Reptile personalities

My snails definitely have different personalities. Sir Fredrick likes to be out and about all day and doesn’t care about being touched or held. My other two snails, Munch and Sheldon, just hide all the time and i never see them. Also if i even get close to them they hide in their shells.

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Awwwww! He is a very handsome boy! It’s like he is saying “here I am “! Thank you for sharing that awesome picture! :heart::blush::+1::lizard::snake::frog:

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I say AMEN sister! Animals are a lot more forgiving than some humans. And certainly more resilient! :heart:

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Absolutely! I could never make it through what my little guy did and still trust in kindness, but he can!

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I have like 10 snails, and they all act different too. These guys are aquatic snails though, crazy little buggers.

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He’s too stinkin’ cute! Very handsome boy.

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Oh man, my boas all have different personalities completely independent of how Ivd socialized them. My Colombian male is a trip - will hide for a week but then come to the glass wanting out every night I get home from work lol. He was my first boa and still isn’t an adult size but he’s never struck at me directly - only once when I had gloves on and he got confused lol.

My Sonorans are so vastly different. The female I got was a total chainsaw when I got her. Hissed if touched, open mouth, struck if inside her cage etc. She now only hisses at all if inside her cage on a bad day, and she isn’t even a year old I think? She falls asleep on my lap, it’s adorable. She curious but super calm etc.

My male Sonoran Hypo Leopard is hilarious. He is clumsy, doesn’t hold onto anything, and won’t move til you he’d but breathes heavy, it’s super weird. Ive seen him attempt jumping to his doom a bunch of times, and first thing he did when I went to put him in his first 110qt tub was roll out very ungraceful like lol.

My BPs are both different, but one is kiddish and was an adoption that was a little rough. I’ve got him to the point of coming out of his ball when he knows it’s me but is very head shy and worried all the time. My female is super different, rarely scared, always ready to eat lol. I can walk by and it’s her I see, head resting on some Mopani, looking at me do whatever. She’s been with me since her first Bday though.

My leopard gecko crawls right into my hand, probably because I worked with her since she was tiny and tong feed her as she has a minor birth defect and I wanna make sure she finds her food lol. But she isn’t scared of basically anything. I’ve had others in the past that were the opposite, bit, or hissed/screamed/whatever noise anything anyone went near their cage.

I hope to share them more via YT soon, some of their personalities since I work with them daily or near-daily are great. I do plan to breed the Sonorans and BPs and some others, but I live alone and my son lives with his mom’s side so I have time.

I definitely agree every animal is unique. It’s one of the wonders of keeping animals, especially reptiles.

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In terms of overall species that I’ve kept, it never ceases to surprise me how genuinely curious rhino rats are. If I’m in the room all of mine are out and about watching what I’m up to and when I’m handling them it never seems like they’re under negative stress but are very interested in what is going on around them. I really do think they are one of those species that’s a little sharper than most.

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My sweetest puppy dog snake is Red, one of my CA boas. I got him as a tiny baby. He is a dad now but to me he will always be my baby boy. At only 5ish lbs he is the perfect midsize boa for someone who wants a larger but manageable snake. He is always chilled out and ready to just hang out/on you.

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My first ball was sooo laid back. I was in college and when I would get home and take a nap, I would get him out and he would lay on my stomach. I could nap for around an hour dozing in and it and he wouldn’t go anywhere.

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He’s gorgeous! And he makes a lovely scarf. :joy:

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@auriea What was the material of Jose’s offending water bowl? Was it plastic?

I’m asking because a water bowl is one of the last things I need to buy for Mina’s adult enclosure, and I’ve been waffling on what to get for her. I kinda want something that looks more naturalistic, but most of those are plastic or resin, which is slightly porous and can harbour nasties over time. But ceramic and stainless steel don’t look as nice. I definitely don’t want her to end up in the same situation you and Jose had to deal with!

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Lol! Thank you so very much! :heart:

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José had this specific water bowl by Flukers

They don’t show you the bottom of them in the pictures but i found this picture which shows some of it on the sides.

That’s pretty much what’s happening on the bottom but i would say that the bottom of mine was a bit more porous than that. There is less going on inside the water bowl, but it can still be present on a few. I imagine that it takes a bit of time in some nasty setups for the pores to begin harboring some really serious bacteria, but regardless, there’s really no way you’re ever going to get a real thorough cleaning on that. I took F-10 and a scrub brush to it multiple times over my time of having it and it still didn’t get everything.

Honestly it’s a shame because Flukers is such a big name in reptile products, but i would never buy another dish / hide made from the same material from them ever. They’re good for other stuff, lol just not that.

He currently had this bowl by Zoo Med.

It’s naturalistic enough, plastic, but most importantly it’s smooth not pitted. Even the faux ‘rock pile’ detailed front isn’t very difficult to clean well. I would recommend this one over the Flukers 100%.

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Cool, thanks for the info. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for those little pits when looking for a bowl.

I’m thinking I may just stick with ceramic or stainless, as those are non-porous and easy to sanitise. I’m thinking I may just try to create some sort of little hardscape knook for the water bowl to fit into (but can still be lifted out for easy cleaning) so that it will still look fairly naturalistic while still enjoying the sanitary benefits of a non-porous material.

Though now I’m wondering…does anyone make naturalistic bowls out of ceramic? Might be time to head to Etsy…:thinking:

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I bought my ball python a ceramic bowl from an artisan on etsy. It’s stunningly beautiful, supports a small business, and ceramic, properly glazed and sealed, is easy to disinfect and can be put through a boiling water wash or just about anything else if it’s the right stuff. (When he outgrows it, the other snake gets it once he’s bigger- it’s gorgeous!)

In on topic news, my Picky Boy House Snake is still his picky self. I leave him FT and he won’t take it most of the time but I give him a live pinkie and YOINK, into the tube hide with it.

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What happened to the egg yolk trick?

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What is the egg yolk trick?

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@caron @auriea

Oh, I had been brushing egg yolk on Frozen/Thawed warm pinkies to entice my extremely “naturalist” Black House Snake to understand that food doesn’t need to squeak.

He appears to be convinced he is a Mighty Hunter and requires live prey- some seriously hardwired instincts for wiggly food in his specific species is apparently common. It’s hard to convince them to take F/T, according to reports from various people.

The egg yolk thing worked three times in a row!

Trouble is, the last two times I tried, even giving him time to be hungry, suddenly he was snubbing it again. Sigh. So today he got a live pinkie. Picky picky.

(meanwhile my ball python, famous for not eating, slams his mouse again tonight with enthusiasm. Talk about personality differences!)

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My bullsnake is literally the nicest noodle in the world, she is nicer then my garter snake and Leopard geckos, it is so uncommon from what I’ve seen to find a baby bullsnake only 2 months old being a sweetheart, she has a definite personality and can recognize me and follow my movements, she never thinks it’s food, and it’s amazing she can figure things out. She is bigger now and has a Kages 4x2x2 for her permanent home, but she eventually learned how to squeeze through the two overlapping doors and did that consistently till i figured out how to lock it. She is a very unique snake, and I am blessed to have her.

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