Thursday, March 25, 2010

Blog Awards and Snake Pics & Info

A number of people asked me questions about our snakes in my last post. So I have decided to post some pictures later on in this post of our three snakes and some info about them. (this is fair warning to those who may not like snakes or have a fear of them that the pics are later on).

Up first, I have been awarded by a few different people two awards.
Hopefully I have the list correct of who awarded which to me.

I this lovely Beautiful blogger award from Jo and Evalina

And this lovely Sunshine Award from Jade.
(hopefully I caught all the people who awarded me, please let me know if I have missed you and I will add you to you list).

Here are the rules...

1. Accept the award
2. Thank the person who gave you the award
3. Add a link to the person who gave you the award
4. Put the award on your blog
5. Write 10 things about yourself others might not know
6. Pass the award on to 10 others

Here are my 10 things:

1. I learned to cross stitch when I was only 12 years old.
2. I can't swim (and am terrified of water).
3. I love vampires (that are not Twilight related).
4. I collect unicorns, in any way, shape or form possible.
5. I read about 55 paperback books a year.
6. I love music in many forms including; heavy metal, rock, country, punk and classical
7. I play the piano.
8. My B/F and I dated years back for a year, broke things off for five years, and have now been happily living together for over a year in our re-inspired relationship.
9. I am the art director for a local magazine. I make things look pretty. ;)
10. I love all the people I have met online and through blogging, thank you to all of you for continuing to re-inspire me so, in so many things!

I am not going to pass the award onto anyone... I could make a list of 100 great blogs. Truly there are so many I don't want to miss anyone. So forgive me for not making a list. But thank you sooo much to the lovely ladies that sent these to me. And to those for your visits to my blog and comments. You are the reason why I love to keep this blog going.


On to the snakes... fair warning from here down this post has pictures of snakes.
Thank you all so much for your comments about Kihone.
I got a few questions about our snakes. So I thought I'd share with you pictures of each of them and some information.


First up, the first snake that my B/F ever had, he had this snake when we dated about six years ago. His name is Erinys. He is about eight years old we think. He is a Cornsnake. He has a special pattern, that hourglass on her back repeats across her whole body, making her worth more (and just plain prettier). He is about six feet long in total (and quite fat)

Next up... the sick snake. This is Kihone. We did not take her out to take a picture because she is still quite sick. She is an Albino Cornsnake. And my B/F got her about four or five years ago (we think). She has been doing okay... vet appt tomorrow. Not sure if she will need to be put down or not. She has a mass stuck in her intestinal track. We have tried everything including her hospitalization last weekend to help her. But if she cannot pass it we are going to have to put her down. She has passed a few small masses, so we will see what the vet thinks. Poor thing.

And last but certainly not least is Onyx. She is a Mexican Black Kingsnake (and if I am allowed to have one, my personal favourite). I think she is only about three or four years old. She is just beautiful in my opinion. She is all black except for one small flaw on the bottom side of her head. She is smaller, only about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long. So that makes it easier to handle her. She is a bit skittish sometimes
when we open her cage lid. But has never struck at either of us.
 
There you are. Our babies (as we call them).
They are all fed mice. We have them frozen (dead), they get unthawed and fed in a container separate from their terrariums so that they do not strike us because they think we have food each time we open the lids. Mostly snakes are a very low maintenance animal. You only feed them once a week. And just want to make sure they have enough water and clean up their excrement after them. it's that easy!
Any other questions about our babies let me know.

Thanks for your comments. I will update on Kihone once we find out what is going on at the vet's.
And I'm totally getting stoked for my 12-hour LNS stitch on Saturday! My fingers are just itching to get at it. :)
(PS. I have clearance for exercise from my surgeon, no other change in the pain or food issues... next appt is in a few weeks... I will update on health as I have more information, for now just continuing to tolerate what I can for food and stuff).

13 comments:

Meari said...

Congrats on the awards, Mel. Glad to hear the doctor has cleared you. I'm not a big snake fan, but I have to admit yours are really cool looking. :)

Dave said...

little more random info about the snakes:

Erinys: Originally thought to be female, hence the name. He is commonly known as a "Sunglow Corn snake". Because of his cubed pattern, he is considered a "designer" snake, as that pattern is hard to achieve when breeding.

Kihone: Technically not an albino, as both her and Erinys have the red eyes. She's what's known as a "Snow Corn", and has a very pale white/pink combination, with a bit of yellow along her jawline and down the sides of her belly. Kihone was the name for the greek goddess of snow.

Onyx: Not much more to add about her, the fact that she is nearly flawless (save for the white spot mel mentioned) makes her more desirable to breeders. Lots of Mexican Black Kings have some dark brown banding, so a flawless one is rarer and worth more.

Emily in NC said...

Congrats on the award. Your snakes are so pretty. Can't Kihone have the mass removed, or was that question answered already. So sorry to hear that he is sick and really hope something can be done for him.

Mel said...

Emily... she could have it removed but the bill is $1500 and they don't know if once they get into surgery with her if they can save her for sure... so us and our vet agree that it is not for the best. :(

EvalinaMaria said...

Oh, I think Kihone needs just a little more excercise and some Metamucil or extra mouse coat. And yes, I'm not a fan of snakes at all but I watched Anaconda twice! Yours are just babies...

Carolyn NC said...

Congrats on the awards! Hope all goes well at the vets.

Dave said...

And that $1500 surgery bill can go up if they have to remove a section of the digestive tract, and attach the 2 ends together. At that point it starts getting into the $2000+ range. Then, if she survives the surgery, it's unknown how well she'll heal, or even IF she'll heal.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Congratulations on your awards!

Thank you so much for sharing your snakes with us that's just too cool!

Rene la Frog said...

Your snakes are beautiful!!!! I hope Kihone passes the blockage but if not your decision to put her down is a correct one in my opinion. We had a 7 foot Bermese Python before we moved to NV. We weren't sure where we would be able to get food for him here so we gave him to our friends at the Little Rock Zoo. He is very happy there (our kids see him all the time) and he has grown even more. I still miss him.

Diane (di) said...

Congratulations on the awards Mel!!
Fingers crossed that everything works out for Kihone.

Shelley said...

I hope Kihone is able to pass the mass. If not, I totally agree with your decision to put her down. It would be for the best.

Thanks for sharing all the wonderful pics and info about your gorgeous babies. I am so jealous. I love snakes and have always wanted to have one as a pet.

Have fun at your stitch in.

Vicky L said...

Your babies are cool looking. I hope Kihone gets well soon. The info on the snakes were very informative.

Debbie said...

Mel,
Hope all goes well with the vet visit. Your photos of the 'kids' are great, and I'm not even a fan of snakes.

Fingers crossed that things continue to improve for you healthwise.