Phoenix Reptile Expo Raffle Win

Bought a few raffle tickets at the expo today...I was hoping to win something and I did!

When I walked up to the table with my friend, Echo, I thought "Cool I'm getting free equipment". I saw the lady start getting a large box ready that had a turtle playpen in it, then grab a few other things. Little did I know, one of the items was a Pictus Gecko. Adorable! But I had no idea how to care for it, what it needed, and it was SUPER tiny.

Apparently, a kid that won three raffles that day had won the other pictus gecko that was in the raffle and offered to trade me for one of his other prizes. The decision was made on a coin flip (lol), so we both walked away happy since his mom wouldn't let him have a snake. So, here's my prize named "Hera" by Echo:







On a funny note: The play sand that I bought for $5 per lb at the show was precleaned and wet...so I was standing over the tank with my hair dryer to get rid of the water...

That's kind of quirky. you have an animal who needs sand and an animal who needs to be off sand. XD

Haha yeah isn't it funny how things work out? To be honest, sand still isn't really "good" for them. It can still be ingested and impact them (Calci-sand is terrible..I'm using play sand)...however, it holds heat the best for them, helps them with their shed better, wards off humidity..blah blah. I COULD go with aspen, but there's still ingestion issues. Basically, feed outside of the cage Which is fine with me...don't want it to associate my hand going inside of the inclosure as "time to eat" anyway...best way to get accidentally bitten.

The one thing, though, is that I won't be showing any feeding videos of this little girl. I'm going to feed her live while she's young (no bashing please it's just a better chance for her to eat and the little pinky won't see it coming..and they don't have teeth/sharp claws yet so she'll be fine until I have to upgrade her meals to hoppers). Because of this controversial way of feeding, I definitely won't be posting anything because it might upset someone.

EDIT: As for the bedding, I've read up on a lot of breeders using aspen. So, as not to stress out my new reptile, I'm going to switch to aspen in a week or so. Might as well not risk impaction, abrasions, and possible respiratory issues (silicon and dust). Too risky, wouldn't you say?

lovely little sand boa we used to a have a adult one just like that we used to keep ours on sand without any problems but i've noticed alot of shops here in the uk use aspen for them.

samsleopardgeckos wrote:lovely little sand boa we used to a have a adult one just like that we used to keep ours on sand without any problems but i've noticed alot of shops here in the uk use aspen for them.

Oh? That's really good to know! Do you use fine grain play sand? If so, what brand? I've been hearing a lot of rumors about silicon being in some brands of play sand (even the stuff approved for sand boxes) which can be a respiratory issue for the snakes and humans, so that's why I'm a tad wary about the sand now. Maybe I'll give her a month to see how things go.

awww
sooo cute I want a sand boa! they are so beautiful & yours has such lovely markings/patterns Hera is a cool name

OMGG! You are so lucky!! Congrats on winning, that is seriously amazing!
Hera is so gorgeous!!!
I'm so jealous!
I love the 3rd picture, so pretty <3

We just got play sand from our local B&Q here in the uk, just make sure you spray the tank sides with water as they always empty there water bowls so i didn't give our a water bowl just soaked the tank every 3days or so.

here's a pic of the one we had drinking off the wall

What a gorgeous KSB and setup. Thanks for the tips!

Here's a picture I took today...I accidentally bumped the tank and she came out to see what was going on.

Awww that is so cute!
Does she like being handled?

Nice boa! I had no idea where to get raffle tickets there ahaha. you are lucky.

kathstew wrote:Awww that is so cute!
Does she like being handled?

Well I don't know about liking it quite yet..but she isn't snappy at all! When I inquired about KSBs at other pet shops, the guys there were afraid to pull some of the youngsters out of their containers...one guy even used tongs to sift through the sand (and boy did that one snap...he struck so hard that he flipped out of his case). I'm very pleased with how curious and docile this little girl is for her age, which I think is anywhere from 1-2 months based on her size. Unfortunately, the ladies doing the raffle forgot who donated her, so I have no idea who to call for a hatch date. Oh well.

LindseyM16 wrote:Nice boa! I had no idea where to get raffle tickets there ahaha. you are lucky.

Thanks! I think she's beautiful! Yeah I had trouble finding them too on the first day. No one would help me out or tell me where it was. So on Sunday, I asked the ladies at the front in the lobby - that's where it was! I wish I bought tickets for Saturday, but you know...karma can get you if you're too greedy. I'm just glad I got her...for $5 pretty much!

wow do they hide under the sand all day? that's really interesting
She is sooo cute

gothicgurrrl wrote:wow do they hide under the sand all day? that's really interesting
She is sooo cute

They pretty much do hide all day...they're ambush predators so that's what they do Especially babies since they're timid...I'm sure I'll see her more often once she's an adult.