keeping snakes

[jason]

Just discovered snake keeping and i have ordered a black headed python as my first. my wifes biggest mistake sending me to pick up something she bought off ebay and the people had a dozen pythons they kept and bred. i spent hours playing with them. does anyone else on here keep them. will post picks when i get her in august i have to wait till i am in my new house.May possibly be a close addiction to archery for me and i must be getting old as sitting watching nature is becoming as attractive as sticking an arrow in it.. but that will probably only last until i am sitting 30m of a big old boar or a good stag in the next couple months.

[Poppy]

Yeah I keep and breed snakes, have done for the last 25/30 years.
I keep Blackhead, Womas, Jungle Pythons at the moment.
Yes it is an addiction I often find myself when out hunting looking at the ground as much as looking for game.
Also a good web site to visit is Australian Pythons and Snakes. plenty of information.
Make sure that the new house has a large snake/Trophy/Bar/boys room. LOL
Paul

[Luke]

Hey Jas,
do you have Barry's number? He's got at least one, if not two snakes and has had for a while now.

Cheers,

Luke

[bobzila]

i have a diamond python and have been trying to get dad to let me get a jungle carpet but so far no luck

[robvic]

My wife is in the process of getting her first snake at the moment. Ive spent all my life avoiding them, now im gonna be sharing the lounge room with one!!
I dont know about other states, but here in Victoria, you need a basic license to have a pet non venemous snake.
My wife is just waiting for hear license to come back now. She sent the paperwork away a month ago, and now she's starting to get a bit frusterated.
She's got the enclosure ready to go, heat light,(and guard) soft blue light, UV light, water trough, the lot.
She wants to get a spotted python.
The enclosure is 3 X 2 X 2 foot. Suitable for a smaller snake, about a metre or so.
Hey Poppy, whatwould you recommend as the best value for money, small snake?? Several people have warned my wife off getting a childrens python, apparently theyre quite aggressive and hard to feed. Does this sound right to you?

[robvic]

Here are a couple of photos i just took of my wifes enclosure.
The blue light only comes on when the heat lamp is on. Was gonna get red, but the bloke at the petshop reckons red can be a bit overpowering, and that the dull blue is much more subtle.
http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/se1.jpg

This is with the UV light on.
http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/se.jpg

Note the green and white snake!! While my wife was at work this afternoon, i put the branches in ready to go for her. Then while i was shopping this afternoon, i found 90cm bubble gum snakes for sale with the kids stuff, so i bought one, and put it on the branches in the enclosure. The look of confusion on her face was absolutely priceless!!
Her reaction was....."did you already get one" with the most confused look on her face. I laughed so hard i had tears in my eyes!!
SHe thought it was a corn snake...whatever that is!

[Poppy]

Hi Robvic That's a great enclosure all the comforts of home.
It looks like you have everything in there.
Make sure that you have a small hide/ box as the new comer will want to spend some time in it.
As far as Children Pythons go they can be a bit snappy and fussy eaters,(but most juvenile snakes are like that ).
Try to buy from a breeder not a pet shop and ask about its eating habits and how does it handle, (the more its handled for short periods of time the tamer it will become).
My preference for a first timer is a Stimson's Python very similar but a calmer snake , but don't forget that snakes have a wide range of personalities just like people. Some are like Buddhist and some are like punk rockers LOL
Try www.aussiepythons.com they have a classified section.
Good luck,
Paul.

[ads]

As Poppy said, Stimsons are a much better choice than Childrens. They are hardier, prettier and better natured.
I run the reptile section of a pet shop in Melb and also keep about 250 reptiles at home.
Robvic, your snake wont care about the colour of the lights. It is more worried about the temp, but your ceramic will take care of that. 28 - 30.C and it will be happy. Get yourself a good digital thermometer so you can keep an eye on this. It looks to me like you have a stick on strip thermometer up the top of the glass. I have found these to be quite inaccurate. I would also keep the thermometer closer to the ground as childrens, spotteds, stimsons are generally terrestrial snakes and will spend most of their time on the ground. Also, Uv is not essential for keeping these snakes.
Ads

[troy]

Snakes are the way to go, but between them and bowhunting you will always be broke cause both are so addicitive.

[robvic]

Well my wife bought her snake today. She ended up getting a central carpet python, or bredli python. It will grow quite large, and she will have to upgrade to a bigger enclosure in a couple of years.
Against everyones advice, we bought it at a petshop. We liked the idea of supporting the petshop that has been very good to us in the past.
We're not able to bring the snake home yet, until my wifes license comes back.....again!!!
It came back, but the birthdate section wasnt filled in properly, so she had to send it away again.....DOH!!!!!
Anyhow, when the license comes back, and we get the snake home i will post a photo of it here.
My wife has named him "SCAR" because when we bought him this morning, i told the bloke at the petshop that we were't buying him unless my wife could hold him. The petshop owner held the snake towards my wife, and the snake clearly wasnt happy, then it striked my wife biting her on the hand!! She now has a few little marks on her hand!! (a scar).
It was the funniest thing i have seen for ages!!lol
The snake hasnt been handled all that often, but being a yearling, we will be able to handle him more so he gets use to it......hopefully!!!

[Sagitarius]

I got a childrens python, a bearded dragon and a bluey. Reps make great low maintenance pets that last for ages.

[robvic]

They cartainly do mate. My wifes python is 1 year old, and can expect ti live for 20-30 years in captivity!!......WOW, i could be in my 60's before he dies!! and im only 32 now!!
Also, we only have to feed him every 7-10 days, and only about once a fortnight when he's fully grown, so we can go away camping and hunting without having to organise anyone to come and feed him for us!!!
Here are a couple of photos my wife took of him yesterday.
http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/scar1.jpg

http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/scar5.jpg

http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/scar2.jpg

http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/scar3.jpg

http://people.aapt.net.au/~ventor/scar4.jpg

[Sagitarius]

Good value huh? ;p

That's a very handsome snake, what kind of python is it?

My first ferret found and made friend with a blue tongue in our garden. He brought the lizard inside and pretty much kept it as a pet for years. It's been 6 or so years since that ferret pasted away but his pet bluey is still going strong. LOL

[troy]

It's a Bredli. A nice looking example too. Great pics.

[robvic]

Thanks fellas. Yeah spot on Troy, a bredli. (centralian carpet python) He is hanging upsidedown in his enclosure at the moment with a big lump in his stomach.
I git him out last night, because my wife is still a bit scared after it bit her on the hand last week. We both had a bit of a play with him and he was OK.
Then this morning my wife built up the courage to reach in a grab him, and he lunged at her again, so i wrapped a towell around my arm and put it in and he lunged at me too. He hasnt been for for 8 days, so i fed him a couple of mice. Hopefully this will help prevent him from being so snappy.
We want to handle him as much as possible to get him use to being handled so he grown up being more placid.

[hunt or be hunted]

all this snake talk has got me wanting to buy one!

i have a couple of lizards. bearded dragon, bluey, cunningham skink and two stumpies. they are awesome pets.

dan.

[Sagitarius]

Bredli huh, very nice.

Might be just hungry and sensing the heat?
I don't handle mine when they are hungry or for a few days after they've fed.

[Poppy]

Robvic you will find he will lunge at anything that comes into his enclosure, he thinks its food.
Get your self a Jigger and lift him out onto the floor and as soon as he starts to move or straighten out try picking him up, I have a few large Black Heads that will chew your arm of if you stick it in but once out not a problem.
Cheers
Paul

[troy]

A couple of tips to cure the biting, has helped for me but some snakes have different attitudes and personalities.
1, Feed at a time you don't normally handle them. Day or Night. I only feed after the lights go out and dont take them out at that time. I think this helps them associate with my activities around them. I also only clean and handle during the daylight hours.
2, Don't hand feed. Use a set of tongs, Dead set it won't take long for them to associate the tongs with food and will react differently if it's your hand. My pythons see the tongs and will not leave the front of their cages expecting a feed. I have to be mindful and keep them out of view if I am not planning on feeding them.
3, Don't hesitate when you pick them up. Think about it when you feed them you hang the food infront of their face or wave it around a bit. If your hand hesitates they will think its a feed. Poppy's advice regarding a jigger or hook is a good idea too.

Sometimes though none of these things will prevent being bitten, if they don't wan to be handled it's the only way they have of defending themselves. You will soon learn when they aren't keen and usually it occurs around slough (or shed), when they feel vunerable.

[hunt or be hunted]

A bit off topic but i need someone to give me some advice on my bearded dragon. he/she lives in a enclosure outside that is a reasonable size, when i put bugs in there they quickly scramble and hide under the leaves rocks and logs giving the lizard no chance of getting one. i have thought about a dish/ bowl to put the bugs in so they cant get away as quick. do you think that might help? its very skinny at the moment and i feel really bad.

thanks dan.

[TOWER*2007]

i nearly walked into a death adder up one of my mates properies the other night, wish someone had of taken that one, their ugly buggers.