I have leopard gecko, whom I noticed would get very afraid when I was looking at her, and since she was very new and a baby it was reasonable this giant (me) was dangerous and could mean her harm. So I did what is called “love eyes” where you very slowly blink at a pet and hold your eyes closed a moment and then slowly open them again. This is a thing cats usually do, but when I tried it with Fig she almost immediately calmed down and looked more relaxed. Whenever she looked scared or upset I’d do love eyes at her and she’d seem to understand that I didn’t mean her any harm.
I’m not sure how many days or weeks it was (as we’ve been together nine years at this point) but not too long after I did the slow calming blink and when I opened my eyes she slowly blinked at me too- though she didn’t get it quite right and just ended up slowly squinting back at me before going about her business. At first I wasn’t sure if it was coincidence that she blinked at that time, but over and over again as time went on after that, I would love blink at her and even if she wasn’t scared she’d love blink back at me. Over time she’s had a lot of practice and does a full slow blink now. We’d found a way to communicate that everything as alright and everything was safe!
I brought a friend over and she looked very scared when I tried to introduce them, and Fig kept looking at me for cues to if this strange new human was dangerous. I told my friend to give Fig “love eyes” (explaining what that was) and then Fig would trust her, and when my friend did Fig immediately understood and was curious and went over to check her out. It’s like we had a secret code, and anyone I told the code to Fig would understand they didn’t mean her harm.
Tonight I moved where her terarium is to in front of the mirrored closet doors in the living room, and for the past hour she has been staring at the lizard in the mirror, repeatedly doing slow blinks at the “other lizard” so it knows she isn’t a threat, and the “other lizard” has been giving them back.
I think this is the opposite of what most other lizards do who attack mirrors and floof out their necks and skin flaps in signs of aggression. My little bean is so sweet.
First off, this is hilarious, but secondly, the artist’s name is Bill Flowers and he literally goes by The Snake Artist because he just does a bunch of paintings like this.
He’s also apparently a “venomous snake wrangler.” He’s Australian, which I feel explains a lot.
Made a little trip to get some hides for his quarantine enclosure (he had hides before, but cardboard boxes, you know?) and so he was handled a bit while I cleaned out the cage and made it all pretty. As a reward he tried to bite me, like, six times, and you’re coming perilously close to being named Mister Bitey, sir
I saw this animal posted for sale locally. Sibling to my orchid motley (Aerides), I didn’t want him to vanish into the ether of shuffling homes, so I took him in. He’s skinny and pretty snippy (he MUSKED me - I don’t know how long it’s been since an animal freakin’ musked me, generally they either bite the shit out of me or just chill), but he’s safely in quarantine now. I’ve named him Austri.
In honor of Gopher tortoise day (April 10th), here’s one of my favorite patients, Danny Devito the gopher tortoise! He was hit by a car and required long term care to repair the damage to his shell. This involves surgical correction of the shell fractures (hence the screws), along with supportive care and pain medication. This is him enjoying his daily outside time in the sun! After recovery in the hospital this animal was released into the wild near where he was found. Please always watch for tortoises and other reptiles when you’re out there on the road!
New addition to the family, she came to us named Tansie, but I’m not sure if I like that name so much… it’s different so that’s good buuuut we will see! Anyways! She’s a pretty little leather back girl!
