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Aug. 25th, 2009 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thejunipertreeBetelgeuse, the Engineer's California king snake, went a bit bugfuck this evening round about when I came home from work.
I entered the computer/snake room, where the Engineer was at his desk and I said hello to everyone present. This includes all the snakes, because they are my friends. I sat on the floor and talked to the Engineer, petting the cat, and halfheartedly pondered what we should have for dinner. That's when I noticed Beetle hauling ass all over his tank.
Beetle's been around for quite some time, he's the oldest out of our snakes and the longest (almost six feet). Being that the other four snakes are all fat and lazy ball pythons, he's also the most active. So, it's not really all that unusual for him to spend an hour or two cruising around his tank.
Tonight was different, though. He was going around and around at warp speed, hard-nosing into the corners and against the walls, diving into his bedding and burrowing like a madsnake under his rock and his water dish, tongue flickering crazily. At one point, after one particular lap of the tank, his ass end was in front of his face end, and I saw him bite his tail like some kind of fucked up Ouroboros. At another point, he struck the glass at absolutely nothing.
His behavior seemed like a really amped up feeding response, similar to his normal I'M HUNGRY behavior, but with all new added meth binge. He's a very healthy eater and is due to eat, but it's not like he's weeks and weeks into not being fed. It's only been a day or two behind schedule and that's something he's experienced before without this reaction.
Looking online for an idea of what's causing this proved fruitless. There isn't much in the way of help, other then a small handful of other people who have king snakes who've also acted like this. Some say it was feeding response, others say mites, others say neurological, others say breeding season. Beetle is roughly seven years old, the Engineer got him as a yearling, and he's never acted like this before. I was actually afraid if either of us had opened his tank, we would have gotten tagged.
He seems to have calmed down now, lying in the corner of his tank with a sullen face on. He's been fairly chill for the past couple of hours, but before that- scarysnake. I'll keep an eye on him to monitor him for further weirdness, as I'm sure the Engineer will too.
And of course, this is all after my conversation with Miss Janette last night, singing the praises of how easy king snakes are to keep (especially when compared to ball pythons).
Typical.
I entered the computer/snake room, where the Engineer was at his desk and I said hello to everyone present. This includes all the snakes, because they are my friends. I sat on the floor and talked to the Engineer, petting the cat, and halfheartedly pondered what we should have for dinner. That's when I noticed Beetle hauling ass all over his tank.
Beetle's been around for quite some time, he's the oldest out of our snakes and the longest (almost six feet). Being that the other four snakes are all fat and lazy ball pythons, he's also the most active. So, it's not really all that unusual for him to spend an hour or two cruising around his tank.
Tonight was different, though. He was going around and around at warp speed, hard-nosing into the corners and against the walls, diving into his bedding and burrowing like a madsnake under his rock and his water dish, tongue flickering crazily. At one point, after one particular lap of the tank, his ass end was in front of his face end, and I saw him bite his tail like some kind of fucked up Ouroboros. At another point, he struck the glass at absolutely nothing.
His behavior seemed like a really amped up feeding response, similar to his normal I'M HUNGRY behavior, but with all new added meth binge. He's a very healthy eater and is due to eat, but it's not like he's weeks and weeks into not being fed. It's only been a day or two behind schedule and that's something he's experienced before without this reaction.
Looking online for an idea of what's causing this proved fruitless. There isn't much in the way of help, other then a small handful of other people who have king snakes who've also acted like this. Some say it was feeding response, others say mites, others say neurological, others say breeding season. Beetle is roughly seven years old, the Engineer got him as a yearling, and he's never acted like this before. I was actually afraid if either of us had opened his tank, we would have gotten tagged.
He seems to have calmed down now, lying in the corner of his tank with a sullen face on. He's been fairly chill for the past couple of hours, but before that- scarysnake. I'll keep an eye on him to monitor him for further weirdness, as I'm sure the Engineer will too.
And of course, this is all after my conversation with Miss Janette last night, singing the praises of how easy king snakes are to keep (especially when compared to ball pythons).
Typical.
