhere. the thick clear needles are rarley seen if ever.

only three times in those 7 years did i see them. once was a large bunny. it was disturbing to witness. i had never had any idea about the large needles. wathcing those seven inch clear needles sliding into the bunny slowly as blood squrted in lines across the cage in all directions. the needles are thick and clear so as the went in you could see into the bunny if you looked into the clear needles and watch the reflection of it's insides.

sorry to get so descriptive. normally he was a people snake, docile and non threatening.

if you have no experience with snakes i would recomend you don't try to handle them unsupervised.

if you want one they have good and bad sides.

the artificial heat cost money, the feeding is unpleasent, there not good with small children. they can be dangerous if not properly handled or missunderstood.

on the plus. they require little attention. can be left alone for a few days maybee a month with out much attention. they don't affect allergies. they are amazing animals. if you have experience with snakes you can look at it and see it's mood and most pythons are cool and mean no harm. they only attack when triggered but when they do it's to the death. my burmeese bight me once by mistake. it didn't bight down, it new right away it missed it's target and immediatley hid as if remorsefull. it was scarred and sorry like a little kid.

i was hoping to get work here in FL catching the burmeese that live in the everglades here. I've seen how the snakes are treated by the inexperienced park rangers and wildlife types. they wonder why they get bit.

i've told you here more then they know. pour warm water on the snakes head or a slight alchahol water or pnemonia water on it and it will release. use a tennise racket to prevent injury to the snake. if you support the majority of the pythons weight it will not strugle and you can just pick it up like a pet. if you hurt it or piss it off well your bad. allways unwind the snake starting at the tail. Put your hand in a bag like a large pillow case and grab the snake then pull the bag inside out while holding it and you cought a snake wow. these wildlife guys are clowns. you have to realize that all the pythons in flordia were at one time in captivity or for generations bread and raised in captivity descended from snakes raised in captivity.

there not that mean.

on the other hand boa constrictors are mean and want to kill you like all the time. avoid those as pets. they can be accustomed to people but will still single out certian people as a food source. never had good luck with them.

oh and all scorpians glow in blacklights it's cool