| Archive for scabies.myfreeforum.org Southern California Arachnid, Bug, Invertebrate, Entomological Society |
| BugMom |
SheltopusikHere is my new baby. I have wanted one of these ever since I saw Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark. Did you know when Indy fell down into the tomb full of snakes, most were actually Sheltopusiks? This one is a sub adult male and we call him Radu. He's a bit fiesty, but so cool!
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| balam |
awesome 
How long is it? |
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| noexcuse4you |
Dude! Didn't anyone ever tell you that size doesn't matter ?
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| ogershok |
Everyone knows that it's age that counts. | ||
| balam |
 Have you heard that often?
Those are really cool lizards
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| WBurke17 |
Very Nice find. I almost got one from a lil hole in the wall petshop but they wanted alot of $$ for it. does it do the death roll when you hold him? | ||
| BugMom |
He's about 2 1/2 feet. Strong. Thrashes and hisses and rolls and lurches at your face! He sounds like a whole colony of hissing cockroaches all hissing in chorus. He's fabulous! He has a little bit of skin problem, but we'll soon fix that. He has little spurs which I guess is all that's left of the legs. I still have him in temporary quarantine accomodations, but I want to hook him up with a really nice cage soon. | ||
| Celeste |
That's so *cool*!
(I think many folks on here might not realize that's a legless lizard, not a snake though...) |
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| halfwaynowhere |
pretty cool. definitely something that's on my want list. | ||
| balam |
yup, on the short list too ... |
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| BugMom |
Yes, a legless lizard. I figured most of you guys would know, but most of the general public has never even heard of it. He's adorable when he's asleep -- so snakelike, but can close his eyes! Anyone who has ever held a snake would know right away. His body is not nearly as flexible as a snake's and his scales are hard and armored, not smooth. I'm glad you guys like him! | ||
| balam |
he should also have external ear openings right?
more pics please 
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| BugMom |
Yes, he has external ear openings and a blueish tongue. He flicks his tongue very monitor-like. So far he's accepted anything I've given him to eat: cooked chicken, boiled eggs, f/t fuzzies, silkworms, dubia roaches, butterworms, superworms, and earthworms. Supposedly, they can live up to 50 years in captivity. He also will rear up and kinda flatten himself (very cobra-like) sometimes. He lurches, but hasn't actually tried to bite. Good thing too -- you should see what he did to the roaches and fuzzies!
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt302/BugMom_photos/047.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt302/BugMom_photos/048.jpg http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt302/BugMom_photos/049.jpg |
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| balam |
way cool !!!
That face is stunning
Congrats again... now let's get you a girl and make tons of babies... |
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| Herpetologyfrk |
Very, cool! Thanks for sharing! | ||
| BugMom |
Yes! This is one critter I would LOVE to breed. | ||
| balam |
and I'd love you to be successful 
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| balam |
How is this fella doing? | ||
| BugMom |
He's doing great! Here are some pics of him enjoying his favorite meal -- pinkie mice! This guy is ALWAYS hungry. I have never served him a meal that he didn't eat every last bite of . . . except that one time I gave him some veggies just to see . . . apparently a strict carnivore. Had a little trouble when we went on vacation. My pet sitter was terrified of him! But he's all "hiss" and no "bite". At least so far . . .
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| rosenkrieger |
Wow, these guys are cool. I want one now. ::lol:: | ||
| balam |
Glad to see he is doing well.
Is he eating thawed or fresh killed... or alive? |
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| Celeste |
He is so cool!!! Thanks for the new pictures! | ||
| BugMom |
Frozen thawed pinks. He's not picky. Anything alive (or that used to be alive) is fair game. I can't find any info on it, but does anyone know if they musk? People tell me he stinks. I clean up after him nearly every day, so that's not it. I lost my sense of smell to a botched sinus surgery, but my hubby says he smells "like petstore". I don't know what that's supposed to mean. I have hundreds of animlas here, I'd have thought it always smelled like petstore! | ||
| balam |
Wiki claims they do in fact musk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheltopusik ...and these are just pics, but : http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi...s&title_tag=Ophisaurus+apodus |
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| BugMom |
Aha! I did read that article, but I guess I missed that part. I hooked up an air purifier near his enclosure and my husband says it's much better.
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| Steven |
edit: ...
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