I forget how big she is somtimes!

I used to be able to hang her off my belt loop while watching tv or she would loop around the teapot handle for warmth.

Not so much anymore! In January I will have had her for about 12 years now. We will be only about half way or less through her expected lifespan.






Catty hanging out in the water. She is also about the same age as Lucky and probably less than half way through her expected lifespan.


This is Robin. She is mothers blue tongue skink that we got while she was still young. She had metabolic bone disease and a lot of scars from getting beat up by other lizards. As she has grown the twisting of her bones have become a little more pronounced and we try to keep her from gaining much more weight than she is at since it is obvious that it is hard for her to be comfortable.

Wow! They so amaze me! I couldn't even handle my corn snake! And they sure aren't like having a cat or dog... They are so beautiful and I hope they do live a good full life with you!

Are all of your snakes safe? For want of a better word....
I let my daughter hold a carpet Python at a market zoo in Australia earlier this year. I watched long enough to take the photo - then couldn't look.
What a darling blue tongue! We have those here and I've been tempted by them before!

I wanted a blue tounged skink for years when I was a kid! Also ball pythons. I have come to understand that isnt in my future but they are still amazing to look at! I'm so sorry Robbin is sick What is Catty? I showed my husband. He hates snakes. I have never understood that.

Awesome! We're not allowed any kind of python in my province after an incident in New Brunswick and two boys being killed by an African rock python. It makes me a bit sad because they blanketed the law and now I can't have a ball python. I'm like you Dani, skinks and ball pythons are my absolute favourite reptiles. Is Lucky a Burmese? I can't even imagine how much she weighs. Big snakes are sooo heavy considering they're just all muscle!

We have tons of different kinds of tiny lizards all over here (Hawaii) and I love them. They live in my container garden We get even a couple different kinds of geckos, at least one tiny skink, and a couple of others that I dont know what they are. So cute. No snake though, and no snakes are allowed in the whole state. I dont even think the zoo here has snakes.

itchyfeet said:

Are all of your snakes safe? For want of a better word....
I let my daughter hold a carpet Python at a market zoo in Australia earlier this year. I watched long enough to take the photo - then couldn't look.
What a darling blue tongue! We have those here and I've been tempted by them before!

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Safe as in for handling them? If that is what you mean. Lucky is actually one of the safest ones I own as long as you don't get between her and food. The only snakes I have that aren't all that trustworthy are the kingsnake, my white sided rat and Athena the baby albino grey rat. Athena may outgrow her issues since a couple of my others did and she is only a couple months old at this point. The white sided calms down after a couple minutes but the kingsnake is just all around untrustworthy haha

SilverSage said:

I wanted a blue tounged skink for years when I was a kid! Also ball pythons. I have come to understand that isnt in my future but they are still amazing to look at! I'm so sorry Robbin is sick What is Catty? I showed my husband. He hates snakes. I have never understood that.

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Catty is a ball python. I love blue tongue skinks the ones I've come across have all been very nice and tolerate handling well.

Dinosrawr said:

Awesome! We're not allowed any kind of python in my province after an incident in New Brunswick and two boys being killed by an African rock python. It makes me a bit sad because they blanketed the law and now I can't have a ball python. I'm like you Dani, skinks and ball pythons are my absolute favourite reptiles. Is Lucky a Burmese? I can't even imagine how much she weighs. Big snakes are sooo heavy considering they're just all muscle!

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African rocks aren't ones I would ever own. I've heard quite a few stories about their aggressive nature. If they had really wanted a big snake I would have gone with boa or Burmese. They just tend to be much nicer and less likely to eat you if you handle them right.

Lucky is a red tailed boa. She is about 5 feet smaller than my Burmese when he died. I never got exact measurements of either of them but Lucky is significantly less snake than Riddick was back then.

Wow Catty is huge! I love that name for her . How much does she weigh now? How much bigger can she get? I didn't know what a Red Tailed Boa looked like as an adult until I saw Lucky.

Dani I would love to see all the little lizards and geckos in Hawaii! Amazing that no one can have snakes in Hawaii, although I bet people do. Even the zoos? That's surprising.

Robin is a lucky skink . Makes me happy to see all the love and care go into a creature that usually is not a pampered pet!

Catty and Lucky are considered full grown though they do tend to do that small not even noticeable growing for the rest of their lives.

Lucky the one climbing the shower is the red tailed boa and the other one Catty is the ball python. Honestly I'm not sure on weight....I used to weigh them all religiously but I got out of the habit many years ago now. Lucky I would have to weigh myself while holding her in order to get a weight. I may have to do that soon I'm curious what she weighs now!

Lucky as a baby...the exact reason people get in over their heads they just don't comprehend the size of some of the bigger snakes when they come so small at first.

Oh okay, I got Catty and Lucky confused. Catty looks less than half the size of Lucky for being about the same age. Are Ball Pythons usually much smaller than RTB?

I bet a lot of people do buy snakes at the pet stores while they're small, and don't do the research first. I assume there's plenty of full sized snakes around needing homes?

I thought you may have Yep ball pythons are generally a fairly small snake not getting any longer than a corn sake really. They are just much thicker with a bigger head.

Yep always people looking to dump their boas and big pythons. I'm sure you've heard of the big pythons surviving out in the wild too and taking over. And plenty looking to dump the smaller guys too. I could probably go and find 10 boas in the next 5 minutes that need homes in my area and I'm only thinking of the red tailed boas. Generally the appeal of dealing and owning a big snake wears off after a little bit. Then, you realize you just have this big animal you have to be careful handling, feeding, and cleaning up after them when they stink up their cage by going to the bathroom just once. And there is a real gag factor still cleaning up after Lucky lol

Plus, even after all this time I won't be stupid and handle her while I'm alone in the house. She's never gone after me once besides feeding time but it only takes one time to have some real trouble. She's not a Burmese but the damage she could do before I could get her off would hurt a lot. Prying her off my arm when she's just holding on can be difficult.

Lucky really is a "lucky" snake to have an owner who is dedicated to providing her the best life and long term care.

I'm not surprised that there are a ton of unwanted pet snakes and various reptiles... along with all the unwanted birds and dogs and cats and ferrets, bunnies etc!

Amazing pic there. I'd love to know how much she weighs! I didn't think about that... handling her when someone else is home. Never know with exotics, all it takes is an out of the ordinary situation ONCE!