spotted and childrens pythons

[tsst]

What do owners of these two pythons think of them? How is temperment? How is feeding? How is handling? Any special needs for husbandry? How big are some of your adults? Do they get thick bodied? Is there much difference between a childrens and a spotted? Thanks!

[daniel1983]

I keep a pair of Children's pythons and they are one of my favorites out of the snakes that I have kept. One had some issues with feeding, but once it was established in my care I have had no problems.The other always ate great. One is a pleasure to hold and has never given me attitude, the other is hell on scales. They are not full grown yet, so I realy can't tell you about mine but the adult Children's that I have seen and held are no bigger than 2.5'-3' long and about 1.5"-1.75" thick. My overall experince has been kinda variable. Describing one snake will not guarantee that others of it's species will be the same anyway.... you have a pretty wide range of 'personalities' that you can get with any snake.

The only differences between the Children's and Spotteds that I can think of is size and pattern. Children's pattern generally fades as they grow while spotteds keep their pattern. Spotted can get about 1' longer than a Childrens.

[Colin Vestrand]

in general they can have feeding issues, but overall they are both very neat little snakes. i had one that i got as a hatchling that died because it went on a hunger strike basically... so the threat is real, but if you get a regularly feeding juvie you should be fine. other than that they are pretty much the standard python care scenario.

[TekWarren]

I LOVE my Children's Python! ...sounds like a bumper sticker (I'd gladly represent). I got my male (pretty sure its male still working on the popping thing) from the NARBC show in Chicago in 2005. This guy was probably no more than a week or two old it was SO tiny. I struggled to get him to eat and did alot of reading online but finally got him going. Feeding has never been an issue since. This male is very curious and usually has to inspect anything/anyone near his tub. He tolerates handling very well and is very exploratory but not hard to hold on to.

I finally picked up a female this last weekend...again a find at the Chicago NARBC show. She has already eaten for me which is a great sign. She has been very active and exploratory also, as I write this I can see her moving about.

There is just "something" about these small pythons that attracts me they are so cool and their personalities definitely range as Daniel said. I plan on having them in my collection permanently and can't wait to breed them. Do your research on their care, in some aspects they actually require less and can be quite hardy.