So I have good news and I have bad news. I think I will address the bad news first so I don't leave this feeling bummed out!

A couple of years ago I took on an older male leopard gecko from a family who no longer had the time for him when they were expecting a child. They gave me him and everything he had for free because they just wanted to find him a forever home in his final years. He was between 8 and 10 years old but they weren't too sure. Leopard geckos have lifespans of around 6-10 years but have been known to live longer. At first he was fine and really great. I got him out often and I loved watching him hunt. His favourite thing was hopper locusts, shortly followed by dubia roaches and of course wax worms. About 8 months into owning him I noticed he was starting to slow down. Nothing that would cause concern, just obviously starting to feel his age. I downsized his enclosure and put him into a tub with a flat substrate and little obstruction so he wouldn't have to climb over things (his enclosure prior had some logs and desert decor for him to clamber over to keep him active). He did much better in there and every night I popped in to change the termostats over to their night time temps he would be at the front of the tub having a look around. It got to a point where I had to start hand feeding him his bugs because he just didn't have the energy any more to chase after them. I made sure he had plenty of calcium and I gave him his water in a dropper to make sure he drank enough. The last month he started to slow down even more and I was expecting him to pass away. To make sure he was still receiving nutrients I was giving him pureed baby food on a spoon (he was more than happy to enjoy some of this!). I considered that I may have him euthanised in the near future but before the decision was made he had passed away during the night about a week or so ago. He would have been between 10-12 years when he passed away, which is pretty decent. I'm more than happy to give an elderly animal a home, it just hurts every time you lose them because you feel almost robbed of them with the time you've had. I'm glad I could keep him comfortable until he passed though. Rest in Peace Saul



I do have some nice news as well though! I saw a guy I know selling a high-white California king snake, 2 years old, that he hadn't had too long and I was very jealous of when he posted pics of her and well... meet Humbug! (If you get the name I will be so happy... if not google it!)







She is absolutely puppy tame and such a little love. She's beautiful and her temperament just makes her even better. I haven't messed with king snakes before but I'm very keen on colubrids. Always wanted one and this one just so happened to be a really lovely individual. She rattles her tail which is super funny but she soon stops when she knows you mean no harm. Never struck or bitten anybody

So that's it! Sorry to bring bad news but I hope you like Humbug

I'm sorry to hear about your gecko.

The black and white cali kings are actually my favorite morph of king snake. How long is she? She's beautiful.

Sorry about your gecko, but even though your time with him was short he obviously had a good life with you. Your new snake is lovely.

Not really off topic: in the past there have been some issues where people would hit the submit button for a post, but it would take such a long time to connect to the server that sometimes it would make a second attempt. Then when it finally got through the post would appear twice, even though the person only hit the button once. It used to happen to all of us, but the problem went away a long time ago. But maybe for some reason it's happening just to you now.

Thank you! She is around 3.5 feet at the minute. Maybe a little bit more to go I think. I think absolute maximum she will grow is 5. She's quite the dainty girl. I say girl because she was sold as a girl but since the guy has said 'he' so now I'm like meh, the name is unisex haha. I think the normal banded Cali kings are lovely but the high whites are just something else, especially their heads! If you like these but prefer something a bit bigger the black rat snake (I've got one around 8 foot and a lot thicker around than any other colubrid I've seen!) has a gorgeous morph called the white sided. They're known for being a bit defensive but mine is just funny in her vivarium, once she's out she is one of my ambassador snakes for when people come over and want to meet one but are nervous like haha

Thank you for your kind words!

I haven't even pressed it twice, this is what is baffling me. I press it and it comes up pretty much straight away but there's two! The only thing I'm having trouble with at the moment is if my PC has logged me out for whatever reason I log in and I get told the website isn't working or can't be found. Wait about 5 minutes and it comes up but it's all weird. Click on view new posts and it's normal? If I'm logged in still it doesn't happen

Just in case any of you don't know what a humbug is, it's a peppermint boiled sweet that's quite popular here and very old (like 1820s). They seem to sell them in the UK, Canada and Australia (maybe other places I dunno). YOU LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY! I didn't know America didn't have these I'm not keen on them but she looks like one

Yes I like humbug......
Not too keen on snakes tho....

Never heard of those candies before! They look sort of like beetles. Or sunflower seeds.

I thought they were beetles too. Because that was my first impression, they don't look appetizing to me.

Turn that around and you've got me!
I never kept reptiles since I lived with my parents who didn't want me to (or spiders for that matter). After that I moved into a house we rented with my current wife (we met while I was still living with my parents - I was 17). And she's not to keen on reptiles (and afraid of spiders) So I gave up on ever having one. It's great to see some on these forums though.

EDIT (I don't mean the candy, since I don't know that... I mean this:
I like artic monkeys, but not enough to buy the album caled 'humbug')