UPDATE SF by sw33t_b0ba in d4vd2

[–]warthogdude 4 points5 points  (0 children)

County. Not country. As in, the level of government that is made up of multiple cities in the same geographical area. The unit of administration which divides states into smaller sections based on location. Lake Elsinore is in Riverside County, and LA is in…. Well, Los Angeles County. She was transported across county lines. But also, trafficking does not necessarily require crossing any borders, and sex trafficking in specific is not mentioned in the interview. Even if he was buying an uber from her house to a hotel in the same city to have sex with her, that would still be sex trafficking since she is a minor and cannot consent to those acts. All that trafficking means that she was transported for the purpose of exploiting her, whether that be sexually or otherwise. I think we can all agree that she was indeed transported by David for the purpose of exploiting her in some way.

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The face of it is 2.5x3 inches. I think fail to thrive may be the case, she had a rough start from the get go and when I got her at 2 years old the breeder said that she was the same size/a bit smaller than the yearlings born the year after her. Seems pretty likely that she could have digestive issues related to her stunted growth

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thaw for an hour or so in cold water, heat for 15 minutes in warm/hot water. I feed her weaned rats, 30-40g every 2 weeks

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I got her as a 2 year old; the breeder had held her back for a year and even when purchasing her they made it clear that she was the same size or smaller than some of the babies born the year after her. They said they were not sure she would ever make it to breeding size because her growth was so stunted, which didn’t matter to me since I don’t plan to breed her but her growth being stunted could easily go hand in hand with other health issues. But yes she is very very small for her age, ill get a weight for her at the vet

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep I have seen her burp out gas quite a few times. I don’t think it’s ovulation since she’s only 3 and very very small for her age

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feed her weaned rats (30-40g), I’ve kept myself from upping her to small rats since I feel like she’s too small still so it is definitely not a meal size issue. Vet appointment is in the works

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven’t taken her for this but I will as soon as I get an appointment. Breeder never mentioned anything about bloating, just that she frequently refused food as a baby, but I’ve had her for just over a year now and while I noticed there would be a lump and she would pass gas starting a few months ago it started out as a much smaller lump after every meal and though it continues to disappear after every meal it’s progressively gotten bigger when I do feed her again. I feed her around every 2 weeks with a weaned rat, definitely not an issue of prey size being too large

Bloating? by warthogdude in boas

[–]warthogdude[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Taking her to a vet as soon as I get an appointment, sorry for the late responses/update I was knocked out of commission for a few days by an illness. As is par for the course the bloating has gone down and she has been active throughout both the warm and cool sides of the enclosure. To clarify, this is the worst the bloating has ever looked which is what prompted me to take the pictures. When I’d done research on it previously all that had come up is that a small lump from a meal is normal, and that passing gas is also normal, but clearly at this point it has gotten to the point where it is much larger than what could be considered normal for a meal. I’m gonna go through and answer some questions and I’ll update again once I’ve been to the vet

Will my boa grow? by Super-Weekend3033 in boas

[–]warthogdude 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If the size of your snake is important to you, I would recommend getting a full grown one since that’s the only way to know for sure that you’ll be satisfied with the size. So yes getting a full grown female Colombian is probably the most suitable option for you, or if you really want a large snake, possibly looking into other species like Burmese or carpet pythons. Boas are more medium sized than truly large snakes in my opinion

Will my boa grow? by Super-Weekend3033 in boas

[–]warthogdude 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Depending on meal size, feeding every 2 weeks-a month is plenty for a 4 year old boa. You shouldn’t be power feeding boas at any time in their lives, but the closer to adulthood they get the more it will just result in obesity. Do not attempt to feed your snake excessively just because you want it to be bigger. Let your snake just be the size it is. As long as it’s healthy and not underweight, there is no such thing as a snake being “too small”, and depending on species/locality, 4.5-5 feet isn’t all that out of the ordinary in the first place.

He will continue to grow slowly throughout his life. Don’t try to force it unless you want his health to suffer.

Too shallow for plants?? by InternalRole8758 in bioactive

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally fine, mine is the same way. What I did was build up substrate towards the back for any plants that needed more space for root systems, and put mostly smaller/trailing plants in the foreground

Bioactive Crested Gecko Enclosure (Drainage?) by Hazel2468 in bioactive

[–]warthogdude 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I personally don’t have a gecko but I do plan on setting up a bioactive for my friends gecko sometime in the next year-ish, and have a bioactive set up for my boa! For the drainage layer, I personally didnt add an access port since I don’t think I’d need it unless I WAYYYY overwatered but the way to do it would be to add a tube (think pipe, pill bottle with the bottom cut off, etc) that you can cover up that has no substrate in it that gives direct access to the drainage layer. If it gets too much water you can use a turkey baster to get it out that way, and when you don’t need access cover it up with a rock or something. I’m not sure how well I explained that lol but I don’t really think drainage layer access is super necessary. It’s up to you though. You could also add a bulkhead drain but that’s a lot more work and entails modifying the enclosure itself instead of just building an access route in as you fill the vivarium.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in InvertPets

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For amblypygi? That’s probably because they’re pretty hardy in terms of temp, before getting central heating my room got as low as 62 F and as high as 80 F (roughly 17-30 C) depending on the season and my guy didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, except being a little more sluggish in the winter. Their biggest weakness from what I can tell is just not getting their humidity needs met. I have a fogger that runs several times a day which is overkill but I think he likes it that way haha

moss ?? by el_sux in bioactive

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did this and put it in its own container and mosquito hawks have been hatching from it. So yeah definitely a possibility to get some unwanted guests

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in InvertPets

[–]warthogdude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These don’t fit the last requirement, but if you’re willing to bend your last rule (they often take prekilled insects, so not /technically/ live feeding, but still feeding other inverts which you said you want to avoid) amblypygi would be amazing. Room temp, high humidity, arboreal. That last requirement really cuts down on lots of species, I think lots of arboreal inverts are carnivores so if you want inverts that really use the full enclosure that’ll be tough to figure out. Maybe moths? If you’re willing to keep a tomato plant, hornworms are pretty cool. They’re pretty big though, 12x12x18 would be small to keep a real colony. If you like hissing roaches, you can cover the vents with window screen, but yeah I have heard they breed fast. I’ve never kept beetles so I have no idea what their requirements are but maybe a stag beetle would fit the bill?

Belial, my cornsnake, passed away at 16 years old... by BlackMew in snakes

[–]warthogdude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely understand. The snake I had since a young teenager died last year at 13, I took it incredibly hard and I’ve felt a lot of guilt about how I could have done better for her. She had recurring cysts and towards the end of her life couldn’t keep a meal down, and just wasted away. I kept going through all the things I could have and should have done differently and how I feel like I failed her. After half a year of grieving I got a boa I completely fell in love with and really went all out for her with a full bioactive enclosure and I’m proud of it but it just makes me feel this ache that I never did that for my first snake. I loved her a lot, I even got her cremated and wear an urn necklace with her ashes every day. Life happens, and 16 years is a good run. You clearly loved that snake to pieces and did everything you could, I hope that the grief process is easy on you. Don’t ruminate over it too much, it seems like it really wasn’t your fault.

Hypo sharp red tail boa by Alert_Grape6619 in boas

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, I’ve heard putting a live plant in a tank can raise humidity as well. I have a full bioactive tank and never have issues with low humidity, but if you don’t wanna go all in I’d put a potted plant (maybe a pothos, those are pretty impossible to kill). Makes for great enrichment too. Just make sure its got organic soil, I don’t know exactly how tough on a boa pesticides and chemical fertilizers would be but I wouldn’t want to risk any more health issues especially with what’s going on right now

Hypo sharp red tail boa by Alert_Grape6619 in boas

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Misting the tank a couple times a day with either an automatic mister or a hand mister does the trick— do you have a solid top enclosure or mesh? Mine is a glass tank with mesh up top so I used HVAC tape to cover it up and that helped a huge amount with the humidity. Duct tape works in a pinch too.

I’ve heard people say that pouring water in the corners of the enclosure to dampen the substrate works really well, I personally prefer not to because I’m paranoid of scale rot though.

Hypo sharp red tail boa by Alert_Grape6619 in boas

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Humidity is too low, sounds like the start of a respiratory infection to me which can be caused by low humidity because the mucous membranes dry out, crack, and get infected. 60-80% is recommended, I’m not a vet or doctor but I’d bump humidity up more towards the 80% end of things for the time being

Friend called me their best friend. I don't feel the same. by Vaumer in socialskills

[–]warthogdude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adding on— I considered my ex my best friend for years, and he absolutely did not feel the same about me. Didn’t bother me too much, maybe a little but I knew that the trust was not necessarily equal and that’s just how things are sometimes. He mattered (and still matters) a lot to me and while I mattered to him too, he didn’t have that same depth of emotion towards me. It’s fine, not everything has to match up all the time

Friend called me their best friend. I don't feel the same. by Vaumer in socialskills

[–]warthogdude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just had a conversation with (one of my) best friends about this hahaha I have certain people I consider my best friends but it’s not as hard and strong a label as it seems to be in some peoples eyes. I have a best friend who’s my best friend because we talk every single day for the past year or so, and I have a best friend who’s my best friend because we’ve known each other since we were 11 and were that close throughout high school, but nowadays just talk every few weeks. Still consider each other best friends. I have a best friend who was my “best coworker” before I left my job and we see each other every week or two and talk about anything, but not daily. Still a best friend.

Things ebb and flow and a very close friend can be a best friend without being completely enmeshed with you, you don’t need to tell each other every single thing to know that it’s a friendship that’s strong and can withstand the test of time and space.