Ozzy

I was looking at some other blogs recently… I’m not a real blog surfer, but checked out a few… and one thing mine lacks is pictures.  I added pictures to quite a few of my posts last year, but that kind of fizzled out lately.  My favorite post of mine is the one called PEEEEAAAKK!!!. I have dozens of pictures of autumn leaves in my local area of upstate New York. You should check it out.  It should be under October 2007.  Now it’s summer and I don’t think I took any pictures at all of winter or spring.  Oh well, maybe next year.

But, I have a picture of my son’s new snake:

A lot of people are so afraid of snakes that they won’t even look at a picture of one!  Well, maybe not a lot of people, but I know at least one.  But, our snake is really cool.  His name is Ozzy, after THE Ozzy.  He’s a Mexican Rosy Boa.  He doesn’t do much when he’s in his cage, but if you take him out, as you can see in the picture, he likes to explore. 

Here’s another picture of the adventures of Ozzy (NO! Not THAT Ozzy):

Pretty cute, huh? Maybe “cute” isn’t the word most would use. 

Ozzy does not bite.  That’s a good thing, right?  He hugs, isn’t that nice?

As a mom, people wonder how I can allow an animal such as this in my home.  The only thing I can say is that when we got a dog, I knew I would be the one ultimately responsible for its care.  But, when asked about getting a snake, I washed my hands of it.  If it gets out and runs away or dies, it is not my responsibility.  If they don’t feed him and he starves to death, it is not my responsibility.  If he is a she and has babies, my kids better find good homes for them… I have nothing to do with it (except to take pictures once in a while).

The worst part about having a snake is that it eats mice.  My kids have to feed him a mouse every week or two. That’s pretty gross, yet interesting, to watch.  But, my husband goes to the pet store and buys frozen mice and they have to be warmed up in hot water before feeding.  Otherwise, the snake will know it is dead and won’t eat it.  They take the thawed and warmed up mouse by the tail with tongs and dangle him in front of the snakes nose.  He suddenly grabs him and squeezes the “life” out of him.  Then, when he’s ready, he unlocks his jaw and swallows the little guy whole.  YUCKY!  But, then you get to see the mouse slowly being swallowed since he is about twice as big around as the snake.  That’s kinda interesting.

Ozzy lives in a “cage”, a glass tank with a screen top clamped down, to keep him in, of course.  He has a heat lamp that’s on all the time.  He is a desert snake so he has to stay warm… although it’s plenty warm without it right now.  He doesn’t need much water.  I’ve never seen him drink. 

A couple of years ago we had a baby snake, the same breed as Ozzy.  Her/his name was Rosy. I think we had her about two weeks, maybe a month, and she escaped.  She didn’t have the clamps on her cage, but we didn’t think she was big enough to get the top off, but I guess we were wrong cuz she is GONE!  For a few weeks after that, none of our friends would visit us.  Go figure!

Our pet doesn’t follow commands or do tricks or even know his name, but the best part is I don’t have to take care of him.

I’m going to try to put pictures up more often.  I hope you return to see them.

Peace.