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[Tormuse]

Oops!  I didn't mean to leave you all in suspense here.  :P

There were a lot of close contenders in the race to name my snake, including Diamond,  ;)  Nidhöggr, (the mischievous dragon that ate at the roots of the World Tree) Slytherin, and Doopadoop.  (Don't ask)  :P  Monty was never really a contender because it's too obvious, but from the volume of people suggesting that name, it would have been popular.  :)

In the end, I decided to name him...

Pretzel.

It's simple, describes the shape he usually takes, and is conveniently gender non-specific in case "he" turns out to be a "she."  ;)  Also, it has a "Z" in it, which gives him a sense of uniqueness.  :)

Thanks again for all your suggestions!  :D

[ZicherCZ]

In the end, I decided to name him...

Pretzel.

It's simple, describes the shape he usually takes, and is conveniently gender non-specific in case "he" turns out to be a "she."  ;)  Also, it has a "Z" in it, which gives him a sense of uniqueness.  :)

ZicherCZ approves ;).

[Klear]

Nice name. I also thought of "the name of that snake in norse mythology, or was that only in comics?", but after finding out the name is Nidhöggr, I didn't even suggest it =P

[Tormuse]

Nice name. I also thought of "the name of that snake in norse mythology, or was that only in comics?", but after finding out the name is Nidhöggr, I didn't even suggest it =P

Naw, Nidhöggr is a dragon.  Jörmungandr is the snake.  I just liked the name Nidhöggr better.  :)  I offered the name Nidhöggr as a name suggestion to my friend who just acquired a bearded dragon, (lizard) so maybe it's a better fit there.  :)

[Tormuse]

Some unfortunate news...  Pretzel passed away on Hallowe'en.  :(  I don't know what happened;  I had been taking good care of him and there didn't seem to be anything wrong, but then I came home from school one day and he was dead.  :(

This made me very sad, but also made me feel like getting a new pet to help fill the void.  So...

Here he is!  :)  (she?)

He's a baby corn snake and I kind of have a name in mind already, but I thought I'd appeal to you guys in case someone can come up with a better one.

EDIT:  (Replaced the Facebook link with a Photobucket one)

[thelaptop]

Some unfortunate news...  Pretzel passed away on Hallowe'en.  :(  I don't know what happened;  I had been taking good care of him and there didn't seem to be anything wrong, but then I came home from school one day and he was dead.  :(

This made me very sad, but also made me feel like getting a new pet to help fill the void.  So...

Here he is!  :)  (she?)

He's a baby corn snake and I kind of have a name in mind already, but I thought I'd appeal to you guys in case someone can come up with a better one.

I don't know much about snakes myself, but an acquaintance of mine has a ball python, and one of the issues they face is heating problems.  As cold-blooded animals, they are very sensitive to the lack of heat, and maybe while you were out the house temperature dropped too low and caused its metabolism to cease.

I'm truly sorry for your loss of Pretzel.

* thelaptop removes his hat and bows

[Tormuse]

Thank you for your condolences, thelaptop.

And yeah, that was one of my prevailing theories, that he was too cold.  He had a heating lamp, which I had on 12 hours a day, but he did spend an inordinate amount of time basking under it up until the end, which made me wonder if he found it too cold in there.  I'm thinking maybe it would be a good idea to get a heating pad to warm up the floor of the cage this time around, especially since winter is coming!

As for the new snake, my first impression of him was that he seems adventurous.  When I was checking them out in the pet store, he was the boldest of all of the corn snakes I held, exploring faster and farther than anyone else...  but in retrospect, that might be because he was the most eager to find a place to hide.  :P  Just tonight, he's poked his head out of his shelter a few times, but every time I try to take a picture, he hides again.  And then, when he came out to explore his cage, I thought it would be a good opportunity for him to come out for a bit, but as soon as I removed the lid, he actually dove into his shelter, far faster than I thought a snake could move!  :o

[thelaptop]

Awww... but yeah, make sure there's enough ambient heat for the snake.  You might need to earn his respect and trust at some point.  =)

[Tavana]

I'd suggest a lamp and a heating rock for winter. Leave the rock on all the time (it drains less energy anyhow), and in a somewhat sheltered place so he can hide and be on it at the same time.

Snakes are awesome, and I'm sorry to hear your last one passed on. Rust was the first name that came to mind, looking at him.

[Tormuse]

Awww... but yeah, make sure there's enough ambient heat for the snake.  You might need to earn his respect and trust at some point.  =)

For sure, he's definitely more shy than Pretzel was, but I'm sure I'll earn his trust with time.  :)  I read an interesting tip about it recently of putting a pair of gloves inside the cage for three days so they smell like him, and then wearing those gloves every time I handle him.  The theory is that if the gloves smell like him, they'll seem less threatening.  I might try that if he doesn't warm up to me in the next couple weeks.  :)

I'd suggest a lamp and a heating rock for winter. Leave the rock on all the time (it drains less energy anyhow), and in a somewhat sheltered place so he can hide and be on it at the same time.

I read somewhere that heating rocks can be troublesome in terms of causing burns to the snake.  :|  I think I'd rather go with an under-the-tank heating pad.  I just picked one up today, but it seems that I misremembered the size of my tank, so I'm going to have to go back and exchange it for a smaller one.

[Tormuse]

So, I've come to a decision.  You may laugh at this, but I've decided to name him...

Diamond.

Not just because of the connection with DoomRL; he has a diamond pattern down his back, so I think the name suits him.  :)

In other news, I installed the heating pad and within minutes, it heated the warm half of the cage to almost 40 degrees Celsius!  :o  The warm end is only supposed to be 30 degrees, so I hope that isn't too hot for him.  :|  It shouldn't be too much of a problem, because the other half is at a more reasonable 24 degrees, so he can move over there when it gets too much for him, but he is rather fond of sleeping in the egg carton I put on the warm end, so...  I dunno, maybe I should give him a second egg carton on the cooler end just in case.  :P

[thelaptop]

Diamond.

* thelaptop chuckles so hard he falls off his chair and smashed his knee into the ground

I think it is a good idea to have multiple hidey-holes.  Keeping one end warm and the other cool and letting Diamond adjust his own preference is a good idea in any case.

[Tormuse]

Thought you all might like an update on how Diamond is doing.  :)

Over the past couple months, he's been getting more and more confident about exploring his cage.  He still doesn't like being picked up much, but he tolerates it more now.  He takes his food more enthusiastically too; the first couple times, he accepted it timidly and meekly, and now, he aggressively wraps his whole body around it.  :)  He's also shed his skin a couple times, which is uncanny, because he sheds it all as one single piece and it looks like a little white snake costume, complete with eyeholes!  :o  I measured the last snakeskin and it was 43cm.  My best estimate, when I first got him, was 31cm, so either he's growing very rapidly, or my first estimate was way off.  (Quite likely the latter, because in the beginning, he would never hold still)  I dealt with the issue of the warm side of the cage being too warm by putting a layer of cardboard on top of the heater for insulation.  It seems to help.

Also, my dad got me a new cage for him for Christmas, so now, he has a much larger area to explore.  :)  At first, being moved into a new cage seemed scary for him and he hid away again for a week, but he seems to be regaining his confidence again.  Attached, are before and after pictures of his cages.

And on an unrelated note, I did end up watching Escape from New York, and you're right.  It's B movie goodness.  :)  I may name some future snake "Plissken" some day.  :D

[thelaptop]

Unlocking on request.  =)

[Tormuse]

Thanks, Thelaptop!  :)

It's been just over a year since I got Diamond, now.  It's still hard to measure him, but his last snakeskin was 89cm, so I guess it's safe to say he's over three feet long now and still growing fast!

He's a lot less shy than he used to be; he still hides a lot, but he'll poke his head out to investigate when I talk to him or go to pick him up.  He's a lot more relaxed when I pick him up too; in fact, the last couple times I picked him up, he even arranged himself into a position that allowed me to support him more easily.  I still take him out for walks (slithers?) on a regular basis and let him roam around the apartment so he gets used to being handled.  During one such journey, he somehow managed to get himself trapped inside a tissue box.  (Oh, Diamond, you silly snake)  :P  I suppose I could have stopped him, but I really didn't expect him to be able to get in there.  I eventually got him out, but didn't trust the tissues to be clean after that, so I just put the whole box, tissues and all, into his cage and now he has a new, soft, cozy bed.  :)

Also attached, is a picture of me holding him on the first anniversary of the day I bought him.  May he have many more!  :D