Shadow Void

And The Cat Came Back

The cat that I've had for the about a year and a half, that disappeared for a year has returned. He's been here two days at night. It is the same cat but he seems a little bit more apprehensive. He seems well feed and pretty clean. My dad is pretty sure that he's been housed by someone. Now, I guess we are going to be back to buying cat food. Guys, I want nothing more than to bring him inside. I was semi happy when he was gone. Course the possibility of him being out there made me happy, and caused me to yearn a little bit for his return, but now I know that when he disappears I'm going to miss him so much.

 

** What do you think of this warm winter weather? We've had five days of 80 degree weather here in NW Indiana.

New Critters

Today I added three new critters to my collection. I only got the new ones because something in the collection died. Maybe collection is a bad word because I'm not out to have every single species out there. Anyway, I ordered the animals on Friday night or Saturday. I received 1 Androctonus bicolor ( Black Fat-Tailed Scorpion ) , 1 Buthacus arenicola ( Sand Scorpion ), and 1 Leiurus quinquestriatus ( Egyptian deathstalker ). I don't typically make it a habit of ordering this late in the season, but they came through today with no problems. They showed up at the house around 11:30 am. Decided when I ordered to take the day as a personal day and I'm glad that I did. I was able to get tanks cleaned, set up, and the animals housed without having to stress about getting important stuff done. Tomorrow, I'll post the video of them and hopefully do some follow up videos.

Rolled Random Question

Which of my unique pet(s) is my favorite(s)?

My favorite animal in my collection right now is my big girl, Taco. I know, I know, taco is a weird name. Taco is a Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantula. She was named by the kids I had in class about 6 or 7 years ago. She is docile once you get her up and out of her tank. I really enjoy her. She's great to bring out to meet people.

So this question was slightly different from the one's that I usually ask and here is why. I want you my readers to post a question to me. Keep in mind that any question that you ask me will be posted to my blog. I get to choose how best to answer the question if it's a bit out there. So help me out and ask me a question that you've been dying to know about me or about my hobbies.

Bittersweet Saturday

Today has been for the most part a quiet day. The nephews have been over and left. My parents went down south to where my dad grew up to see one of my great aunts. She is in a nursing home recovering from a bad episode with congestive heart failure. On top of that, my cat who has been with me since his birth has suddenly come up missing. He's always been an outside cat but would venture in from time to time only to get tired of that and want to go outside. I haven't seen him since Monday. Being an outside cat wasn't the way, I wanted him to live, but since I live with my parent's I have to make attempts at living the way, they want me too. He was subject to many all of the dangers of being a feral cat. Still, he was my buddy. He would come up to be petted, loved to have his chin rubbed and petted behind the ears. He would purr like no other when he was allowed inside. I think, he thought he was getting away with something. Guys, I miss him so bad right now. It's hard to describe because I can't cuddle with the other animals. Sure, they neat and unique, but they don't give back. Oh well, I knew it wouldn't last forever. He would been two this year. I don't know if he's dead or if someone picked up him to make his pet. I just hope if he's dead that it was quick and painless. If someone has him, I hope they don't pet him too far down his back because he hates that, and they'll get bit. I hope they're loving him to death, because he deserves it. Now, today hasn't been a total wash out.

 

I was looking at our large cherry tree while outside bringing some stuff that my parent's bought while they were out and about today. I noticed the robin's raiding the fruits that were ripe, however the robins were not alone in that tree. There were three birds that looked like cardinals. Only, they had a yellow band that ran along the end of their tail feathers. We had 3 cedar waxwings in our cherry tree. I have only seen them 4 times in my entire life that I'm aware of any way. Pretty cool, but I still feel pretty blue.

 

Oh…in case I haven't mentioned it, I have 5 new animals. I have a Burmese chocolate brown tarantula ( F ), another tarantula that I don't remember the common name for, an African ground scorpion (HOT) and a Deathstalker scorpion (HOT), and I also got two African Giant Millipedes. They are huge. The one that is supposed to be the female is almost a foot long. She maybe 4 or 5 inches short of a foot but either way she is huge. The male though not quite as long is also bigger than anything we have around here. I know most of you have no interest in my animals which is fine with me, but right now, I could use an escape just for a couple hours. Either that, or a place where I could have a cat and my critters too. Wishing and wanting while knowing that I can't afford to move. Sorry if this is such a downer of a post, but it's bond to happen every once in awhile.

Random Rolled Question

What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done on purpose?

This little potential brush with death happened about a month ago. I had a scorpion that I was trying to check on using paper to scoop him up. I was having a hard time checking his girth to see if he was being feed too much. Only one little flaw in my plan. I didn't set up a safe guard to keep it from moving up the paper. He actually crawled underneath the paper and was moving up towards me. It's sort of scary when you can't see a scorpion roughly about the size of the following word "happy" now maybe, I would have been fine with that particular scorpion, but I knew ahead of time that this particular species of scorpion is considered dangerous. I should have just left well enough alone. Yes, my heart was pounding a little bit. So what about you? Ever done something dangerous on purpose?

2nd Breeding Attempt :(

I've been keeping an assortment of exotic pets since I was in my twenties. So almost for 20 some years. I've had taranultas and scorpions and a few species of millipedes. I've always been relatively proud of the animals and what I considered to be my knowledge about them. Today, I am feeling really low. The egg sac, that I was waiting for isn't going to be. The mother was guarding a dead egg sac. Not only did it look dry but it appeared to be moldy. It didn't sound right when I sat it down to get ready to put in the incubator. I'm so pissed at myself. I wasted the male's sperm, wasted the time of a friend, and in the end what do I have to show for it, a bunch of dead eggs. I'm considering getting rid of every single one of them. Honestly for as long as I've had them, I've never really felt the urge to breed any of them until now, and I failed. Normally, I would read amd correct my mistakes, but at what price. I can't keep killing a life even a life as simple as a tarantula.

My Pets, Threats Against Me

Any time that I take my pets out to do a presentation, one question always comes up "Are they poisonous?". In truth none of my pets are poisonous. They are venomous. In other words, they inject their toxins into an animal's body. Every one of my animals are venomous with the exception of the hissing cockroaches. Yes, each one has venom which ranges from mild to life-threatening.

 

Not every animal in my collection has the potential to send me to the hospital or to kill me. I know which animals pose a health risk. To someone who doesn't know the animals, they might see all my pets as a potential risk. Knowing the risk that each animal poses is very important. I don't handle all my animals and I don't take unnecessary risk.

 

While I try to minimize my dangers, the animals behavior is out of my control. Since I cannot control their actions, I depend on my knowledge and the individual animal's personality to assist me in keeping safe. The combination of knowing the risk and the personality of an animal, I'm more apt to stay alert. Dropping my guard could mean being bit or sting. I'm also more apt to have an escape. Any time that the lid is open poses a risk of an escape likewise when my hands are in the tank, I could be hurt.

 

The risks are real enough. Accidents can happen at any time. It is very important to be safe and on my toes at all times. The minute, my guard is done is the minute that an animal can hurt me. I firmly believe that this is what has kept me safe for all these years. Well, I'm out!

New Pets

 

 

Nature Weekend;Leopard Tortoise

Leopard Tortoise – Geochelone pardalis

Today are amazing journey takes us to Africa. Our travels take us to Southeastern Africa. They like semi-arid thorny environments and dry grasslands. Leopard tortoises grow to 16 to 23 inches long and can weigh 22 to 88 lbs. They can live for 50 to 150 years. They feed on grasses, fruits, thistles, and other plants materials, but they will also bones. Why bones? Leopard Tortoises will also eat fungus. They nibble on bones to extract the calcium and other minerals needed for healthy bones and a healthy shell. Since we are on the subject of the shell, each tortoise has his or her own shell pattern. They spend the hot parts of the day in their burrows. They may even travel to find food during periods of drought. The males use musk to attract females. Leopard tortoises also use that musk to repel predators. A female leopard tortoise will lay 5 to 7 clutches of anywhere from 5 to 30 eggs laid from May to October. Females are known to urinate on the ground to make it easier to bury the eggs. It takes 490 days for the eggs to hatch once laid. Babies will wait for the rains before digging themselves out of their nest.

 

It's funny but animals never fail to amaze me. For all I know about nature, there is always something that I don't know. I mean how cool is it, that the Leopard tortoise uses it's own body waste to soften the ground before laying her eggs. To me, it is pretty amazing. Does anyone else think that nature is pretty amazing?? I know that I do. So yeah, that is my thought for today. OH wait no it's not!

 

I want to talk about the pet trade for second. It's super, super important that if you're going to be buying an animal that you make sure that the animal isn't wild caught. I know, there are times when it's going to happen. In my own collection, I have two animals that were wild caught. I'm not proud of it, but it happens, however, we need to do everything we can to avoid wild caught animals. Don't be afraid to ask your pet shop, your dealer, if the animal is wild caught or not. I think that is what I love so much about getting babies. I'm pretty safe from having to a wild caught animal. Removing an animal from the wild and bringing it into your home isn't a good idea. One, you can introduce disease or disease carrying organisms into your home. You may not get sick but you're other animals could get sick. If you keep parrots and you bring home a parrot that is wild caught, that animal could bring sickness into your home. Two, removing an animal from the wild removes breeding stock. Animal populations need to be able to breed otherwise they become endangered.

 

Finally, Don't call me a hypocrite! I had no control over the animals that I have they were freebies that I got from my favorite invert dealer. All the other animals in my collection, I got as babies or have to be breed in the U.S. in order to sell. I'm not going to defend myself, so talk to you later!

New Pets

Can you guys read this okay???

So yeah, I got some new animals for myself as a belated birthday present. Won't say how much they cost me but yeah it's awesome. Carlos, I don't know what I'm going to do with all these animals once they get to be adults. Wow…I will have nothing in my room but tanks. Really kind of scary huh?

 

Want to know what I got?? To bad, I'm going to tell you any way. Oh…I'll be doing this in two different lists, one for the animals that are actually new and then another list for stuff that I already have.

New stuff:

Vaejovis spingerus – Arizona Striped-Tail Scorpion

P. Liosoma – African Black-Tailed Scorpion

Euthulas Sp Blue ( I think it's the Blue-Fanged tarantula

Repeats

Brachypelma Smithi – Red-Kneed Tarantula ( X2 )

Gramastola Pulchripes – Chaco Golden Kneed Tarantula ( X2 )

Citharischius crawshayi – King Baboon Spider ( X2 )

So…yeah, I told myself that I wouldn't get anymore but I lied so oh well. Promise there will be pictures as the animals get bigger. Hard to take pictures, when the subject is on the small side. Talk to you everyone later. Sorry that I've not been following my schedule this week. Kind of tired and kind of loopy!

Again, Carlos thanks for the great chat on the phone last night!