Members' Hobby Section

Post by **NafemanNathan** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:03 pm

nitin_s1 wrote:I like cooking and try different recipes. Does that count as a hobby.

Of course it does!

nitin_s1 · Post by **nitin_s1** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:13 pm

'92 Si VTEC · Post by **jjmartin349571** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:29 pm

nitin_s1 wrote:I used to have a huge Aquarium with Tropical fishes in there as a hobby then found out that money is better spent on my car instead.

I keep fish too

This was just before I moved, all the plants died after the house move

tbh I don't find it too expensive a hobby, I bought the tank and equipment from eBay for all of £160, and fish are about £2-5 each

once it's up and running you can just leave them to it, the only expense is food.

I mainly buy catfish, my girlfriend picked the colourful stuff living in there. This fella is the pride of the tank, he's about a foot long now

nitin_s1 · Post by **nitin_s1** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:34 pm

I first started with basic fishes like Platys etc. Then it just went from there and ended up spending more then £1000 in total in two years. I had a nice Pleco like the one in your photo. I bought it from the shop when it was a baby (2.5cm) and it grew to become a 30cm.

Was lovely.

I miss having a nice aquarium in the house but don't miss the cleaning side of it.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:06 pm

done fresh water, tropical and marine coral on the fishies. lost all my pics in a harddrive slaughter though so it didnt happen

I like to prep for TEOTWAWKI and I have a 1/8 scale nitro race buggy which I'v hopped up a bit.

I also like lighting fires.

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:14 pm

Not sure if its really a hobby, but I keep snakes. Currently got a golden burmese python, 2 royal pythons, 5 corn snakes and a western hognose. On my look out for a pair of russian ratsnakes as well, but doesnt seem to be many of them about.
Apart from that its watching cricket, football & rugby - all with a generous dose of beer, of course!

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:32 pm

my cats would constitute a hobby. and the snakes i suppose. we just bred a load of corn's.

@andy pont: do you know good ways to get baby corns to feed? tried warming them up, braining and popping them in a quiet private place but only two have eaten out of 8 so far. little buggers...

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:33 pm

@jj: thats a lovely plec.

Post by **Donald** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:53 pm

Okay if I'm serious about this, I like nerd stuff. My hobbies are pretty much non-practical things. Suppose you could group it all into just reading jobby

Mainly linguistics/etymology, then I get to use semantically equivalent words instead of smaller ones that are more direct in meaning

. Science is brilliant, especially the theoretical stuff as well as miniature stuff like histology and pathology.

I collect images too, mainly digital format as it's much easier. For example I have lots pictures of satellites/space stations, WW2 photographs, lots of microscope pictures mainly just the optical type although I do have some AFM images of pentacene molecules (absolutely miniscule, we're talking small enough to see where carbon atoms form pentagram structures and their hydrogen bonds), and of course some of the ladies

Not sure if collecting that sort of stuff constitutes a hobby though

@LLL I know I'm not Mr. andypont but sounds like you're doing all the right things to me. Try actually just giving them the head and half of the torso, bin the tail and back legs, you probably already know but don't just give that rear half to another otherwise it starts a bad and awkward habit

. Anyway, it's gruesome but the extra smells and the smaller portion may encourage them a bit. I used to always feed mine by hand but college we have to use forceps, I find the boas can be very picky but if you annoy them a bit with the mouse in the forceps they will go for it. I know corns are normally quite docile but it might be worth a punt?

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 7:02 pm

lewd lude lover wrote: @andy pont: do you know good ways to get baby corns to feed? tried warming them up, braining and popping them in a quiet private place but only two have eaten out of 8 so far. little buggers...

I have never had good results with braining, though others have found it the way to go, as soon as any snake wont feed. Sometimes it's better to just cut the mouse in half. Its common for any snake to like small prey.
I find that tease feeding generally works. Though not always straight away, and sometimes it has to be done quite aggressively. Gently tap the snake on the nose with the pinkie. They usually back away but if followed and hassled they will often strike - almost out of frustration.
Mostly once they do feed they will do so regularly without missing too many meals. You say you tried a quiet place. Was that by just making sure they are undisturbed, or did you temporarily rehome them?

Moving them into a very small / dark environment sometimes works. With a larger snake a pillowcase can be used. Put the snake in there with the prey and leave it overnight. With baby corns being so small, I have done similar by using something like a yoghurt pot.
A more extreme way, which I consider a last resort, is to force feed. Hold the snake in one hand with thumb and fore finger either side of the jaw. A gentle squeeze will get the mouth to open so that a pinkie can be forced in using the other hand.
Its not very pleasant to do, and probably not nice for the snake, but can be effective and save a life. Worst case the mouse may not be swallowed, or can be regurgitated, but often the snake will start swallowing before the pinkie is fully into it's mouth.
How old are the babies, and how many meals have they been offered / refused? It seems quite late in the year to have young, but I guess they are recent?
I wouldnt say I am an expert. but on the couple of occasions I have wintered a pair of corns, to breed, I have had fairly good results with 15 out of 16 surviving on the most recent occasion

Sorry for going on, but there's no one simple answer.