What's the buzz?

[Will0W783]

Last night I went to pick up an order of frozen rodents from my friend's business partner. This guy is, well....immature is probably the best description. My friend Kelly runs their business, paying bills, organizing events, etc. while Tom cares for the animals and goes traveling around with them. He's not always made the best decisions where his animals are concerned, so I generally avoid him. But he had an overload of frozen rodents so I got a great price and my snakes need to eat.

Anyway, when I got there he mentioned a 4-year-old wild caught Northern Pacific rattlesnake he had that he didn't really want anymore. He told me he only checked on it about twice a month......he only looked in on it once or twice a MONTH!!! He told me it was underweight and small, but healthy. I needed another snake like I needed a hole in the head, but I cannot stand animals not getting proper care and won't tolerate it. Needless to say he came home with me. He's very skinny and not even two feet long....he's about the size of a pygmy rattler, when he should be 3-4 feet long at this age. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!:mad:

I am really really hoping I can get weight and size on the poor little guy. I will admit though, it is nice to have a rattler in the house again. They are fascinating snakes and I enjoy them a lot.

Here's the poor little fellow: (he needs a good name)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/20121115_212726.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/20121115_212704.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/Will0W783/20121115_212632.jpg

[Nikki1984]

Poor fella, he is pretty though. Good on you for helping him out. I look forward to seeing his progress.

[Will0W783]

Thanks Nikki....I hope he does well.

[Nikki1984]

I can't get over how little he is. I know he said he was four years, but how long did the guy himself have him for?

[Will0W783]

Four years. I was told he was wild-caught as a neonate. It ticks me off that he is this small for four years old....or possibly older. He's been in captivity, owned by the guy I got him from, for four years.

I am stunned at how tiny he is...rattlers are generally fairly quick growers for pitvipers. He's not much bigger than my 6-month-old copperheads.

[MoreliAddict]

"Snakes are like potato chips...you can never have just one!"

Nice snake! Fits in well with the rest of your collection. :)

[Nikki1984]

Damn. Well at least he is in good hands now. I can't stand people that get animals and don't put any time or effort into them. Why even bother in the first place? Again. Good luck and I look forward to hearing about this little guy in the future.

[DragonsEye]

LastHere's the poor little fellow: (he needs a good name)

How about Rattle-touille (ratatouille)? :D

[jarich]

Cute little guy! Although I think you already have the name in your thread title, dont you?

BUZZ

[Rogue628]

Poor baby! I cannot put in polite words how I feel about him being that little! He doesn't look much bigger than the babies I used to find back home! Talk about stunted growth! Ugh! :mad:

With him being that old, do you think he's growth has been permanently stunted? At least his in good hands now!

How about Rattle-touille (ratatouille)? :D

I really like this one! :D

[Will0W783]

I honestly don't know if his growth is stunted...I think only time will tell. I don't really care if he gets much larger...he just needs meat on his bones. A small rattler is not a bad thing, as long as it is a solid weight for its size.

I was thinking as I brought him home that I kind of wanted to call him "Oregano." The scientific name for Northern Pacific rattlesnakes is Crotalus oreganus, and Oregano popped into my head. My fiance said it was a "stupid name for a venomous snake. We are not calling him that." He gets until the end of the weekend to come up with something better, or I'm naming him either Oregano or Buzz....

[MoreliAddict]

Oregano sounds good...

[AjaMichelle]

Aw I think that's a great name for a venomous snake! :) Congratulations on your new addition, though it wasn't under the best circumstances. That fellow doesn't sound like an individual who should be caring for animals. :/

[Will0W783]

I know. I have strong feelings on the issue. I think my friend Kelly needs to walk away from the whole situation, before she ends up going bankrupt. But it's complicated, and I understand that. However, I'd have his head on a plate for caring as loosely for the snakes as he does. He enjoys them; they're a passion, but he lacks the followthrough to give them the proper enclosures. He'd rather have 50 snakes and drag them all over for educational shows, than have 15 snakes that have proper caging and proper travel accomodations. I'm of the mindset that one should not have more animals than one can give proper, excellent care to.

[jaleely]

i don't see how he can go around anywhere with his snakes and not have someone point out they're underweight and mistreated. probably has, but doesn't care.

whatever. i can't believe that snake lived that long...obviously didn't thrive, but did barely survive : (
Poor thing.

i'm glad you took in little Oregano ; )

[Snakeman8]

thats a snake i should definitly start looking into:).

[Will0W783]

Update: JOhn and I decided to name him Pedro. John really hated the name Oregano, and he's a San Pedro locale snake. Pedro is cute and kind of fits him I guess.

Pedro has a nice full belly now. Friday night he was in the front of the cage, rattling and looking all around to explore. I offered him a rat pup; he sniffed it but refused to strike it. I offered him a mouse fuzzy and he inhaled it. I didn't have any larger mice, so I gave him two more mouse fuzzies, but it barely left a bump. So yesterday I went and got a few frozen adult mice from the pet store and he snarfed one of them down....picky feeder my butt. If he maintains this good appetite, he should put some weight on in no time.

[Aaron_S]

Have you decided if you will keep him or once he's in good health, up for sale/trade?

[Metalserpent]

Nice rescue. We are into rattlers as well. Once this one gets a few meals down you will see a difference fairly quick. 4 years? Lol! He's fed you a line of sh*t. Looks like a youngster to me. Anyways, good job and have fun. Post up some pics later after a few meals.

[iBaman]

Nice rescue. We are into rattlers as well. Once this one gets a few meals down you will see a difference fairly quick. 4 years? Lol! He's fed you a line of sh*t. Looks like a youngster to me. Anyways, good job and have fun. Post up some pics later after a few meals.

or he's severely malnourished and didn't get enough to grow...

[Metalserpent]

Does look skinny. No worries now though, the little one has a good home.

[Will0W783]

Aaron, I'm hoping we can keep this one. With Miss Buzztail, she was a bit too unpredictable and defensive. This little fellow seems much more laid-back. Either way, I'm going to do my best to keep him.

This morning I came down to find he had regurged his mouse that he got on Saturday. I am wondering if it was maybe a bit too big, or the combination of that and the fuzzies he ate a few days earlier was too much. He just kept looking for food and pressing his face against the glass while I fed the others, so I gave him more.
I hope he'll be ok... I feel pretty dumb...overfeeding a malnourished snake is a mistake I should know better than to make. I need to find mice that are about weanling size, or really small adults. Three fuzzies didn't leave any noticeable bulge and he was looking for more, but one adult mouse was too much.

[Nikki1984]

Aaron, I'm hoping we can keep this one. With Miss Buzztail, she was a bit too unpredictable and defensive.

Three fuzzies didn't leave any noticeable bulge and he was looking for more, but one adult mouse was too much.

Miss Buzztail was an atrox right? Some of the most intimidating crotes I've come across have been WDB. The guy that mentored me has some very large males that you really have to be on your A-Game around.

As for Pedro how about rat pinks/fuzzies? Larger but in my opinion easier to digest than an adult mouse.

[Will0W783]

Pedro will not touch rats. I tried with rat pinks and pups...he sniffed them but would not strike them. He readily took the mice though. I wish he'd eat rats;they have a higher fat content and would help get the weight on him more quickly.

Miss Buzztail was an atrox. They are very initmidating snakes; generally the most aggressive/defensive rattlers out there.

[Metalserpent]

Our buzzers take the winter off. I replace the power suns with 50 watt lamps. They go into their hides and stay there all winter. Do you do anything similar? They don't feed from nov to about march. Our sonoran sidewinder has done this for the past 6 years. The Mojave green seems to be slowing down. Just switched the lamp out on him last night.

[beardeds4life]

He is a very pretty snake! It makes me so livid when people do that.

[Will0W783]

Metalserpent, he's in my main snake room which is not cooled for the winter. I only cycle animals I am planning to breed. With the passing of my emerald tree boas, it is possible for me to remodel my upstairs viper room and take him up there (it's cooler up there for the arboreals), if you think that's a better idea than keeping him at year-round warmer temps.

He did eat a mouse crawler on Sunday night and has kept it down thus far. He's back up in the front of his cage hunting, but he wont' be fed again for at least a week. I want to give his system time to build back up after the regurge. I know when he's looking for food though; usually he will stay in the back corner in his hide, but when he wants to eat he comes to the front of the cage and cruises back and forth, flicking his tongue through the air vents on the door. He does this until he's fed, then he returns to the hide.

[Lubeybooby]

The little guy is lucky you came along. Thanks for being a good person :)

[Will0W783]

Pedro is doing great! He's putting on some weight and becoming much more active. I see him cruising around the cage a lot more often lately, and he comes up to the glass to watch me. He rattles constantly though. :) I'm so glad he is looking healthier and happier.

[beardeds4life]

Pedro is doing great! He's putting on some weight and becoming much more active. I see him cruising around the cage a lot more often lately, and he comes up to the glass to watch me. He rattles constantly though. :) I'm so glad he is looking healthier and happier.

That is great. We do love pictures...(hint hint)

[Will0W783]

I'll have to get some more pics of him. He rattles and hides from me though, lol.

[beardeds4life]

Ill be waiting :D