lotsa snakes!

[jaleely]

Hi! I don't remember if I've posted an introduction or not! So here it is again, or at least for the first time! : )

Name is Melissa, and my Husband Kevin and I got our first snake in January, a female Ball python we named Sapphie (sapphire) for no reason except we liked the name. She's a normal.
This kind of set me off on my new snake obsession. I'm not your typical obsessed kind of person. I don't usually get that way, but shortly afterwards we knew we wanted to adopt a snake that needed a home. That led us to Jasper, a 10 year old normal male ball. He's covered in scars, and his really afraid of everything. He's had something rip a huge opening down his belly, and he wheezes when he gets upset. (no it's not a RI, we think he has a bit of scar tissue) there are knots of scar tissue all over him. We've had him since the end of July, I think. He was kinda fat! So he hasn't eaten since we've gotten him. I'm not worried yet. He's had plenty of healthy poos. *lol*
So, we went on vacation to Australia (where part of my husband's family is from) and in one of the zoos we saw a coastal carpet python...and fell in love! So we went on a quest to find one when we got back home. I did find one, at GBU in Lodi California (was on a road trip) and since I was kind of new to snakes and didn't know much about carpet pythons, was kind of confused into getting myself a jungle/coastal mix...though at the time I thought she was just a coastal. *lol* Anyway, Her name is Silver, for her silver eyes...and she is a fiesty bitey brat. I love her!
Good healthy eater, and has gained quite a bit of length.
She still poops or bites when upset though *rolls eyes*
OKay...so then we went to a reptile show, August 6th in Pasadena, CA. At this point, I knew i wanted to breed Dumeril's boas. I left the show with a baby male (Rusty) a fat young female (Tanzanite...or Tanzy for short), a pale ghostly female Bolivian Boa named Platinum (platy for short) and Copper, a female western hognose.
SO....now I also knew i wanted more hognose snakes : )
A couple weeks ago we added a greenish male western, almost a hatchling I named Peridot (Perry).
OKay, so i have plenty of snakes! I also recently got a job at a petstore...i've been working there about a month and a half, and since then have brought home a homeless rose hair tarantula, a cockatiel, and yesterday, an orange baby corn snake...whom I've since named OBT as kind of a joke, because she is really not used to being handled and is BRIGHT orange, and bites (orange bitey thing...which is sometimes used to describe some tarantulas).

Okay...so... i'm not done! *lmao* Including the new rose hair, we have a total of 7 tarantulas, 3 ghost mantids, and a tailless whipscorpion...not to mention a huge fresh water fish tank, 2 salt water tanks, and two dogs (a beagle named Daisy, and a basset hound named Bowser)

Okay, so...yeah. I have a lot of pets now! I actually talked to the crazy cat lady at work (who runs a crazy cat lady rescue) and we might work it out so that i can be the crazy snake lady and run a rescue through her. I'm mulling that over....only because i worry about space! Otherwise i'd do it in a heartbeat!
The reason i decided to hop on and tell you all about my obsession, etc., is because after getting OBT yesterday, giving her a nice clean cage, a bath (lordy did she stink...she had been hiding in her own feces) and then letting her settle in....it was really rewarding to hold her tonight, and once she calmed down, to watch her gulp down a rat leg : )
(i usually do full rats/mice etc, but it just worked out tonight that she got a leg when our fat spoiled Sapphie made it come off as she was eating!)

I held her, and she gulped it down as fast as she could. She was so cute...and the poor thing! She isn't skinny, but she was hungry.
I just didn't really have anyone to share that with, and no one really "gets" why i'd be so moved by a snake eating : )
But i figure other reptile enthusiasts would agree that it feels pretty good to take care of a snake in need!
So here I am. : )

Well nice to meet you all...I don't know if OBT is going to keep that name, but anyone have any ideas on an orange gemstone, or mineral? Gotta keep the theme going!! : )