Virgil

In my last post, I promised I'd show you the new member of Maranda's zoo... Here he is!
This is Virgil. He is approximately 5 months old, half an inch thick, and about 2 feet long. He is a light grey and slightly pink corn snake. Don't go thinking that I went out and bought a snake, because I didn't. I have come to be Virgil's caretaker through some sad and odd circumstances.
My good friend lives with her parents while she tries to find a job. She also has a... pet problem. She tried to move out once and promptly got a little orange kitten, and only about a week later was forced to move back in with her parents. Her dad is EXTREMELY allergic to cats, so she could not keep the kitten. After he was rehomed and she was at home for a while, she, you know, bought another pet that her parents did not want in the house.
So one day she contacts me and asks, "Will you take care of my snake for me?" Of course I was stoked and totally cool with it. When I asked how long I would be the snake's caretaker, she basically said, "well, until I can move out", or something along those lines. Very vague.
I'm really grateful to take care of Virgil. He's a great little critter, totally cute. But I can't help but feel sorry for him. When I got him, he was in the grubbiest tank in the world. It was dirty and foggy and had worn-out duct tape stains. The old under-tank heater had what felt like sticky soda stains on it and I'm fairly sure it was the culprit of an electrical fire some time in its life. The tank was filled with sand. According to snake enthusiasts, keeping a corn snake in sand is the equivalent of keeping fish in a tank of root beer.
I did some research and changed his tank around.
I work at a major pet store chain, and sadly, I see a lot of irresponsible pet owners. People will come in and see the snakes or lizards and say, "Wow! What a cool animal! I know nothing about it but it's cute so I will buy it." And then they come in two months later and whine about how their pet was "unhealthy" or "sick", when they really were just slowly killing their animal by not doing research and not taking care of their pet properly. I once even got a phone call where someone asked if "we did de-clawing for dogs". Why yes, and while I'm at it, I'll rip out YOUR fingernails, too! Sound ok?
Ok, ok, I'll step off my soapbox.
All in all, Virgil is now in a happy, healthy home. He's a bit jumpy and is easily startled, but he's warming up to me. He also does this very cute thing...

The moss hut* I got for him has a hole in the top, and he uses it as a little peep-hole quite often. It's often too cute for me to handle and many gooshy oogly-goo noises seep out of my mouth.


*Moss hut= half coconut shell + clump of moss. Very difficult, I know.