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Spooders got updated cages, too, with deep burrows that I made with ZooMed Excavator substrate and pressed peat pots.

They've each been in their previous terraria for the last decade, at least, so a change of scenery was pretty jarring for these two ladies.

Bobbi's reaction was to turn in a very slow, very bewildered circle.

"Where even am I right now?"

It's been five hours and she's still in that same spot.

Copper retreated to her favorite old peat hide in her old cage and refused to leave it, so I moved the whole thing and she won't step one single foot out of it.

"No thank you!"

I'm hoping they'll start to settle in within the next few days and I really hope they ultimately use the burrows I set up for them.

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This is a really sweet little thing Pumpkin Spice did today while I introduced her to our new yard: she flattened her head only on the side facing away from me. She wanted any potential threats to know she means business, but I'm okay and she can drop her guard.

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Hi-sis!

Bye-sis.

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Isis' old house has a new look! I'm excited to see how she likes it.

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I know you've been super busy with moving, but is the Cookening still going on?

Sadly, this round of data collection is over. I wasn't able to keep up with it during the move and I missed some key weigh-in dates. Babies still got fed, but out of caution about stress harming health, I just cooked EVERYBODY'S dinners to help them digest easier.

Still, I got six months of data and I will absolutely run the study again next year!

I still need to do some data entry and visualization, and maybe some analysis in R to make sure I'm not imagining things, but I really do think that this is worth repeating and I have some Strong Opinions on the data so far.

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Okay, so, controversial opinion, but i'd argue snakes and spiders have one thing in common.

People are irrationally afraid of them for no apparent reason.

I dunno about controversial, I think this is a pretty widely-accepted take.

I would posit, however, that it's not for no apparent reason. There's apparent reasons!

Most of those reasons are family or cultural beliefs passed down through generations, negative media about "creepy" animals that perpetuate fear, lack of education, and/or disconnect from nature.

Babies aren't born with this fear. It has to be trained in. And if it can be trained in, it can be trained out!

That said, lack of fear should never equate to lack of respect. Here in western North America there are very few snake or spider species that can hurt me, and I know which ones are potentially dangerous and how to identify them. I also know what to do if I do encounter them to keep us both safe, most of which is putting and keeping a healthy distance between us! I don't generally mess with wild animals, regardless of danger factor, unless it's for some specific scientific purpose. It's a lot more fun to watch them do their thing in their habitat than it is to watch them try to struggle out of my grip.

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Hello! Apologies if this is a weird question, i'm just genuinely curious. I recently heard someone in a reptile group say "all morphs are inherently unethical and all snakes that make it to 20+ years old are normals, I've never seen a morph live for too long". Personally this kinda baffled me, since I have both normals and morphs and their daily lives at least are virtually no different. My snow corn snake acts exactly like my normal one, and if his vision is impaired due to albinism, it makes such a miniscule difference in his quality of life that I at least can't notice it. What's your take on this? Thanks!

Oooohhh this is a good question and it's something I think about A Lot and have somewhat addressed before.

I think it helps to consider how most of the morphs we see in captivity (including domestic animals like dogs and cats!) become widespread. Generally, an animal displaying an unusual mutation will be bred with another animal of that species, and then the offspring will be bred back to the parent that carries the original mutation to see if any of the resulting inbred babies have that mutation.

There are two parts to this.

Part one: Mutations, in general, affect an animal's fitness in the wild. Snow corns, as you've pointed out, probably have impaired vision as do all pink-eyed morphs. Other mutations make snakes more visible to predators, or less able to protect themselves, or could affect growth rates, metabolism, organ development, or fecundity. By keeping these animals in captivity and choosing mutations that could reduce wild fitness, we're bypassing natural selection. Is that ethical? Is breeding a sphinx cat ethical? What about a German shepherd? A horse with a white (easily sunburnt) nose? An albino parakeet? Ethics is largely a matter of how personal beliefs intersect with current societal moral consensus. What is ethical for us today may be seen as wrong in twenty years.

Part two: Until pretty recently, many less-thoughtful breeders of reptiles didn't believe that continued inbreeding had any consequences. Now, of course, we understand that the more homozygous an animal is, the higher the likelihood of them expressing mutations that are harmful such as lower immune response or bone deformities. Unfortunately, some breeders to this day refuse to learn about ethics, inheritance, or coefficients of inbreeding and continue to inbreed generation after generation of animals. I've seen first-hand that Ice corns (Anery + Lava) have reduced fecundity and lower robustness. Outcrossing from different bloodlines was not successful in improving the quality and hatch size of offspring. I no longer work with that morph.

I think it's very likely that the person you encountered has realized the consequences of irresponsible morph breeding combined with weak old-school husbandry practices. Their knee-jerk rejection of the entire practice is totally understandable and a valid stance. Others have instead decided to work to improve husbandry and encourage more ethical breeding practices. Also understandable, also valid. For my part, I am making efforts to ensure that any snake I breed has the exact same potential life span as any wild-origin corn snake.

As veterinary medicine and captive husbandry continue to improve, we are seeing more corn snakes of all morphs having longer, healthier lives. I really don't care if that person changes their mind or not, but I do hope to continue to see snakes of every color celebrate birthdays well into their twenties!

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what's something silly your snakes have done recently?

I'm sorry, friend. It's taken me for-E-ver to answer this because moving meant I wasn't spending much casual time with the snakes and therefore wasn't able to observe any silliness!

Yesterday I was feeding the adults and most of them are still in temporary tub housing while I deep clean and redecorate their big cages. Carl has been very clear about his disdain for his tub house and tries to politely excuse himself every time I open the lid. I offered him a thawed frodent and he very eagerly took it but continued his egress from the tub while holding it and, before I could catch him, he smacked me in the forehead with a warm, soggy mouse.

Thanks, Carl.

Then he ate it backwards.

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Kitty Junior is back in her proper cage and was posing so sweetly, I couldn't not take a photo.

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Quick proof of life post. The move is officially over after a marathon weekend. We pulled an all-nighter to get the last few checklist items ticked off before deadline. With that over, I am deeply committed to getting cages redone and/or upgraded and put in their proper places. My poor snakes have been in temporary tub houses far longer than I'd wanted and that needs to be corrected.

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Is it possible to share some details of how you're rerouting the floor vent through a cage platform? I was expecting to have to do that soon myself, so a reference would be really appreciated...

Yeah, totally! Sorry I took so long to respond. I wanted to get photos of the process and it's been slow-going with all the other things needing my attention.

You can buy a product kit called a toeductor that is specifically designed to route a floor vent through the toe kick under a cabinet. All you need is a jigsaw to cut an appropriate shape hole in your cabinet toe kick. This is best for a low-profile solution.

I, however, wanted a maximalist approach so I did it a little differently. Also I don't have a jigsaw. Also I'm not an HVAC professional so I might have donked this up. Maybe have a professional do your stuff instead of flirting with disaster like I do.

Process and pictures under the cut!

Supplies:

Foil tape for ducting

Duct clamp (optional)

Decorative register that fits on your platform (I went with a 4"x8" rectangle)

Magnetic register screen (optional)

6" flexible duct (I needed about 12" length, your mileage may vary)

Universal register box with flange, 6" duct opening and whatever size your decorative register is (mine is 4"x8" to 6")

Universal register box without flange, 6" duct opening and whatever size your existing floor register is (mine is 4"x10")

Drill and drill bit to make holes

Tool to cut the hole for your register

File to smooth the edges of your register hole

Scraper, if needed

Goof-Off or Goo Gone or whatever cleaner you have that takes off adhesive residue, if needed

Vacuum with hose, if needed

First pop off your old floor register. It should just pull right up. Look down in the floor hole and try to remember the last time you vacuumed in there. Find yourself unable to recall. Feel ashamed. If it's a new house for you, wonder if the previous tenant ever vacuumed in there and decide privately to yourself that they probably didn't. Get the shop vac and really get down in there, knowing realistically that this may be the last time you ever do so.

Assess the existing foil duct tape inside the register. Is it gross and crumpled into sticky wads, or is the seal still good? If needed, scrape off the old tape, clean off any residue, and re-tape any seams with the foil tape to make sure there are no air leaks. Leaky HVAC lines mean you're losing heating/cooling to the crawlspace under your house and that's $$$ literally going into the dirt.

Once your existing floor hole looks good, fit the un-flanged universal box over the existing register box and tape them together inside and out with the foil tape. Be careful, register boxes have sharp edges! Make sure there are no cracks or unsealed seams. I forgot to take pictures of this part. Sorry.

Fit the end of the ducting over the end of the register box. Again, tape around the outside and tape inside for a firm seal.

Now use the flanged universal box to determine where on your platform you'll be re-routing the vent. I'm doing mine in a door for ease of access, but it's personal preference. Place yours wherever works for you, so long as the duct isn't being obstructed and you have good air flow. Use a marker to trace where the hole for the outgoing vent will be. I'm using a PVC platform so I drilled holes along the line I traced and then cut between them with a hand saw. If you have a jigsaw, please use that instead. Clean up the edges with a file or sandpaper as needed.

Attach the flanged universal box to the inside of the hole you made. Use small screws or tacks or 100% silicone sealant to adhere the box to the inside of the cabinet. Seal up any seams with tape to prevent air leaks. You may at this point choose to use a duct clamp instead of foil tape, so that you can more easily access the inside of the duct if you find yourself needing to adhere the register to the box. Attach the other end of the 6" duct to the flanged universal box and tape or clamp it in place.

If you're using a screen like I am to prevent unauthorized snake walkabouts that detour into the HVAC system, pop your decorative register apart and sandwich the screen inside. I had to snip the edges of the screen to make it fit the clips that hold the register together. Do what you gotta.

The decorative register should slot right into the universal register box. If you don't seal it in place, you can pull it out at any time. I did find that the register is a bit heavy, as it is intended for use on the floor, and it fell out of its vertical mount easily. I opted to silicone it in place and use a duct clamp on the ducting and register box as described above.

My register looks slightly crooked in this photo, but in reality it's only because the hole itself is actually slightly crooked. Big sigh.

And we're done! Survey your work, knowing that some HVAC professional somewhere is looking at this post online and slowly shaking their head in horror at the atrocities we have committed.

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Sorry for all the asks 😭 but I'm worried my hoggie might be dehydrated. He's been hiding all week and I finally had to distrub him in his hide to dampen the moss which he didn't like. But as he was finding his way back I noticed his top looked kind of flat and the edges were kind of sharp instead of rounding around his sides when he was stretched out. Is he dehydrated or is it just because he's about to shed? Should I soak him or put the water bowl right up against him? I don't want to stress him out more than he already is but I feel like he hasn't ventured out to drink either.

Hey friend!

Hognose snakes are arid-adapted creatures, so he's probably okay. It sounds like he might have been doing his "very scary rattlesnake shape" display when you were re-dampening his moss, which is pretty normal and not an indicator of dehydration.

You can move the water bowl closer if you like, but if he's in his humid hide and it's sufficiently humid, that's probably all he needs right now.

Hopefully he sheds soon so that you can start interacting more regularly!

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I got a hoggie! A little over a year old. He's in blue though and I've seen such differing opinions on humidity levels. What have you done for yours?

Hey friend,

Congratulations!! I'm very happy for you and I hope his shed goes smooth and easy.

Where I live has a climate that is extremely similar to the hognose's native range, and I keep my house pretty close to seasonal temperature most of the year, only heating or cooling to avoid temperature extremes. I provide a humid hide with some sphagnum moss and I add water to it every so often, but I don't really need to do any more than that.

Depending on where you live, your mileage may vary. Check out their native range and compare to your own local climate and adjust accordingly!

Remember that hogs will tolerate a little too dry better than a little too wet, so err on the side of caution. If you're concerned about him being dehydrated while shedding just make sure he can easily find his water bowl and that it's clean and fresh in case he feels parched.

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OMG Snakes actually started out as OMG Spiders! Before I got into snakes, I kept and bred tarantulas. Unfortunately, I developed a very strong allergy to cockroaches, which tarantulas eat, as well as a mild contact allergy to the tarantulas themselves. I still have two spooders who mostly eat mealworms, super worms, and hornworms but I will brave the occasional sneezing fit and get them dubia as a treat. As long as I'm hands-off we get along just fine.

This is Bobbi the Mexican Red-Knee. She's about 15 years young and she likes making mud pies in her water dish and flicking hairs at me for NO reason.

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I'm getting my first snake soon! A western hognose or corn. Do I need to quarentine if it's my only snake or can I put it riggt into it's new enclosure?

Hi and congratulations on your first snake! That's very exciting.

Since they're your first and only, you technically don't need to quarantine them since there's, like, nobody to quarantine them from. There are other valid reasons to use a quarantine enclosure, however. Depending on your enclosure and your comfort level with reptiles, it might be a good idea to have them in a smaller space for a brief time (2-3 feedings) to make sure they're eating and pooping normally. If you're having a fecal test performed by a vet (always a good idea!) it might be easier to get a fecal sample this way.

In my personal experience, hognoses and tiny baby corns tend to be more sensitive to change so it might be better to put them right into their permanent enclosure. Yearling and adult corns tend to take change in stride with less disruption to their patterns.

How you decide to go about it depends on you and the snake you choose. If you're unsure, talk to the breeder you're buying from to get an idea of the temperament of the snake. You can also ask if they have recommendations based on parent temperament or current levels of socialization.

I hope this helps and I wish you a very happy Choosening!