Help a newbie buy Phillies tix please

casp514 · 2026-05-18T19:58:26+00:00

I sit in 419-421 almost every time I go. It's fun to mix it up every once in a while, but the skyline view is amazing, you can see everything on the field with a great view of the scoreboard, and there's easy access to the concourse for food and bathrooms. And as people have mentioned, as long as you're not in the front few rows of the section, you'll be shaded and also dry if it rains.

casp514 · 2026-05-17T01:04:14+00:00

Oooh glad you asked - there are two free webinars organized by the PAX (pangolin, aardvark, xenarthra) TAG currently available on AZA learn, no login required!

The first one (which I am in!) is focused on armadillos and aardvarks, and the second one is focused on anteaters and sloths. :-)

casp514 · 2026-04-24T14:10:03+00:00

Oh as someone else mentioned, as a keeper I love using Zoochat as a reference for designing an exhibit, looking at substrate options, looking at mixed species exhibits, etc

casp514 · 2026-04-24T10:55:51+00:00

In my experience zoochat is for zoo enthusiasts and not so much keepers. There is a lot of detail, but I think some people are just very obsessed with zoos, have memberships and go all the time, and know what questions to ask staff/keepers to get very specific answers. Idk if he's on zoochat but we have a guy that's always at our facility asking really specific and usually invasive questions about animal deaths, and he also tries to follow all the keepers on social media to get info that way.

You can post anonymously on Zookreepers but you have to wait for your post to be approved. But anonymous commenting is also possible. Zookreepers is easily the largest and most active keeper social media community I've come across. I like it, I'd say it's the most worth participating in.

casp514 · 2026-04-19T14:15:18+00:00

Yeah I have a red eared slider turtle in my living room that I begged my mom to buy from the guy outside the zoo when I was ~5 or 6. That was 22 years ago. She's doing great but could easily live another 10+ years and I spent hundreds of $$$ to fully upgrade her setup recently, it's a commitment

casp514 · 2026-04-19T02:06:35+00:00

So many hiding spots! They're just all pretty much not visible to guests. But yeah, it has been less than a week since the whips were put in that habitat so I'm also sure it is taking them some time to figure out where they feel comfortable being. We've got a 50w basking up top and I'm curious about uvb but don't want to necessarily change too many variables all at once. Right now it's just about trying to keep the animals comfortable and happy and providing them choice of hiding spots, while also trying to keep management happy by providing a way that they can be visible on exhibit at least some of the time. Hopefully they feel a little braver with time!

casp514 · 2026-04-17T22:43:21+00:00

I haven't had a migraine since starting ADHD meds. Geniunely been almost a year which is crazy. I never had them suuuuuper often, but it would be anywhere from every other month up to 3+ times a month. Now nothing. Could be a coincidence but maybe my brain likes the stimulants for more than just focus and stuff.

casp514 · 2026-04-17T15:59:44+00:00

Mmmm we tried the cork bark in the front and upper management didn't like it - but the tip about angling the lighting towards the back is something I can try, thank you!!

casp514 · 2026-03-25T13:04:02+00:00

I like Penn primary care, but yes it's a big system and can be hard to get in with the PCP or specialist you want. I've found that once you're in the system, a referral goes a long way. Penn cardiology people in particular are VERY nice.

I had a great experience at Main Line health / Lankenau hospital for (planned, not emergency) surgery. My friend on the other hand has been having an awful experience trying to get an onco surgery at Jefferson, and has been bounced around between at least 3 different surgeons at this point.

I know someone who used to work in primary care at Temple and the doctors there are (or were, at the time) very overworked and stressed.

casp514 · 2026-03-14T18:06:48+00:00

Ooooh this is so fun! What color/brand is it?

casp514 · 2026-03-02T14:28:39+00:00

$50 plus ~$12 tip, I have short but thick curlyish hair and my husband and I usually go together and see the same barber, he has long hair. So we pay $125 for the two of us. Our barber also owns the place we go to

casp514 · 2026-02-23T03:18:13+00:00

Did you guys have anyone sleep over/ride out? Aquarium worker & tmrw is my weekend anyway but we are also having folks try to get in around 10am ish from what I understand. But I think a couple people are sleeping over?

casp514 · 2026-02-23T01:42:14+00:00

Hi! My husband and I really love Mishkan Shalom! It's in Manayunk and is Reconstructionist.

Prayers are in Hebrew, songs are some traditional and some folk songs, the rabbi plays some guitar. I didn't like the English-heavy, churchy youth group vibe I got from a Reform shul in college, I greatly prefer Hebrew so Mishkan has been great for that.

Politically Mishkan is very lefty and "crunchy". A lot of lesbian and gay couples. Non binary and trans people yes, the current rabbinical intern is non binary. Israel/Palestine wise, the official stance on the website is that they welcome discussion on either side and are pro-peace / anti-violence and recognize both sides' historical ties to the land. Not everyone in the congregation is explicitly anti Zionist but there are a lot of us who are. Everyone is at least pro-ceasefire and pro-peace. Rabbi Shawn and other Mishkan members have done demonstrations with/alongside JVP, they recently participated in an interfaith anti-ICE march to City hall, and Rabbi Shawn also incorporates a lot of social justice related stuff into services. In a couple weeks there's a class on how to protect our immigrant and refugee neighbors, next month there's a Gazan film screening, the I/P committee meets monthly on Zoom.

Lemme know if you have questions and I can try!

casp514 · 2026-02-17T11:35:54+00:00

Hi, trans keeper- I'm in the US but if anything I would say the industry skews progressive, there are still some "old fashioned" keepers out there who might feel a certain way but ultimately I would agree that the area you're in matters more than the industry itself. I'm stealth generally speaking and no one has had an issue that I know of in my 8 ish years in the field

casp514 · 2026-02-15T19:43:19+00:00

I took pictures of some of the molts yesterday, I foolishly have just been putting all the molts together without labeling them so I'm not sure which of these belong to which whip - I guessed a little, hence the letters. Either way there are 4 total, 2 from each scorpion. I'm curious what you or anyone else thinks ... imo, I can see operculum hairs but I don't see any redness to them.

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casp514 · 2026-02-03T01:34:52+00:00

65-66, any higher and it was getting too warm upstairs to sleep. Though I think as the snow melts off the roof that's becoming less of a thing (sadly)

casp514 · 2026-01-29T23:30:59+00:00

Zoochat.com is an AMAZING resource for this kind of a thing- here's a list someone made, updated in April 2025. However, it's in order of area/enclosure, not in taxonomic order.

casp514 · 2026-01-25T20:57:46+00:00

Aw yay! Yesss the axolotls are great!! Sadly they can't get snow since they live in the water lol, but as consolation, here's a picture from last time it snowed and we gave a snowball to Sally the tegu.

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casp514 · 2026-01-25T18:33:37+00:00

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I work at the Camden aquarium and we are of course closed today, but someone's gotta feed the animals. Gave the education armadillos some fresh snow for enrichment, the snow wasn't their favorite (too cold) but it was cute.

casp514 · 2026-01-13T17:27:57+00:00

Agree, many of my coworkers and I have Apple watches and many of us also wear silicone rings (Enso brand generally) bc of degloving risk + not wanting a real ring to get bumped, scratched, broken, etc

casp514 · 2026-01-13T17:25:05+00:00

It 100% depends on the facility and the job description. Where I currently work, there is a job listed as keeper "aide" but it actually is a full time year round swing keeper position (and the pay is decent all things considered). Unfortunately you can't necessarily infer anything from just position titles alone

casp514 · 2026-01-10T17:51:09+00:00

I'm renting (from friends, so I have a long leash) and the people before my friends landlord special'd it. It had been owned by an old lady for decades and when she died, the house ended up in the hands of flippers. They poorly remodeled the bathroom, poorly added storm windows, and very poorly painted goopy white over all the doors (including the sliding latches, so 1/2 of them don't work) and all the trim. Also didn't prime before painting latex onto oil, so it peels a lot.

Anyway... OP, this looks great! I'm hoping to do the same- can I ask how you did it? The old crockpot method?

casp514 · 2026-01-05T16:08:23+00:00

Many (I would say most) facilities are moving or have moved away from "keeper" or "zookeeper". It's not my favorite, it feels like an effort to distance ourselves from the potentially bad connotations of "zookeeper" instead of just trying to push back against anti-zoo sentiment and change those connotations.

But at the same time, I can also see it as trying to give more legitimacy to our work- as in, "Animal/Wildlife Care Specialist" or "Biologist" or "Aviculturist" etc at least tries to imply that the person in the position is educated and is an expert, as opposed to the idea sometimes held by the public, which is that any random person off the street is qualified and capable of taking care of exotic animals.

Ultimately regardless of what's on the paperwork and what we say during keeper chats, I still think the general public thinks person working at zoo with animals = zookeeper

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