Ziva Update – With Pictures!!!

Tonight was dinner time for Ziva this week and I thought I’d take this opportunity to get a few pictures to share with everyone.  Don’t say you weren’t warned, Kath

Ziva's getting ready to shed right now - that's why her eyes are hazy blue

Another pic of Ziva that shows where the term 'in blue' came from - those hazy blue eyes

If you’ve ever been around snakes as pets or in the zoo, chances are you’ve heard of a snake being “in blue” referring to the time when they’re getting ready to shed.  This term comes from the blue haze over their eyes that forms as their old skin separates and prepares to shed.  Snakes are not really happy customers around this time as their vision is pretty limited.  Sometimes they’ll refuse to eat and they can be more likely to bite out of fear at this time.  I’ve never found Ziva to do any of this.  Rather, she usually burrows down in her shredded aspen and hides until she’s ready to actually shed.  I’ll do up a few more pics before long after she’s shed so you can really see the difference

The other thing you can see a bit of in this picture is her belly or “scoot” scales.  Corn snakes are said to have two possible origins to their name.  One is that they were found in settlers’ stocks of corn where they would hunt for mice.  The settlers naturally liked this and thought they were good to have around by those stories.  The other possible source for their name is that their belly has a pattern that looks somewhat like the different colors of kernels on Indian corn or maize.

Ziva likes to take a good, long drink of water after dinner

Another pic of Ziva drinking down some fresh water 8)

Yep, snakes drink just like I thought they would   I never really thought about it to tell the truth, but it’s just what you’d think they’d do.  The only time I ever really see Ziva drink is shortly after she’s eaten.  Still, I make sure to keep a full bowl of fresh water maintained in the cage for her in case she ever needs or wants it.

31 March 2009 - Ziva in her new home

Ziva sure has grown! She was quite a bit smaller when I first brought her home

And with a bit of searching in the archives, I was able to find a before picture to go with today’s current pic   Yes, it was way back on 31 March that I first brought Ziva home with me from Exotic Pets 8)  She’s sure grown and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon

To give you some idea of her size, that’s a 20 gallon tank that’s about 23 inches long which means she’s still got quite a bit of growing left to go.  Fully grown female corn snakes can be anywhere from about three to five feet long

Anywho, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little bright spot in my day as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it