What's in a name?

It's hard to name fish because they don't have much personality. So I never gave much thought in fish names. I just call them either by their common name or by their description. For example we have a peacock cichlid that we call Peacock, and a bumblebee cichlid called Bumblebee. Others are Blue Gourami, Big Yellow Guy (or Big Yellow Bastard), Electric Yellow, Three Stripes, and Four Stripes. The only one with an actual name is Fatso, and he just so happens to be the smallest chichlid, but he used to be the biggest.

This is Fatso. He used to be able to fit into that hole on top of the bridge behind him.

Blue Gourami

Big Yellow Bastard

Peacock

Three Stripes and Four Stripes, best buds.

This albino doesn't have a name, he's a creep.

This one doesn't have a name either, it hides a lot. 

 Electric Yellow

Bumblebee

2 new babies, don't have a names yet.

Alex actually came up with the snake's name. Most people may think of Dolly Parton's song, "Jolene," when they hear the name, but it was actually inspired by the CAKE song. Listen to it if you haven't heard it, it's a great song. CAKE: Jolene

Jolene definitely doesn't sound like a typical snake name, so I think it makes it that much better.

2013: Year of the Snake

My Chinese Zodiac sign just so happens to be the snake. Not that I hold any truth in astrology, but it is fun to read about your sign on Chinese placemats.

If you were born in 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, or this year, you were born in the year of the snake.Your element is fire, and you're characterized as being philosophical, organized, intelligent, intuitive, elegant, attentive, and decisive.

Of course the list goes on and on because it describes a bit of everyone's personality. I love this description because it is so contradictory: 

Those born under the sign of the snake are seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming, good with money, analytic, insecure, jealous, slightly dangerous, smart, they rely on their gut feelings, are hard working and intelligent. The boar is your enemy. Compatible with the rooster or ox.

That's me to a tee! (sarcasm)

There is a myth of how the order was chosen for the animals in the 12 year cycle. There was a race held to cross a great river, and the order of the cycle was based on the order in which the animals finished the race. When it comes to the snake, he was not the best swimmer. So, he hitched a ride on the horse's hoof. When the horse was about to cross the finish line the snake jumped off spooking the horse. The snake finished the race before the horse earning him 6th place and the trait of being cunning and deceptive. 

Creeper

Serpent is derived from the Latin word serpens which means to crawl or creep, and is synonymous with snake.

The type of locomotion often used by large (fat) snakes, such as pythons, is rectilinear. This is movement in a straight line where the belly scales are pulled forward and down to anchor the body, and then pulled back to move the snake forward over the ground. It is a caterpillar-like crawl. This is the slowest form of locomotion and enables them to be creepy.

Creeping is what snakes do best. Here is Jolene being a creep.

When I was handling Jolene she, without fail, slithered over to Alex. She usually wedges herself between him and the couch or tries to crawl behind him. Maybe she senses that he runs warm.
This time she managed to slip her way under his sweat shirt, slithered up his side, and into his sleeve. (In the second picture you can see the bulge which is her body wrapped around Alex's arm) She stayed there for a while, being a creep, and then found her way out. But then, being out of his shirt for only a minute, she shimmied up next to him and did it all over again.

Python regius

Together, Python, the serpent slain by Apollo, and regius, meaning “royal,” make up the scientific name Python regius. This literally translates to “Royal Python.” The common name Royal Python refers to the story that African rulers, like Cleopatra, supposedly wore these live snakes as jewelry. Another name commonly used is Ball Python, referring to the snake's tendency to curl up into a ball when stressed or frightened. 

"Ball Python". Photograph. www.sandfiredragonranch.com

Ball pythons are the smallest of the African pythons, reaching 3-5 feet with the females typically being larger than the males. They are heavy-bodied snakes (they’re not fat, they’re heavy-bodied!) being less active, ambush predators. In the wild Ball Pythons can sit and wait for days for prey to cross their path. They are nocturnal and spend most of their time on the ground or burrowed. Pythons, along with boas, are primitive snakes. They have vestigial remnants of legs on each side of the vent. These claw-like spurs are larger on males and are used to tickle the female during courtship and mating.

Ball pythons are popular snakes in the pet trade due to their docile temperament. They can live 20-30 years in captivity (some have been known to live into their 40’s). Many morphs have been developed that result in extraordinary colors and patterns. I came across a site selling “designer" ball pythons for up to $1,000. 

Here are just a few of the unusual morphs:

 "Banana Ktulu" Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

"Black Pewter".Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

 "FireFly Clown". Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

"Fire X Cinnamon".Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

"Bumblebee". Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

 "Piebald". Photograph. www.pythonregius.com

"09Group". Photograph. www.dwherp.com 

This is how I got Jolene

I never imagined myself owning a 4 foot python, it just sort of happened. I bet you don't hear that everyday.

Alex and I had often talked of getting a reptile, a lizard perhaps. Although, it never became a reality. Having a snake as a pet, however, was never something I thought about. Like most people I thought lizards weren't as creepy as snakes, and I had some experience with lizards. When I was younger we had an iguana. Until about 5 months ago I have never even held a snake. There were a few instances when I worked at a humane society where I met a few snakes, but I never felt comfortable enough to touch them. It wasn't until I got a job working for the DNR as a naturalist that I got to handle different kinds of snakes. Even though I started feeling comfortable around snakes, I still never thought of owning one.

Then one day my niece had a picture of a snake on facebook indicating that she was looking for a new home. I asked Alex jokingly, "Do you want to get a snake?" Then I started seriously thinking about it, and I eventually couldn't stop thinking about it. A couple weeks after seeing the picture on facebook, I called up my niece to find out more. I told her I still needed time to make a decision, but two days later I was driving to my hometown to pick up Jolene!

I brought along a cardboard box with duct tape because I didn't want there to be any chance of her escaping while I was driving down the highway. But we simply put her in a pillowcase, tied a knot in it, and plopped her in the passenger seat. It was odd to think that such a large snake was in such a small sack, curled up in a ball, sitting next to me on the way home.

Here's the first picture of her after getting home, she's very photogenic.

My other tank creatures

Other than Jolene, all we have are fish. We decided to go big so we got a 55 gallon tank. After setting up the tank and letting the filter run for about a week we then had to decide on what fish to get. We looked at community fish first since they are good beginner fish and apparently pretty hardy. Well, they just wouldn't stay alive! The pet store had a 2 week guarantee so we kept going back to replace fish, probably dozens. We went through tiger barbs, neon tetras, ghost catfish, angel fish, dead, dead, and dead. The plecostomus couldn't even manage to stay alive. The only fish to survive were a few gourami.

Something had to be wrong here. We had our water tested and found out that the city water had high pH. This may not have been the entire cause, but we researched fish that can tolerate higher pH and settled on cichlids.

We also have 2 clown loaches and one blue gourami (from the first attempt).

Hello

This blog is about my non-furry friends. I'm not allowed cats and dogs where I currently rent. On top of that my husband, Alex, is allergic to pretty much everything including many fuzzy animals. Someday when we have our own place I'm determined to get some companion animals. Until then we have a fish tank and Jolene, a full grown ball python. Definitely not very cuddly, but very cool!

I ended up learning a lot about snakes after getting Jolene. I was constantly on the web and renting books from the library, not just about pythons but many different snakes of the world. I've found out some interesting stuff about theses amazing creatures, and I hope you'll enjoy what I have to share.