So glad that Hissy has found a good temporary home. I've always loved snakes and have had them as pets since I was a child. Later, when I was in grad school and living in an apartment just off campus, my much younger brother brought a rat snake home from scout camp. Unfortunately, my father, who was terrified of snakes, announced that either the snake went or he would go, so naturally I took him off my brother's hands and installed him in a nice herpetarium in my apartment (at which point I discovered just who my friends were and weren't!) Kaa (as I named him, from Kipling of course) stayed with me until I had to move to another location, at which point I found a new home for him.I would love to have a snake pet again, but now I'm in a New York City apartment and haven't the room it would need. I'm hoping that Hissy will find a wonderful new home. Thanks to you for being so kind in rescuing him even though you weren't familiar with snakes!

I suspect the plant you have was not root pruned, but rather root "rotted", due to the poor soil. Peat based soil, which is so very common, is usually a death sentence for most any plant, especially jades. With that said, if you opt to use peat based soil as a base for your new soil, you are asking for trouble at some point, even if you amend it. Organic ingredients like peat moss decompose into smaller and smaller particles, eventually turning into silt, which will just fill in the space between the larger particles, clogging it up. So, all I can recommend on that is to make the effort to get your jade(s) into a gritty mix, because I won't point someone in the direction of an inferior soil, but if you choose to do it, just be aware of the possible consequences. As for pruning, without a picture it's hard to advise on what to cut, and each person has their own idea of what they want their jades to look like. I like to create trees out of mine, very much like bonsai. Be mindful of the tendency to be top heavy, and prune out any branches, or thin out the leaves, to prevent breaking of important stems or trunks. For support, I left a description of that in the other post that you asked me that, but in short, I use solid electrical wire to more or less tie it to the pot. Also, pay mind to the type of pot you use; I like to use pots that are heavy and wide based, to provide balance and tip over protection. Nothing is worse than coming home to find your jade(s) tipped over and the potting mix dumped out because of a wind gust. For cuttings, let the wound dry a bit and form a callus. I place the cutting into some gritty mix in a smaller pot, and support it with wires as I would a repotted jade. The wires typically stay for a year, or until solidly rooted. I have used little clear plastic containers, so I can see the root development. With the gritty mx, the worries of rot are very low, so you can water when the mix goes dry. Hopefully that addresses some of your questions, and guides you in the right direction. Joe

Thanks to all of those who responded to my query in helping me identify it. Like I mentioned in the email (thanks wduzak for your support) I do NOT hate snakes but I am very uncomfortable around it). The glue boards are for catching any thing that tries to come into the garage. I have a young one who is on the verge of running. I live near a green belt where there is construction going on and I am almos sure of seeing more of these. This is the fifth one caught. I have seen a rattlesnake as well. If anyone of you is around austin and would be able to rescue snake which gets caught on a glue board i would gladly give it to you'll. But I hate to say this but the glue boards are staying where they are and I cannot compromise on that. Thanks once again for you help. The snake did look pretty though.

Thank you! Hopefully the snake didn't have any deep puncture wounds from the cat's fangs and will make a full recovery. This is why I loathe free-ranging cats; they kill indiscriminately, for no reason other than the pleasure of killing, and they kill far more beneficial animals than pest rodent species. I keep my three cats indoors, so as to avoid being part of that huge problem, as well as to keep THEM from being attacked by larger predators.