My snake family consists of three cornsnakes. My frog family is made up of 3 gray treefrogs, and the lizard family an anole and then there is Frank, the Veiled Chameleon. It may not seem very interesting, you might say, but hey, its all I got, and quite interesting to me!!
Anyway, this page gives the details on my snakes Xena, Acadia and Mickey, and on the other (current and former) members of my herp home.
Snakes
The Plains Garter Snake
This is the first snake that I have ever had, but I had it during the summer of 2000, and then let it go at the beginning of fall and had it only for about 3 months. But, nonetheles,s you can't ever forget the first snake that you had. It was an Eastern Plains Garter snake and was caught in my backyard. I didn't really name it, I think I called it Mr. Snake (ha ha...). It had a nasty temper, but rarely showed it. The reason that made me let it go was the fact that it would only eat earthworms. it refused to eat fishing worms from the store (is there a difference?) and got angry whenI tricked it into eating one. Since it was nearing winter, my worm supply was running out, so I let it go. Then, that September, I got my first corn, Xena. I will always remember Mr. Snake!!! :)
Frogs
Greenie, Little Guy, and Little Greenie
These frogs are all Squirrel Treefrogs that I found in my backyard or a neighbor gave to us. They have since died, and only lived a max of 3 years in captivity. They do not last long and do not like to be held, but otherwise, they are great pets. They eat well and make a nice chirp if you get a male. I loved all of them, even if they didn't survive long.
Lizards and Salamanders
Home
My Current Pets
My cornsnakes now have their own page! Click on the one you want to see:
Xena
Mickey
Acadia
Frank
My brother's veiled chameleon, Frank, has a very nasty attitude. He does not like to be held, but he has very pretty colors, and I guess thats all my brother cares about. I think it would be nice to hold him, but oh well. He is is supposed to get to 2+ feet long. We bought him as a baby in May of 2001. We have a 2x2x3 foot cage for him, made with piping and screening. He rather enjoys it, I suppose. For plants we have a philodendron and a few long sticks. He eats HUMONGOUS amounts of crickets each day and we have to bulk order. But it was either a chameleon or a Giant Day Gecko, and I think we chose the easiest path.
Grayboy
Grayboy is the oldest member of our household. He has been in my captivity for 7 years and is still quite active for an old frog. I do not know the actual life span of a gray treefrog, but I think 7+ years is quite long. Anyway, we found him while we were taking a trip to the beach and it was the night before we were going to leave. There was a huge rainstorm and we found him on the garage of our beach house. So, my mom let me put him in a milkjug for the car ride home. He was fun to hold, and would tolerate man-handling. I even put him in the shower to simulate the occasional rainstorm! He was an easily domesticated frog, you might say. ^_^
Big Guy
She (yes, contrary to the name) is a gray treefrog also, and is about 3 or 4 years in captivity. Nothing really special about her, except she's really fat. :)
ScarFace
Well, do you remember the frog that I had to take care of because his nose was hurt? Well, I kept him and named him Scare face because he's got a little scar on his nose. He is a nice frog. :)
Previous Pets
Beryl
The anole I purchased at a pet store is a male. His name means "green jewel" in greek. I've been trying to get him tamed, but he still doesn't like to be handled. Beryl is a bunkmate with the frogs.
Lizzie
This is an Eastern Fence Lizard that I had for a pet when I was about 10 or 11. We found this in my backyard and kept her for a while. She was the greatest wild pet. I say wild pet because we kept finding her over and over again in our yard once we let her go. Let me tell you how we recognized her. Lizzie was very comfortable around people and not skittish like lizards usually are. My brother and I could hold her, we would stick her in our shirt pocket and she would sit there with her arms hanging out. My brother even had her hang by her back feet from the brim of his hat! Lizzie was a great pet, but she has since dissappeared from our yard. I hope she's still out there!
Slimy Salamander
In the spring of 2001 I had a Slimy Salamander for a pet. I had found it under a log in my backyard. It is very rare to find amphibians in my yard, except for frogs and toads. I had it in a terrerium with a log hide and mulch bedding for about a month, and then had to let it go because it was too much work to keep the tank wet all the time. Also, it ate worms and worms take time to dig up. But it was an experience, and that is how I learn.
Previous Encounters
This group includes animals that I haven't kept as pets, but have caught in a bucket and released. Some of these I fed before I let them go. :)
Northern Water Snake
My brother found a baby Northern Water snake on our driveway and put him in a bucket. Since he was a baby ( 6 or 8 inches long) we kept him for only a short while, but did get to watch him eat a minnow from our pond.
Baby Copperhead
My mom found him while she was gardening... my brother and I caught him (***never do this unless you know what you are doing... and always have an adult around.... we used gloves and a stick and did not get within striking distance) and put him in a bucket with leaf litter, despite orders to kill it. I had never seen a baby copperhead up close before, and I really noticed his green tail. He was cute, even though dangerous. Here comes the really amazing part - I warmed up a pinky from my freezer and hung it in front of him with chopsticks. He struck at it, waited for it to "die" and then ate it! I was amazed because it is very hard to get a wild snake to eat dead food. I asked my mom if we could keep him... but I knew she wouldn't let us. Instead of killing him we took him up to a forested area about a mile or two away from people. I hope he is happy!
Worm Snake
I caught a worm snake out in my woods under a board, and my brother is away at camp so I am keeping him until he gets back. We've seen lots of worm snakes before, and they're kind of neat. A worm snake is a small burrowing snake that does not bite when held. When I held it, however, it 'dirtied' all over my hands and I had to wash them immediately. Anyway, they have a tiny head and are pinkish and fast burrowers, so thats probably how it got its name.
