Hi from NC!

[admiralham]

Hi. I’m Eric and from North Carolina in the United States.

I use to keep two Columbian Red Tails in the 1990’s while I was in college and a few years afterwards. All was well and good up until hormones overrode common sense and I married. She was worried about snakes “big enough to kill a small child” so I found new homes for my pets.

I did stay in touch and visited my Red Tails, Flint and Tiberius. Flint lived to be 24 years old. Tiberius, unfortunately, passed away in 2003 during a severe ice storm. The power was off across three states for a week in the middle of winter and he didn’t survive.

I’m now older, wiser(?), the children have grown and moved out, my wife has turned around on the whole “icky” snake feelings and I’m feeling the itch to have reptiles again.

A couple of years ago I obtained a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from a local breeder and now I’m wanting to obtain a couple more snakes including an Emerald Tree Boa and, of course, a Red Tail.

[Noelle7206]

Re: Hi from NC!

Sounds like you've got some awesome new plans & we're glad to have you join us here. Your previous rtb 'Flint' had a good long life, but I'm sorry about the premature loss of Tiberius.

As far as ice storms, I've lived through one here in AR and so did all my snakes. The preparations that make this possible are having ice chests/or styrofoam boxes, and either a hot water heater that runs on gas (so
you still have hot water throughout the power outage) or a supply of those chemical 'hand warmer' packets to maintain adequate warmth (in the ice chests) for your snakes to survive. You'll want pillow cases (aka
snake bags) too for all your snakes. I must say that while my house was COLD, I wished I could have fit in one of my ice chests with my bagged snakes, so comfy was their temperature. If you use hot water, as I
did, you just need some empty jars/lids...and plan to refill them about every 8-10 hours, using 1 or 2, depending on how big the ice chest is or how cold the house gets, etc. You don't have much else to do with the
power off anyway...lol. The ice storm experience was miserable for me but educational!

[admiralham]

Re: Hi from NC!

having ice chests/or styrofoam boxes, and either a hot water heater that runs on gas (so
you still have hot water throughout the power outage) or a supply of those chemical 'hand warmer' packets to maintain adequate warmth

That's a great idea. Wish we had thought of those back then.

Today I'm a little better off. I have an emergency generator in case there is an issue.

[Noelle7206]

Re: Hi from NC!

It still makes me sad for all the reptiles lost from ice storms; I know of someone who lost most of his extensive breeding collection that way, but he now has a generator too. That's the best back-up for sure, I'm
glad you're able to do that now. Ice chests & heat packs also come in handy for travelling with your pets...though too much heat also kills. I know of someone who lost their favorite boa when they drove some
distance in hot weather with the boa in a cloth bag (uninsulated) on the floor of their truck, not realizing just how much heat the snake was exposed to during the trip. You have to be careful about sun streaming
thru car (and even home) windows too. That's why a community such as this forum is such a good thing, IMO...so we can learn from each other.

[zamora]

Re: Hi from NC!

Welcome to RTB and I hope you stay a while! There are some great people on this forum with good advice as most (not all) of the members here have been keeping for a number of years. There are also some great breeders that are members here as well and you won't go wrong buying your new pet from any of them.