More ouchies

[bladespark]

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!

Comments

[jfoxfire.livejournal.com]

i like to see pics of it please

[lin-chan.livejournal.com]

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.

*shudders*
I hate having my blood taken. I'm light-headed and cringing just having read that.

[reiko-sazanami.livejournal.com]

I've lived with and handled both snakes (both males, for the record), and the ball tended to have the cuter face and cuddlier/funnier personality. Very prone to mischief, though.

And from what I've experiences, rainbows have been the more aloof ones, and more active. The ball would curl in your lap and watch TV with you! And female rainbows and VERY nippy. The one a former friend has has only gotten meaner as she ages :/

[svashtar.livejournal.com]

Not my experience. Pip is a girl and has become nearly comatose in her mellowness. She has never so much as made a single S curve ever, and has never bitten anyone, nor has ever tried.

I've helped snake phobics over their fear with her simply because she moves so slowly and deliberately.

[svashtar.livejournal.com]

It really bothers me when pet store people talk. Ever. Rainbows are not a beginner's snake, though they are awfully neat. It is just so easy to wind up with a snake with a respiratory problem, or worse, a blind snake.

The gal at the Family Pet Store in fremont says one of her customers has a brazilian rainbow that lost her eyes because the lady didn't keep the tank humid enough. Another pet store person told her to keep it on aspen.

Don't ever trust pet store people unless they happen to be at the East Bay Vivarium, or some equivalent store that actually breeds the animals themselves.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Well, she did give me instructions for humidity that agree with what you said, and with most of what I've read on line, so she's not totally clueless.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

And they DO breed many of their animals themselves, and get the rest from a local breeder. *shrugs* The gal I talked to keeps snakes herself, though not rainbows. She never said they'd be "easy" but that they could be a fine beginner snake if you're willing to put in the effort. She told me to keep it on cypress, with moss in to help humidity, and have it deep enough the snake can burrow under if it gets too dry.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

And I realized I sound slightly defensive. Sorry if I came off that way! It's just that so far everything I've been told by this person matches up perfectly with what I already know, which leads me to believe she actually knows what she's talking about. And I've double checked everything she's said that I didn't know, and though there are a few differing opinions (like her saying they use under tank heat, and one site saying it's not ideal) it's matched up pretty well. So I'm kind of inclined to think that this is a little different.

Now the pet store that's at the /other/ end of town? Ugh. I wouldn't take anything they said as true, and I would never buy an animal there anyhow, it'd probably be sick.