Gardens and Museum

Today my fiancee, mother and I went out since we were all off and it was a nice day. First we stopped at the public gardens, which is about a block of trees and flowers with a little pond. The flowers weren't in bloom and there wasn't that much for wildlife around but it was fun and I can't wait to go back and see it in its full glory. Pictures were a little hard to take due to the sun not working with me well and shadows being hard but I got a few shots I was happy with.

After the gardens we took another trip to the Museum (if you look a few posts back you will see some pictures from our previous visit. This trip I was able to play with my lighting abit and the pictures are brighter but I feel they lost a lot quality as I liked them better with the darkness. Oh well still got a few shots I liked but not much at all.

 

 Anyway I hope you guys liked the pictures, on a sad note I seem to have missed out on my flash but I have good news on a potential macro lens that I have my name on and might be getting so fingers crossed.

Sweet Shot and good news

I'll start with the good news, or should I say GREAT news. If anyone remembers way back in January I made a post about a new baby I put money on (Boa constrictor) well he is finally paid off and is set to be shipped on April 25th, arriving on the 26th which happens to be his first birthday. He is a big fell, two days younger then my current Boa Anomander but the new little guy (Andarist) is what looks to be almost twice as big (Hard to tell from photos but he is much bigger). This is due to genetics though and isn't a health concern, one is just bred to be smaller. I have his home almost completely set up, I need some hide to fit him though which is proving to be harder then first thought and also need to try and find him a water bowl, other then that his home is patiently waiting for him as am I. I have a few shots from the breeder but expect lots more when he arrives.
I will also be sure to upload a video of me unpacking him so stay tuned for that!

6 days, 16 hours :D

Also good news is my flash should be here tomorrow so expect some awesome photos (I hope) from now on :D as well as photos from our trips to the museum again on saturday, this time it is with my family so there will be more time to plan and take pictures of everything unlike last time where I was rushed.


Anyway to finish of this post I want to post my sweet shot, its of a black bird cleaning himself. Didn't come out to well as it was taken with my 55-300mm zoom lens and at full zoom plus cropping so it came out noisy but I like it none the less.

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New Shots of the babies!

As promised everyone has been doing some shedding and growing so I had everyone out this past week for a post shed shoot. Everyone had been bumped up to larger meals which caused a growth spurt which is a good thing. I wish I had my own house, or even lived back home again due to laws up here. I am not allowed taking my babies out in the sun unless I'm on my own property which isn't fun because I miss out on all the natural lighting! Oh well perhaps I can find a neat little hide away spot around that I can sneak them out to in the summer. Oops enough blabbing here are the photos!

Brood my almost 2 year old Spider ball python





Pearl my 7 month old Pastel Ball Python







Anomander my Het Leopard Boa Constrictor who will be turning 1 on April 24th!







Hope you all liked my pictures!

Trip to Natural History Museum.

Not sure how many of you know what is going on the states right now concerning the reptile hobby. Lots of bans and bylaws being put in places by people who fear things they don't understand. Restrictions and kill clauses being put in place, pushing people to the point where they have to choose between killing an animal they love or risk being a felon if they wish to move or cross state lines for vet care.

Recently some bylaws have been hitting up north in Canada, near me, not even 20 minutes. This bylaw would have made all of my animals illegal and gave people the right to kill them on site without notifying me. Thankfully due to some amazing people this bylaw was rewritten to be much more understanding. I wont go into major details but what I have said has lead me to what this post is about. We have kicked started an old reptile society in the area, for herps (people who own reptiles) to get together and help the community to fight these bills and to help educate others about reptiles. They are bi-monthly meetings and they have only just started. The most recent one took place at our local natural history museum where a neat little exhibit was being shown. These following pictures are from that trip. I didn't have much time to look around but I do hope to go back someday soon and take some more photos. Anyway here they are :








^^^ Cutest thing ever!

Turkey Pictures

So as I stated in my previous post from the other day my mother moved up on friday and we had a busy week getting her comfortable with the bigger city. On Sunday we made a turkey dinner and tried something new, a honey apple glaze. It consists of honey, apple juice and butter and was honestly delicious, it added such a subtle yet amazing hint of sweet to the gravy! I have left overs in my fridge and it is taking all of my will power NOT to eat it :P





Doesn't it just make you want some!!!!

I don't want to put to much in this post since I'm trying to spread out my material but I will say I'm super excited for my flash (if I am getting it it will be here thursday so prepare for following photoshoot). And that I'm also hoping to take a trip to the natural history museum at some point and if I do be sure to watch out for those photos as well! Stay tuned!

Big Update

So just an update since I haven't been around in awhile, nothing has really been new and life is generally boring and repetitive which is why I haven't posted in a while, nothing worth posting.

Basically a lot of things have happened, some not really important, something things that are.

First all my babies have been growing and have been moved up to a larger food size, this caused them to recently shed (Pictures will be uploaded shortly). Also the other baby that I have been expecting since January is looking to be coming home very soon!! (I have pictures of him I will also upload in the post shed blog post).

In bigger news my mother moved up friday, it has been a bit of a busy weekend but things have been really fun, i'm hoping her and I can be close again and it looks like there will be lots of fun adventures and things to blog about as she gets used to her new home.

Since it is easter we are making turkey dinner, trying something new, a honey glazed turkey. Don't worry I plan on taking pictures to make everyones mouth water :p.

I have lots of pictures to post but I'm hoping to spread them out a bit and I also hope that I can get back into blogging and sharing my life and family.

New Baby coming soon...

So last night I put my down payment on my 6th baby, I'm not sure when we will get him home but hopefully soon. He is a Salmon Jungle boa, like my boy Anomander but he is beige and pink instead of grey and black. Expect pictures as soon as he is home :D.

On a more serious note, those of you who are aware a law was passed in the states that can and will forever change the future of the reptile hobby more then it already has. We keepers are in a terrible fight to keep the ability to have the animals we have and we are losing it. For those of you who read this who don't like reptiles remember there are people you know and love who do, there are kids who love them and kids yet to be born that should have the ability to own and love these animals. They are not man eaters, they are not out to get us and the stories you hear are cases of bad ownership. This view of reptiles was maintained in the same way as the view of Pit bulls, with the bad stories getting aired and blow out of portion and the good stories ignored. I have three snakes and a lizard and I can tell you right now they are some of the most rewarding creatures I have had the pleasure of knowing, they make wonderful pets if taken care of properly and that is the key things, just like with bad dog owners or bad parents, things go wrong when there is a lack of understanding and knowledge same as with everything.

Please, please if not for yourself for those you love and those of us that love them, please help us. You might not think it is a big deal but these animals are my children, I love them like you love your dogs and cats, I would be there for you because I know what your pets mean to you, please please be there for me for the same reason. Politicans don't care about how we feel, but you out there know what it is like to love something, to have something that shares a place in your home and your heart, don't let them take them away.

Read up about it, google it, asked people, email people, spread the word. Write to people about it, your newpaper or local tv news station. Call your local radio. We need to let them know we will fight because when you love something that is what you do, you fight for it.

Edit : I found this through some other reptile keepers and think it is very well written and an amazingly informative read, if you want to know more or just need help understanding exactly what is going on and why please read it, and share it.

http://studentofthereptile.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/43/

Inspection is over/ I dreamed a dream

So its done, wasn't as bad as I thought, well minus listening to my fire alarm going off every 15 seconds for 5 hours. We made it through and my family is safe for another little bit.

Other then that its been a fairly normal day, didn't get anything done, to cold out. Went through my routine of shows, family feud, millionaire and currently Law and Order : Criminal Intent (there is just something about it that I like).

Played around with photoshop for a bit and came up with a two 'not-so-great' photos that I will share and you can comment as you will.

Might end up doing a few reviews later as I thought about adding that type of thing to my blog, mostly just movies, video games and shows (maybe the odd recipe). Anyway I will stop blabbering and add the photos :p




*Note for P52, Theme is "I dreamed a dream" The reason this photo represents that is that I hope someday these animals will be respected rather then feared, understood rather then misunderstood, and loved for what they are rather then hated for what they are made out to be*

See my post titled 'New baby coming' soon to understand more about the fight reptiles are facing in the USA.

Calm Before the Storm

So tomorrow we have an 'inspection' happening which involves people coming into our apartment. You are probably thinking that's not so bad but really it could be quite problematic. As stated in an earlier post of mine my pets aren't welcome here, now I didn't choose this place nor this predicament but I wont get into it because it doesn't change anything to complain about it now.

My schedule for today is to clean and hide, hide my babies away like criminals so that I can keep living here all because people refuse to educated themselves. Obviously this is a bit of an issue for me, but I wont rant. My fiance and I have hopefully figured out a way to hide everyone while keeping them all comfortable and safe. Tomorrow will be a test of will as I sit home patiently waiting for the people to come then staying sane while they are here.

*sigh* now that that is over here are some random pictures from the last little while I thought I would share.

Not edited cause I am lazy, just wanted to give you guys an idea of his size right now.


Fid getting ready for another nap. (wasn't going to upload this one since the corner is really messed up, basically the couch was blown out and my fiance tried to teach me some tricks..)


"Hey Mom what are you doing?"


Pearl always steals the spot light from his big brother Brood.

Normal day

Nothing exciting today, work was pretty normal even though we have a storm on the horizon which seems to send people into a frenzy to buy things encase of a black out that you wouldn't be able to even eat during a black out, like chicken.

We are supposed to be getting some snow and freezing rain which makes for a giant mess so I'm not looking forward to working tomorrow, I hope at least people will spend the day home if they can. For some reason people have to shop up here when it is bad out, back home if it was raining even the slightest people would just go out to eat or stay home instead of trying to drag home a car full of groceries. Up here however people come through and will tell you how they had to trek through blinding wind and snow, up slippery hills, near miss accidents and across the ice covered parking lot all for a bag of chips, it is honestly mind boggling.


I had a scary moment last night, it was Pearl's feeding day. Now Pearl isn't like any normal ball python I've heard of, he constantly wants to be out and roaming with us and last night I made a mistake on my part since he was in the far back of his container by opening it before I was ready to feed him (just had to get the rat). Two seconds was enough for him to bolt out the tub so that when I came back he was half way out, this made for an issue. He didn't strike at me or anything but since I had to lure him back in his tub with the rat he struck it at the middle and ended up trying to eat it that way. I watched him for a bit waiting for him to spit it back out but when he did it looked to be hooked in his throat. Needless to say I had a minor freak out, on facebook and google trying to find out what to do. My fiance who kept watching him informed me that he had fixed himself, figuring he was fine and just didn't feel like letting go of his meal and instead tried to slide himself sideways to the head to eat it. Boys...

Anyway that is all for today. Possibly putting up some game/show reviews either tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned.

New D90 and my family.

For my first post I decided to do two things, show off the newest thing in my life while also introducing my family. I haven't been into photography for very long but recently upgraded to a DSLR in hopes to improve on my lack of talent. I still haven't quite figured everything out and still find myself 'pointing and shooting' but I really hope to change that.

Since it is winter I haven't been able to really go out and take some nice pictures, something I have been wanting to do since this city has so much to offer (I recently moved but that is another blog) and instead have been limited to my family, my pets. I'm not that big of a fan of children and I am somewhat spoiled by my brood since the majority are very simple. Anyway enough of my rambling, let me introduce you.


Fiddler. He is my orange/tiger SPCA rescue. For a cat he is an odd one, completely attached to my fiance he hates leaving his side and refuses to let us enjoy a movie or play our video games in peace. He is a plastic addict and as of this morning has discovered snow and has spent a good portion tapping at the windows.


Kathilion, Thil for short. She is my only 'daughter', my first reptile and I'm thankful for that. She was a pet store baby and one of the reasons I will never buy from the pet store again, she opened my eyes (again another blog). Thil takes after me quite a lot, she is sassy and if she could talk she would most definitely talk back with a cock of her head and 'pft', typical teenager. She hates her baths and frequently torments Fiddler when she is out, chasing him off the back of the couch, but otherwise she is a complete ham and loves sitting on your shoulder taking in all the attention. (not taken with D90)


Brood (Caladan). Brood was my first snake, a spider ball python and I'm super glad for that as he is a perfect example to bring home to anyone who is afraid of snakes. He is super shy, everything scares him, including himself. He single handedly brought my mother over to the scaly side and now she loves him and his snake brothers. Brood is endearing like a scared toddler who believes in the phrase 'If I can't see you, you can't see me'.

Anomander. He is the fiesty one of the bunch, but what else would you expect from a boa. Curious and adorable his favorite thing to do is climb your face, at least until he smells food. While not my most aggressive feeder he gets very paranoid while and after eating, usually taking strikes at us while we pass by him, or watching us closely aware of every subtle movement. He has never bitten or struck at me, and I don't tempt him while he is in his mood, all that aside he is an amazing example of a boa, both displaying how calm they can be but at the same time how aggressive they can be.


Pearl. My second ball python, and youngest child. Pearl is not shy at all, complete opposite from his brother Brood, and can often be found watching us while pleading to come out, which he will right on to your hand if you open his tub for him. Pearl is my most aggressive feeder, you can barely get his food into the tub before he already has it in his mouth, still startles me. He is adorable and he knows it and out of everyone he loves the camera.


Anyway those are my kids, and a little show of my camera 'skills'. I hope to continue with this blog and introduce you all into my life while hopefully offering you some helpful ideas and opinions. Hope you enjoy and continue to read, feel free to ask me anything.

Dee