u/firstacctsnakestuff

You're already saving a ton of money from being pierced in a shop-- you MUST buy properly sterilized needles and tapers from a reputable company. You MUST use titanium or real gold jewelry. Sterilize your environment properly.

Mystery needles from Amazon are not safe. Surgical steel is not implant grade or safe for healing piercings.

Use correct aftercare. Look at APP guidelines and other piercers' advice about anatomy/placement/max piercings per session or area.

I think self piercing is awesome, but it also has the potential to give you a horrible infection that will cost significantly more to treat than a professional piercing would have.

There's a reason why actual professionals never use stainless/surgical steel in piercings, why they don't do 12 tongue piercings in one session, why they have autoclaves and don't reuse needles.

This isn't 1980--you have a wealth of useful info online!! Do test piercings on different materials and _do not reuse the needles_.

Hi all, I adopted a female Western hognose snake about a year ago. From what I was told, she was about 1.5 yrs old when I adopted her, and seemed really small for her age (around 70g). I'm certain that she's a female and at least the age that I was told.

Since then, I've been feeding her weekly with size-appropriate feeders (fuzzies or hoppers around 10-12% of her bodyweight), but she has only gained around 20g in the year I've had her. I think she's growing longer, but not significantly. She's a great eater and has never denied food/been fussy about it. I've only had her shed once and there were no problems there.

Anyway, I'm concerned that her growth may have been potentially stunted before I adopted her. Is there a cutoff, or can she keep getting larger? I'm happy as long as she's healthy, but I would certainly like her to be able to grow!! Looking for any advice or success stories!