Another n00b to a wonderful forum!

[The Dizzy Vizzy]

Hello ladies & gents, I found this forum on a whim, almost by mistake, but given that it has serious numbers on various threads, I figure it's a cool place to get started. I've been itching to get a Colombian Red Tail... A long time ago, I had this great, beautiful Red Tail that I handled ALL THE TIME. At about 4 feet long, she was absolutely AWESOME, and her name was Aphrodite . When I was at home, she was ALWAYS OUT of her terrarium. Sometimes I'd let her slither around (albeit with a very close eye on her), and sometimes she'd just perch on me. She was WONDERFUL. I know this sounds weird, but sometimes I'd put her on the couch, and give her a slow, heavy massage. I'd start with the back of her head, the jaws, and give them a rub for about 20 seconds. At this point, she would stop moving at all. I think I conditioned her to do that. I'd slowly put my finger and thumb on her spine, and with just a touch of downward pressure, I'd slowly go down about 6 inches, and then back up, but much more lighter due to her scales. Then I'd go past that, and do the same thing, over and over, until I reached her tail. The damnedest thing was, as I had to go down the length of her body, I'd "straighten her out", and she would have ZERO CONTEST WHATSOEVER. She'd let me do that, and I knew she just loved it.


Finally, because I spent so much time with her, she would perch on me for hours, you know, around my neck. Now here's the damnedest thing...


Let's say I have friends over, and she was perched on me. Someone would say "oh can I have her for a bit?" And I'd be like "Yeah..."


So let's say I'd have Mark & Penelope over. I'd take Aphrodite off of around my neck, and I'd gently give her to perch on Penelope's neck. All was well. She's a great creature, and has never been known to strike, hiss, or whatnot.


So, just to BLOW PEOPLE'S HEADS OFF, after 5 mins of Aph being perched on Penelope's neck, I'd have Penelope sit on the couch (actually this depends on which side of Penelope's neck she's on, so let's just say Penelope had Aph on her right side). So, I have Penelope sit on the left side of the couch, with Aph's head on the right. I'd sit on the right side, where Aph could smell me, and here it is... works every time... Aphrodite would crawl off of my friend and climb on to me, once again, perching on me, and she'd stay there for hours until I went to bed. She was just an AMAZING CREATURE. WONDERFUL. BEAUTIFUL. WARM. FRIENDLY AND DOCILE.



Anyway, I had to give her up for countless reasons, each one I regret. But I was not in a position to object.


So, my girlfriend HATES SNAKES. Can't get one just yet, but when a window opens, I'll be all over it like stink on crap.


Glad to be a part of this forum...


- DIZZY