Ball Python catching a mouse

Jake the Snake looking for a meal



Yummy! Friends 'til the end?


This is the end, friend!

Is the mouse just playing dead (or plain dead)?



The tail looks crunchy!

My ball python is about six months old, and he seems to be getting fatter but not longer. I keep feeding him (or her?) a mouse every 5-7 days, and sometimes a rat-pup. It is good to see the python has a healthy appetite, and at least it is growing (fat?).

Hurricane Wilma

Whoa, another bad Hurricane came through Miami. This one left 98% of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties without any electricity. Unlike Katrina that crushed my car (thanks to falling branches from trees), this one just took the electricity (normal for a Hurricane). The night Wilma came by I drove my car around the complex and found a nice spot away from the trees and between two vans. I wish I had done that when Katrina was coming. Of course, the two vans got hit by a row of wooden fences that got blown away. Their windshields were smashed, but my small Chevy Aveo was safely protected!

After three days without electricity, the power is back on. But more than 90% of the population is still without any electricity, and many will be without any for a month. The FEMA folks forgot to gas up their trucks, so even though they brought trucks with water (and charge billions to the taxpayers for that), the trucks were in the parking lots ungassed. After a few days they got around to distributing some water (but why? The water here is not contaminated) but they did not bring ICE or any fresh food, which is what people who don't have electricity really need. I feel sorry for those that are relying on FEMA for any help. What a bunch of incompetents; but then FEMA is being run by a guy who failed as a horse show organizer.

Turtles in the Everglades

Nearly every time that I have ever been to the Everglades, I have seen turtles basking in the sun. Sometimes they are not very big, such as these two Peninsula Cooters (I guess they could be Painted Turtles?) that are pictured above. Those turtles were about a foot long.
The softshell turtle (July 13) on the other hand was about three feet long and the largest that I have ever seen.

baby Ball Python

That's good eatin'


My baby Ball Python snacking on a pinkie

Flamingo Gardens & Reptile Show

My family and I had a chance to visit Flamingo Gardens in Davie, Florida and ended up buying a Ball Python at a very reasonable price ($15.). These Ball Pythons are usually sold at local pet stores for $49. each, so the savings more than covered the Admission fee of $6. per person which included the entry fee to visit the Flamingo Gardens. Flamingo Gardens itself had some interesting Nature exhibits and a short Reptile seminar. It was a very nice park to visit. It has tons of tropical plants, flowers, trees, and also birds and reptiles and some rides. The Reptile Show was in convention hall in Flamingo Gardens, and it had lots of tables and some great bargains on all kinds of reptiles and turtles. There were lots of interesting critters, bugs, skunks, ferrets, rats, mice, various monkeys, flying squirrels, weird rabbits, guinea pigs, Iguanas, all kinds of snakes, turtles, spiders, scorpions, and more!

Lauren is the promoter of Florida's Reptile and Alternative Pet Shows. Lauren is a very nice and friendly person and she sold us a very colorful silk-screened reptile T-shirt for only $12. Just about everything at this reptile show had great deals compared to any pet stores.

Summer of Death

I am not sure why, but this summer we bought a small mud turtle (baby) and a month later it died. Then we bought his replacement (Shelby II) and a month later he died. Then a mud turtle that I had bought as a baby but which was now about three years old also died. It was about three inches long when it died. Hopefully there are swamps and rivers and lakes in Heaven, and turtles, fish, and alligators (not to mention dogs and NFL Football). Do you think animals and beloved pets have an afterlife? It is kind of sad when our pets die. Even a little reptile can have a lot of personality.

Visit to the Everglades in July

The Everglades in July are hot. The mosquitoes are flying around in swarms. These are big fat mosquitoes, not the skinny tiny ones that are usually in South Florida.

You can feel these mosquitoes when they fly into your arms and legs. Even worse are some big green flies that are about an inch long and they buzz people too. The dragonflies are about four inches long and thick. I am not sure if the bite, but they feel sharp when they fly into a body.
There was a large softshell turtle sunning itself by the third visitor's area. The turtle had a very deep brownish green color. The turtle looked so alive and happy to be there. I felt very privileged to be there that day.

The softshell turtle was at least three feet long about about two feet wide. It looked very healthy and as I got closer to it the turtle looked at me and actually walked towards me. I wonder if it had gotten in the habit of getting treats from visitors. I did not have any food, I wonder what it would want to eat? Certainly the Repto-Min pellets are too tiny. I guess I could have brought along a pail full of shiners from the Bait Store (or as the Three Stooges used to say: "If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake.")

After the softshell turtle had been walking around for a few minutes it stopped and some big bugs flew on its shell. I was wondering if the bugs were eating parasites or algae. I am not sure what they were. They looked like big Palmetto bugs (roaches), but maybe they were dragonflies? The bugs looked like something out of a science fiction horror movie, and I was not interested in getting close enough to find out. By then the mosquitoes had started biting us to bits anyway, and we wanted to get back into the car and air-conditioning.
Lots of Gators in the 'Glades