#animal care sheet

[dramatic-shitpost-poet]

Hermit Crab

Enclosure:

Minimum 10 gallons needed for 2 small crabs, but bigger is better and fully closed cages are far better than wire or open. Critter keepers are good quarantine or temporary housing, but aquariums or plastic storage bins are more long term and beneficial

As they grow bigger they will need bigger tanks. Every inch needs 5 gallons to adjust or a rough equivalent

You can house multiple of every gender crab together as they will not fight or get territorial. You can have multiple males or multiple females, but be careful if you house one male and female together as they might breed

Flourescent or LED lights can be used to help regulate their day and night cycles and minimize stress, but it is not needed.

They benefit more from having companions, so 2 crabs is recommended and size does not matter so you can house multiple sizes together. Quarantine is sometimes suggested beforehand though before housing together to make sure the crabs are full health and/or don’t have mites. Not necessary though.

Humidity needs to be 75% and temperature needs to be around 80-85 degrees F (heat lamps aren’t needed if house is already that temperature)

Spray/moisten substrate daily

Silica Play Sand, coco fiber, or a mix is a good substrate and must be moist (not soaking) at all times. Substrate never really needs to be changed unless too saturated, moldy, or covered in waste. Best to change substrate every 3 months for good measure though.

Substrate needs to be about 3 inches deep, so the crab can burrow and feel secure

There should be 2 water bowls (both with dechlorinated water sinc chlorine is harmful), one w/freshwater and one w/saltwater (you can get mixes online) and both should be deep enough for the crab to submerge in but also to get out of. They should be changed whenever dirty or every 3 days.

They should have a feeding bowl or clam shell and food should be taken out daily after the crab eats to prevent mold.

Spot clean daily (remove waste) and glass can be cleaned with white vinegar if needed

They should have items to climb on like driftwood or rocks and places to hide like caves, fake plants or cocohuts

Diet/feeding habits:

They are omnivores, scavengers, and opportunistic eaters. Since they are nocturnal it is best to feed them in the evening and daily

Fruit or veggies and protein should be provided daily. Make sure pesticides are completely out of the food.

The proteins can be insects, meat, fish, and seafood

The veggies and fruits can be about anything. Plant matter like oak and maple leaves also work.

They need calcium supplements in their diet such as calcium powder sprinkled on top of their food, eggshells,or cuttlebone.

It is normal for their to eat their molt after they’re done molting and let them since it’s a good source of calcium

Age identification:

Can live up to 40 years, but average is 10-20 years

Physical traits:

Under 2 years old they are around the size of a dime and over 25 year old crabs can be up to 6 inches/softball size

Average size (5 to 15 years) is 2-3 inches

Crabs molt their old skins as they grow and molting may take weeks or months. NEVER disturb as they are molting as it can kill them. When they molt they will burrow deep in their substrate and not come out until they are finished

They will go through 3-5 shells as they grow and they need to be slightly bigger than what the crab is currently wearing. Natural and polished shells can be found online and in craft stores. They also carry water in their shells.

A healthy crab can be seen walking and waving their antennas around

The most common species of land crab in captivity are the Purple Pincher (C. Clypeatus), which has a big purple pincher with light-orange to dark-red legs

 Ecuadorian (C. Compressus) which has smaller claws, gray-green to tan coloring, and big eyes that look like Ruggies (C. Rugosus), Indos (C. Brevimanus), Violas (C. Violascens) , and Strawberries (C. Perlatus) 

All of these may be found at some pet stores, but they are a rarity to find for sale. Different species can be mixed together, but you should have at least two of each species so that they have a "species buddy"

They are nocturnal, but very active at all times if they are healthy

They breed if they are healthy and breeding takes place February to August, but most common times are June and July

Eggs or zoea are ready to hatch about a month after mating, but chances are they won’t survive because of luck or strict diet or the hermit crabs eating the offspring (bad parents!)

Mold does not affect crabs as it does humans, but it can be removed by boiling or soaking in saltwater

Personality:

They burrow themselves deep in their substrate when they are molting and become less active. They won’t eat as much, but they will drink a lot of water

Breeding details will not be listed here, but they can breed in captivity if there is one male and one female. It takes very special equipment and effort to keep the offspring alive though. They

They benefit lots from having companions and in the wild they have colonies of hundreds sometimes

They rely heavily on smell, so you should let them burrow or rest in dechlorinated freshwater to let them smell familiar to other crabs and prevent bullying.

When they smell each other it can look like fighting, but this behavior is normal and this is how they get to know each other

Small fights are normal for crabs and they won’t kill each other. This shouldn’t be alarming.

Health concerns:

Don’t handle while molting

NEVER use painted or glazed shells for the crab as they are growing, it can be incredibly toxic to them

Mites are parasitic insects that won’t hurt humans, but hurt crabs. Crabs should be washed at least once before being added to their enclosure to be cleaned of mites. Otherwise do not bathe

Most crabs are wild caught and some won’t make the transition successfully into captive life until they can have their first molt. Be gentle, patient, and handle as little as possible until they have their first molt

Handling:

NEVER handle while they are molting as it stresses them out and can cause death

Try not to handle unless necessary until after their first molt as they are vulnerable

You can handle them every other time! However, just be respectful to their claws and treat with care

[thechaotichorselord]

it’s canon Nar is attracted to losers /silly

there will be more serious content soon probably gonna make a trailer for the AU because why not i like this au and i’m gonna post about it AND IF YOU LIKE IT YOURE GONNA BE MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER

[every-sanji]

Almost entirely unrelated to this blog but I went to the anime store in town because I needed some dice for the dnd campaign I'm doing w/ my coworkers and they just had this on the dice counter???

[hazeltailofficial]

HOLIDAY FLASHBACK

Pretty Animalz By MasqueBar Otter Nourishing Sheet Mask

hazeltail on youtube / hazeltailofficial on tiktok / hazeltailofficial on ig / @hazeltailofficial

[fbwzoo]

Okay so!! Ed first bc I have the biggest plans for him, since he's the newest and still needs more improvements. Unfortunately, his are also a bit longer term plans bc due to cost & logistics.

A brief pause to recommend Reptiles & Research's beardie care sheet as the most up to date info if you're looking!

The main thing is more space, for which I have a shorter term plan that I'm 90% sure we can do by end of year to give him at least little more room. Dubia website, which is where his viv is from, has released a 2x2x2 add-on enclosure that can be connected to a 4x2x2. It's around $200, which is fairly workable price-wise, and I'm pretty sure we should be able to make that work space-wise in the animal room!

But, a potential next step up would be the extension kit that links two 4x2x2 vivs together. We have the same viv for Clover hedgie, so in theory, could give both of those to Ed once we lose Clover. But that's hopefully gonna be a while yet, as she's around 4 years, but still healthy and grumpy and plotting Jack's torture for giving her baths & health checks every couple weeks.

However, I'm not sure we can make 8 feet long fit in the animal room, especially not without blocking off a door or some storage space. The back wall is all shelving, and the other 3 walls each have a door on them. I'm gonna measure in the room this week sometime to see what we have to work with. Frankly, I'm fine with blocking off the hallway door or removing the shelving on the wall in favor of animal enclosures, but I may be outvoted.

The longest term plan I have in mind for his space is getting a 6x2x4 viv from Animal Plastics! The snake, hamster, and tenrec vivs are all AP, and I love how sturdy they are. I've had them for at least 6 years & they've been moved once, and they're still great & easy to take apart & put back together. That would also give a lot more height for climbing room, which would be great. It's around $800 for the viv, plus shipping, so that'll take a while to get the money for though.

In the meantime, other smaller plans.... I want to get him switched to loose substrate, which is better for his joints and will let him dig. I'm looking at likely getting the Jurassic Australian sand substrate for that. I think I may start with a dig box in the next few weeks to see what he thinks! I'm out of money this month, so it has to wait on that anyway.

Once I have my tool & machine area cleaned back up, I'm also wanting to work on making some climber stuff for him, but I'm not in a huge rush on that bc he already has a good set up with his branches and such.

Oh, and I've also started looking at expanding his lighting, but major changes on that will likely wait for his forever viv tbh. I'm a bit intimidated by how complicated advanced lighting set ups are still, and I want to make sure I don't overheat his cage or the room. Though I do want to add another LED bar, at least, preferably a Jungle Dawn. Alas, money (they're over $100).

[popping-greenbean]

i am thinking about.if i want to post some of my school work on here or not..,giant ramble in tags feel free to skip

[nyxronomicon]

getting a strong urge to design some new ocs

[rxttenfish]

tbh when it comes to the redesign, if the other ROs can have scars, they ABSOLUTELY have some pretty gnarly scars from miranda.

not even because of her being particularly aggressive either! when she came up to land and began to first realize she can actually get close to people and be affectionate with them for the first time in her life, she had no context on how careful she had to be with landfolk or how rough she couldnt be. adding onto that was that her experience with merfolk were restricted to bellanda too, and she had a habit of just... accidentally grabbing too hard or using her claws or teeth carelessly or just moving without fully checking where everyones limbs are. its just the issue that a playbite for merfolk can be serious lacerations in someone else, and it took... a bit.

which is why now miranda is so constantly careful and hyperaware of how delicately she has to touch everything, because she realized Very Abruptly that she was not like all of her new friends.

(honestly the other ROs who did get bit or clawed are basically over it at this point too. like, it was years ago, and even if they were upset in the moment its hard not to see that miranda clearly didnt want to do that when it happened and has since gotten better about it. hence, why none of them are particularly plussed about when miranda does things that freak other people out, like putting their head in her jaws. yeah yeah, theyve been here, theyve done that, if miranda wanted to hurt them she wouldve done it already, nbd.)

(this is also something that didnt actually happen with the others... scott still can get overexcited and needs to be reminded to pay attention to himself, but also he was already well aware of how to control himself and what was safe by virtue of always having lived around a bunch of different monsters. damien too also figured out pretty early on other peoples limits, as hell is much more open to contacting other people than the merkingdom is. vera had the experience of being raised by the squishier people to begin with.)

[noirstarre]

Self-portrait (is it hyphenated ?)

So this started out as an exercise where I was drawing what I felt I looked like and how I perceive myself and then I realized I was being way too harsh on myself because what I was actually drawing was my insecurities

I was seeing my insecurities physically manifested on a realistic drawing of myself and seeing them I realized I didn’t actually look like that and that I needed to be more honest with myself

And the more I corrected the image the more the drawing looked like my real self until the drawing looked more like me and in turn I started feeling better about myself because I realized I didn’t actually look the way I see myself in the mirror , I didn’t actually reflect the insecurities I was projecting onto my image and I was actually not being kind to myself.

But now seeing the drawing as he is now he looks exactly like me. (and yes I put a mask on him but there’s a version w/o it haha )

I just have to be more kind to myself and realize I’m not the insecurities I feel but I am the version of myself that deserves the kindness I give to others.

It was just so interesting and profound that I draw attractive characters and when it came time to drawing myself I was so harsh only to realize it still looked nothing like me and only how I felt I looked, all my “flaws” and then I started to love my image and started to put the happy eyes full of light and laughs and my hair which is longer darker and less fluffy , my skin which while has moles or different pigmented areas are ts as visible as I thought or my smile lines or “wrinkles” or my dark circles or hooded eyes , I’m not the version I saw myself as , I was actually closer to the “idealized” version of myself the ones I draw in my comics and Fanart.

I had to learn the hard way and maybe that’s a good thing but I learned that I am not my flaws and now I know that maybe everyone feels that to an extent and that maybe everyone should try it and see that they too are not their flaws or their insecurities.

Learning to be kinder to myself and learning to love my reflection have been hard but in doing this I think I gained a little more confidence and content ness with myself and I just wanted to share that in hopes someone else could maybe feel better about themselves. ✨🤍✨

Love yourself and be kind to you and your reflection. ✨🤍✨🪞✨🪞✨🪞✨🤍✨

[creamecream]

“No chance, no way,

I won’t say it, no, no!

(Give up! Give in!

Check the grin, you’re in love!)

This scene won’t play!

I won’t say I’m in love!

(You’re doing flips, read our lips,

You’re in love!)

You’re way off base! I won’t say it!

Get off my case, I won’t say it!

(Girl don’t be proud, it’s okay, you’re in love)

At least out loud, I won’t say I’m in love,”

[dramatic-shitpost-poet]

Burmese Python

Enclosure:

Babies can be okay in a 10 gallon (juveniles are good in 50 gallon), but adults will need 8 x 4 ft minimum and bigger is always better

The enclosure should have roughly the floor space equal to four to six times the area of the snake itself when it’s in a flat coil.

You need to look for enclosures specifically designed for larger snakes and you may need to have them custom made since adult females need 72 x 36 inches usually at full size

Aspen shavings, orchid bark, and newspapers are easy substrates to use and clean up. The key is to keep things simple because they can get messy!

They need to have a large cave in their enclosure to feels secure, but having large branches or pieces of wood can also be enriching to them 

Ideal temperature is to be between 85-90 F, but at night it can drop to 80 F and a basking area around 90 F should be good too. Heat can be provided by mats/pads, lamps, and lights. UV is not required, but is beneficial as well and having a day and night cycle is also very beneficial.

Make sure it is secure because all snake are escapes artists

They will need a water dish large enough for them to soak in and fresh water should be provided daily. Misting once daily also helps with shedding, but you can do 2-3 times a day if in a shed cycle (50-60% humidity)

Do not house 2 females or 2 males together and they do great on their own. You can house a male and a female together, but they may breed and you will need enough space accordingly

Diet/feeding habits:

Hatchlings to 4 feet long need to eat every 3-4 days

4 feet to maturity (10 ft females, 8 ft males) they need to eat every 5-7 days

From 3 years on they need to be fed once every 10 days, but it may need to be adjusted depending on weight and appearance

They start off eating appropriate sized mouse, then continue to move up to rats and eventually rabbits, but they just need to be a good size for them

They will also eat chicken, but this should not be fed often as it puts weight on them quickly and should only be used for ones that are underweight/picky

You may have to use a buffer like a wooden board and snake hooks/tongs when removing uneaten food or when feeding the snake just to be on the safe side

Feed often enough to maintain optimum body condition; you should not be able to see the snake's ribs. It's essential to be careful not to overfeed them, or you will end up with an obese snake. Signs your snake may be overweight include noticeable scale separation, sunken spine, or "fat wrinkles." 

Age identification:

Lifespan is usually a 15-20 years, but some almost live to 30 years

Physical traits:

Hatchlings are typically around 20 inches long and weight 4 ounces, but adults can weigh over 200 pounds

Females usually get bigger than the males and are around 13-18 feet long at adult size, but some can get more than 20 feet long and even to 40 feet

Males usually get to be 8-14 feet long, but have been known to reach 17 feet sometimes

There are many morphs including: Albino, patternless/green, labyrinth, granite

There is a dwarf variety, but they are not as commonly known or sold. The dwarf morph usually gets around 5-7 feet total in adult size

Juvenile Burmese Pythons will shed quite often as they grow quickly. This is completely natural and does not harm the snake in any way. Older snakes will shed less frequently but will continue to do so for the duration of their life.

They lay about 20-80 eggs, but I will not be getting into breeding for them here so your own research is needed if you desire to breed burmese pythons

Personality:

Very food driven as well, but not as much as reticulated pythons

They are big, gentle, and sometimes pretty dumb giants and are very docile most times

Some are a bit more nippy, but they usually calm down. If you need them being docile you need to be looking for that with initial choosing for the python though

They are exceptional swimmers and can stay submerged for up to half an hour without surfacing for air. 

They are mainly a ground dwelling snake but juveniles will spend much of their time in the trees. 

Females can get protective over eggs and nippy during breeding season

If your snake goes on an eating strike, it is not necessarily an illness; some snakes do not eat during seasonal changes, before shedding, or if their cage is not warm enough.

Health concerns: 

Respiratory issues can occur from their enclosure being too humid or cold; wheezing and secreting a foamy substance from the mouth are signs of this. Blisters and scale rot are also caused by too much humidity

Inclusion body disease (IBD) which is not harmful to humans, but it is to snakes and most common carriers are in the boa constrictor family. IBD is marked with symptoms of tremors, seizures, vision loss, loss of tongue control, and the inability to right itself when turned upside down (a condition called “stargazing syndrome”).

Mites and other parasites can also affect pythons and can sometimes carry IBD as well, so always quarantine your snakes before introducing them in the same room or enclosure to ensure they’re healthy

Burmese pythons are the main species affected by Burmese Disease (BD), but it has also been seen in Borneo short-tailed pythons, African rock, and blood pythons. BD is a slow, progressive disease characterized by recurring bouts of respiratory infections like pneumonia and involvement of opportunistic bacteria

After your snake has finished shedding, do a quick examination to ensure there is no stuck shed. Common areas for stuck shed include around the eyes and the tail. Stuck shed can be easily removed by giving your snake a warm bath. During the bath the stuck shed can be easily rubbed away.

Handlings:

Handling the hatchlings from a young age gets them to calm down quickly

Make sure to have another person around while handling because they do not know their own strength sometimes and don’t let them wrap around neck and chest areas.

If you do not at least regularly handle them they will only associate you with food and may strike whenever you open their cage, so do handlings to prevent this

Don’t handle it a few hours before and 2 days after feeding

Avoid touching the top of its head. Unless it knows and trusts you, touching the top of the head will cause it to jerk away from the touch. The fast movement of the snake tends to scare a lot of new snake owners. This is called being "head shy." A lot of pythons will get over it with gentle handling.

[ask-artsy-oncie]

If yalls can't understand how model sheets work then you are disqualified from using them as proof!!!

[cowardlycowboys]

changing my sheets is so embarrassing like why do I have all this on my bed

[bestshipsmackdown]

I just got home from my second day at this job. I am less exhausted and less sore, so I’m gonna go ahead and catch up on submissions and asks in the next few hours. Feel free to send in extra propaganda.

[swuid]

My brother gets upset with me when I put down fake names for sign in sheets

[notwaitinginthecorner]

Yknow I wrote sm long corny sad posts but I thought about it and I cried about it and I got it out and I decided instead of being sad to be inspired by all the ppl I follow who are going through so much of their own things but still manage to be charming and lively and steadfast in their goals. Honestly its wicked nice to be at a point in my life where nearly everytime I start falling apart my gut instinct is to figure out how I could make it better, even if only a little bit. What a fine way to christen the month of November lol