starsevol
Cohabbing is cruelty...
This thread is just so I can let off a little steam, and the people here are excellent listeners and give great imput...so here goes.
Back in 1995 I bought my first snakes, a pair of San Felipe rosy boas named Felix and Grace. There was a pet shop right down the street from where I worked, called Petmania. I was getting their mice there. A few months after I got them, the shop closed down. Cathy who worked there gave me the name of their frozen supplier, and his phone number. This was in the fall of 1995.
Well, over the years I got alot more snakes. The supplier lives in the town I work in, so I would call him from the shop the day before feeding day and he would deliver at my work on the same day. Very convenient. 13 years and I never had a problem with the quality of the mice.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. On Friday the 10th, I thawed 3 mice for Lugosi, Voldermort and Festivus. Well, there is a huge thread in the "Health Issues/Feeding Problems" area of this forum about what happened to Festivus as a result of that feeding.
When it happened I asked my supplier about where that hardware cloth could have come from. He didn't know.....at the time. 2 weeks ago his helper who cleans the cages and changes food and water of the live rodents made the weekly delivery and said "once in awhile, some of the hoppers impale themselves on the hardware cloth. When she sees it she puts them out of their misery and throws them away". Come to find out, the helper was in the hospital the week I got the mouse with the hardware cloth in it. She's an elderly woman with health problems.
Anyway, on Friday my supplier dropped off the mice I needed this week, and I showed him the spikes the vet pulled out of Festivus. He said that it did indeed look like it was a part of one of his cages, and that while MOST of this frozen mice he sells are bought elsewhere, sometimes he puts down his own when he needs to.
He asked how Festivus was....but even though he admitted that it was one of HIS mice that hurt my boy...I'm still out $260 for vet bills. I don't know what to do next. He's been my supplier for 13 years and most pet shops and private keepers in this area use him. Before my herp club disbanded, you'd just mention his name and EVERYBODY knew him.....
I might want to change to Rodentpro, but I'm not sure I can fit all those mice in my freezer. How big are one of their boxes? As it is I now have a magnet in the bathroom so I can check every single mouse before feeding, so I KNOW it won't happen again....and I can't beat the convienience of weekly deliverys of just what I need when I need it....
As far as money goes....I have $80 a week of my own to spend. It has to go for food and supplies for the snakes, rats and skink, vet bills, and clothing or anything else I want. It sure doesn't go far! Right now I have $260 in vet bills that I need to pay...
Festivus looks AWFUL. He's blue right now, hasn't eaten, and the back of his neck is humped. I still don't know if he will make it. He lays with his head down and seems to hate to raise it. As of tomorrow morning he's off the antibiotics. All I can hope for is that he sheds and eats. Everything's at a standstill until then.
I am also concerned about a few projects that Festivus was the foundation of. If he dies, I feel like HE can't be replaced, but his genetic material can be. He's an 07 sulphur, but any male homo for caramel and bloodred would work...The females I was going to breed Festivus to are caramel het for amel and a hypo blood...So last week I emailed Rob at Bayou, where I got Festivus. Both snakes (Festivus and Babette) that I got from Rob exceeded expectations as far as beauty. Both were eating machines too. Not to mention, Rob and Louise were kind enough to let me pay for Festivus "on Layaway", sending them money whenever I had it. Well, Rob emailed me back, they are completely out of caramel bloods, and have no more 07 sulphurs either....he was going to email me and tell me what he DOES have, but I haven't heard back from him yet.
So...I check out Serpenco....and see the amber bloods. Just the ticket! Except that as of right now Rich has only 5 males. Well, I COULD use a female too....but won't have money for a LONG time (because of the vet bills and the Holidays). And by the time I HAVE money, I'm sure that 1) Rich's free freight sale will be over. 2) Rich's 50% off sale on purchases over $1000 will be over or 3) Rich will be out of amber bloodreds....
Not to mention that NOW I am obsessed with getting an amber blood (or maybe a FEMALE sulpher from Rob) even if Festivus heals and eats....but I told Rick in August that Hydi and Carmen from Dean were "it"...except for keepers. So, how to I go about sneaking another snake in the house?
Not a good time to be me, right now......gggrrrr
Back in 1995 I bought my first snakes, a pair of San Felipe rosy boas named Felix and Grace. There was a pet shop right down the street from where I worked, called Petmania. I was getting their mice there. A few months after I got them, the shop closed down. Cathy who worked there gave me the name of their frozen supplier, and his phone number. This was in the fall of 1995.
Well, over the years I got alot more snakes. The supplier lives in the town I work in, so I would call him from the shop the day before feeding day and he would deliver at my work on the same day. Very convenient. 13 years and I never had a problem with the quality of the mice.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. On Friday the 10th, I thawed 3 mice for Lugosi, Voldermort and Festivus. Well, there is a huge thread in the "Health Issues/Feeding Problems" area of this forum about what happened to Festivus as a result of that feeding.
When it happened I asked my supplier about where that hardware cloth could have come from. He didn't know.....at the time. 2 weeks ago his helper who cleans the cages and changes food and water of the live rodents made the weekly delivery and said "once in awhile, some of the hoppers impale themselves on the hardware cloth. When she sees it she puts them out of their misery and throws them away". Come to find out, the helper was in the hospital the week I got the mouse with the hardware cloth in it. She's an elderly woman with health problems.
Anyway, on Friday my supplier dropped off the mice I needed this week, and I showed him the spikes the vet pulled out of Festivus. He said that it did indeed look like it was a part of one of his cages, and that while MOST of this frozen mice he sells are bought elsewhere, sometimes he puts down his own when he needs to.
He asked how Festivus was....but even though he admitted that it was one of HIS mice that hurt my boy...I'm still out $260 for vet bills. I don't know what to do next. He's been my supplier for 13 years and most pet shops and private keepers in this area use him. Before my herp club disbanded, you'd just mention his name and EVERYBODY knew him.....
I might want to change to Rodentpro, but I'm not sure I can fit all those mice in my freezer. How big are one of their boxes? As it is I now have a magnet in the bathroom so I can check every single mouse before feeding, so I KNOW it won't happen again....and I can't beat the convienience of weekly deliverys of just what I need when I need it....
As far as money goes....I have $80 a week of my own to spend. It has to go for food and supplies for the snakes, rats and skink, vet bills, and clothing or anything else I want. It sure doesn't go far! Right now I have $260 in vet bills that I need to pay...
Festivus looks AWFUL. He's blue right now, hasn't eaten, and the back of his neck is humped. I still don't know if he will make it. He lays with his head down and seems to hate to raise it. As of tomorrow morning he's off the antibiotics. All I can hope for is that he sheds and eats. Everything's at a standstill until then.
I am also concerned about a few projects that Festivus was the foundation of. If he dies, I feel like HE can't be replaced, but his genetic material can be. He's an 07 sulphur, but any male homo for caramel and bloodred would work...The females I was going to breed Festivus to are caramel het for amel and a hypo blood...So last week I emailed Rob at Bayou, where I got Festivus. Both snakes (Festivus and Babette) that I got from Rob exceeded expectations as far as beauty. Both were eating machines too. Not to mention, Rob and Louise were kind enough to let me pay for Festivus "on Layaway", sending them money whenever I had it. Well, Rob emailed me back, they are completely out of caramel bloods, and have no more 07 sulphurs either....he was going to email me and tell me what he DOES have, but I haven't heard back from him yet.
So...I check out Serpenco....and see the amber bloods. Just the ticket! Except that as of right now Rich has only 5 males. Well, I COULD use a female too....but won't have money for a LONG time (because of the vet bills and the Holidays). And by the time I HAVE money, I'm sure that 1) Rich's free freight sale will be over. 2) Rich's 50% off sale on purchases over $1000 will be over or 3) Rich will be out of amber bloodreds....
Not to mention that NOW I am obsessed with getting an amber blood (or maybe a FEMALE sulpher from Rob) even if Festivus heals and eats....but I told Rick in August that Hydi and Carmen from Dean were "it"...except for keepers. So, how to I go about sneaking another snake in the house?
Not a good time to be me, right now......gggrrrr
