Cricket Contest

[katelynna]

This is my sweet, smiling lil boy named Smokey! He’s a bandit morph leopard gecko. (Smokey…Bandit…get it?) He’s 3 years old and loves to come out and say hi when I get home. He also loves attention and will crawl straight into my hand if I put it in his tank! He would LOVE free crickets for a year, and so would mom! He sends all of his boops and licks as thanks for voting.

Login/Register To Reply

Attachments:

1. 

   Snapchat-980974796.jpg
   

[The_Reptile_Life]

He is beautiful! Did you have to train him to come to your hand or did he do it naturally?

[katelynna]

He’s done that since day 1! The place I got him from handles most of their critters from birth, so he’s always been used to being handled. I’m sure that’s why he comes to me.

[The_Reptile_Life]

That’s great! Where did you get him?

[katelynna]

A place just north of Orlando, FL called Pet Bazaar! The staff is super knowledgeable and friendly, and I highly recommend them for anyone in the area.

[The_Reptile_Life]

Do you have any other pets?

[katelynna]

I actually just got a hognose snake mid-July! Her name is Penelope. She’s very feisty, but I’ve worked with her to the point that she hasn’t struck at me in about a month. It’s quite a bit of progress I must say!

Attachments:

1. 

   Snapchat-1199751914.jpg
   

[The_Reptile_Life]

That’s great. Western Hognose snakes can be mean sometimes but with a little work they will calm down. They are one of my favorites. Have you ever seen an Eastern Hognose before? Here is a picture in case you haven’t.

Attachments:

1. 

   20190618_120125.jpg
   

[katelynna]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Yeah! I live outside of Atlanta, GA, and my dad found one in our garden when I was younger. We’ve always been fond of snakes, so we were excited to see one, especially because hognoses are so interesting!</p>

[The_Reptile_Life]

Finding reptiles and amphibians in the wild is one of the most rewarding things in the hobby. Even more so when you find something rare like a hognose. Do you ever go out looking for reptiles and amphibians?

[katelynna]

Not very often anymore. We did a lot more when I was younger, though. We had red-bellied water snakes around our pond all the time. Those are beautiful snakes!

[The_Reptile_Life]

Those are beautiful. I would love to see one in the wild. We have redbelly snakes here in PA and those are really pretty too. One of my favorites to find is the ringneck snake.

[katelynna]

Ringnecks are so docile. We found them pretty often along with worm snakes!

[The_Reptile_Life]

That’s so fun! Was finding snakes as a kid what got you interested in keeping them as pets?

[katelynna]

I think that had a lot to do with it. My dad is incredibly fond of snakes, so I grew up learning to like them.

[The_Reptile_Life]

It’s good that you were taught to be fascinated by them and not to be afraid of them. They are some of the coolest animals in the world

[joeylmartell]

Nice name ☺️

[katelynna]

Thanks! I thought it was pretty creative 😊

[Poopiegarbo1]

Smokey got some gnarly scale patterns 🤙

sicc yellow and black 🦎

[katelynna]

He’s a handsome boi 😎

[HuntAndRob]

He’s very boopable

[katelynna]

If you let him boop your nose, he will give you a little lick!

[Zoodulcis]

Smokey seems like a true sweetie.  What made you decide on a hognose snake, of all the potential snake choices out there?

[katelynna]

I’ve always found hognoses to be interesting with their array of defense mechanisms. Mine won’t play dead, but she likes to hiss, strike, flatten her head, and flick her tail. I also liked the idea of a hognose because they don’t get as big as many other species commonly kept as pets. Although mine’s a female, she’ll still stay smaller than the ever popular ball python. I’m also thinking about getting a corn snake at some point! Like the hognose, I think they’re incredibly beautiful snakes. And to respond to your other comment, I will definitely start a thread over there!!

[Zoodulcis]

If you get a chance, could you start a thread under “Snakes” about your hognose?  That category needs more folks chiming in and getting some informative dialogue about various species, their care, and behavior.  That would be super and of course critter golds are awarded for that as well.

[Zoodulcis]

I find biomimicry so fascinating.  The whole tail flicking thing just cracks me up.  I think “who are you trying to fool”?  But plainly someone is fooled, often enough that this defensive trait exists and persists.  I’ve seen terrestrial garter snakes do this and it’s a hoot.

[katelynna]

I had no idea Garters would do that! That is something I have not seen. The tail flicking is the least intimidating tactic aside from actually playing dead in my opinion. The hissing is what amazes me and, frankly, scares me a little. Because of their unique head structure (with the upturned scales on their snouts), they are able to blow air out very forcefully, and they do this while puffing up their bodies much like a rattlesnake does before it strikes. The volume of the hiss amazes me. I read somewhere that many used to refer to westerns as puff adders because of this hissing technique, and I can see how stumbling upon one in the wild could give someone quite a startle, especially if they are unfamiliar with snakes.

[Zoodulcis]

This response to a threat from Garters does not seem to be absolutely hard-wired.  Some wild-caught snakes I have handled have done it, others have not.  I caught one when I was 13 who wrapped itself around my wrist and stuck out its little tail and ‘rattled’ like mad!  It was so amusing I took it into the house to show my parents.  They liked snakes a whole lot less than I did and they were not amused.  But I thought it was hysterical.

[katelynna]

That’s pretty hilarious! That’s also incredibly fascinating. Just another reason why I love snakes 😊

[Author]

Posts