Animal Advice

The Creature Teacher, LLC

Animal Advice

ANIMAL ADVICE

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This is your opportunity to ask us an animal related question. Submit your question along with your name, age and city of residence and we will post your question and our answer on this page. Your question can pertain to your pets health, proper care for a prospective new pet, animal handling and the like. Please keep in mind this page is not in any way a substitute for veterinary treatment and if your pet is sick, ill, injured or suspect a health problem, please take your pet to your local veterinarian right away. Also, keep in mind that The Creature Teacher is by no means an "expert" on all animals species, their care or handling. We in the willife education service continue to learn about all animals on a daily basis. So this page helps us as well as you.

When submitting a question, please be specific as possible. For example, please do not ask "My snake won't eat, what do I do?". I'll need more information such as what species of snake you have, what you normally feed it, if you feed your snake live or frozen mammals and how you feed it and how long has it gone without eating. The age of the snake, where you purchased it and what it's environment is like will all be of benefit as well.

Please fill out Advice Form at the bottom of this page.

Leopard Gecko Egg

June 27, 2009

Kathleen writes: We have a Leopard Gecko that hasn't eaten in 6 days and is pacing in his tank. I'm not sure if it male or female and tonight I noticed he had laid an "egg" or something in the tank. It is about the size of my thumb and white and he stepped on it and some "goo" came out. He does look a little thinner than usual and I saved the "blob" in a ziplock baggie and but in the refrigerator in case a vet visit is necessary. He his 5 years old, live along in his tank and was a class pet before he came to us. Any advice or guidance you can me would be greatly appreciated.

The Creature Teacher's Response: Thank you for sending the information and the picture. (It was a very wise move to take a photo of it.) From what I can see in the picture, the white blob is indeed an egg. I sent your photo on to a gecko breeder and he said that even if the gecko has not been bred, female geckos can still lay eggs each year. The change in your house temperature stimulated the female to ovulate and produce eggs.

Because the egg has sand stuck to it, I'm assuming that you are using some sort of sand as a substrate in your gecko tank. I do not recommend using sand as geckos can ingest small amounts when they scoop up food and move around which can get impacted in the geckos digestive tract. Try switching to newspaper or reptile pad for bedding. It will be easier to clean as well.

Here are a couple of great web site on Leopard Gecko care: www.leopardgeckoguide.com and www.leopardgeckocare.net.

October 28, 2009

Michael, from Boca Raton writes: Why don't pet stores provideuseful resources for pet owners as a guide to common issues that could arise after making a purchase? By the way, a great resource and FREE information can be obtained from leopardgeckoexperts.com.

The Creature Teacher's response:

You bring up a very good and valid question and I do not know exactly why some pet stores do not give out useful resources when you purchase a pet although I'm sure some might. Maybe you should bring up the idea to your local pet store. Some possible reasons why resources at time of purchase might not be common place are the following:

1) Too time consuming due to the number of species a pet store carries and the number of resources available

2) They assume that if someone has a medical problem with their pet they will call their local or family veterinarian for professional advice

3) With the internet being so commonplace, most folks will "google" a pet problem rather than taking up valuable time with a pet store, animal control, breeder and the like

4) Some pet store like Petco not only have Care Sheets and books available so parents and their children can read up on a particular pet before they purchase a new pet but some pet stores like Petland even have counsulting services where you can visit with a kitten or puppy and obtain "in person" advice before making a purchase.

October 29, 2009

Tammy, Arp, TX writes: My name is Tammy. You did my son's birthday party about 1 1/2 years ago. My husband found this snake in his closet last night...I thought you may know the type of snake it is? Is it a Texas Rat Snake? Any suggestions on how to keep them out of our house?

Need to know how to keep snakes out of your

yard or home?

Snake traps are not a good repellent to keep

snakes out of your yard.

The Creature Teacher's response:

The snake in the your photo looks like a young Texas Rat Snake. They are very common and widespread throughout Texas. This snake is not venomous and most snakes in your yard or home will not cause any property damage. However, for the safety of your pets and small children it is wise to rid your property of all snakes whenever possible.

Here are some suggestions as to rid your yard/house of snakes:

1) Get rid of cover/hiding areas like tall grass, stacked up boards, logs, or anything they can crawl under like under your deck or home's foundation

2) Keep your yard free of shrubs, and brush & your lawn mowed as short as possible at all times.

3) Get rid of the food sources like mice and rats- these rodents go after pet food, birdseed, chicken feed, etc so make sure all these things are stored in garbage cans or plastic containers with tight fitting lids. At night, pick up any pet food bowls that are outside. Keep all sheds, garages and outdoor buildings tidy so rodents cannot nest inside or outside these structures.

4) Seal off all open crevices and cracks leading into your home- doors, basement windows, spaces around water pipes etc. (Expandable spray foam works great for water pipes)

4) Call a professional to come a collect them- like a herpetological club, Daryl Sprout from www.Snakeencounters.com or google "professional wildlife removal" or animal control in your area.

Methods that, in the past, DO NOT work very well:

1) Roping off affected area with hemp rope

2) spreading mothballs

3) Flooding snake dens

4) Spreading gas or diesel around

5) commercial products like "Snake-Away" or snake traps

6) Sulfur powder

I hope these hints and ideas will help you in the future. Please contact me again to let us know of your success or need for more ideas.

ANIMAL ADVICE REQUEST FORM

Name

Email Address

What kind of animal are you asking about?

City of Residence

Question:

The Creature Teacher, LLC 903/451-1904 972/345-8544 Creeturet@aol.com