Today is the day

that I feel like a real snakekeeper. I’d been suspecting that maybe Tenzing shedded without my noticing, because he didn’t look all dull anymore. So last night I took out one of the frozen pinkie mice I bought in Davenport, and warmed it up by hand. (It ended up sticky to the touch, which I wasn’t expecting.) Aaron was sleeping, so I opened the cage lid quietly. No sooner had I bumped Tenzing’s nose with the mouse than he took it instantly and silently (only making a sound as he fell to the floor with it). I sat and watched him swallow it, although I could barely see either of them. Within a few minutes, he had gotten it down his throat and gone back to wandering around the cage like he usually does at night. As of now he’s sitting on his branch under his hide, digesting. Next week I’ll take a video of him striking and post it so you all can watch. It’s pretty awesome.

Other stuff: classes are going fine. I think I like all of my classes this semester. I’ve only had a couple sessions of each, of course, but they seem pretty good. (For reference, they’re intros to sociology and anthropology, Spanish 217, and English Trads. 1 – that is, early English literature. In that one we’ll be reading stuff like Beowulf, The Faerie Queene, and such.)

And Aaron just a few minutes ago told me that several people from college frequent my blog, like a guy named Matt downstairs. Well if you read, by all means you don’t need to keep it a secret. Leave a comment if you want. I kinda like knowing who’s reading what I write.

File under: snake, college, reading

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7 Comments

Anonymous

History

Yo! Zup man…it’t your Iowa homeboy from up in 321. Where are you at tonight? You sleeping outside again? I want in on some of that action. You need to share some of those cute chicks from up in 225 who can’t seem to get warm….ha ha……

Dave

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Anonymous

History

So I am about the only one commenting on your python. Questions:

1. How long will tenzing become?

2. How heavy do will he(she) become?

3. What sex is Tenzing?

4. Is Tenzing a constrictor?

5. How long does it take Tenzing to swallow
a mousesicle?

6. Is he playful?

Just curious. G.Pa

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Chuck

History

He’ll get to be somewhere between 4 and 6 feet. I think the males are usually smaller, and he’s one of those, so he’ll probably top out around 5 feet… but that’s an extremely speculative number. Not sure how much he’ll weigh at that point. Maybe like ten or fifteen pounds. Probably closer to ten. This is also a guess. He’s a constrictor (it’s illegal to keep venomous snakes without a permit, and I think it’s pretty much just zoos that get those). It takes him two or three minutes to swallow a mousesicle, and then a little while longer to get it about to the middle of his length. He’s sorta playful, but still shy. He’ll be more fun to play with once he gets bigger and I don’t have to worry about him disappearing into a cranny somewhere if he gets out of my hands.

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Anonymous

History

Is he a sherpa snake? Is he named after Tenzing Norgay, the not so famous Mt. Everest Sherpa?

The guy and his son could summit all day long, all the while dragging middle aged, glory seeking white guys to the top for a shot a fame, or being a personsicle……

Dave

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