Viper Boas are a wonderful species of snake to look at. They are very robust, with tough keeled scales and an arrow like head. They are usually a fairly dull brown, although can be a wonderful bright red or orange. They do however, change colour with seasons, temperature and perhaps mood changes. I have had wonderful orangey specimens turn a dark brown with time. Nearly all Viper Boas are wild caught, in fact, I have not heard of any successful breeder who has bred and reared these. Gravid (pregnant) females are often imported and have their young in captivity. However, most of these die within 6 months for little or no apparent reason. In time, we can hopefully learn more about this species and successfully reproduce it in captivity. Viper Boas are fairly calm snakes, but when handled incorrectly can swipe from side to side with lighting speed. Although they are non-venomous, they have quite a nasty bite. Adult females can reach 80cm; males are less than half the size.

Housing

When keeping any snake as a pet, you generally want to be able to view the snake from the outside of its enclosure, in the most natural surroundings you can offer. This will be more aesthetically pleasing and also aid in the general condition of the snake. If the snake likes its surroundings, it will have a better feeding response and generally grow quicker. A larger vivarium also offers more interest to the snakes life, and by adding branches and other natural products you will enhance the quality of life the snake has, and stop it from becoming lethargic and overweight. Also, being stronger it should have more of a resistance to any viral infections or any other problems that it may encounter later in life.

For an adult Viper Boa, a vivarium 60cm Length x 45cm Width x 45cm Height is ample. This is a timid species; many specimens when bought into captivity can go for many months without feeding. It is important that this transitional period is as stress-free as possible. A small, confined enclosure with no added lighting, away from human traffic may be needed. Once the boa is feeding on a regular basis, a larger vivarium with lighting may be offered.

Snake enclosures can be made from a number of materials. Most commonly used is a melamine coated wood which covers all sides except the front, which has glass sliding doors. Aquariums can also be used for Viper Boas, although a specialist lid should be bought or made rather than the original aquarium lid. It is essential when thinking about what type of enclosure you use, you think about these 6 SSSHHH factors:

1) Safety Can the snake or owner injure itself from the enclosure or any appliances held within?
2) Secure Can the snake escape through any small hole or cavity?
3) Size Will the enclosure be appropriately sized?
4) Heating Is the enclosure able to regulate the temperature properly?
5) Humidity Will the enclosure last well in humid conditions? Is there enough ventilation for the moisture to escape?
6) Hygienic Will the enclosure build up a lot of bacteria in small cavities? Is it easy to clean?

By following the steps above, you can have a suitable enclosure made from a variety of materials.

Dcor

Dcor in your tank serves two purposes. First being extra cover for your snake and second, allowing for a more natural and pleasing appearance. When choosing dcor, think about the safety of the snake. Make sure that whatever you decide to use, it is securely fixed and that no rocks, wood or anything heavy can fall and possibly injure, or even kill the snake. You must also make sure that everything used is parasite free. If anything has been picked up from outside, or has originally come from outside, such as cork bark, you should either boil it, or place the item in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. Freezing works for some parasites, however others have been known to survive months in freezing conditions. Some parasites found in English conditions last winters in minus temperatures, so it is not entirely effective.

Once all your dcor is parasite free, it is then safe to place inside your enclosure. As a general rule, if you can put pressure on an item to knock it down, a Viper Boa is certainly capable of doing so. When positioning rocks or heavy objects, make sure they are completely secure. If it is still uneasy, screw them or use superglue to fix them securely. If it is not possible, the rule is simple: Do not place the item in the vivarium!

If you decide to go for a larger enclosure, you must provide plenty of cover and hiding areas. A hiding place can be anything from a tupperware box with a hole cut out to a naturalistic piece of cork bark. There are many brands of fake plants and dcor you can use which is both safe for the animal and pleasing to the eye. Cork bark is available from almost any reptile pet shop in the UK, and can be ordered in if they do not have it in stock. This is excellent cover for any reptile and is 100% natural. One thing you must consider when thinking about the size of the vivarium, is the bigger you go, the more hiding areas you must provide. I recommend at least one hiding place per foot in length of the enclosure.

NOTE: Never use sticky tape in an enclosure; this is an accident waiting to happen. Believe me; removing sticky tape from any snake is no easy task!

Heating

Viper Boas are found on dense forest floors and are exposed to a fairly constant air temperature. They do not bask in the sun and so it is not as important to provide them with a dedicated hot spot. Instead, having a fairly constant air temperature of 85-90F during the day and 80-85F during the night is fine. A large water bowl should be offered for the snake to fully submerge if required. If your viper boa does this constantly, the vivarium is most probably too hot and should be cooled down slightly.

In my opinion, the ideal way of heating a Viper Boas enclosure is to use a power plate. This is a small thin square plate, about 25mm thick which is screwed into the top of the vivarium. It does not need to be protected, as there is no way a snake can grip onto it. It is almost invisible to the eye as it simply sits on the ceiling of the vivarium. The only brand available in the UK is HabiStat Reptile Radiator; it is 75 Watts and is sufficient for any vivarium up to 4ft long and possibly larger. It produces no light and therefore in a vivarium you will need a form of lighting as well. A power plate should be used in conjunction with a HabiStat Pulse Proportional Thermostat, which will stop the power reaching the power plate as soon as the temperature goes above the setting, and turn back on as soon as it is too cool. This is one of the most accurate thermostats on the market today.

Ceramic heaters, spot bulbs and heat mats are also ways of heating a vivarium. These all have their advantages and disadvantages, but in my opinion, none quite weigh out to be as good as a power plate.

Lighting

Viper Boas are primarily nocturnal, meaning they venture out in the dark of night. This is when their main predators are sleeping, and their prey is awake. Lighting for this species is not important. However, having artificial light in a vivarium is aesthetically pleasing to the owner, and is a good addition to a snakes enclosure. They will use this as a photo-period, and their regular time clock will generally adjust to the settings on which you have your light set to.

They do not require any form of special lighting, such as a D3 Ultra-Violet light commonly used for diurnal species. An Arcadia Natural Sunlight Fluorescent Lamp is a good form of lighting. This comes in lengths of 12 up to 48 and I suggest you use the largest size able to fit inside your vivarium.

Humidity

Viper Boas occur over much of New Guinea and surrounding Islands and therefore are exposed to a high humidity. This should be replicated in captivity to aid to the general health and well-being of your snake. A 80-90% humidity range will allow to snake to slough its skin properly and become less prone to any problems such as respiratory infections.

Feeding

Juveniles or males should be offered fuzzy or small mice, and as they grow the mice or rats should become larger. An adult female viper boa should be fed on weaner rats. One of these every 2 weeks is ample. An adult male may take fuzzy rats or large mice. Juveniles should be fed on a regular basis, every 7 days is ideal. Their metabolic rate is higher than adults and as they are growing, they need a lot more food to keep them going. Viper Boas have a low metabolism compared to many snakes, they move very little and do not require the same quantity of food that many other species do. Snakes have the capability of building up a huge fat reserve, and become obese very easily. Taking the weight off however, is a much more difficult task. Obese snakes will not live nearly the length as a healthy snake would due to liver and kidney problems. If you are unsure about your snakes weight, check with a reptile veterinarian.

By Chris Jones
Director of Pet Club UK Ltd.
http://www.petclubuk.com

¶ 9:20 PM 0 comments

Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume. The plant is an annual, climbing shrub with long vines. Mucuna pruriens seed powder contains high concentrations of levodopa, a precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine and has long been used in traditional Indian medicine for diseases including parkinsonism. Another benefit of Mucuna is that it can increase the production of human growth hormone.

As it's name is telling us human growth hormone helps body to grow, it helps build muscles and increase streght. Taking synthetic HGH is very expesive at this moment. Many scientific researches are made to prove role of HGH. Some researches show that it helps people to become younger.

Nutritional analysis reveals mucuna pruriens contains crude protein ranged from 20-29 %, crude lipid 6-7%, total dietary fiber 8-10%, ash 3% and carbohydrates 50-60%. Several other compounds are found, including alkaloids.

Human growth hormone (hgh) or somatotropin (STH) is a protein hormone which stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans and other animals. It is a 191-amino acid, single chain polypeptide hormone which is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior pituitary gland.

This article describes growth hormone physiology, with brief mentions of the diseases of GH deficiency, GH excess (acromegaly and pituitary gigantism), as well as GH treatment. For information on a common growth hormone sometimes given to cows, see bovine somatotropin.Hgh is produces by pituitary gland it is located in the center of the brain.Effects of growth hormone on the tissues of the body can generally be described as anabolic (building up). Like most other protein hormones GH acts by interacting with a specific receptor on the surface of cells.

Height growth in childhood is the best known effect of GH action, and appears to be stimulated by at least two mechanisms.

1. GH directly stimulates division and multiplication of chondrocytes of cartilage. These are the primary cells in the growing ends (epiphyses) of children's long bones (arms, legs, digits).

2. GH also stimulates production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1, formerly known as somatomedin C), a hormone homologous to proinsulin.

The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea that sits in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold the base of the brain. The pituitary fossa, in which the pituitary gland sits, is situated in the sphenoid bone in the middle cranial fossa at the base of the brain.

¶ 2:50 PM 0 comments

How should we learn? How can we learn in the most efficient way?

We do not want to spend a lot of time to understand the new science topic, but we finally want to understand it.

One of the most difficult science fields is physics. Many students are afraid of physics, they read physics books, but they do not understand them.

Some students can solve simple physics problems, but they cannot solve the more difficult ones. What should they do?

There is a special method how to improve the problem solving skill. This method is called method of questions.

The idea of this method is the following.

To understand physics we need to solve as many problems as possible. Each additional problem gives us some additional understanding of the basic concepts.

Therefore we need to solve a lot of problems. Of cause, some of them are difficult and we cannot solve them.

In this case we need to start from the problem we can solve. It can be a simple problem or a complicated one. It does not matter.

The most important is that we can solve this problem and we understand how to solve it.

Then we modify the problem and we ask the questions. It means that we apply the method of questions.

Since we know how to solve the original problem then we can solve the modified problems.

In such way we can solve many problems for the shortest amount of time.

The application of the method of question can save a lot of time in your physics learning process.

You can find more information about the method of questions and other approaches to physics learning at the website: http://www.solvephysics.com

¶ 8:24 AM 0 comments

Tayne Ruddock shares his adventures from South America: The Pampas area I visited consists mostly of wetlands with a main river and its tributaries winding through it. The vegetation varies from grasslands dotted with trees to dense stands of reeds to pockets of forested areas. The river courses are lined with trees, some of them standing well into the river. In some places, sheltered from the main current, the river surface is covered in an assortment of water plants. Its an incredibly beautiful area and it supports an abundance of animals.

There were 7 of us in my group plus our guide, and we spent 3 days in the Pampas. Even with the extreme heat and humidity, the dust, and the blasted mosquitoes, we had an incredible time. Our guide was great, our camp was in the trees right on the river, and we filled our days with activities like cruising up and down the river on our canoe, tromping through swampy reed beds, having sundowners at the nearby river-bar (standing on stilts in the river shallows), playing football on the mini-pampas soccer field (where I mustve sweated out at least my own body weight), and going on night cruises under the stars. I could go on and on about the variety of wildlife we saw: mammals, reptiles, birds (hundreds of species of), amphibians, insects etc, etc. But there was one animal which I was able to interact with and this is something I will never forget.

The pink river dolphin is a strange animal. For starters, its pink! Its dorsal and pectoral fins are tiny and its spine is particularly flexible. It has evolved this way for more manoeuvrability in amongst the aquatic vegetation and tree trunks standing in the river. As the water is very murky, it navigates solely by sonar. It's head curves down sharply to its snout which is long and thin - almost beak like. They are pretty big, maybe 2 to 2,5m long.

As we traveled down the river in our canoe, we could occasionally see their pink backs rising out of the water as they surfaced for air. Their blow holes opened and we could clearly hear the sharp exhale and intake of breath.

On one of the days we went to a wide part of the river where some areas were sheltered from the main current by stands of vegetation growing in the water - an area favoured by the dolphins.

Here we had an opportunity to swim with them. I was very keen on this idea and was in the water very soon after we stopped. I swam towards an area where I could see many of them rising. It was damn scary, considering I was sharing the water with caiman (alligator type reptiles), piranhas, and anacondas, whilst also having minor concerns about certain micro-organisms swimming up my urethra.

Also, the water was so full of silt, it was coffee colour. I couldnt see my hand 10cm under the water. In these circumstances try to imagine the shock and adrenaline surge running through my body when a dolphin came up and bit my foot!!!!!!!!! DAMN!!! I've never had such a fright before. It took all my will power not to frantically propeller my arms and speed-swim back to the boat and jump back on. But I gathered my balls and swam further out.

Another one took a playful nibble at my ankle. It was still nerve-wracking, because I never knew when to expect them and where they were coming from. I got used to it though and they started rising up next to me, sometimes brushing past me. I cant find the words to say how awestruck I was. They were playful and mischievous and would sometimes frighten the crap out of me with synchronized movements. At one point, 3 came past me at the same time, 2 past my head, splashing me in the face with their tail fins at the same time, while the other one swam under me, brushing my foot with its dorsal fin. One came by and gave me a soft slap in the ear with its tail fin. It was unbelievable!

I stayed and swam with them as long as I could. I went back to the camp very happy.

MensLifestyle is a site for men who are looking to live a lifestyle of health, wealth and adventure. The idea is to bring together the tips, tools and products that will help you make more money, live healthier and enjoy your life that much more.

¶ 7:50 AM 0 comments

Some middle school students get excited when it is time to do a science fair project. Others tremble in fear at the thought of the work and time it takes to do such an experiment. By the time a child reaches middle school, the subjects are more complex and involved than they were in elementary school. Here are some ideas and tips for middle school science projects that should help even the most uninterested student take notice.

The first step to doing a middle school science project is to pick a subject that interests the student. It is a lot easier to complete a project when it is fun and exciting. Many students may have a hobby and they don't even realize that there may be a method behind what they love. For instance, if your child is into working on jigsaw puzzles, explain to them that they can do a science project on "Brain Power." This relates to psychology, which is science of the mind or mental processes. The topic of psychology opens a world of ideas and presentations that a student can do a project on. They can pick the broad topic of psychology, or pinpoint their project to human behavior or how the brain functions.

The next step in working on a middle school science project involves research. The student must gather data and cite sources for their research. Great places to utilize for this task include using the Internet, encyclopedias, magazines, and specific books on their topic. Data is extremely important to a science project because it helps to prove or disprove a theory, and it helps people understand why things happen the way they do. A student must also be prepared to write a short report about their findings on their project.

Another reason that research is so important to a science project is that there is a good chance people are going to ask questions about the project. This part of a presentation can make some students freeze in their tracks, but it doesn't have to be that way. Thorough research and understanding of what you read will make this part of the project easier. A student should act relaxed and natural when they are discussing their projects with others, and being prepared ahead of time will help relieve any sense of anxiety.

Conducting an experiment is the best part of a middle school science project. This is where the student gets down and dirty, and conducts a physical action that backs up their data and report. It is important that the student have all of the necessary materials to do the experiment accurately. It is no fun to show off your hard work and not have your experiment work right. The student should also document each step of the experiment on paper in a way that someone else could read their notes and do the experiment the exact same way.

Finally, a student should present their experiment with an interesting and eye-catching display. It should attract onlookers to come and see what is going at your exhibit. Consider having handouts that people can take with them, present your display with colors and clipart, and, if possible, wear a uniform that helps portray what type of scientist would study the field based around your project. In other words, be creative.

As you can see, a middle school science project can be fun and rewarding. It takes effort. It takes time. But, the finished project is something that students can be proud of.

Jordan Matthews is a High School Math and Science teacher who has worked as a judge and a coordinator of many science fairs. Check his Science Fair Project ideas website for some more ideas and information about conducting high-quality science fair projects.

¶ 1:29 AM 0 comments