Snake, snake, ooooooo it's a snake

I'm still debating bally python vs. Columbian rainbow boa.

Cannot for the life of me find any two sites that agree on how to care for rainbow boas, though I am at least sensing a general theme as far as temperatures, humidity, and general care. (And thank you, Savashtar, for the fabulous advice on that. Also Darkbloodwyvern, for the excellent ideas on getting familiar with snake handling.) I have ordered a book off of Amazon! (It was just $3, I couldn't resist) that's about rainbow boas and related species. It should prove educational even if I end up with a ball.

Honestly in some ways practicality says I should get the ball, but... I just don't know! Balls are cute but rainbows are gorgeous. And I have been told that a rainbow is a wonderful snake for handling, while balls prefer to be left alone. I've also been told though that balls are great for handling and that rainbows are too nippy. Oh well. I'd say I'll just decide at the last minute, but I need to know which one I"m getting so I know what stuff to buy, as they do have slightly different care requirements. But I still have a month or so to make up my mind.

(And if you guys think I talk about snakes a lot now, just wait until the week before I get one, and the first few weeks after I get it. I'll probably be posting about it every single day.)

More ouchies

I held another boa today. A redtail. They feel neat, but they still look creepy to me. We went back to the pet store to ask a few more questions, and I wanted to hold the rainbows again, but one of them struck at the pet store girl when she tried to fish it out, and then curled up in that "S" curve that means realy pissed off snake, and was panting too, so she figured best not to. Instead I held a baby redtail, who held onto me for dear life, and tasted my fingers a lot, and a three foot kingsnake that crawled all over me, and seemed to find my shirt fascinating. I think it was the scent of cat all over it. The gal there said she didn't mind if I came back frequently, and also said that she was quite sure she could get additional rainbows from her breeder in August. The ones she has now are females, it seems. I would definitely prefer a male. She also said that as far as she knew they only thing particularly tricky about rainbows was trying to breed them, and if I just wanted a single pet she didn't see why they couldn't be a perfectly fine beginner snake. She does have an ulterior motive for saying this, but still... I'm inclined to agree. I really am leaning towards the rainbows, but there's another month yet to decide.

Anyhow, enough babbling about snakes. After dropping by the pet store we continued on to our actual destination, which was the clinic where I got my perscription refilled, and got blood drawn for testing to see how the thyroid medication is working. I am quite difficult to get blood out of, it seems. My veins are small, and the ones at my elbows tend to be a little deeper down than is ideal. After spending a good five minutes trying to get a vein on my elbow to pop, the fellow doing it glanced down and noticed the veins on my hands, which stand out very visibly, moreso than on most people, and said "forget the elbow, look at that!" about my bulging wrist vein. So I got poked in the wrist, which didn't seem to hurt any more than the elbow poke does. It is very disturbing to watch blood pulse out of you into a test tube. It gives me the willies.

Now I need to try and actually get some work done. Way too much to do before BoardieCon!