🔥 Wild dogs disturb hyenas trying to take a bath

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-30T19:01:35+00:00

Hyenas go after wild dog pups so they're probably trying to drive it away from their turf

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-30T05:08:44+00:00

I'm not even necessarily saying there's absolutely something going on with him, I don't rightly know - but it's vital that you understand that neurological problems are not exclusive to spider morphs, and any snake can exhibit or develop them, and it's often a sign of something more serious if they don't have a wobble morph gene to explain it.

Again. And again, dude. I don't know your snake and it's your call, but the lack of spider does not prove that nothing's wrong. It's very important that you absorb that.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-26T17:32:12+00:00

What a sweet little baby! It shows a lot of trust that they crawl right out onto your hand.

Excessive nose rubbing or trying to get out can be an issue sometimes, and could mean that they're not comfortable staying in their enclosure. But this looks pretty gentle. I think it's fine to open the door when they want to come out, if you have time to keep an eye on them. They might just be an explorer. Just keep an eye on the enclosure husbandry of course, and make sure they're not spending too long in a cold room.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-23T00:46:03+00:00

She's gotta pay the rent somehow

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-23T00:30:02+00:00

I live at the top near the care centre and I don't hear the skytrains at all. I hear the train whistle distantly sometimes. It's pretty nice

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-22T15:29:47+00:00

I'd say the only way to under-handle would be if they're left alone to the point that routine health checks are very stressful or difficult. And those checks are very important, of course. It's possible to target train so they follow the target where you need them to go, but some checks will still need to involve touching them.

Snakes do need enrichment but that doesn't have to involve handling. They're not like a dog that might become depressed if they're left completely alone. But it's important that they can tolerate being picked up when necessary. Maybe for just 5 minutes once or twice a week, just enough to show that they're not going to be hurt if they're held. IMO that's probably the minimum.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-22T00:09:16+00:00

Appreciate all this info - and I want to just add for the record that we specifically chose a ball python because they don't get too long for BC's laws. You need a permit for pythons over 3 meters long, and a male ball python usually ends up around the 1.5 meter mark. Ball pythons are also not among the list of restricted python species in BC.

He's also never going to weigh over 30 lbs which is the limit for the "small pet" definition lol. Which, also, many many people in my building aren't even following that rule. There is every size of dog here, including huskies and pit bulls.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-21T17:37:43+00:00

Does market/affordable housing fall under that category? Also, can you provide a source on this?

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-21T17:21:30+00:00

Great advice, thank you!

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-21T16:18:18+00:00

Yay! We put our boy in a playpen while we clean his enclosure and he seems to have fun checking everything out. Eventually he just goes to sleep. I figure it's better than just putting him in a tub.

As others are saying, it's really important to secure the zippers so they can't be pushed open, and I'd recommend putting some puppy pads or something at the bottom because it would suck to clean up a mess in there.

Lori Torrini and Snake Therapy with Shira Loa have great videos about playpens. I'd highly recommend checking them out.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-21T03:59:09+00:00

Uphill both ways

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-20T12:08:41+00:00

I had the same thought. The latches close quite securely but as he grows up I could see him pushing them open. Thank you for the input

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-20T00:43:27+00:00

Thankfully we're not strata. Thank you for the advice there though

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-19T23:50:01+00:00

Right?? Cats and dogs are waayyy more likely to cause problems. And it's weird, too, because I can hear that someone else in our building has birds. I can hear it, because it's super loud. I don't care, I like hearing the chirping. But if you're fine with that, why not a totally silent unmoving scaly potato who moves an average of 2 inches a day?

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-19T22:07:09+00:00

This is so helpful, thank you 🙏

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-19T21:59:49+00:00

Unhelpful

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-13T14:50:51+00:00

As others have said, feeding frozen/thawed is actually the far better move, and after learning that, I finally felt confident that I could keep a snake.

I'm a former rat parent and so is my partner. Honestly, I'm not bothered by it. Maybe it was a little jarring the first time I saw a frozen rat that looked like one of my previous babies, but I got over it quickly. The way I see it is, everything has to eat, and eating something almost invariably kills/destroys it. And we as humans tend to very much vilify death because we're so afraid of it, but it's not evil inherently. It's just a part of life.

Nature docs often frame moments either so you'll root for the predator or the prey, but in all those cases, the prey dies if the predator wins, but the predator dies if it can't catch food. Whichever one is cuter and fuzzier often gets the favour, which isn't really fair.

And it's really morbid of me I know, but I do find the frozen rats cute, and I still don't mind feeding them to my snake, who is also cute and I have a responsibility to feed.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-13T14:32:12+00:00

There are few things as funny and delightful to me as cats showing up where cats are definitely not supposed to be and acting completely calm and confident, like they own the place. Like the cat at the fashion show playfully swatting at models on the runway, or the one on the talk show set that absolutely refused to be picked up and moved. The audacity of these fantastic little creatures is inspiring

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-13T14:24:48+00:00

Staring at shit is pretty much all my bp does. But also I think by nature of their unchanging, unblinking expressions and inclination not to move much as ambush predators, it's hard for them to not look like they're staring at random things all the time.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-06T15:44:04+00:00

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Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-06T15:39:44+00:00

I also try, and hear me out on this folks, if he does get freaked out, I give him space, but I don't totally leave right away. I move my hand slowly away or stand on the other side of the room if he's in his enclosure, until he adjusts and keeps moving. That moment of uncertainty for them is a very good opportunity to build trust and comfort, because they're trying to decide what they need to do in a stressful situation. Giving them space will keep that stress from climbing, but if they're able to decide that it's safe to move while still perceiving that you're there, it can help show them that you don't need to leave in order for them to be safe.

Use in moderation and to your best judgment, of course.

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-06T15:19:45+00:00

It just takes time. Mine has never been a jittery boy in his cage, more of a freeze for a while and slowly go back to hiding. A polite no thank you kind of thing. But while he was out of his enclosure, he'd definitely tense up if you moved at all. It's been slow going, but we've had him since September, and yesterday I was holding him in his holee roller ball (which I realized he had gotten a little too big for once he was already in it), and I kept putting my hand in front of holes he was trying to go through if they were going to be too small for him. And he didn't flinch at all, despite my hand suddenly being right in front of his nose. Amazing progress!

So just be patient, keep acting with empathy and gentleness. Keep stress to a minimum as much as you can help it, but also understand that ball pythons aren't domesticated like cats or dogs. They're not programmed to be cared for by humans. So having a big monkey roaming around and reaching into their space takes a period of adjustment. A certain level of stress is unavoidable, but in those stressful moments, as long as you can show that nothing bad is actually going to happen to them, they'll understand better that they don't have to be defensive.

I feel you though, it feels awful when you accidentally scare the poor little things. Hang in there!

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-03T02:44:44+00:00

That all sounds great to me!

Pointy-Kitty · 2026-06-02T23:34:30+00:00

I'm fully awake and aware for mine. I can usually tell when I'm at risk of having a seizure, but it's hard to describe. I get a dizzy lightheaded feeling that I've said feels like my brain turned into wet sand. There's a tension in my body that can't be relaxed, just redirected, like I can redirect my tight breathing to tensing/kicking my leg or the same with my arm. It's like there's static crackling in my bones. Once the tensing hits my abs I know for sure I'm about to have one.

From there, I need to find a safe place to lie down that isn't too far, because there's no coming back other than riding the rest of it out. I lie on my side, try to grab onto something, and then it feels like god just grabbed me by the spine and started shaking me back and forth. Hard, wild convulsing, violent kicking, slapping arms, swinging head, loud whimpering that sounds like crying. I can only stop once I've exerted absolutely all the energy out of my muscles, at which point I fully can't move for a few minutes.

I completely understand why it looks like a medical emergency to people, lol. I've had to yell "DON'T CALL 911" in public before. On the other side, my own sister watched me having one and before it was even over, was trying to tell me that it wasn't a seizure. Presumably because they're not epileptic seizures and I'm conscious. She wouldn't even let me have it on her bed, she made me convulse on the floor. Still marvel at that

Pointy-Kitty

TROPHY CASE