My life gets in the way sometimes.

Have you ever felt like everything just gets in the way of the things you really want to do, but can't because of responsibilities? I feel like that right now. Oh, to be irresponsible sometimes! But alas, I can't. I got things I gotta do regardless of what I WANT to do. Well, except now. I AM squeezing in time to write a blog. Mainly it is so people do not think I died, or that I don't care. I do! I do care! Sometimes I simply run out of things to say because nothing all that interesting "writing wise" is going on. So time slips by and then I think, "Shit! I haven't blogged since....?" And then I feel bad. I know there are at least 20 people that read my blog! I like those 20 people :)

So in the interest of saying hello so you don't think I died, HELLO! I'm here. I'm freakin' busy and I might have to step outside and scream, but I am here!

I DID get the MS for TCOL and the 3rd round of edits. This is good! There are basically 3 stages of edits, unless it is really really bad, but then I bet it would have been rejected if my MS needed that much work. Ya know? It WAS rejected several times in fact. It needed loads of work and now I think the product is almost finished and it looks fabulous! I think the galley proof is the next step. I have only to go over the MS one more time before I e-mail it back and then stage 3 is complete. It has been really good. Three sets of professional eyes have caught lots of things. Some very minor but that make a difference to make the final just that much better. And it is, it IS better!

It is amazing to me that a sentence or two for clarification can go as far as they do. The details in this book are so scrutinized. I LOVE IT!!!!! And I seriously hope you do to. When I have a date, I will let you all know. It has to be soon. Probably a couple weeks to do a galley proof. Maybe get a date sometime in July for an August release. My best guess anyway.

Any ideas of how YOU the reader would like to see promo? (You my 20 fans and followers.) What grabs your attention most for a new release? An interview about the book? A review by your favorite reviewer? A shout out by the author? A "give-away" of a signed paperback? What? How can I best serve you?

Snake update: Another one died. I have him to the vet for a necropsy to see if he has the parasite that is highly contagious. If he has it, they all might die which will be extremely depressing. I've had a couple of them for years. We'll see. I get the results later this week sometime.

Writing... Well, in order to be an writer I guess I should be doing some actual writing. LOL. I laugh because that seems like a joke. No time! All I do is drive, drive, drive, go, go, go! I am writing in my head and I hope to put some thoughts to "paper" this week. Book 3 needs to get written, right?

As I said, my life got in the way. I have children. Basically I am a taxi driver. (One that doesn't get paid per mile.) School has been out for 2 1/2 weeks and I am exhausted! The stupid MITES started the downhill slide into exhaustion. That was a LOT of work. And, those mites started the issues with everything else. I think the one that died had an infection from the mites that just hit him hard and he couldn't bounce back. He was fairly young and not strong enough. I am sad, but I'll get over it. If he has the parasite, then I will be more upset mostly for the other snakes. But since School let out, I've been driving kids all over creation! No time to write because they always want something: a drink, food, lunch, a friend over who needs to be picked up. Swimming lessons, gymnastics, soccer, ear infections, chipped teeth, ENT appointments, and dental appointments, blah blah blah... I can hardly keep up and that is only in the last two and a half weeks! Some days I don't think I'll make it. And this doesn't include some other things my children have been dealing with. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my children! LOOOOVE THEM! But they are very tiring at times. How mothers raise children and have day jobs I do not know. It astounds me. My "day job" is supposed to be my writing. But if I had to live on it, we would all starve. hahaha.

Anyway....... Stay tuned. I'll find some time to write. Writing keeps me sane. Writing is my release. Writing is my therapy. Everything else HAS to be done because it is my life of chaos, but it is the life I have. Children take time. And because I love them, I sacrifice my time for theirs.

More books will be written, I promise!

over and out,

Wade

Just one more thing!

I'm writing my thoughts as I am on the verge of a mental breakdown. One of my snakes now has Blister Disease. I can't handle one more thing. The one died last week. My piebald is on antibiotic injections. NOW my pastel has Blisters on it and online it says it can be fatal. I'm just so done. It seems like all of them are going to die. It is very depressing and now I need to go to the vet again. (And I didn't like that vet.) This makes me very upset. I've had this one for almost 2 years. She is my largest one at 793 grams. I hate this.

I'm sorry, but I haven't written anything in ages. I can't think. Although I think ALL THE TIME. I want to write but never have the time. I need to write to help my mental state but I'm too consumed with every other bit of my life. And now these snakes are going to kill me. I know it is ridiculous to say you love a snake, but I love my snakes. No, they aren't fuzzy. But I think they have personality. I think they are each different.

So, I am around. I'm not dead. I'll try to hope online sometimes. But life is just too crappy for me right now.

Wade

So out of it I don't even stalk myself.

I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden half of June is gone. G.O.N.E. gone! WT*? I have written some, yet not nearly enough. My personal goals were lofty and then real life threw in some obstacles. Right now I think I'm depressed. IDK. I just feel blah and I don't feel like doing shit. This is normally what happens when I don't write. Writing frees my mind. Writing energizes. NOT writing gets me down and I've slid WAY down into utter dismal paralyzed emptiness. Oh gosh I HATE this feeling.......

I also haven't stalked my name online to see if anything is going on. Sometimes reviews get posted and I don't even know about them. I Google my books now and them and catch the reviews that aren't on Amazon or Goodreads. Although, Goodreads is annoying me. If you check the stats of When Love is Not Enough, the review and rating tallies have been zero for like forever! I've tried "recalculating" them, but I've given up. Maybe that is a good thing because then I can't obsess over the numbers. I have none right now.

Also, obsessing over numbers that have dwindled to almost nothing, and threaten to run backward into negatives, isn't getting me anywhere. It doesn't motive. It hinders. It also reminds me that I need to write more. It reminds me how very few people have even heard of me. And, the decrees in reviews and ratings reminds me how fast I would disappear all together if I simply stopped writing. Very few people follow my blog. It has few pages views. And now I'm sounding all "whoa is me." (That is shocking. I never sound like that.)

It makes me go back to a blog I posted in the beginning. Remember those months? When I was so excited to be read AT ALL?? Well, I posted on WLINE being a "slow burn" because it was not a book to set the world on fire all at once. When Love is Not Enough is a book that takes time and slowly sucks people in. I still stand by that. I NEED to write another one like Jock. My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! is the kind of lighthearted romance that gets people smiling and sighing and asking the question, "What else has Wade Kelly written?" What have I written? Not much! Not enough!! I am in the beginning stages of a writing career. But, all writers have to start somewhere. Right?

Hang in there. If you are one of the 200 readers (in the world) who actually LOVE my writing style, and can't get enough of my characters, then you have more stories coming your way. I promise. I am simply slow at delivery. Every rock star started out as a nobody, right? Although... I have to say, I am not arrogant enough to presume to be a rock star. That would be TJ Klune. He's talented, prolific, hot, and in the most adorable relationship ever. So yeah, TJ is the rock star! I'm more like the rhythm guitar player for the band warming up on the fringe stage while he's preforming in the center of the world. Jealous much? (Yeah, little bit.)

But on the other hand, if the readers of the world were depending on ME solely, then they'd starve to  death. The fringe band is always there as a side distraction while the main band takes a five minute break between sets. I'm good for at least five minutes.

I don't even know where I was going with all that. I'm just rambling. Again. About nothing. Again.

I haven't heard from Dreamspinner in a week. Presumably they are working on the 3rd and last set of edits before a galley proof if made. I haven't heard about the cover in a long while. I mean, I have it, but they altered the font. So, IDK, I guess things are moving along.

Sales quarter ends then end of June. (Not that that means anything to you. It's just me thinking out loud.) AND I'm probably out of time to publish another book this year. Probably. If book 3 is rejected then I could still self-pub it by December. If it is accepted, then I will then maybe look forward to have two books release next year. Assuming this is the year I WRITE two books in one year! I still have time for the writing part. I am confident enough in that.

Side note: Snakes are improving. Scale rot down to two snakes. No mites. Dog (puppy) is not peeing or pooping in the house anymore. Less work for me there! Chicken pox are going away. So, "life" is settling down, maybe I WILL get to write more often!!!

What else?????? IDK. I guess I was also thinking over the little things that make people popular--other than writing a hit novel. Things "fangirls" (&boys) latch onto and want more of. If I was a rock star I might do interviews. I might a stats listed on my website. The details of my personal life may not bee so hidden in subterfuge. Would knowing more about me help? Would it be more appealing and gain a larger audience? Or is it just a perk to know things about the author, when really you'd read the books regardless? I want to know. I've been guarded on this topic forever. I did a small "interview"of sorts. Do you want more? Do you need more? Or do I wait until The Cost of Loving comes out and then dig a little deeper into my soul? IDK. I still have things to lose but I am no where near being afraid like I was. Really the last thing for me os to confront people I used to know and tell them what I do now. Once the people who hurt me know I'm not afraid anymore, then really I have nothing left to hide. Wouldn't that be nice? Although, I'd still write as Wade Kelly. Pseudonyms were created for a reason and I think my general privacy is important.

Back to the book like Jock... The one about rock star groupies will hopefully turn out funny and lighthearted. We'll see. That is definitely one I need to finish this year!!! The funny ones bump up sales and pique interest from new readers. That are important.

Ciao for now. Catch you on the flip side. Over and out.

Wade

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, June 16, 2013 By  Courtney - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! (Kindle Edition) This book has all the right stuff that everyone should be able to read and re-read. I recommend it to open-minded people

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read, June 3, 2013

By 

Astrid (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! (Kindle Edition)

An absolute fun book to read. I loved just about everything about it, the witty humor was fantastic. Cole and Ellis - I wanted to smack them each a few times... but I adore them. Russell and Rob were hysterical. I'd love to see a sequel on this one.

Living in Chaos

There is a saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Well, I often live in that state. 2010 was the year of hellfire and brimstone, and 2013 is the year of reptile mites, scale rot, basement floods, and chicken pox. And that’s all within a month or so!

As my readers more than likely know, I don’t tend to talk about myself. There have been a number of blog entries that talk about me NOT TALKING. LOL. Blog entries like “Coming Out of My Shell”, “Fully Exposed, but With My Clothes On”, and “Freedom to Be Myself” are examples of the things in my life that have kept me from simply talking about myself. And, as in one blog entry I touch on, talking about myself again to the people IN my life is helping me to feel more free to just be me! I did that yesterday in fact. I was over a friend’s house and we exchanged “stories of our lives” and I think drew closer. She also did not reject me for writing gay romance. She said, “That is so cool that you’re published. I really want to read it!” (“It” referring to one of my books I was telling her about.) I find that the more people I tell in my neighborhood and in my family, and even in my CHURCH, the freer I feel. It is like the binding chains of secrecy are falling off one shackle at a time. I lived so secretive, and may I use the word “closeted”, for so long. YEARS. That kind of hiding is difficult and draining.

Have you ever felt like that? I KNOW there are people who have and do live like that. There are people who keep the “real them” hidden from the world because the world is so freaking unaccepting! But when you hide the real you for fear of rejection, it eats away at self-esteem, pride, and confidence until eventually there is nothing left of your true self at all. You lose yourself.

I got to the point where I didn’t want to lose “ME” and I had to make that choice. I had to expose my secrets to the light of day and to the people who could easily reject everything that meant something to ME. And one at a time, those people are not rejecting me, but accepting me.

(Note: This is NOT a comparison of MY struggles vs. coming out about sexuality. I know that is way more complicated and difficult for some. I am merely talking about MYSELF, and my personal “exposé”.)

I have also said that 2013 would “be my year” in the blog “Weightless in 2013”. I still think that although maybe not in the way I originally desired. I wanted it to be a year I wrote at least two books and published two. I am not sure about the publishing part. YES, I will publish The Cost of loving because that is due to come out in August. (I hope. The date is not confirmed yet.) But in order to publish another one this year I have to FINISH WRITING another one and submit it with enough time for Dreamspinner to process it. Normally that takes about 6 months. With TCOL, I submitted it February 11, contract signed 5 weeks later, and the tentative release of August/September 2013. So really, that is about 7 months with submission. Unless I submit LTLTA soon, I can’t get it published this year. Is that a drag? Yes. And no. If I submit it there is the possibility it would be rejected and then I’d self-publish it. And if it is accepted, then it would just come out early next year. Life doesn’t have to go as I PLAN. I need to just let it happen. To finish writing LTLTA, as well as one other novel, will be huge for me. And I still consider this a goal to attain.

BUT… As my life seems to be sometimes… I live in chaos. My snakes got mites. I wrote about that in another blog. It takes weeks and work to get rid of them. THEN, in the process, my snakes got scale rot. Scale rot is a result of too much humidity. Just like when people take a bath too long you get all pruny, well the snake’s scales look like that. It is also a fungal problem and can get increasingly worse and kill them. My one snake even had blisters. Think of that! A snake with blisters that pop like a pimple. It was nasty! Needless to say, I am working on that issue too and have all but 2 snakes cured. No return of mite that I can see so that’s good too.

As this mite infestation/cleansing goes on my basement had flooded. There was mold remediation where the flood department removed 2 feet of drywall around the walls of my entire basement! Everything was displaced and piled up so we can work on fixing this. Then my husband removed the tub and toilet thinking this the best time to remodel the bathroom. (Yes, I’m married.) Our contractor got gout so he is out of commission right now and the basement is a royal mess. And then, last week, my daughter got the chicken pox! Which then she gave to my other daughter. Luckily my son already had them or he’d be right there with his sisters covered in ichy spots! There is always something in this house. And I told you I got a puppy, right? Yes, the puppy keeps chewing things up and pooping in the house! Puppies!!!!! But he is cute. And he is VERY FLUFFY. (So fluffy I could die!)

I haven’t written anything in weeks. I am so distracted with all the personal crap in my life it isn’t funny. But I am thinking about writing. I come up with scenes and dialogue in my head as I drive everywhere. I will eventually get it out on paper. (Computer.) Will something else get published this year? IDK. But, I don’t think it matters. What matters to me is that I AM writing, and that I am able (more and more) to be myself.

Am I going around soliciting bookstores in my neighborhood to have my stuff and do a book signing? No. Gay lit is still taboo to some. I am branching out and saying that I write gay lit, but I do not tell people my pseudonym any faster than I spout out my real name online. I will get there, but I am not going to threaten the safety of my children. I do NOT want them persecuted because their mom decided to write something that was “unacceptable” to some in the school system or unacceptable to some families and kids they know. I talk to people individually and get a feel for their view points. I have told a few of my kid’s friend’s mothers because it seemed appropriate and one of them really liked reading my books! In this, I think society is changing. People are becoming more and more open to reading books and stories no matter the genre. Will I EVER marry my real name and my pseudonym (Wade Kelly) online so that Googling the real me “Wade Kelly” might come up too? IDK. I don’t think so. There are reasons people write under pennames. Right? Privacy is one huge one.

I am still a tad worried over people in my previous church finding out and causing a big stink. That thought does haunt me. They were very hurtful and the pain lingers. However, people I know NOW are much more forgiving, gracious, and excited to know I’m a writer. Knowing people who accept me for ME helps in the healing process.

Do I fear readers will reject me? Sure. But so far people are awesome. Readers love my writing for the writing. They like the stories. It is about the characters. As it should be. So far, only one reviewer person was angry to find out I was a woman. I can’t help people’s anger and disappointment. I like the name Wade. I picked it because of Wade Wells on a TV show called Sliders. I have even thought of using Wade Wells’ photo as my profile picture for a little bit. I might just do that. (with a disclaimer saying it is not me, haha.) My bio reflects the fact that I am a woman and I have children. My FB page sometimes says “Wade changed HER profile picture”. I’m a “her” online. I try to keep my website up to date. If you want to know something, ask. writerwadekelly@gmail.com  I am becoming more open about myself and my writing than ever before. Someday, I’d LOVE to have a book signing in my hometown! (Wouldn’t that be cool?) For now, I’m Wade. I think it’s a good name. ;)

I have so few followers that it probably doesn’t matter what I write in a blog anyhow. I think one of my blog posts had TWO views. Hahaha. But for the handful of folks who like to hear me rant, this is for you. I stand by my statement, “This is going to be my year!” I am learning to be myself again, and that is huge!

and to requote All Time Low: 

“Manage me, I'm a mess

Turn a page, I'm a book

Half unread

I wanna be laughed at

Laughed with, just because

I wanna feel weightless

And that should be enough...”

...

“Make believe that I impress

That every word

By design

Turns a head

I wanna feel reckless

I wanna live it up, just because

I wanna feel weightless

Cause that would be enough..."

"Maybe it's not my weekend, But it's gonna be my year..."

Ciao for now,

Wade

By all means, follow me on Twitter, "follow" my BLOG, "like" me on Facebook, add me to your "circles" on Google+, check out my pins on Pinterest, review my books on Goodreads; and by all means, check my webpage often for changes.

Check out my books: My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! and When Love is Not Enough. Read, review, or question me about them. If you like what you read, I’d love for you to be a “FAN” of mine on Goodreads.com. Thanks so much!

Reviews of my writing.

Hey.

Not sure if I am allowed to copy/paste an entire review?? If I am not supposed to: Sorry, Jay, I won't so it again.

This review of WHEN LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH went up on Joyfully Jay yesterday!

Rating: 4.75 stars
Buy Links:  Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel
By: Amy

This novel begins with a suicide. It’s a hell of a way to start a book, and I can’t say I wasn’t a little apprehensive about it. I feared the entire novel would follow a course of pain and despair and, while I understood the subject matter means not all will be roses and unicorns, I didn’t think I could handle such an emotional read. What Wade Kelly does, however, is infuse tragedy with hope, pain with healing, and desperation with determination. This is, undoubtedly, a very sad story. But there are lessons to be learned, and there’s an obvious desire to keep others from following this devastating path.

Jimmy Miller is just a regular kid. He’s under a lot of pressure from his mom to get good grades and help around the house, especially since she divorced Jimmy’s dad. Jimmy splits his time between his parents. He has a best friend at home named Matt, who is gay and a bit of a man slut. While visiting his parents, Jimmy meets Darian, and quickly realizes that, not only is he gay, he’s falling in love with this beautiful emo boy.

We know from the first paragraph that Jimmy killed himself and both Matt and Darian are left to deal with the aftermath. As some sort of miracle, they find each other and are able to rely on one another during such a difficult time. Neither Jimmy nor Matt were out, so finding solace from their grief from other sources is difficult. Matt is able to give Darian support and vice versa, and it seems that soon they have more in common than just their love for Jimmy and sadness over his death.

This book is interesting in that Matt finds Jimmy’s journal in the first couple of pages, and so we see this story progress not only from the present day interactions between Darian and Matt, but also through Jimmy’s journal entries and recollections. Of course, we know that the suicide is coming, so you read with trepidation and a bit of dread, but Kelly managed to counterbalance that emotion with the beautiful budding relationship between Darian and Matt. The support that they show to each other is sweet and life-affirming, so it kept me from feeling too miserable about what I knew was eventually going to happen as the plot develops.

I loved all of the characters, though I wish we would’ve been able to be witness to more of Jimmy’s relationship with his mother, however painful that may have been. Because that relationship played such a strong influence in his suicide, I didn’t really feel the build-up as much as I would’ve liked. To me, he seemed like just a kid who was having troubles at home and struggling with his sexuality, but I didn’t feel that despair and loneliness and sense of giving up that I would’ve expected from him.

Besides that, though, I really loved this book. The relationships between both Darian and Matt and Darian and Jimmy (and even Matt and Jimmy) were both loving and adorable but also packed full of chemistry. There’s a joke in the book about how they would’ve made a great threesome and, if I can joke in the midst of this serious subject matter, I completely agree. They all brought out the best in each other, which made it all the more heartbreaking to know Jimmy ends his life before he even has a chance to live.

Toward the very end, Matt gives a speech in church that just cements this novel’s status as a not to be missed read. I find Kelly’s perspective on religion compelling. Matt is Christian and gay and still maintains his devout beliefs, but he’s able to articulate the problems with Christianity — that there are those who simply do not emulate Christ and that, in doing so, they are the ones who are wrong, not those who they persecute under the guise of “saving” them. It’s beautifully written and not at all preachy and focuses on loving your fellow man; I found it to be both powerful and inspiring.

This is not a light read, but it’s one I whole-heartedly recommend. The horrifying reality is people are committing suicide all of the time because they think they have no choice, and this is a moving commentary on the society that inadvertently helps lead them to this decision. It’s heartbreaking, but full of hope. We can hope that Darian and Matt are able to be masters of a different kind of fate — one that is full of love and acceptance and openness. It’s going to be a long, tough road, but they seem up for the task. And there’s a sequel coming soon!

***    I thought this was a great review and captured the feel of what I intended. :)   ***

Also, on Amazon.com, the latest listed review was short but SWEEET!

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadness, Love, Anger, Joy..., May 23, 2013 By  Sean Ebel - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: When Love Is Not Enough (Kindle Edition) I have never read a book that made me feel such intense pain and anger while being seductive. I wanted to hate these characters at times. I fell in love with them more though. Wade Kelly created such a stunning work of art. I truly felt everything the characters felt. I was mad, depressed, joyful, content, scared....everything. I miss Jaime too and he's only a character in this great book. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment

Note; I can not hear enough that I created a "stunning work of art" because, believe me, there are plenty of readers that have the exact polar opposite opinion. (More so with Jock than WLINE, but still....)

I want to say a big THANK YOU to all who love my writing. I will try to deliver the very best. I'm learning as I go so hopefully future novels will be cleaner and contain less exclamation points and/or random and unnecessary punctuation. lol

POLL: What do you readers seek next? (After Matt's story comes out that is.) Funny or serious? I am sort of working on three books at once.

Names Can Never Hurt Me - a serious one about stereotypes and bullying (kind of). Description on website.

Love, Trust, And Learning to Live Again - Bk 3 in my Unconditional Love Trilogy. It is Darian's part of it all. IDK, are you ready for another emotional  rollercoaster right after The Cost of Loving comes out?

And then for the newest idea I have... Road Trip Recipes. Blurb:

Four hot musicians, three crazy friends, two bouts of stomach flu, and one college graduate with zero job prospects screams: Summer road trip!

Avery had no idea what to do with a BA in English, but the degree meant he’d graduated and therefore had something to show for his efforts. With his friends home for the summer, and then each of them looking to start the next phase of their lives in the fall, no one was looking to get a job and waste what little time they had left before becoming “adults”. So when his best friend Becky suggested they take a road trip and follow her favorite band around the country, Avery responded, “Wait… what?”

Blood Money was an up-in-coming pop/rock/Indy/alternative band with a flare for comedy on stage and random cover-songs thrown in for good measure. They thrived on the unique, and Becky ate up their music like crazy. She drove Avery nuts singing in the car, so the last thing he wanted to do was follow the band around the country and attend every concert. That is, until she showed him a half-naked picture of the lead singer, and then Avery changed his mind. Yes, he could endure the music if he could ogle the hot musicians.

All they needed was a car, money, a map of the United States, and tour schedule—no big!

So, comment, message me, whatever; let me know what you are in the mood for FIRST. Remember The Cost of Loving is about MATT.

Being the “golden child” of his family, Matt never dreamed that coming out would challenge his entire understanding of life. 

His fear of wrath and judgment over his sexuality fueled his paranoia for twenty-three years. Matt is a Christian and has known for years where his church stood on homosexuality; so to avoid religious ridicule, Matt chose to live two separate lives, much like his friend Jamie Miller, until outing himself in front of the church congregation when a self-righteous pastor prompted Matt’s impulsive nature to take a stand for his best friend’s honor. 

What Matt didn’t foresee was how his decisions would affect all those around him. His family, his lover, as well as his friends and coworkers, deal with the impact of his public confession, and the aftermath threatens to tear Matt’s once-perfect world apart. Being “out” forces Matt to come to terms with his guilt, his shame, and his very belief in God.


Laterz... WADE :)

BTW, 2 pages views for the "reptile mite" blog. HAHA. I guess no one wants to read about that.

AND, thank you for the total 8400 pages views of my blog over all. :) You guys are great!

Repeating myself: Please, follow me on Twitter, "follow" my BLOG, "like" me on Facebook, add me to your "circles" on Google+, check out my pins on Pinterest, review my books on Goodreads; and by all means, check my webpage often for changes.

Read my books: My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! and When Love is Not Enough. Thanks.

Reptile Mites are NO FUN! (pt 1)

Hello,

I know it’s been a while. I am and have been around, but I have also been overwhelmed and busy. Sorry for the periods of silence. Although, I have to say, if you want to get a hold of me or inquire about my absence, please feel free to message me.  Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or plain old e-mail works fine. (writerwadekelly@gmail.com)

I am going to go off topic today and talk about REPTILE MITES. Yes, I’m an author. Yes, I normally talk about writing. But I am also a fan of reptiles and I own 9 snakes, a turtle, and a Tegu. I have owned lots of pets in my life, and at the moment reptiles are my hobby. I was interested in being a herpetologist at one point, but the schooling was too long and I was not in a position to go to college full time. Anyway, I am in the beginning stages of possibly breading ball pythons. There are loads of very interesting morphs out there, and the prospect of learning about snakes and genetics is interesting. So, I’m giving it a go.

I got two snakes recently and ONE I believe had mites. I have no proof. I have no actual evidence to where the mites came from, BUT the boa is a arabesque Columbian red tail and she is very speckled. Mites are tiny to begin with and even if the boa had one or two, those little suckers multiply quickly. I brought the snake home on April 27^th, and in 4 weeks ALL my snakes had mites. How did I know? Well, I picked one up to feed her,--I do this by placing them in another box. I hardly ever feed them in the habitat they sleep in—and I saw lots of tiny little mites walking over her back. Two or three days that week I noticed several snakes bathing in their water bowls. This was unusual, but it was hot so I didn’t think anything of it. After I saw the mites on my pastel ball python, I knew it was because all the others had mites too. Mites bite. They irritate. And mostly they suck the blood out of the snakes.

Think about a flea infestation in your house if you have dogs or cats. They are terrible. And if they go untreated, they can be very bad news.

I didn’t know what to do so I looked online. I found a few websites. Reptile Mites: The Bane of Herp Lovers, A Better treatment for Reptile Mites, and Getting Rid of Reptile Mites. All of these were informative, but all seem to have a little different approach. I think I looked over like 6 different sites, and my brother even looked up some things too. Getting rid of mites is not easy.

You may note that the title says “part 1” and that is because I COULD very well have another break out in 2-3 weeks, so I will be checking back in if that happens. Basically, this is what I did:

1.     I noticed the problem! One reason I always check my snakes before I go to bed is to make sure they are all in their habitats. SOMETIMES they escape! So handling your snakes is good because you will notice differences in behavior and, in this case, large amounts of tiny bugs crawling on my baby!

2.     I DID NOT PANIC! Going into a panic and removing the snakes and trying to rush to fix the situation doesn’t always help. The mites are there. They aren’t leaving. My snakes were ALSO not at the point of death. They had eaten recently. Most of them were moving around and looking fine except for excessive bathing. Before I went about making a move, I researched the best approach.

3.     I left them alone and went to buy plastic “Tupperware” type containers. I tried to get ones that were size appropriate. They snakes would have to be in them for possibly more than a week. Maybe up to three. I didn’t want them cramped up, but they are also called “ball” pythons for a reason. They ball up. They don’t NEED loads of room. I found ones that had lids that latched on so they could not escape. (If you need pictures, message me or comment.)

4.     I drilled holes in the containers. Like 4 small holes on each side. Enough for air to get in.

5.     THEN, when I had a place to put the snakes, I took them out of their habitats and places them into the bath tub. The first method of eradication was a Betadine solution bath. (GO HERE for the explanation.) I took Betadine that I bought at Walmart and added enough to make the bath water the color of tea. Like brown. Not DARK brown, and not barely brown. MEDIUM TEA brown. I also made sure the water was around 80-85 degrees. Most of the snakes did not mind being in a bath. They mites make then itchy. They like to soak. But if you have loads of snakes then doing them all at once could be overwhelming. You could do one at a time.

6.     I removed the habitats from my house. As soon as the snakes were absent, I figured the mites would start seeking out a food source. I didn’t want them venturing out into my house. I have a lizard. He didn’t need mites too. I actually just took everything outside onto my deck and left it there. My snakes were the priority.

7.     After bathing the snakes, I wiped them down and placed them into the Tupperware containers with a paper towel in the bottom. The white paper towel allows for mites to be seen easier, and it is easy to replace if the snakes defecate. This was good for the night. (NOTE: I gave them a small bowl of water that they dumped every night, which then made them all wet. I am amazed they haven’t grown gills.)

8.     NEXT, I repeated the bathing process the next morning and evening. I don’t know if I was using to weak a solution because the mites were still kicking.

9.     Next day, one more betadine bath. NOTE: I only did the communal bath once. After that one snake at a time was easier.

10. Next day I tried Olive Oil. My brother said he found that online somewhere. I used olive oil on ice before so I figured what the heck! The problem with oil is that it doesn’t allow for snake skin to breathe. It DOES smother the mites, but it can damage their scales. Two snakes of mine lost a few scales, but they also shed pretty regularly so they will be fine eventually. I rubbed the snakes down and waited maybe 5 minutes and then rinsed them off. Not easy to rinse off OIL without dish soap. I did the best I could, dried them, and put them back in their Tupperware containers.

11. NOTE: They snakes were in containers for 7 days. I waited until it did not look like anything was going to start crawling around before putting htem back into the habitats.

12. While the snakes were resting elsewhere I took care of the habitats. I removed ALL the Eco Earth and disposed of it. I washed out the habitats with soapy water as per instructions online. This is the first time I have ever done that! I normally use salt and vinegar on any cage that houses live animals.

13. It has been HOT out so I rinsed the Exo-terra habitats and left them in the sun to dry.

14. I have WOODEN accessories in my cages. Wood needs to be baked or bleached. I tried something new and put my logs and branches into my dishwasher! It is HOT and I used two capfulls of bleach instead of soap. My dishwasher does a rinse then a wash then a rinse, so during the “wash” cycle it added a little bleach. After it was done, I put them all in the hot sun for several days.

15. I also bleached the cages. The snakes were out of them a week. In that week, I washed them with dish soap. Two days later, bleach water, and then soap again. And rinsed thoroughly and let dry in the hot sun. It was like 1000 degrees outside so that helped a lot!

16. Then, the wood “snake caves” went into the oven. Baked at 245 degrees for 3 hours. (As per a website suggested.)

17. The snakes were put into betadine bathes several times this week. Then the olive oil to smoother mites. Then betadine again before I placed them BACK into their habitats again Saturday night. I did not replace the Eco-Earth for fear that the mites would return within 2-3 weeks. I gave water bowls ontop of papertowels.

I will update IF the stupid little buggers return.

For the readers who are not “herpers” so sorry to drift away from my normal topics. My writing was slowed due to my pets needs. Plus, I bought a dog! Lots going on.

I have a review coming up on Joyfully Jay and I will post it soon, probably today. As well as some others from Amazon. All on When Love Is Not Enough because  the sequel comes out soon. Keep watch! Lots coming your way!

Wade Kelly

xoxoox