Here are some things I'm learning about my normal boy, Skull.
- He likes it cooler than other ball pythons I've read about. Anything over 88 and he gets obviously uncomfortable. He spends a lot of time on the cool side of his tank.
- I know that little snake brains are basically ones and zeroes but it seems my little guy likes to be handled. With the exception of the 48 hours after feeding, if we don't handle him, he gets pissy. We take him out, handle him gently for a half hour or so and he calms right down.
- Oh, I tend to be cold a lot. I've learned that I have to make sure that my hands are warm or he's not so happy to be handled by me.
- He's more my husband's snake than mine. My husband will put his hand in the tank and Skull will move into his hand.
- He's a strong feeder. He zaps his prey hard and fast.
- I warm his frozen prey up in water. We have shredded coconut substrate. I've learned to dry his prey better so he doesn't coat it in substrate while he's eating.
- Speaking of prey, head first, ass first, it doesn't matter. I think he'd swallow it sideways if he could.
- Yes, young pythons do indeed climb. We have a piece of driftwood (actually dried grape vine) in his tank. It has become his personal jungle gym. Little dude spends a lot of time on it.
- We've learned not to offer prey while he is climbing. We fed him tonight and introduced the prey while he was up climbing from the drift wood to the humidity sprayer. We thought he'd just come down. No. Apparently he forgot how to get down! Hubby had to move him.
- He has routines. He's active when I get home from work (dusk), early in the morning (dawn) and around 11 pm to midnight. During the early evening to very early morning hours, he's in his cool hide. Sometime later (we're not sure precisely when cause hubs and I are sleeping) he moves to his warm hide and stays there until the late afternoon.
Any other N00Bs want to share lessons learned?
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