I Promise I'm Alive

Science and Around the World

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences conducted some excellent research on how Python’s organs, and in particular their hearts, change during eating and fasting.

Turns out that Ball/Royal Pythons increase their own mass by almost 25% after eating! This increase in organ expansion is a more concrete example of why overfeeding your snakes can harm their health. If you keep pythons of any species (or any other snakes for that matter) this is a good quick read.

I found this story months ago in a 1440 morning email, and never stuck to the newsletter, so it hasn’t been sent out.

Hobby and Industry News

USARK played a critical role in securing a solution to the ban on the light bulbs we need for our herps.

If you weren’t keeping up, the Department of Energy enacted a ban that impacts all of our high-output bulbs we use for ectotherms and herps. While the intention was to reduce low-efficiency bulbs being sold in the US, there was no analysis done about other ripple effects…or really any analysis at all…

USARK and all of us who support them or keep reptiles were quick to react, and last week the DOE announced an exception for bulbs intended for animal care!

This is a huge near-miss and win for the whole community. Make sure you support the non-profits that fight for our rights!

From MHI

I noticed that the catch was a bit loose on an enclosure and made a note to fix it over the weekend…it didn’t last until the weekend…Lesson learned!

One of our adult females who has been paired this year escaped and went on a tour. Luckily, I found her safe and sound in my shoe!

It made for a cute photo op, though.