#reptile handling

[howdoesone]

How does one persuade a Gharial to try a vegetarian diet with that snout?

  Introduction to the Gharial The gharial, also known as Gavialis gangeticus, is one of the most distinctive and ancient crocodilian species, known for its long, narrow snout filled with sharp, interlocking teeth. Native to the rivers of the Indian subcontinent, this unique reptile has evolved to be an efficient piscivore, primarily preying on fish. The idea of convincing a gharial to switch to…

[is-the-reptile-video-cute]

Rating: Red

I’ll be honest, when I made this blog I didn’t expect almost every single ask to be about pet alligators. Apparently people really love anthropomorphizing them. This is a similar situation to most of the other crocodilian posts on my blog. Alligators should not be pets and should not be free-handled. It is absolutely inappropriate and dangerous, plus it’s almost impossible to care for such a huge animal properly. Posts like these are especially bad because it’s clearly making people think crocodilians are similar to cats and can be held/pet/taken care of the same, which is very wrong. All of these clips are bad. The one where there is water being poured on the alligator’s head shows an example of tense body language. The alligator is holding itself stiffly, closing its eyes tightly, and lifting its head up to try to get air. (Why are there SO MANY clips of people pouring water on alligators’ heads?!?) The ones in a bathtub should not be together, or in a bathtub, or being held by a person, especially not without their mouths being taped. And the person holding the giant adult alligator like a baby is just so dangerous. If the alligator got too stressed or scared and freaked out, it could easily injure (or even kill) the person within a few seconds. It’s so irresponsible and bad for everyone involved to do something like that.

If you see more videos like this of anthropomorphizing alligators and making them seem like harmless pets, please let the creator know that it’s actually a really dangerous narrative to spread and that the way they are being treated is completely wrong and harmful. Leave alligators in the wild or to credible zoos that have the resources to care for them properly.

Rule?

[ziptie-bouquet]

Hey guys I finally finished my poseable V1 ultrakill figure.

Made with : Polymer clay, aluminum foil, iron wire (black) and aluminum wire (red), acrylic paint, varnish, colored pvc sheets, glue

[slinkies-and-dragons]

Cali came out for some snuggles today!

She was super spooked about movement around her at first, but chilled out after a few minutes of handling and even met a new person! After exploring my friend's hair and checking out her booty (i think she was interested in the phone in friend's back pocket), she found a nice blanket to curl up under. This is her right before we put her home!

Thanks (again) to @sandelion , we're confident she's a bumblebee morph!

[shrivingtoad]

Some more pictures of freya, because i have about 60 haha

Shes always an angel to handle, and once stayed in my hand completely content for over an hour (we were watching a movie) before i put her back 😅

[sages-herp-garden]

had to lube up my fucking snake with vegetable oil because she is a creature of hubris

turns out she can fit through that space just fine, she just refused to relax

[defilerwyrm]

A thing about ratsnakes is they are masters of "I'm not going"

[leondxs]

pictures of Chicken since I mentioned him

[zestyzigzagoon]

If any non-writers want to have a glimpse into what it's actually like to write, then here. I've been stuck on this lame half-sentence for approximately thirteen days now.

[sandelion]

A rare Cricket!

'21-22 0.1 Anery Kenyan/East African Sand Boa (Eryx colubrinus)

[saltycharacters]

Klavier Gavin owning a ball python named Spätzle he adopted after an animal themed photoshoot for a magazine send tweet

[organicmatter]

cutest creature ever

[shrivingtoad]

Bjorn, one of our leopard geckos, hes a big lad 🦎🥰

[internetdruid]

Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus)

these guys are so sweet <3

[theinnermeyoullneverknow]

Hey snake people of tumblr

(by which I mean, people who have/had pet snakes or who care/cared for snakes as part of the their job or who study/studied snakes & their behavior)

Would it be safe to allow a domesticated (or semi-domesticated) snake to roam a house for a few days to take care of a rodent problem?

If so, what species would be appropriate for this and are there any organizations that would allow someone with no past experience caring for snakes to like borrow/rent/foster one for this purpose? And what type of remnants could I expect to be left behind?

[defilerwyrm]

Choice-Based Training Log 001

Intro; Purpose

I'm starting a new series here on my blog. @woah-wtf-is-this reminded me of some videos I'd seen, enjoyed, thought "I should do that!" about, and...promptly forgot: videos on something called choice-based handling for snakes, in which you teach snakes that they can choose to come out of their enclosures and climb on you instead of just, you know, going in and picking them up.

This was and is a game-changer for me. I have some very friendly snakes and I have some rather unfriendly snakes and a lot in between, but the idea of having a trusting-enough relationship with at least some of them is highly attractive. So with @woah-wtf-is-this's encouragement, I'm giving this a first try.

If you want to follow these updates, follow the tag: snake training log If you DON'T want to see these updates, blacklist that tag instead.

Seiryu: Step 2

This is Seiryu, a juvenile blue phase Kunashir Island locality Japanese rat snake, Elaphe climacophora. I bought her from BSR Auctions. She lives in a tank on the rack to the right of my desk, third shelf from the top, so she's been able to see me almost all day, almost every day for most of this year.

She's been going about her business while I do the same or some time now, so I reckon we're past step 1; therefore I started at step 2—standing directly in front of the rack (therefore her tank) while not paying attention to her.

Session 001

I spent about 35 minutes standing in front of the rack while watching videos on my larger monitor and drinking water. It was quite difficult to do so but I managed to mostly ignore Seiryu's tank.

However, I was about to observe two super interesting things.

First: at least three times, and from different locations, she peeked out of hiding to watch me for a while, then slowly approached the front of the tank to varying distances, watched me a few moments more, and then slowly retreated backwards. This tells me that she's definitely curious about me—we've had plenty of positive and peaceful interactions before—but still nervous.

Second: a second snake came out of hiding and approached to watch me from another tank!

Enyo: Step 2

Enyo is a baby spied (spider pied) ball python bred by Wilbanks Reptiles. She lives in a tank on the second shelf from the top on the same rack as Seiryu. Due to having a visible wobble, I will never breed her.

Like Seiryu, she came out of hiding to watch me, and approached closer multiple times. Unlike Seiryu, she did this without retreating, instead getting a little closer each time.

Since she's showing obvious curiosity, she's going to be subject number two!

Overall I think we're off to a great start!