Pet Adventures

I wanted to be a snake person, I really did.  The many pets I have I love.  I love the bearded dragon.  I love the ferret.  I love the dog...I sometimes wish I had a zoo, or feel like I am well on the way.  But this snake thing has given me perma-willies.  Ick.

The snake is a beautiful baby Rosy Boa.  She is around 16" long and the diameter of a dime (to give you a good idea of what I was up against).  Today I bid her goodbye and well wishes.  And I thank the guy from craigslist who is taking her out of my house!

It all started when my son left town.  Normally, since it is his snake, he is the one to feed her and handle her.  He went out of town and the job was left to me.  I admit I was squeamish (do snakes sense fear??) but I bravely and trustingly reached my arm into the aquarium to retrieve her. 

She (Scarlet) had been enjoying regular feedings of live mice every six days or so.  According to my research that was sufficient.  Scarlet would be placed in a five gallon bucket with her prey and left to squeeze, suffocate and devour the pinkie mice to her cold little heart's content. 

This whole business of feeding baby mice to a snake is really disheartening actually.  Baby boaconstrictors eat baby mice.  These "pinkie" mice are so newly born that they squeak pathetically around in the crude cardboard box the pet store sells them in. Their eyes aren't even open.  They are all wrinkly and hairless, sadly sniffing for the warmth of their absent mama mouse. 

At feeding time, the baby mouse is a helpless little pink protein bar when Scarlet senses it and nudges it menacingly into position.  She coils around it as quick as you could snap your fingers.  Constricted and robbed of its breath, the baby mouse turns a sad colour of purple and Scarlet slowly wraps her mouth around its head.

As I was saying, I reached my hand into Scarlet's cage so that I could feed her in the bucket, where I had left two pinkies.  The little bitch shot around and bit me on the wrist..not a warning nibble.  Oh no.  She latched on and I had to shake her free.  Those little teeth drew blood, I screamed like a little girl, and the snake flew to the floor.  Really the only redeeming factor here is that my son was spared the experience, I would take the bite for him again.  Rather me traumatized than he.