between Asia and Melanie a carefully and gently inserted screwdriver into the gap between the snake ’ s jaw and Asia ’ s arm alerted Rajah that Asia was not a meal , and the snake released . It was up to Tasneem and I to move forward and continue our weapon dance to bring attention away from that procedure . The producer was very impressed we did not stop the performance ; we explained dress rehearsal is the time to determine “ what do you do if ”. Of course Rajah was carefully fed the proper time in advance for a flawless performance .
With Asia ’ s love and knowledge of snakes and reptiles , she expanded her collection of pets to ten snakes , seven lizards , and Bob the Red Footed tortoise . For the past thirty years she ’ s offered an educational program about these reptiles of the rainforest and desert to schools , libraries , and lucky birthday children as “ the Lizard Lady ,” donating a percentage of each show to the Rainforest Action Network . The snakes are very popular in the shows . She also does photoshoots and music videos with the snakes . Her insight and information is priceless . To close this article , I asked her to share some of that important knowledge with us .
I asked Asia to give more insight to feeding . She started by telling a story about her very first snake . “ Shesha was a Mexican Rock Boa ; you do not see these snakes in the reptiles trade anymore , they are just too mean ! She was about five feet . She was a bad ass snake , would bite you every chance she had . Back in 1972 when you bought a snake the rule of thumb was to feed your snake once a month , so now I realize she was hungry and angry : hangry . Once I started feeding her mice twice a month this improved her temperament a bit . She was still a naughty snake . Once during a performance she gave me my first bite ; this was in an Angel ’ s Camp [ California ] Cowboy Bar , during a late afternoon belly dance show . I brought her to perform , one of the first times I danced with her . She bit my arm , resulting in big blood ! A patron quickly poured whiskey on us which was the right thing to do ; snakes don ’ t like whiskey so she released , plus it sterilized the wound .”
“ During the winter months a snake ’ s metabolism slows down , so we feed every ten days in the winter , and every seven days in the summer . Always be cautious about their food : go to a proper pet food dealer . There are even frozen rats on Amazon , although some snakes don ’ t want to eat something cold and dead . A concern with live rats is if the rat bites or scratches the snake . [ When feeding ] we use a big plastic storage container , large enough that the snake can stretch out , and we put the top on . The snake has room to strike out and capture the prey , and if they miss they hit a solid wall of plastic , not wire or glass , so they don ’ t catch their fangs or hurt themselves . We do not feed the snakes inside their habitat , so they don ’ t associate opening the cage with food . When opening the cage , first gently touch with a stick , then lift the snake out . This is a training technique : the snake knows that with the touch of a stick , they are going to be lifted out . Then they relax and let you reach under to lift them .”
“ The number one thing you need to know is where your snake is from ; you want to try to recreate that kind of climate and temperature range for your snake ’ s housing . Cage size really depends on the size of the snake . I have always had my large snakes in wire cages because my husband built them ; they have great natural light and air . The rest of them are in glass tanks . It ’ s best to buy a good sized tank so you
42 The Belly Dance Chronicles � September 2022