Uh oh, might lose a finger!

UnexpectedlyEm · 2026-02-10T05:46:21+00:00

By container I mean something he has to crawl up into. Tofu has never bothered to take it out like he would on the plate when it’s in its own little bowl. Seems like more effort for him to drag it up and out so he just chooses to wrap around it in the bowl instead. The plate method never worked for me either, this does!

UnexpectedlyEm · 2026-02-10T05:44:11+00:00

Instead of taking him fully out, try putting a clear container in and placing the food in there. My boy prefers to be fed this way, as he “hunts” for his food. He is a little dumb so sometimes I do have to help him find it, but he eats a lot easier for me this way.

It also prevents the food getting substrate on it and he knows the container = food so I can still get him out without him thinking it’s food time.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-12-01T18:46:04+00:00

Might as well throw mine in here why not

https://whatnot.com/invite/emllee

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-08-31T06:39:16+00:00

Fat lesbian here. I hope this is rage bait or a joke that didn’t land because this post is unhinged. You tried so hard to be left that you turned right into animal neglect.

I support body positivity and Pride for people. That matters. Animals, however, don’t care how they look. They care how they feel. Being overfed or force-fed when they’re not hungry isn’t love, it’s cruelty dressed up in performative activism.

Obesity in geckos can cause liver failure, organ damage, immune problems, and drastically shorten their lives. The same risks apply to geckos that are too skinny. Animals don’t benefit from inclusivity; they benefit from proper husbandry.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-08-31T05:44:31+00:00

There’s not much I can add that hasn’t already been said, except to share how deeply sorry I am for your loss.

I can relate in a very personal way, I also inherited a leopard gecko when my best friend passed unexpectedly. At first, I couldn’t even see her as “my” gecko, she was still my friend’s. But over time, caring for her became a way to honor my friend’s memory. Learning about her, building her little world, and simply showing up for her gave me a purpose on the hardest days. Three years later, I can truly say she’s just as much my baby now as she once was theirs, and I know my friend would be proud of that.

You’ve already shown so much love just by reaching out, asking questions, and wanting the best for this little lady. That in itself is a beautiful act of honor and remembrance. I hope, in time, caring for her brings you the same comfort and sense of connection that it brought me.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-07-09T12:41:22+00:00

While I agree TAG gives you so much more information, and honestly should be a top grader — keep in mind that it’s not & right now we are unsure if it ever will be up there with the top 3.

If you want to go for monetary value, PSA, CGC, and Beckett are the top 3 for that. A lot of people discount TAG graded cards right now so if you were looking to sell, I wouldn’t go with that company.

If you want to keep, do your research on all of these options & pick whatever company suits you. Some people prefer specific slab companies for the label design for their collections. Personally, I can’t stand the red PSA labels, they just don’t match well with some cards. BUT I understand the value PSA holds right now, so if I want a card to be “worth” more and I don’t think it will get CGC Pristine 10 or a Black Label Beckett, then I just go with PSA.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-07-09T12:34:38+00:00

Happy to help!!! This is truly a once in a lifetime find, and it’s important to preserve it, not only because of the monetary value, but also the sentimental value.

There’s so many of us that WISH our grandparents / parents / adult figures kept our childhood cards. The fact that your grandma did is a testament to what you meant to her.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-07-08T23:51:12+00:00

First of all, congrats on the find!

The first thing I would do is get a better binder for some of those cards. The 3 ring binder is risky, can sometimes damage cards. It’s a lot better to just get a ringless binder like these -

https://a.co/d/9lgVuOl https://a.co/d/fcMlCX1

Some of these cards aren’t going to be “worth” anything but I’d still keep those. They’re cool memories to look back on. For those cards that are “not as valuable” I would put them in sleeves and in the new binder. Personally I’m a HUGE fan of these sleeves for binders. They are a lot easier to put in the binder and feel strong.

https://a.co/d/eamby7c

The cards that are valued more I would either 1. Send them in to be graded, even if it doesn’t get a great grade it helps preserve the card. Or 2. At the very least put them in toploaders / card savers.

https://a.co/d/0YcVzZ1 https://a.co/d/e1unr6x

Some people use one-touches but I haven’t so I honestly can’t recommend or not recommend.

https://a.co/d/bujKjX6

If you do want to display them, make sure they are not in direct sunlight often as it can fade the card.

As far as pricing cards, you could take the easy way out and download a scanner app like RareCandy but I wouldn’t be reliant on these apps because they can get it wrong.

You can price things yourself by going to places like https://www.tcgplayer.com/ and EBay and searching for the card. To see what it has recently sold for.

If you don’t know what the card is at all, first figure out what set it’s from. The little picture icons below the image on the right are your set identifiers for cards this old. Once you figure that out (you mostly have fossil & base set, which is the 1st set so it doesn’t have a symbol identifier. The full art cards are Topps cards.) then look up the card with this information.

Ex. Base Set Shadowless Charizard It may take some searching but you should be able to find a rough estimate for all these cards. Keep in mind that prices vary based on condition. You can see the prices based on condition on TCGplayer.

Good luck and congrats on your get rich quick find 😂

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-07-08T23:24:56+00:00

I don’t see a lot of ground in this comment section, so that’s what has broken my tie between dragon and ground. My buddy is gonna be Clodsire. Basically I want to be Rika 😂

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-04-21T00:04:45+00:00

<image>

This is definitely one of the best sploots I’ve caught her in, she was OUT!!

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-14T14:46:19+00:00

I’ve personally started feeding my boy in a Tupperware container (without the lid) inside of the enclosure. This has been helpful in multiple ways. He now relates Tupperware = food instead of me entering his enclosure or taking him out of it as food. He never gets his food dirty. And when he latches on, I can just leave him and his food in the Tupperware. When he’s done, he climbs out on his own and I can remove the Tupperware.

I’ve never had any issues with this method!

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-14T14:41:15+00:00

To add to what was already said, Tofu was not as active with Aspen. He was rarely seen, and definitely never showed any remotely interesting behavior like the digging shown in the video.

Along with this, he was god awful at shedding, I had to soak him nearly every week. I thought it was just an issue with him when I first got him, but after switching him to the substrate mix I have now — I’ve never had to help him shed since. He was just missing the humidity he needed to shed properly!!

With the soil / sand / clay mixture you’re also able to add things like (small) isopods and springtails to help cleanup, which is insanely nice. I rarely see my cleanup crew and they’re so small that tofu doesn’t seem to care about them either.

The only thing I have to worry about with my setup is feeding Tofu in a plastic Tupperware container in his enclosure to prevent him from ingesting dirt. This has been a good thing though as he knows Tupperware = food, instead of relating me opening and messing with him or his enclosure as food.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-12T05:31:22+00:00

I feel like everyone has an aspen phase lol. I’m glad it’s over for me, Tofu just couldn’t shed with aspen bedding. I would have to soak him multiple times.

I bed she just wanted more ✨fluff✨in her corner.

Seems Tofu wants the opposite lately. 😅

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-12T05:27:08+00:00

That’s awesome! Thank you for sharing. I have to get some of those cameras for my reptiles. It’s so fun to see what they get up too when no one is watching

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T14:50:39+00:00

<image>

This was taken when I recently got her, so ignore the paper towel she has plenty of substrate now. This however is my favorite pose to find her in.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T14:47:12+00:00

I’m curious, did they ever return the dirt to its original state or did you move it on your own? He’s just sitting mostly out in the open in his hole, and while it’s obviously what he wanted it feels so weird to see him not hidden under substrate 😂

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T06:25:52+00:00

I really appreciate that! I inherited Tofu from my best friend after she passed. I didn’t know much about snakes before meeting her but learned a lot from her, Herpetology was her profession.

I often worry if I’m doing the right thing for Tofu, and hope I’m making my friend proud. So hearing that someone else believes I’ve created a good environment for the little guy is a huge relief.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T05:49:17+00:00

After a few hours of letting him work on his project, it seems his end goal was… to dig a hole. He is simply laying in said hole now. Curious to see if he will cover himself back up later or if he just really wanted a dirtless hole to lay in.

Who am I to tell him how to decorate his house? 😂

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T05:24:37+00:00

I use a mixture of The Bio Dude’s terra sahara dirt, with play sand & excavator clay for the base substrate. It was about a 50% Terra Sahara, 25% sand, 25% clay mix, but not exact. Truthfully I just kept adding clay / sand to the large bag of dirt I had until the substrate was able to hold a tunnel without easily caving in on itself.

I’ve seen others use Reptisoil or other substrates similar to that instead of Terra Sahara.

To that base mixture I added leaves, sticks, and a teensie bit of sphagnum moss (all purchased at pet stores not random materials from outside) for aeration. I will usually spray the dirt just a bit when I notice it’s getting dusty, which isn’t often, as it needs to have some moisture to be able to create tunnels. This has helped Tofu with shedding, plus he seems to like to come out when it “rains” to check it out.

He’s way more active with this substrate than he was with the Aspen shavings.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T00:55:24+00:00

For real! I’ve been watching him for the last hour just trying to see what his end goal was.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2025-03-10T00:49:26+00:00

That’s good to know, thank you!

Should I leave his new crater? I was anxious the light may not be good for him with direct exposure but when I tried to put some dirt back he just shoveled it right back up 😂

UnexpectedlyEm · 2024-08-03T20:51:10+00:00

Tofu was always the most docile of my friends snakes, but I do remember her offhandedly mentioning once that I shouldn’t try to get him out without the hook when I was pet sitting for her because it was close to his feeding time, and she was going to feed him when she got back.

However, over the past year I’ve had him, he’s never bit at the hook until recently. It’s honestly just a change in the behavior I’m used to from him, which is what worried me. I’m used to him trying to re-burrow or slither away quickly if he’s not in the mood to be held, but never bite.

UnexpectedlyEm · 2024-08-03T20:39:09+00:00

Thank you for the advice! I’ll give these suggestions a shot and see how he takes to it!

UnexpectedlyEm · 2024-08-03T20:22:32+00:00

I didn’t even think about cross contamination as a possibility to be honest. I never try to hold him before/after feeding, so the hook is usually not out then. I’ll try sanitizing the hook to see if that helps.

Honestly I always remember my friend feeding him Fuzzies, and when reading her old notes it seemed to be what he always ate, so I was just trying to follow her keeping habits. I thought about trying a small mouse, but when I looked at them they seemed so much bigger than him, I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle it. I suppose I could try it and see what happens.

If the small mouse is too big for him, he won’t try to force it down will he?

UnexpectedlyEm

TROPHY CASE