General update and future projects

Hello everyone, as usual it's been a very long time! As mentioned in my previous post, lots have changed regarding the animals. Unfortunately, last year (2025) both Luciole and Gustave have passed away, Luciole before Gustave, and in both cases, it was a euthanasia. It honestly happened so quickly, the same morning he was walking around and he hid one ball, and then he was sleeping in his carrier, but then closer to the evening, he just crashed. It wasn't as intense as it was with Oscar, but still! The last picture I took of him was that morning, where he was sleeping peacefully in his favourite pink carrier.

The last photo of him sleeping peacefully

Life was quite different after their passing, I had more time of course, but the condo felt empty yet again. It was pretty difficult for us to adjust, but as everyone says, time heals all wounds, and with time, things got better and we finally moved on! So, what are my current and future plans? Why thanks for asking! Currently, Mélia and I are trying to sell our condo in order to by a house since we're kind of missing space. Especially since I recently rescued a supposed Boa constrictor constrictor which will of course become quite large. I can't say where I got him from since I signed an NDA, which I can now cross that off my bucket list even though it was never on my bucket list. But I can say that his name is Grim, at least I hope it's a male as they are much smaller, and he is 6 months old! He was born in November, and I received him in December! I've done a lot of handling sessions with him already since I don't want him to be aggressive when he's older, nor scared when I handle him. I want him to be comfortable with the handling sessions, especially since sometimes Mélia will be handling him too.

Speaking of Mélia, she of course was not enthusiastic about me getting another snake, especially one that may grow up to 7 or 8ft+ depending on the gender. But, I honestly didn't really care too much this time around since it was his life that was on the line, had I not taken him in, he would have been euthanized for a reason in which I cannot say. Anyways, it took a bit of convincing to get her more open to the idea of me rescuing him, she was for some reason under the impression that I would be keeping him temporarily and that eventually I'd re-home him! Such an absurd thought, me? Re-home Grim? Never! Anyways, fast forward a tiny bit and I think she actually likes Grim and appreciates his presence! She's handled him several times and it went well, he's very docile for a 6 month boa, which is surprising, but very welcomed ahaha.

Also, when I first got him, he was in a small terrarium, but since then, he has been upgraded to a 38 7/8 x 18 3/4 x 19 3/4 (L x W x H) inch enclosure. Of course this is another temporary enclosure, but it will be fine for the time being until he outgrows it several years from now. So, when he does outgrow this temporary enclosure, I'll be moving him into a 6 x 4 x 4 (L x W x H) foot enclosure! Additionally, I do plan on upgrading Monty's enclosure to a 5 x 3 x 2 (L x W x H) foot enclosure or something along those lines since Monty does need a bit more space. But all this is going to have to wait till after we move into the new house. For now, I redid Monty's background since the middle log broke off of the glass and was kind of a safety hazard. For the new background, I carved XPS 30 foam sheets and then I applied Drylock in a sort of grainy fashion to give the background a textured finish and to seal. I also used expanding foam to fill in the gaps, especially where the branch is being placed, and then I Drylocked the foam as well. Finally, I added some silicone and some sphagnum and live moss everywhere to give it more of a naturalistic feel. Additionally, I added a "rock" pillar directly underneath the branch for extra support. I think I did a way better job compared to the first background I did ahaha. I also added a shelf for him to climb on, it gives him more area to explore and also acts as a UVB basking spot!! Lastly, for both Grim and Monty, I decided to get rid of one of the ceramic heat emitters (CHE). Instead, I replaced it with a deep heat projector on the hot hide. I did this because the ceramic emitters nuke the humidity, whereas the DHPs don't! In the future, when I get the larger enclosures, I'll be using radiant heat panels (RHP) to increase the ambient temperatures!

Another update, in terms of new pets, last year I started a 15 gallon aquarium which had 6 Norman lampeye killifish, 3 male guppies, Neocaridina shrimp, and mystery snails. Over time, the lameyes started to reproduce and I got a baby fish (fry) to take care of, but then the water quality started to get too bad and I lost several fish. It was partially because I added 3 Corydora panda catfish despite not really having the space to accommodate them. But because of that, I did upgrade them to a 32 gallon fish tank that I got off Facebook marketplace. I originally had a Fluval hang on back filter that I bought on Marketplace, but it was making way to much noise and it was annoying, so I bought a Seachem tidal 35 with a built in water skimmer. I definitely love the new filter and it does a great job! Since then I've only had one death and it was a Corydora panda and the occasional fry being eaten since I don't remove them, mainly since I don't have another fishtank ready. Additionally, since I upgraded, I decided to finally get more Corydora pandas since they need to be a minimum of 6. So now I have a total of 7 including the original ones and they've been doing really well!

There's too much glare, but this it the most recent picture were I reorganized the placement of the cholla wood and the lava rock it's resting on

Lastly, not too long ago, Mélia started fostering a new ferret who underwent unfortunate care from the previous owners. His name is Saylor and one of his front legs had to, unfortunately, be amputated do to certain circumstances. At first, Mélia said that it was only a foster and that he'd be placed on the ferret rescue list in search of a suitable family to adopt him, but from the beginning, I knew that was not the case! I knew she'd fall in love with him and end up adopting him, which is exactly what happened. So, now we have Saylor, a 3 legged hyperactive ferret that is always excited and full of energy. It's actually funny sometimes since we can just let him out of his enclosure and he'll immediately get excited with a plastic bag on the floor, and then he'll start backing up while shaking his head from side to side all excited. He said that his favourite toy is the small blue and white amazon package that is on the floor somewhere (I interviewed him).

Similar to the situation with Grim, but roles reversed, I wasn't really too keen on keeping another ferret, especially knowing what it'll become in the future, or rather, what it may become! But this time, it was Mélia who didn't really care about what I thought and got him anyways. I can't object in any way, shape, or form considering I got Grim! So, Saylor is, and will of course, remain part of the family! I do find him funny, but also annoying at times since he steals the food from the cats, and he for some reason always pushes one of the water bowls in the bedroom, causing the water to spill all over the place! Like, why?? Why does he do that? Also, for a three-legged ferret, I still don't understand how fast he is! Sometimes, when he steals a piece of food, he'll sprint like his life depended on it, to eat the piece of food under the bed, but the speed at which he moves is impressive!

Anyways, aside from all the above, I started a pet sitting business for reptiles since there is no such thing in my area! There's lots of pet sitters/businesses for cats and dogs, but nothing for reptiles, birds, etc... So, I decided to start one as a sort of side thing. It was also during the time of the lockout from my workplace, so I was quite tight on money. Although, even after creating this business, I made a total of 0$, so in the end, it didn't really help. But it's out there, and I finally have a potential client who asked me to take care of their guinea pig while they're on vacation. So, this is very exciting news for me, and a nice step for my tiny business.

Another side thing I started was a vlog for the stuff I'm doing with my car. I decided that I may as well document the work I'm doing on it as well as the stuff I've already done. For now, I'm keeping it focused towards Instagram and YouTube, both of which are in my linktree --> https://linktr.ee/Arctic_Viper. I decided to use my personal Instagram account due to my current follower count, but for YouTube, it's basically starting from scratch. I don't really expect anything from doing this either, but if it does generate some revenue, then I won't be against that, that's for sure. Especially since car parts are pretty expensive now a days, actually, everything is expensive now a days :/

Anyways, that's it for now, if you read this far then thanks, if not, well you won't see this message anyways huehuehuehuehuehuehuehue! Byee!