MagiStream

Thank you guys for the help! I don't know for sure how old she is. The people at the pet store told me she was around a year old, but then again the person that helped me was a fish specialist, not a reptile specialist, who was afraid to get the snake out of the tank- she actually took the tank down, put on the floor, and had me reach in and take the snake out while she backed away (it was slightly hilarious). I'm not sure why I listened to her.

Thank you for the link, Hellfyre! I'm not a new reptile owner, but a new snake owner. I've owned two (rescued) eastern box turtles, a painted turtle, a 5-foot green iguana, a brown basilisk, a green anole, and a bearded dragon. I still own the box turtles, the rest have passed away.

Hello to everyone here...although I currently don't own a pet, I plan on getting some soon. I really want to get a Havanese though I know it's probably not going to happen since they aren't exactly a breed you can easily get. Though if you do know of anyone or any shelters that might have this breed up for adoption, please let me know! I do, however, want to know what would be a good dog breed and a good cat breed to get that would be ok with other animals living in the same place as them. Thanks for any help!

If you want your dog to get along with other pets, generally steer clear of the terriers, and other breeds with high prey drive, such as huskies or sight hounds. That said, if you get a puppy and already have adult other pets, and especially if the other pets don't run from the puppy, it's pretty easy to train them to "leave it". We've kept cats and dogs together happily for many years, and sometimes the cats even enjoy the dogs' company, laying with them, or encouraging the dog to play with them. My dog likes to 'find their squeaker', and I've had a couple of cats who enjoyed having him shove his nose into their belly to find it. Weird cats...
Conversely, it can also help to already have a dog that you know won't chase other pets, and add a kitten. Then, the kitten grows up knowing that the dog won't hurt them and they can get along.

Ferrets will most likely harass cats, probably harass dogs, and pretty much WILL try to kill other small animals. Even if the ferret and bird or rodent will 'never have access to each other', accidents happen, and if given the opportunity, a ferret's hunting instincts kick in hard core. I had ferrets go to some insanely great lengths to silence squeaky birds... and squeaky toys too. I also used to give my ferrets mice as an occasional treat.

Some pets, particularly prey animal pets, just aren't going to get along with other predator type pets. Rabbits and Chinchillas are particularly prone to severe stress and even fatal heart attacks from dogs just nosing around. If you keep a chinchilla, you absolutely must not have a ferret. They are natural enemies and even if they are in different rooms, it stresses the chinchillas out severely. I hate when pet stores sell both in the same 'pet room', often side by side. It's no wonder so many chinchillas go home neurotic. (at least, in Idaho they do).

Generally, you do not want to mix species of reptiles together, or amphibians or rodents. Birds, depending on the species can be housed together. Parakeets and cockatiels sometimes get along. Most species of finches get along as long as they have plenty of room. Most parrots should not be housed with other species. It tends to stress the less dominant bird out. Keeping different kinds of reptiles, but in separate cages is usually fine. Keep in mind that some rodent species are solitary and others are gregarious. Rats and mice want more than one, hamsters and gerbils want to be the only one, but sometimes get along ok if both are acquired together as babies (siblings are good), but even then, they may fight. Hamsters, especially the Siberian dwarfs, are prone to killing each other and must be housed singly. Then, there's always the issue of babies. Some vets will spay or neuter rodents, but otherwise, choose wisely.

I keep fish and mice and birds with my cats just fine. The mice, specifically, are set up to be 'cat TV'. They are in a secure tank that the cats can't get into, and the cats are allowed to watch the mice. The mice no longer worry about the cat outside (I don't think they can even see it very well) and since there's no bars, they can't smell it, so it doesn't really register as a threat.
I had to teach the cats to leave the birds alone though. But, as long as they stay off the top of the fish tank, the cats are allowed to watch the fish. Once in a while, the dog will notice the fish, and I have to be careful, because he'll try to bite at them through the glass. Lol.

TNHawke wrote: Ferrets will most likely harass cats, probably harass dogs, and pretty much WILL try to kill other small animals. Even if the ferret and bird or rodent will 'never have access to each other', accidents happen, and if given the opportunity, a ferret's hunting instincts kick in hard core. I had ferrets go to some insanely great lengths to silence squeaky birds... and squeaky toys too. I also used to give my ferrets mice as an occasional treat.

Just wanted to say that of the five ferrets I have had, none of them ever harassed my roommate's cat or my kitten. They played with them, would do that cute bouncing thing. The cats played back, too. My ferret also doesn't bother my rats or my guinea pigs. We let him sniff them and he sorta shrugged and kept going about his business.

Playing... harassing... depending on the attitude of the cat, and whether or not your ferret likes to nip at paws, lips, ears or tails... I had 5 different ferrets over the years, most of that time, I had a business of four. One cat liked to play with them until someone bit him too hard, then he would retreat to higher ground. And then the ferrets would try to climb up after him! Poor kitty had a fat lip so often from getting nipped by the furrkids.

I love dogs, and currently I have an Australian Cattle Dog (Blue), and she's actually a nice mix, although I can't for the life of me remember the other half of her heritage.

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Her name is Mocha, and we adopted her at one of the Petsmart events. She's currently a year and four months old. Currently she can sit, lay down, roll over, come when called (unless she smells a bunny in the area )
She was potty-trained a long time ago, and the only problem she has is begging at the table for scraps, which we give her anyways, she's just impatient so I'm going to start getting stricter about the whining. The only thing we were very strict about from the beginning is biting children, as in Colorado (not sure about other states), if she bites a single child, they put her down. If she bites two adults she's put down.

What a cutie! She is adorable.

My puppy does the most darling thing!

Okay so I have three cats, I talk to them and meow at them when they meow. And I give them lots of attention because it's so cute! Well I guess my puppy Christie caught on because when I pet and talk to her now she lets out little barks! She's just like a kitty cat always rubbin' her head along stuff and what-not. ^^ She's so smart. I think she's traumatized though, I think both of the dogs are.

Something really bad happened to our family and it shocked and hit us pretty bad. Shortly before it happened and even long after that my puppy always wants to sleep either in the bathroom or my grandmothers bedroom. She's never done that before. And they are sticking to the coldest rooms in the house (which is as low as 23 degrees Fahrenheit).

I need some advice on what to do.

I do wildlife rehab, and sometimes I get unreleasables. One that I have right now is a yellow-bellied racer snake that I found after a cat attack. He was left completely blind, so he's not releasable.
He shed his skin and gained a little bit of vision back in one eye a month or so ago, but not enough that he can be released. Problem is, he decided to escape his tank where my own cats then caught him.
He's now in really bad shape. A couple inches of his tail was chewed off, he's covered in punctures from claws and teeth and has a big gash on his back. We're not certain if there is a spinal injury and he's paralyzed, or if he's just super sore from injuries at that point down, but about 2/3 of his body currently doesn't work.

Normally, I would have him euthanized.

Problem is, he doesn't WANT to be euthanized. He wants to live. He wants to be active.

In my rehab experience, I've had young birds who were hit by cars and the vet said they would never fly, but they seemed to be telling me that they WOULD fly- and it may have taken several months, and daily working with them, but sure enough, they flew. I've had small mammals take a tumble and seemed to be fine, but tell me they are dying, and sure enough, they died within an hour of being delivered to the vet. I've had crows tell me to piss off, they wanted to be free, despite the fact that they could not fly, and I've continued to see them (albeit on the ground) for years after their final escape.
So, I've learned to listen to them. I've learned to give the ones who want a chance the chance.

I just worry that this snake may not realize how bad off he actually is. He's having to drag 2/3 of his length behind him, because he can't move himself with it. I'm afraid that he may not be able to digest and process food, even if I pre-kill his mice for him because I doubt he'll be able to kill them himself now. He is moving around his 55 gal tank, warm side to cool side and back, as he feels the need. I believe he got himself a drink of water from his swimming tub. His substrate is soft aspen shavings, so it's pretty gentle on his body.

For now, I'm giving him time to see if he's really got nerve damage, or if he's just exhausted and sore. Maybe in a few days, or weeks, we'll have a better idea if he might actually recover, or if he's going to slowly, painfully starve to death. I don't want him to suffer, but I don't want to kill him, if he could actually recover, y'know?

I guess I'm just looking for some input. Ideas, thoughts, opinions, etc.

TNHawke, reptiles are hard creatures. They survive the most horrible injuries but whether that's actually living or just fighting death is difficult to say unless you learn the tricks of the reptile trade. I have a lot of experience with reptiles as in having had my own store/shelter/breeding program and I had to make some difficult decisions over the years but to this day I do not regret a single one.

Some reptiles are easy to see when they are in pain but snakes are not, they could actually be suffering horribly. Saying he wants to live is wishful thinking and just deceiving yourself as you simply base this on your own emotions right now. It's all about this snake and his quality for life and not whether or not you can live with it. This sounds harsh but if you really care about living creatures like I do you know I speak the truth.
Also snakes are not birds, reptiles are not like birds and/or mammals who show clear distress. The only reptiles that are easy to read even for novices are chameleons as they show speckles, dark stripes and black spots when hurting or stressed. This is why I hate the second Dr. Doolittle movie as that chameleon is stressed beyond sane levels!
It is simply a matter of learning their language and reptiles are the most difficult animals. It took me over ten years to "communicate" with them.

Being blind isn't a big deal for snakes, their vision isn't good anyway and they do well without eyes. I had an eyeless python and she still lives with a new owner who takes great care of her. I would not freak out about that.

There a few things you should watch carefully;
- Does he still drink when water is offered? If not it really is the end of the story. You cannot assume he is drinking you must be absolutely sure. What we did was put them in dry, warm terrariums and after three days give them some water and watch if they would start drinking.

- Try and feed him, preferably paste in a syringe(yes put a mouse in a blender!). Yes you can force-feed snakes but this situation is where you do not want to do that too forcibly as he is already so far gone. Simply put some in his mouth and see if he swallows.
If he cannot feed on his own and you need to actually massage the food down let him go. I have only done force-feeding with snakes that are healthy except for their refusal to eat and those that are recovering from more minor injuries. Snakes can go months without feeding anyway but you have to draw the line when you are seeing their ribs or after all this time they still do not eat on their own.