Other pets (pics and discussions)

[slipknot711]

Thanks for helping out the C. serpentina. For any future reference it's not good to pick a snapper up by the tail. It can cause injury to the tail and spine.

One hand under here and one on top of the the shell works great. You could also cover the turtle with a blanket, coat, towel. Then you can pick it up from the sides of the shell but beware of the claws as the are a formidable weapon and can cause some injuries. The problem with that is the infection those puncture wounds can cause.

Yes im aware of this (after the fact) TY tho

[ConcinusMan]

... he's making a conscious effort to not bite me and why would that be? He must know/feel something that is keeping him from bite me. I know none of this is scientific in any stretch of the imagination but come on. Why should he care what he bites as long as he gets his food.

Why do some of my biggest female garters do that? After being bitten by them a few times during feeding and they realized the mistake and let go, now some (and just a few) are careful and calculating. They'll go all the way around the food with their labials touching it. When they feel the warmth of my hand compared to the room temperature food, they're careful to bite only the food, but only after cautiously taking their time to figure out which is which.

I can understand why a dog would do this because in their mind, having their keepers favor (and so getting food, affection, etc.) means survival. This serves an evolutionary purpose. No animal develops this sort of intelligence unless it serves a purpose for survival. So, I wonder what purpose it serves the snakes. The only thing I can think of is that this behavior would keep them from taking on a potential prey animal that they can't handle or could potentially fight back and injure them. For example, knowing the size of the prey before biting could be the difference between an easy meal and being torn to shreds/killed by something defending itself. If a snake wanted to benefit from scraps dropped by a mammal tearing into a fish, it might be useful to know what's a scrap and what is say, the leg of raccoon. Probably best to avoid biting the animal and just take his fish scraps since biting the animal could mean being killed. And so, they developed enough intelligence to figure out which is which and applied that ability to me at feeding time.

Of course, not all my snakes are that smart and once in a feeding response, they'll bite just about anything including my hand. It just seems like it's a few of the biggest and smartest girls that go out of their way to avoid biting me. Seems like the biggest females I catch in the wild are also the smartest and quicker to tame down. Perhaps that intelligence is how they got to be this big in the first place since being smart likely gets you well fed without being injured, killed, or exposed to high-risk situations.

[guidofatherof5]

Tank has a 2:15pm Vet. appointment today.
I found this in his water. Dang parasites. He'll probably get another couple doses of Drontal Plus. Not sure where he picked them up. Might be the raw shrimp I'm guessing. Not sure which worm it is. It's not a tapeworm. Probably a hook or pin worm.
Drontal Plus (praziquantel/pyrantel pamoate/febantel) Taste Tabs Veterinary Information from Drugs.com

Tank is on Drontal Plus 136mg tablets. $48.75 a tablet. One every two weeks. I'm getting ripped at that price.

[ConcinusMan]

Yes I do believe you're getting taken for a ride. At least 2 of the active drugs in it are dirt cheap and available without a prescription. (praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate) These are the two ingredients in regular Drontal which can be purchased without a prescription.

But I can still find the 136mg Drontal Plus (praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate, and febantel ) pill for about $18 online as long as you have a prescription.

Since his last deworming I've been noticing what you feed him and was thinking he would probably need dewormed every so often. I'm with you Steve, he's likely getting re-infected by raw seafood. The low temperature needed to kill some parasites by freezing can be as low as -50 C so freezing doesn't always take care of all parasite species.

Not really a big deal so long as he gets dewormed thoroughly once in a while to keep it under control. Any snakes of mine that get foods which present a high risk of re-infection get a 2-dose course of Panacur about once a year. That takes care of knocking down most of the common parasites and if there's indication of tape worms (segments in the water or feces and trouble keeping up a healthy weight) I hit 'em with Praziquantel too which I get cheap by itself in tablet form. I know it works when wads of dead tapeworms are passed. I try to avoid using it unless they obviously have tape worms because it seems a bit hard on them. They get the squirts, mildly dehydrated and sometimes even a head tick during the treatment but then they recover in a few days.

Seems to me that the vet is treating very aggressively for having the worm you showed. A little panacur alone would probably take care of that and the praziquantel is not tolerated as well and is only needed when certain tapeworms are present. I guess he just wants to be thorough.

[guidofatherof5]

Found it(Drontal+) out of Canada for $15.99 and no script.
Tank had his first steamed shrimp a few moments ago. He loves them.

[ProXimuS]

Did you find out what type of worm it was?

[guidofatherof5]

Did you find out what type of worm it was?

Nope, they wanted a fecal for that. It was a food day for Tank so his bowel was clear. I've got his schedule done pretty well.

[slipknot711]

here is my ham bone Beefcake CAM02150.jpgCAM02151.jpgCAM02152.jpgCAM02153.jpg

had a chance to take him out and hold him and pet him he seemed to love when i put him on the floor to stretch his legs. didnt realize a snapper could bolt so fast i love this lil man... well i think he is a man haha

[guidofatherof5]

Good looking little one. It will be some time before you can sex him/her. You've got a good start going with him. The head out looking around shows he's not that stressed about what's going on.
Your photo takes me back to when Tank was that small (that was only 4.5 years ago) I have a small amount of Purina Grower 500 trout chow leftover. Tank eats Grower 600 now. If you would like it I'll send it your way. It is a very good food source.

[slipknot711]

Good looking little one. It will be some time before you can sex him/her. You've got a good start going with him. The head out looking around shows he's not that stressed about what's going on.
Your photo takes me back to when Tank was that small (that was only 4.5 years ago) I have a small amount of Purina Grower 500 trout chow leftover. Tank eats Grower 600 now. If you would like it I'll send it your way. It is a very good food source.

Thanks. yeah he was running/walking from hand to hand. even gave him a gentle rub down to get some of the muck off his shell. very gently tho. He shows not ONE interest in biting me at all. just gives me a look of " sooooo is it nap time yet?" lol cleaned hs tank yesterday so he is all spunky now. cant wait till he gets big. . If shipping it to me is of no hassle money wise id love that. But its ok if you cannot.