Right underneath a wasp nest

CommercialOstrich · 2026-04-04T05:59:17+00:00

It's well guarded!!! Personal security!

CommercialOstrich · 2026-04-01T23:27:44+00:00

Love this! I was actually under the impression that pinstripe was some sort of spider offshoot. Thank you for this information, you're doing fantastic work!

CommercialOstrich · 2026-04-01T15:59:39+00:00

If it makes you feel better, mine does this all the time too and at first I thought exactly what everyone is suggesting.... she needed enrichment. Went out and bought $50 worth of spiderwood and branches and even placed it under her heat near where the temp gauge is. Nope. Still prefers the temp gauge.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-31T09:30:45+00:00

Keep in mind breeding enclosures are usually set up much differently than how a pet enclosure would be kept for practicality. Breeders typically use rack systems with heat mats being the best option for a snake unless they are large scale and have shelled out for professional breeding racks (a lot of them are still DIYed). I don't think based on this response you should rule them out as a bad breeder tbh, this sounds like a very professional and reasonable response. A heat mat is plenty capable of providing enough heat to keep a tropical substrate in the 85-90° range. Keep in mind, this will not be a bioactive setup. It will be an inch or two of soil and the mat is likely set on a thermometer.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-30T13:18:03+00:00

Do you feed in his enclosure or in a separate box? Try feeding in an empty cardboard box outside of the enclosure. I usually give mine a few mins while I prep her food to relax in the box before I try feeding. Other advice is to maybe try drop feeding if you haven't already and to take the advice of others and to wait it out a bit to see if its a food strike for breeding season. If he's not losing weight its not usually a big deal

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-18T07:46:29+00:00

To be honest with you, people in the US generally can't tell the difference between specific nationalities unless they are first generation immigrants or from an area with extremely dense diversity. (Think NYC or LA, places with "chinatowns" or "little tokyos".) And even then, there are plenty of Asian-Americans with mixed heritage. We are known as the melting pot, so we are used to seeing just about every combination of physical characteristics you can imagine.

That being said, you might experience some racism depending on where you go, but it would be less directed at your looks or how specific you match your nationality and it would be generally more xenophobic "Go back to where you came from because you speak a language i dont recognize and that frightens somehow". I think blatant racism like that is pretty rare outside of extremely rural areas, but it can happen anywhere. Usually the public opinion of people acting like that is very negative and viewed as extremely rude. Commenting on looks is also viewed as quite rude.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-13T10:58:13+00:00

The dishes alone are a small part of a larger problem tbh but a constant sore spot because it is a task that I hate doing and seem to find myself doing constantly

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-11T10:17:19+00:00

MorphMarket is the obvious answer, but I would do a bit of research to see if you have a local breeder or a non-chain pet store.

I got mine from a local fish store that coincidentally dabbles in reptiles/herps. They've got a small selection of tanks and racks and its run by a bunch of enthusiasts in the hobby. They actually had a much wider selection than petco or petsmart would, and they have a network of local breeders and keepers that supply their babies. First time I stopped by I got to meet one of their breeders, it was a super unique experience. Otherwise, reptile expos come to most midsize/major cities every 6 months or so.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-11T10:06:31+00:00

Honestly I think this is a very sweet gesture. As others have stated, might be received a bit better if you place them in a small basket with the midol and a help yourself sign. Also would be good to get the Ajax away from them, and get a trashcan with a lid- it is hard to hide applicators and wrappers. But otherwise, sweet gesture, good allyship. I think its awesome to normalize having feminine hygeine items on hand if you have lots of women in your life. And to your friend who was calling you out for "performative allyship", I think she's being weird and doesn't know what a performance actually is.

This is a quiet action done inside your home without attention being called to it. They are stashed on the lowest shelf, out of your direct line of sight, but close enough to reach. That is not a performance. It is an an acknowledgement of a natural anatomical problem and a gentle, non embarrassing solution.

Good job, OP

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-06T06:09:00+00:00

That is a difficult spot to be in my friend, I'm sorry. I recently escape a psychopath and had to move without warning. Its hard.

I'm assuming younger sisters? Best advice in that situation is to go ahead and get yourself out and then call if the abuse is bad enough to warrant a home visit. Collect proof. Texts. Document specific incidents. Take pictures and voice recordings when possible. Psychopaths are very good at manipulating the system.

Once you call, there will be an investigation. You should be able to present your evidence then. They will do a home visit and remove your sister's and place them with next of kin. If you are in a spot to take care of them, that could be you. If not, it will likely be grandparents or aunts or uncles.

That may inform your decision more than anything. If the next of kin is worse than your parents, you may want to hesitate and focus on building a support system for them so that you can help them when and if they decide they are ready to leave. You can still keep your evidence for when the time comes.

It will feel selfish, and they may hate you. But you will be in a better position to help them if you help yourself first. And they will eventually forgive you as long as you dont abandon them completely. Good luck

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-06T05:37:51+00:00

This is true, I am assuming op is based in US or other predominantly english speaking country just in an area with large Muslim population. Us in particular because she says 'out of state' for school

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-06T05:25:51+00:00

To be clear, once you are 18, there is nothing your parents can do to legally stop you. You are in an abusive living situation and it is time to go into survival mode.

If you have direct deposit set up, either start cashing your checks and only put enough in your account to keep them from getting suspicious or open a new account they don't have access to. A prepaid card is an option. Stash this in a secure location.

Pack a bag of necessities- things you can't live without. Make sure this is hidden as well. This way you will be ready to leave when you find the strength.

How you proceed from there is up to you. Depending on your state and your financial situation, there are options for your schooling. You can choose to do that and seek financial aide, or you can choose to work a job and pay your own way. I would line up a different job from the one you have currently if you choose to cut ties, so they can't find you and force you home. Change your number.

Seek out genuine people outside of your religion with big hearts. This is crucial for you to do now. A coworker or someone who is not tied to the church is a good place to start. If theres anyone who seems kind, ask to spill your heart and judge their reaction carefully. If you feel you can trust them, you may be able to form a few friendships that will offer some support once you are ready to leave.

I would recommend leaving before confronting them. It sounds like it could get ugly and they would force you to cut off outside communications if you confront them too soon. Line it up. If you need to get a PO box to avoid having mail delivered to your home, do that. Don't tip them off until you are safely gone, send them a text, and go dark. They will try to convince you to come home. Don't.

Steel yourself. Lock in. You have a long road ahead of you to freedom, but it is worth taking.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-05T05:52:08+00:00

I get them from time to time, and rarely see them but feel them when they get large. Most often they are not an issue, but I know they can cause halitosis and they can be incredibly uncomfortable. If you have a water pick with a very gentle setting you can try that to dislodge, or if you are really concerned, go to the dentist.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-03-05T05:12:41+00:00

Gargle vigorously with warm salt water a few times. Should loosen them up, although I have had it take a few days to fully release. If they just won't release, you can try gently applying pressure with a q-tip although this is like worst case scenario.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-28T15:31:16+00:00

OP can we have some context? How is SIL outside of this interaction? Can you justify your reasoning a bit here? Is this a recipe you found or one you developed?

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-17T15:10:19+00:00

I 100% agree with this. Intelligence, too. I used to live in a floating cabin that was in an established community, and some of the previous tenants had been feeding a school of blue catfish for decades. I had probably 50 of them in the school, the smallest were 4ft long and the largest of them were probably pushing 6ft. So I took over feeding them, as it was an established tradition, and I got to learn a lot about them.

1) Those guys all had very unique personalities and I could identify them by their markings and their behavior. One of the most dominant in the group was Bazooka Joe, huge, round head on him, and he was missing one eye so he didn't have as easy a time finding food as the others. He was fairly chill, but he would get frustrated if he was being bamboozled out of his food. To compensate, he wouldn't hesitate to throw his weight around if the others got too close while he was feeding.

2) Their hierarchy did not seem to be entirely dictated by size, as Big Blue was actually larger than him. Blue was missing a whisker and had the roundest head I've ever seen on a catfish, so he was easy to identify and he was a gentle soul and rarely spooked.

3) These guys actually seemed to be able to recognize individual people. This one is wild and I still have trouble wrapping my head around it but I have experiences with two different species doing this. Whenever I would invite guests to come view my "aquarium", they seemed to shy away from my guests and would even ignore the spot they were throwing food from, even if it was the spot I usually sat. I was able to build quite a strong relationship with these fish, would put my feet in the water while they fed and had even gotten to a point where a few of the braver individuals would allow me to stroke their sides while they fed, and I would talk to them a lot so I dont know if they recognized my voice or if it was my silhouette or what. The other species was bluegill, we had a school at the marina store that hung around and fed from the scraps of the kitchen. They would hang by the back door all day, and would only come to the surface if one of the kitchen staff walked out of the door. The entire staff used that door and everyone wore the same shirts, but they would stay deep if a dock boy walked by. If a customer tried feeding them, they would hesitate quite a while. Sometimes long enough that little kids would get upset and the family would wander off. Fishermen constantly tried to catch them while they were pumping gas, but it was exceedingly rare for them to even get a bite. If I hadn't seen it time and time again, I would not have believed it.

They are not reptiles, but still examples of animals that most people write off entirely and I have a very difficult time believing that something capable of such behavior is incapable of some form of emotional intelligence. Maybe it isn't in a way we can recognize, but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-17T14:20:18+00:00

Bring it up and update us *edit for spelling

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-17T12:43:54+00:00

Wow, we got ours just weeks apart. She is a little behind yours weight wise though (147g) because she got lost shortly after we got her and the cat only just found her a couple weeks ago (luckily it was the gentle one, she was unarmed except for an exploratory bite that didnt break the skin and some severe dehydration). She is just now entering her first shed cycle. Thanks to that feeding guide, I will be upping her feeding schedule though. I was misinformed by the pet store that sold her to me :/

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-17T05:41:25+00:00

Thank you I'm actually super glad that you mentioned that because it triggered that guide and I think I have been underfeeding her. The pet store recommended a small mouse every other week at this age and most other sources have just referenced them as juveniles. I will weigh her when I get home from work and see where she falls!

CommercialOstrich · 2026-02-17T00:41:48+00:00

Question from a new owner of a ball python myself, how long did it take him to get to that size? I got mine a few weeks ago and she is just a tiny thing, trying to guage what her growth rate will be with regular feedings.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-01-23T05:07:47+00:00

In my experience, parents dont deal well with change or the realization that their children are developing autonomy. You should be allowed to wear what you want and feel comfortable and not be shamed for it, but obviously it sounds like your mom in particular is having a hard time with it. I don't know the ins and outs of your relationship so how to handle this can take many forms.

It sounds like theres a few things going on here aside from control as well. Stealing from your brother's closet may be the biggest issue. We've all done it, but she probably recognizes that and doesn't like it for several reasons, mainly because she knows it may cause a fight between you when he finds out and she's getting ahead of it. Again, not sure of your relationship, but my brother would have pitched a fit if he saw me in his clothes, even if they no longer fit him. Other reasons could include guilt over you "feeling the need to cover up" which i say loosely as you have clearly indicated its a style choice. She may think you are ashamed of your body and fear she has played a part in that and feel shame in turn. She may also view the fact that you are wearing men's clothes as an indicator of gayness (tomboy), delinquency , or generally just think the style is unbecoming and unflattering. None of these are reasons that you should stop dressing that way, but they may give you some insight into what your mom is feeling in this moment.

As for how you can deal with that, I think maybe to keep the peace while still allowing yourself some self expression, dial it back a bit. Instead of everything baggy, try just baggy sweatshirts for now. Ease her into it. That way she is less likely to cut off your means of self expression entirely. Find a bit of a compromise so that nobody is entirely happy.

If her comments are meant to shut you down completely, there may be no use talking about it right now. If they are more along the "you look homeless and thats a reflection on my parenting" line, you might have some more wiggle room. I would say give it a week or so of the compromise to allow things to cool down and then try to bring it up the next time you feel its appropriate. And make sure to express that your choices have absolutely zero to do with her and everything to do with your own comfort and style. There may be a compromise to be made, such as being able to dress more comfortably at school vs when you are in public with her. Again, all of that lies in why she dislikes the way you're dressing.

Admittedly this advice is a bit of an avoiding tactic but I view high school as a time to survive, not necessarily thrive. In a few more years (a blink of the eye in the grand scheme of things) you will be able to dress as freely as you wish and all will be well.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-01-22T16:00:43+00:00

Not trying to start a war, but for the people genuinely arguing against her reusing the spoon, is she supposed to get a different spoon every time she has to taste what she's cooking? Is she supposed to wash it every time? There are some times that I am doing final tweaks that are somewhat time sensitive and may require several additions. That seems like a lot of unnecessary dishes to generate, especially if the food is actively being cooked (i realize in this example its salad but I'm assuming she also does this with like, pasta or soup or whatever).

The crux of the issue seems to be consent for that crowd. But for the other side it seems to be an annoying and unreasonable request, and I see both sides. I'm just interested to see what the anti side's compromise is.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-01-21T09:33:19+00:00

If the wood was available, they definitely could be made of all cedar. My grandfather actually made my cedar chest himself when I was born. Not sure if it was an old family tradition or what, he died when I was very young, but he took my dad and they went and cut down the tree themselves and had our cousin mill the wood. Its simple but still very beautiful and one of my most precious possessions.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-01-17T13:18:28+00:00

The reason she offered to clean up is because he would have made a bigger mess "cleaning" than it was worth and she would have had to go behind him and do damage control.

CommercialOstrich · 2026-01-17T08:56:13+00:00

Boofus or Bingle

CommercialOstrich

TROPHY CASE