SUBANG JAYA: In the “Harry Potter” sequence, wandmaker Garrick Ollivander believes “the wand chooses the wizard”. In some ways, as some pet house owners might attest that the animal chooses its human.
This was the case with 27-year-old Ray Wong Zhen Jie when she first laid eyes on Lucifer (Luci), her pet corn snake, at an unique animal expo two years in the past.
“Normally, snakes are curled up in a small doughnut shape in the containers. But Luci was propped up, staring at me. And when I held her, she decided to slither towards me instead of away from me. I just fell in love with her,” Wong mentioned.
Wong, whose pals have nicknamed “Snake Mom”, was at a breaking level between her job and research and wanted a companion to get her by way of the irritating interval. And snakes had been the reply.
“I was looking for a pet companion that does not require too much commitment. Snakes don’t make any noise, are not smelly and you only feed them once a week,” Wong shared.
“The snakes ground me back in reality. I can just step away from work or studies for a while and look at my little cute babies. It’s relaxing to just watch them do their own thing,” Wong, who additionally retains a frog and two tarantulas, added.
Besides Luci, Wong retains two different snakes, Jormungandr or Yomi, a male western hognose, and Tarja or Tay, a feminine corn snake. They even have an Instagram account referred to as House Of Oyen, referring to their orange colouration.
When requested about her serpents’ distinctive and Nordic names, Wong shared it was extra of a joke than anything.
“When I first received Lucifer, she was purple in color. And I believed, purple snake equals Lucifer. Also, the identify sounds scary however Luci is the cutest snake on the planet!
“As for Jormungandr , it is the World Serpent in Norse mythology and is supposed to be very huge and thick. But Yomi is the smallest snake I own! And Tarja was named by my boyfriend after a character from the Final Fantasy game he was playing,” Wong mentioned.
She mentioned her scaly children are additionally distinctive of their personalities. Luci is a social butterfly and loves to hang around in folks’s hair, of all locations.
“She likes being up where she can look at everyone and she’ll stay in your hair for very long. And when I clean her tank, she just hangs around my neck and watches me,” Wong mentioned.
Yomi, in contrast to Luci, has a brief social battery. Noticing this, Wong carries a crocheted pouch for Yomi to slither into and conceal when he’s had sufficient human interplay. This is especially when she brings her snakes to hobbyist gatherings.
Tay, then again, is an explorer.
“Even when you’re holding her, she’ll just travel all over you or go into your t-shirts. And she’s excessively hungry. You can just keep feeding her. She will not stop eating!” Wong laughed. Her snakes eat mice, frogs and quail eggs.
For Wong, giving her snakes a little bit of train and enrichment actions is vital.
“I do have a pet tent that I set up to have my snakes move around. I put an obstacle course using tissue tubes and egg cartons and let them explore by themselves,” Wong mentioned.
But the query nonetheless stays: can cold-blooded animals like snakes be as affectionate as warm-blooded ones?
“It’s a different kind of bond. It’s more of a trust bond compared to an affection bond as smaller reptiles like snakes tend to be skittish around larger creatures like us,” Wong defined.
In the long run, Wong hopes to coach hobbyists about correct snake protecting practices.
“A lot of the pet stores here would just as easily sell you a snake in a very small container and say the snake would be fine. But snakes do deserve better, a more comfortable space to live in because they’re going to be there for the majority of the time,” Wong identified.
She additionally plans to increase her serpent assortment with a Blue Eyed Leucistic Ball Python, a white python with icy blue eyes.
“I’m on the waiting list for this one!” she mentioned, excitedly.
This article was written by Dinesh Kumar Maganathan@FMT Lifestyle. Read extra pet tales right here.
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