Bye Little GloWorm

My little pal GloWorm died.  Green Tree Pythons are fragile creatures, subject to stomach and intestinal prolapse.  He was fine when I checked him, dead when I checked him next.  Knowing that's how it goes sometimes doesn't help much.

Glo took forever to turn green-he was the eternal youngster.  He had just started to turn blue-a highly sought after trait, and still somewhat rare....so to get one on your first pick of a yellow hatchling is like grabbing the brass ring.

That he was so special and rare makes his passing that much harder to take, but it's nothing like the mind numbing shock of losing a whole colony.  However,  I thought he was special and rare before he started to turn blue-he was an amazing little snake.

When  I get back from vacation I've decided to cool the ball pythons and see what happens.  Not Domino-she's too young.  But Lucy and Ethel are ready now, and poor Godfather has been ready for the longest time.  I'll be doing a cross that hasn't been done very much-so it will be interesting to see the resulting offspring.  I've decided to breed both sisters to the same male, to get a better chance of seeing if anything that crops up is genetic or a random fluke.

It's a choice that means sacrificing sure fire financial gain (Lucy and Ethel are Clowns, a desirable but recessive trait) for the unknown.  If I put them with a Clown male, I'd have a pile of little moneymakers, but I'd be a year behind on discovering anything new.  On to discovery I say!

Glo did a lot for me, but the biggest thing he did was he renewed my interest in taking a chance.  I really love him for that.

Glo's Woes

See, the left (to your right) eye cap did not pull off.


Here, the right (to your left) eyecap shed as it was supposed to do, leaving a clear eye.

  

We got the mist applied in time, and the other cap came off-two clear eyes.  Glo's head is about half the size of my thumb, his neck the size of my pinky-so I was not looking forward to figuring out how to get the eye cap off.

A warm little Glo

GloWorm is shedding and he retained an eyecap. Shedding is a very cranky time for snakes, and Green Tree Pythons are notorious for not being handleable or even workable. That dear beast understood I was trying to help him and held still while I misted warm water under his shed skin to loosen it up for him. A snake letting you near his head is the ultimate in trust and my own eyes got misty because he really is an extraordinary animal.

I think we got to it in time to loosen it up and have him shed it naturally. Snakes really are "lower animals" but there is still a spark of divinity in them-I really believe that because I've seen them respond to honest sincere intention to help-and they certainly don't have the brainpower to process that. But they do have the soulpower.

Kind of a big deal to me

I've never seen one of my snakes begin a shed. All I had was the little pocket Olympus, which meant I had to get close during what is a cranky time for most snakes. Green Tree Pythons are notorious biters, but GloWorm is such a good, patient boy. He does look a little annoyed, but this is supremely tolerant behavior for a young snake.

Doesn't the old skin look like he's growing a beard?

Animal Wednesday

GloWorm, my new GTP (green tree python). He won't be green for a year or so, and if he's a she he may turn blue. He's about the size of a large nightcrawler and very delicate. Compared to my bigger, brutish Ball pythons, he's a chihuahua to their pugs.

Happy Animal Wednesday