The "New Kid" (Pictures!)

Well, here's some shots of the African House Snake I picked up yesterday at the Tucson Reptile Show. For the moment, I'm calling him "Pip" after the Alaspinian Mini-Dragon from Alan Dean Foster's "Flinx of the Commonwealth" series. I may decide on a name that suits him better after I've had him a while, but for now that works.

http://members.cox.net/adminaegis/Pip3.JPG
http://members.cox.net/adminaegis/Pip2.JPG
http://members.cox.net/adminaegis/Pip1.JPG

Cool! He's so little! It looks like he has a neat little pattern, too. Definitely give us updates on his growth and personality. :)

kool snake. he/she is beutiful.

According to the breeder, he's a little male. The breeder was going to cut me a good deal on a pair, but it turned out that all four he had were males, so I'll likely start watching for a nice little female sometime down the road. From what I've been reading, they're one of the easiest snakes to breed, and are so prolific that you tend to have to separate them or else they'll produce so many babies that they're eating you out of house and home.

I can expect the male to get to around 2 to 3 feet long, or about as long as Phil is now, but much more slender. At the size he is, the breeder told me to feed him newborn mice pinkies. I'm wondering, though, if he'd take crickets as well? The care page I looked at said that the house snakes are rather like King Snakes in their dietary habits. They'll take darn near anything they can swallow, including rodents, birds, eggs, other reptiles, bugs, whatever. I'm not opposed to feeding pinkies, but in case I have any problem getting small enough ones, it'd be nice to know a cricket or two would hold him until the rodents are available.

Sweet new addtion man! Congrats on the great find :).

:aww: aaw he's cute! i really like his coloration and his smallness. congrats on the new addition! :D

Beautiful! Love the coloring. Congrats!

Cute! If you don't mind my asking, how much did he cost you? Since getting Vash I've been looking at smaller species that max out around 3 feet, and he's a cutie.

He was a whopping $15. If the breeder had actually had a pair, I would have been able to get the pair for $25.

Granted, that's reptile show prices, which I've learned can be considerably lower than one might expect to pay elsewhere.

He's a cutie. Damn small though, lol. Snakes that tiny sorta scare me. I'd be afraid that I'd lose it or crush it, lol. Probably why I chose to go the bp path instead of the corn snake path. I'd lose that baby corn in his cage so fast... ;)

Looker of a wee snake you scored there! Have to concur with everyone else on that - and the nice pattern, and killer deal too it sounds.

I stopped by a pet shop this evening after my flute lesson and picked up a pinky for Pip. I requested the smallest they had (and it still looked rather large for him to eat) and dropped it in his enclosure. Even though I've provided a solid hide for him, he seems to prefer hiding under the newspaper, so I dropped the pinky under the newspaper as well. He nosed around it a bit, seeming curious but not inclined to do anything with it, so I laid the newspaper back over them and left them alone (didn't think I had too much to worry about a newborn pinky possibly harming the snake).

When I checked later, no pinky and one slightly fatter baby snake. w00t!

:aww:

Congrats! I am still surprised by the size prey snakes can eat.

yahoo! i don't like people watching me eat either. :wink:

i have to agree with cody on the small snake caring, this is the reason i am still skiddish about getting a kenyan sand boa but that is still a very beaitful snake. i have never seen a snake of that kind but it is beautiful. congrats

Well, he seems to be doing fine so far. He took his second pinkie tonight, and while he hasn't exactly been an active and entertaining snake to watch, he does look healthy and well fed so far. I wouldn't be surprised to have a shed out of him in the next week or so...

Awesome! Good luck with him.
A herp store in Cincinnati has Kenyans with a small Critter Keeper and a few other things for $65. While I'm not so hot on keeping the snake in such a small enclosure, their Kenyans were beautiful. Ben had to drag me out of the store so I wouldn't get any ideas. ;)

CUTE! Watch your fingers - they act like retics when it's time to eat!

K

Heh. Don't think I'll be getting one any time soon....no more room for snakies, plus I think my boyfriend's feeling like he's being usurped by serpents. ;)

Yeah, one of the care sheet pages I looked at mentioned that they can be aggressive feeders, and once they've gotten the smell of prey, they'll strike at darn near anything that moves. At this point, he's so small I don't think he could do anything if he did strike at me, but no point in letting him set a precedent...

Looking in his tank, Pip shed this weekend. He'll get another pinky tomorrow, I think.

For another piece of good news with Pip, tonight he took a F/T pinky, which will make things much easier for caring for him. I can buy and store frozen pinkies much easier than having to go and buy a live one each week to feed him. :)

YEAH! AfHouse!! Congrats on a fine new addition *(tinge of jealousy)* glad he is eating for you!
P.S. Kingdom Hearts is awesome (Avatar)

Good to hear Hoomi. I'm glad he's eating well for ya!

Everybody's eating well. Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of a "Five-fer". All five snakes ate on the same day. Of course, Phil, my first BP, has so far never given me any problem with eating. Magellan was a bit shy at first, but now eagerly takes the f/t rats when I dangle them in there. Nippy is more aggressive a feeder than Phil is; I don't think she's going to give me any problems. My only "problem child" is Dixie, and she's now taken two mouse-scented rats for me. Next time, I think I'll try her on an unscented rat and see if she's made the full connection yet.

And Pip, well, I've never actually seen him eat, but the pinkies always disappear from his enclosure, and afterwards he has that fat, happy look about him.