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I've wanted one of these little guys for a really long time (at least 10 years). About a month ago I was out of town and there was one in a reptile shop. I wandered around the store for an hour debating whether I would get it or not, and ended up leaving with a milksnake instead. I told myself that if it were still there (and healthy) the next time I went there, I would get it.
This past weekend I was there again, and it was still there. It was fatter that it was before, and looked healthy. After talking them down 25 dollars over the missing tail tip, I brought it home. It's about 10", and in otherwise excellent condition. It made the ride home in subzero temps just fine in a cooler with heat packs, and I set it up. Yesterday was its first full day with me, and it came out and ate a few small superworms and basked under it's mercury vapor light for a while, then disappeared into a cork tube. It didn't come out today to eat any more, but I'm not too concerned-- it'll come out when it's ready.
What I did notice when it was out was that the 30 gallon long tank I'm using for a temporary home is way too small. When it's out, it's a very busy little animal, and looked cramped. My plan is to make it a cage, probably in about 2 weeks - 4' wide and tall, 2' deep, with a nice deep topsoil/sand mix for it to burrow in. I do have about 6" of this mix in the tank its in now, but thus far it's just hiding in a cork tube, and not burrowing.
Anyway, here are a couple of pics from the day I got it. I haven't been able to snap a pic of it in it's temp home yet, as I didn't want to scare it when I saw it out, so I stayed far away.
Super cool little animal! Sorry about the poor quality, they were cell phone pics in a dim room, trying to hold a squirmy little lizard with one hand and snap pics with the other
. It's cute how it hisses all mean when you have to pic it up, but it's too little to do anything, and didn't even try to bite. It'll be mostly look but don't touch going forward. From the research I've done, these little guys really, really don't like being handled, and usually don't get used to it, so there's no benefit to either of us.
This past weekend I was there again, and it was still there. It was fatter that it was before, and looked healthy. After talking them down 25 dollars over the missing tail tip, I brought it home. It's about 10", and in otherwise excellent condition. It made the ride home in subzero temps just fine in a cooler with heat packs, and I set it up. Yesterday was its first full day with me, and it came out and ate a few small superworms and basked under it's mercury vapor light for a while, then disappeared into a cork tube. It didn't come out today to eat any more, but I'm not too concerned-- it'll come out when it's ready.
What I did notice when it was out was that the 30 gallon long tank I'm using for a temporary home is way too small. When it's out, it's a very busy little animal, and looked cramped. My plan is to make it a cage, probably in about 2 weeks - 4' wide and tall, 2' deep, with a nice deep topsoil/sand mix for it to burrow in. I do have about 6" of this mix in the tank its in now, but thus far it's just hiding in a cork tube, and not burrowing.
Anyway, here are a couple of pics from the day I got it. I haven't been able to snap a pic of it in it's temp home yet, as I didn't want to scare it when I saw it out, so I stayed far away.
Super cool little animal! Sorry about the poor quality, they were cell phone pics in a dim room, trying to hold a squirmy little lizard with one hand and snap pics with the other
. It's cute how it hisses all mean when you have to pic it up, but it's too little to do anything, and didn't even try to bite. It'll be mostly look but don't touch going forward. From the research I've done, these little guys really, really don't like being handled, and usually don't get used to it, so there's no benefit to either of us.
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