New forum assistant.
 

We have aquired a new assistant here at mersenneforum.org headquarters. We're not yet sure what task this assistant will do, but the Gerbil has suddenly become a lot more productive.

The card in the picture is 3" x 5" and the snake is 140g. It is a common snake that is native to North Carolina called a Corn Snake. It should be heavier than 140g at that length but that is easily taken care of with proper feeding and thermal management.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Snake[/url]

:lol: I guess that would scare any gerbil! :smile:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;129064]the Gerbil has suddenly become a lot more productive[/QUOTE]

Probably a direct result of (job?) insecurity.

Certainly "food for thought" that your "highest and best use" might be simply "food"

Congratulations! :smile:

I guess the gerbil will be quite safe for now because the snake will need help with the new responsibilities. No sensible forum assistant is going to eat its mentor.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;129064]The card in the picture is 3" x 5" and the snake is 140g.[/QUOTE]

Please stick to a single units system, otherwise everyone gets messed up. The card is an A7.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;129098]Please stick to a single units system, otherwise everyone gets messed up. The card is an A7.[/QUOTE]

No, the card is indeed 3" x 5" - but the snake is 5oz. [Yet too small to seriously threaten the Gerbil, but shhh - don't tell the Gerbil that, if it knew it would immediately start slacking off again.]

A few more pictures.

:smile:

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR]

[quote=Xyzzy;129122]A few more pictures.

:smile:[/quote]

Isn't "Birds of Prey" rather frightening reading material for the new assistant? :unsure:

LOL, love the image-file name on the last picture of [i]el Gerbo nervoso[/i].

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;129064]We're not yet sure what task this assistant will do[/QUOTE]

Expert opinion on snake oil over at the Math and Factoring forums?

Alex

Via the magic of [URL="http://www.serpwidgets.com/Apps/measure.html"]Snake Measurer[/URL]:

We switched to a deeper corner bowl. The snake likes to go completely in the water and hang out there.

We also got a weird ladder and some stringy aspen bedding so the snake can burrow holes all over the place.

Finally, we put a rheostat on the heater that is stuck to the bottom of the glass under the cork cave so we now have a 75°F to 85°F gradient for the snake to pick from.

[quote=Xyzzy;129122]A few more pictures.:smile:[/quote]

Congrats for the recruitement and welcome to the new assistant.
First, I wondered whether the First Aid Kit would contain the antidote, but then I realized that this is a "constrictor type" assistant.

From WP:
[QUOTE]Pet Corn Snakes are usually fed by their owners on a diet of commercially available rodents, predominantly mice,(...) Frozen mice are usually preferable, ...[/QUOTE]
to me this does not mean the same than
[QUOTE]comparatively simple care make them excellent and popular pet snakes.[/QUOTE]
Can we have a picture of your freezer ?

[QUOTE]as live prey can possibly (...) injure the snake if it has not been raised on live prey.[/QUOTE]
:-D ! But this would make feeding a lot more amusing :devil:

We had a snake in my grade 1 class and we fed it goldfish (they bite less than mice).

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;131147]We had a snake in my grade 1 class and we fed it goldfish (they bite less than mice).[/QUOTE]
Did your class snake prefer the Cheddar or Ranch-Onion-flavor Goldfish? Just curious what a constrictor-style snake might go for when it comes to baked snacks that don't come in rodent-flavored varieties.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;131213]Did your class snake prefer the Cheddar or Ranch-Onion-flavor Goldfish? Just curious what a constrictor-style snake might go for when it comes to baked snacks that don't come in rodent-flavored varieties.[/QUOTE]I think that the snake was a "garter" snake (not to be confused with said knights), and the fish were known as "feeder" fish.

The Snake is now 194g and is doing quite well. It is now eating two ~20g mice a week. We thaw the mice overnight and then right before feeding we warm them up in hot water. We use special tongs to feed the Snake because the strike is incredibly vicious. Much constricting and coiling occurs at this point. We then cover the "snake box" and let the Snake do its thing. We use a "snake box" so the Snake does not ingest substrate and so it does not associate food with the regular tank.

The Snake really likes it if we "animate" the food by moving it around like it is running away. We've tried some panicked mouse-like sound effects but the snake does not seem to appreciate the effort.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;135926]The Snake really likes it if we "animate" the food by moving it around like it is running away. We've tried some panicked mouse-like sound effects but the snake does not seem to appreciate the effort.[/QUOTE]A look at: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception[/URL] would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;135935]A look at: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception[/URL] would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.[/QUOTE]Further, most mouse sounds are well above the frequency capable of being produced by most humans.

A frequency-shifted recording of male mouse singing hit the net around a year ago. Quite beautiful and similar to bird song in many ways.



Paul

Maybe the mouse sounds are more fun for us than for the snake?

:smile:

Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)

[quote=cheesehead;136056]Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)[/quote]
But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;135935]A look at: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception[/URL] would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.[/QUOTE]

Wait - since snakes are deaf, how could they ever appreciate a "dinning experience" to begin with? By definition, they should be unresponsive to the level of the din in their surroundings.

[Sorry - couldn't resist - another victim of "context-free spellchecking" software. :D]

Mike, why don't you just feed the beast live mice? I mean, if you feed it dead mice, they had to die somehow - and that would save you the trouble [and possibly nasty looks from the wife] of using the microwave to thaw the little frozen mousies.

I know my late cat would never have gone for dead mice, whether thawed and remotely anminated or not - the shrill-squeaky-slow-torture-to-death was a crucial part of the whole dining experience. Sounds like snakes are less picky that way, but the fact that yours seems to prefer the "Weekend at Bernie's" animated version tells me they still prefer live prey. So why be a hypocrite, I say - remember, "life is simply nature's way of preserving meat."

[quote]Mike, why don't you just feed the beast live mice? I mean, if you feed it dead mice, they had to die somehow - and that would save you the trouble [and possibly nasty looks from the wife] of using the microwave to thaw the little frozen mousies.[/quote]

No microwave involved. (They pop in the microwave.)

We use warm water.

Why we use frozen mice:

[url]http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_01.asp[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;136087]No microwave involved. (They pop in the microwave.)[/QUOTE]Is that the voice of experience?

Paul

[QUOTE=xilman;136090]Is that the voice of experience?l[/QUOTE]

Ha, ha, sure sounds like it. Can't wait to hear all the explosive revelations from our buddy, Mr. Mike "Orrville Rodentbacher" Vang.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;136086][Sorry - couldn't resist - another victim of "context-free spellchecking" software. :D][/QUOTE]Sure, pick on the learning disabled. I only really learned the difference last year between the spelling of desert and dessert and how to remember it.

[quote=Mini-Geek;136070][quote=cheesehead;136056]Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)[/quote]

But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.[/quote]
You're quite right, instead we keep it for many months in cramped overcrowded surroundings feeding it a diet which is designed to pre-digest its flesh ready for the convenience of our modern pampered stomachs, then when it's bursting with fat so that it can hardly move we transport it packed tightly with its terrified companions in a lorry to a place where its final fate is too gruesome to describe in here in the lounge. We could learn some civilised behaviour from the snakes or better still exploit the fact that we don't have to eat meat.

[quote=Brian-E;136104]You're quite right, instead we keep it for many months in cramped overcrowded surroundings feeding it a diet which is designed to pre-digest its flesh ready for the convenience of our modern pampered stomachs, then when it's bursting with fat so that it can hardly move we transport it packed tightly with its terrified companions in a lorry to a place where its final fate is too gruesome to describe in here in the lounge. We could learn some civilised behaviour from the snakes or better still exploit the fact that we don't have to eat meat.[/quote]
...which all has nothing to do with whether we like or are amused by or enjoy the animal's sound while it's still alive.

[quote]But we don't normally constrict our food alive to kill it, then swallow it whole.[/quote]... and the rest of us appreciate those excellent manners! :smile:

- - -

I wish to note that my posting about food sounds omitted any reference to animals.

Other examples:

the thump-thump of ripe apples falling from the tree while one is trying to pick others on the same tree on an apple farm,

the softer plop-plop of ripe crabapples falling from the flowering crabapple tree in ones front yard,

the almost-inaudible squishing of raspberries when one grasps them with too much force while testing their ripeness,

the breeze-driven rustling of (besides corn: wheat, cabbages, or just about any other edible crop that has leaves).

[quote=Mini-Geek;136117]...which all has nothing to do with whether we like or are amused by or enjoy the animal's sound while it's still alive.[/quote]
That's right, it doesn't. It has to with our methods of killing which is what I thought your posting was about. :smile: