Well, that didn't last long

D'Lonna asked a very perceptive question. She asked if we still had Salalzar, or if he had slithered on back to Hogwarts. Well, Salazar has gone back to join his brothers and sisters down by the river!
We all really loved our little pet, (well, loved might be overstating it a bit!) but in the end we were forced to admit that we were not really ready for snake ownership. Mainly because Salazar escaped twice in one day! Once when James was not home, and I had to hunt down the snake and recapture it all on my own! Fortunately it did not get too far. It was still on James' desk- but it had climbed up onto the top of the hutch part and was slithering through the cd racks and misc. toys that have been put up there.
My plan was to get it to wrap itself around a broom handle, and then I could slide it off into a large plastic storage container. But Salazar did me a favor and completely wrapped himself around a large transformer toy. I was able to pick up the toy with the snake attached, and put it into the storage container with out ever touching the snake! Later, Kelsie shamefacedly admitted that she had accidentally torn a hole in the plastic that was covering the top of the Salazar's home.
The second time he escaped, James was home. This time we had him in a large, clear storage container with a snap down lid. The kids had been trying to feed him worms again, and apparently did not snap the lid down tight. We saw him when he was half way out of the box. James waited till the snake was all the way out, and then he grabbed it by the tail and put it back in the box! Salazar was no longer happy with our little arrangement! He wasn't even trying to be sneaky about escaping anymore. He just kept trying to reach his long body all the way to the top of the container, looking everywhere for a hole or crack he could wiggle his way out of!
That's when we decided that we just aren't ready for snake ownership yet. At the very least we need a serious snake cage, and some serious rules about touching the cage!
After sharing our experiences with some of his friends at work, one of James' co-workers said that she would give us the 25 gallon tank that she once used as an iguana home. The kids are very excited about trying this whole pet thing again, but I'm a little trigger shy. That first day of snake ownership wore me out!