Vivienne Westwood's First-ever Bridal Couture Showcase. Barcelona, 2o25 .

Rick Owens Fall 2025 Ready-To-Wear

I’m doing some research on Japanese ratsnakes because I’d love to get one someday, but you might get a few questions about them.

So when it comes to keeping snakes in plastic tubs, how should they be secured? Are normal ones that snap into place okay or do they need to be the ones with like handles that keep it shut?

With relativity to humidity, how difficult is it to keep 50% humidity in a glass enclosure?

Is it possible to use a ceramic heat lamp for a plastic enclosure or will it melt it? And how do you keep things like heat mats in there since they have chords that stick out?

Can you make hides out of plastic containers? And if so, should the containers be blacked out/not able to let light through?

How deep can a water dish be? One site said that Japanese ratsnakes like to swim so you can provide a bigger water bowl for them?

One site says “[in the enclosure, keep] Something rough, such as a rock. Rat snakes like to nudge against a rough surface to help them shed their skin.” Agree? Will a rough surface hurt the snake? Also any word on basking areas such as slate rocks?

Very cool, Japanese ratsnakes are a great choice!

You'll need the ones with handles that snap shut. I also recommend getting some tank clips in the right size for additional security.

50% humidity is usually manageable in a glass enclosure, but personally I prefer tubs for anything over 50% because it's just worlds easier, especially when you need to raise it during shedding. Japanese ratsnakes do best with humidity in the 50-60% range.

You can cut a hole in the lid and cover it with mesh to use a ceramic heat emitter safely with a plastic tub. For Japanese rats, though, they do best with a hotspot of 85 Fahrenheit and an ambient in the low 70s, so a heat mat is my preferred choice to keep them cool because they don't raise the ambient temp much. You'll want to keep the heat mat under the tub (NEVER put it inside) and regulate it with a thermostat with a probe inside the enclosure.

You sure can! I prefer black ones to help the snake feel hidden and secure.

Water dishes can be as deep as you like and can provide! Just be aware that your snake will likely defecate in the dish at some point, so don't put anything in that will be too difficult to clean.

A rough surface is standard for every snake to help them shed. You can provide a slate tile for basking, but if you're using a heat mat, the snake is unlikely to use it. I do recommend plenty of climbing branches, though - ratsnakes will definitely use those!

Chinese jade carvings: corn, grapes, cabbage, and bok choy. (cr 簇拥烈日的花)

The thing about parrots is that they will fuck with you for fun. On the outside a parrot is a small flying dinosaur with bolt cutters on its face. On the inside a parrot is a toddler with a GED who you might have unwisely trapped in your house. Humans are usually the most entertaining thing in a parrot's environment (aside from other parrots).

My parrot knows all the words for his favorite foods: peanut, berry, carrot, and noodle are the most frequently requested. I often demonstrate how good he is at naming foods when I have guests over by saying, "Ripley, what is this?" And Ripley, seeing a roasted, unsalted peanut in my hand, will answer, "a peanut." He does this for many foods, multiple times a day, knowing that if he answers correctly I'll give him several of whatever he can name.

I also offer my houseguests a chance to participate, holding a treat about a foot away from Ripley and asking him what it is. Ripley is always very gentle when treats are involved. But for the past few months, when someone he doesn't know attempts this trick with him, he deliberately gets the answer wrong.

"What is this?" my friend asks Ripley as she holds out a peanut. He confidently answers, "a berry." We laugh. "No, what is it!" she tries again. "A berry." She laughs.

I hand her dried cranberry. "What's this?" she asks, holding it up. Without hesitation Ripley answers "a peanut." She holds up the peanut again. "What is it!!" "A berry," he answers. Both my friend and my parrot laugh. Apparently this joke is worth more to my bird than getting the treat.

Ugbad Abdi at the 2025 Met Gala

Finding a colorblind friendly redesign of the rainbow flag has me happy to see a pride flag for once

Yueqi Qi Fall 2025 Ready-To-Wear

in the uk, you need to have lived and worked in the country for 5 years under a work visa to apply for "indefinite leave to remain" (i.e. permanent residency). keir starmer's labour government plans to increase that requirement to 10 years.

indefinite leave to remain is a prerequisite for british citizenship. only citizens are allowed to vote in any election.

if you're in the uk on a work visa and you're fired or laid off, you have 60 days to find a new job with a company that can sponsor your visa. if you can't find a new job, you need to leave the country before your 60 days are up.

if you have to leave the country and come back later on a new work visa, none of the time on your previous work visa counts toward any application for indefinite leave to remain. the clock resets to zero.

so what you have here is a segment of the population who risk deportation if they lose their jobs for any reason--meaning it can be very dangerous to raise issues about their working conditions--and who may end up working and paying taxes in the uk for decades without basic citizens' rights, i.e. the ability to vote and have their interests represented by those who govern them.

and the real kicker is that the government keeps telling us they're going to fix the problem of modern slavery.

Caved and bought myself a whole new bed setup. After spending time in various hotels for work over the summer I realized my mattress is just. Not my friend. And my current setup is a king, which is just way too big.

Did I have the money for this? No! But I'm tired of waking up with so much back pain so. Here we are.

I’m entering my Vetinari era. Going to start saying shit like “Capital!” and “Do not let me detain you.” and “A great rolling sea of evil. Shallower in some places, of course, but deeper, oh, so much deeper in others. But people like you put together little rafts of rules and vaguely good intentions and say, this is the opposite, this will triumph in the end.” Gonna start juggling knives.