Pixie the tanimbar scrub python

SOMETHING CAME HOME WITH ME FROM THE SHOW, and it was not a russian rat snake :’) There were none there, unfortunately.

So she's a captive bred yearling Tanimbar scrub python, produced by Andre Mondin, and I purchased her from Mike and Erika Renau! I actually just wanted to hold a scrub python, and they had three… they told me she is the most docile and let me hold her- she’s super flighty at first, but calmed down in a minute. I came back like 2 hours later to ask more about her, found out she's taking f/t small rats, handled her again, and then bought her.

I had a set up all ready at home to begin with for whatever terrestrial or semi-arboreal snake I might (*coughs*) bring back from the show and hahah :D


I named her Pixie, just now!

Just from watching her in her cage today, she’s super inquisitive on her own, yet nervous at the same time when I watch her, and her eyes/head follows me as I move around… and she doesn’t like it when I stare at her from outside the cage lol. My eye contact makes her shrink back. Hopefully she gets used to me and calms down easier as time goes on! Pretty neat!

iphone pix of Pixie for now. :P It'll be a couple weeks before I take her out again for nikon or canon photos. She has an interesting bluish tint, and is much less brown in person. No idea why my phone is making her out so brown in the first pic.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso4_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso3_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

So... pretty interesting!!! I also bought Vigil a gigantic new hide from the show too, so she could use it for life.

She's a beauty, congrats! :gj:

Wow! I would take that home with me. Heehee

Gorgeous critter. They get pretty big too. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Gorgeous critter. They get pretty big too. :)

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Yes lol! Tanimbar are a smaller locality, maxing out at 8 feet or under. And having a light and slender body shape, I figured this is handle-able for me. :D

Nice Addition! :gj::gj:

Cheers,
Kat

I thought I should specify, because I forgot to do it in my first post- this is Simalia Nauta/Morelia Nauta, which is a small locality (or is it technically a subspecies...) of amethistina. These max out at 6~8 feet for females, but most of it is just long skinny tail and neck. :D While morelia amethistina is the giant snake that most people know scrub pythons as. Morelia Nauta is also known to be more docile and flighty, rather than defensive and bitey haha.

So some people just call them Tanimbar python, rather than Tanimbar islands scrub python. (but they're still technically a scrub python so psh)

Congrats Red, I love her! :winner::love:

This is why I don't go to reptile shows, I don't trust myself. :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Congrats Red, I love her! :winner::love:

This is why I don't go to reptile shows, I don't trust myself. :cool:

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thanks!
LOL seriously, like... Even if you don't find the first thing you wanted, you're bound to get something else. :oops:

Aaah congrats! I am so happy to see other people getting interested in scrubs, they are so intelligent and gorgeous!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spazhime

Aaah congrats! I am so happy to see other people getting interested in scrubs, they are so intelligent and gorgeous!

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YES! I remembered your scrub as I bought her hahah :D

PIXIE IS THE BEST NAME OMG
and congrats she's adorable!! I'm not terribly familiar with scrubs yet but she looks so inquisitive and alert!

Indeed a interesting choice congrats and enjoy.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7e66b8f3bc.jpg

Pixie is the Minime of Scrubs!

Very nice looking pickup! She is absolutely stunning! Love her eyes!

Thanks guys!

Reinz: 😂 LOL she is, but I hope she's not that creepy!

I’m currently maintaining 80-85% humidity and 82-86 F ambient temps in an exo terra glass tank, with belly heat hot spot of 88. What I have is a wet towel covering 50% of the screen top, and two heat pads acting as CHE sitting on the other half (set to 110), because I don’t have a CHE. And I cover the whole thing with a sterilite lid, to keep the heat and humidity in, and there is still room for ventilation. This is a temp setup until the pvc cage comes in a month.


It’s not impossible yall, just need to think out of the box! LOL

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

WHOA!

Look at you!

I just saw this and I'm thrilled. You are in for a treat and so are the rest of us that check the updates on this girl.

Obviously I want to hear all about her as she grows.

Display cage city for that girl.

I'm thrilled for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

WHOA!

Look at you!

I just saw this and I'm thrilled. You are in for a treat and so are the rest of us that check the updates on this girl.

Obviously I want to hear all about her as she grows.

Display cage city for that girl.

I'm thrilled for you.

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aw thanks Gio!! I'm thrilled too! I'll be updating this thread definitely. I actually didn't find out exactly how uncommon and rarely CB these Tanimbar scrubs are until after I got home, but it made me even happier LOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

aw thanks Gio!! I'm thrilled too! I'll be updating this thread definitely. I actually didn't find out exactly how uncommon and rarely CB these Tanimbar scrubs are until after I got home, but it made me even happier LOL

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Yes,

You have something special there.

Congrats!

Gorgeous snake, congrats on the new addition!! You have some stunning snakes. :D

Such beautiful eyes <3 And Pixie is such an adorable name. Congrats!

Just fed her an f/t weaned rat. I was offering on tongs, but she wouldn't strike and wrap. So I left it in front of her hide, and she spent 10 minutes sniffing it and then slowly wrapped it on her own to start finding the head. It took her about an hour to actually find the head and eat it, but she didn't give up. :rolleyes: In fact, I think she was getting more and more frustrated, and persevered. LOL. Hopefully she's easy to feed every week.

Here she is in her hide. I stuck my iphone camera into the entrance. Probably the worst picture I've ever taken, but I really wanted to get a picture... :rofl:

I'm actually weirded out by those vertical lines on her side. Pretty sure they're markings, but not totally sure.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...V0_AEx_Xyu.jpg

So pretty!

BTW, if you put your phone right down on the top mesh you can good pictures.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prognathodon

So pretty!

BTW, if you put your phone right down on the top mesh you can good pictures.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

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Oh neat, I'll keep that in mind!

Can't stop looking for updates.

Very few people have what you have including me!!

Your choice here has really impressed me. I think you will be rewarded with a challenging keep and a number of behaviors that are entertaining and certainly worth displaying!

ReD SheP you have done well and I'm envious!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

Can't stop looking for updates.

Very few people have what you have including me!!

Your choice here has really impressed me. I think you will be rewarded with a challenging keep and a number of behaviors that are entertaining and certainly worth displaying!

ReD SheP you have done well and I'm envious!

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Aw that pleases me to hear haha! I actually wasn't aware she was that rare until a few people pointed it out.

I sure hope she will be challenging to keep, and be a very different experience! My other snakes are sometimes too much of a breeze lol. Definitely hoping to put her in a large display as an adult!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Aw that pleases me to hear haha! I actually wasn't aware she was that rare until a few people pointed it out.

I sure hope she will be challenging to keep, and be a very different experience! My other snakes are sometimes too much of a breeze lol. Definitely hoping to put her in a large display as an adult!

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HA!

You know I'm gonna stalk this thread LOL!

Nick Mutton has some info on these on his site FYI, but maybe you've seen it already.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

HA!

You know I'm gonna stalk this thread LOL!

Nick Mutton has some info on these on his site FYI, but maybe you've seen it already.

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good! :D
Oh yeah, I saw the same text with additional info on this other snake site. Not sure who wrote it first, but I think Nick Mutton copy and pasted it LOL
http://littlescorpion.com/tanimbar-python/

Okay last bump of the day, I promise... lolol

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso4_1280.jpg

I still ended up taking out the nikon for her, and I found out that she HATES flash photography! Either that or she hated the clicking sound of the camera. It totally freaked her out, as you can see from the first to the second pic here. Not even my green tree python has this strong reaction to flash or camera clicks haha.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso3_1280.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Okay last bump of the day, I promise... lolol

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso4_1280.jpg

I still ended up taking out the nikon for her, and I found out that she HATES flash photography! Either that or she hated the clicking sound of the camera. It totally freaked her out, as you can see from the first to the second pic here. Not even my green tree python has this strong reaction to flash or camera clicks haha.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso3_1280.jpg

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Maybe the last bump from you,

But I'll bet others will keep checking this out!

Love that face, great pickup! :gj:

She's so pretty!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

good! :D
Oh yeah, I saw the same text with additional info on this other snake site. Not sure who wrote it first, but I think Nick Mutton copy and pasted it LOL
http://littlescorpion.com/tanimbar-python/

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I thought I'd point out that I was obviously wrong, this blog post copy and pasted info off other sites. :rofl: oops, not sure why I would think Nick Mutton wouldn't write info himself yesterday LOLL.

http://www.pythonidae.nl/pythons-morelia-nauta.html

http://www.inlandreptile.com/nauta/morelia%20nauta.htm

I'll bet it is nearly impossible to not check in on this new additions every hour or so LOL!

I love getting something new, and the funny thing is, after quarantine, my other snakes seem to react and display a bit more for me too!

Win, win!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

I'll bet it is nearly impossible to not check in on this new additions every hour or so LOL!

I love getting something new, and the funny thing is, after quarantine, my other snakes seem to react and display a bit more for me too!

Win, win!

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You're right, I have been checking on her every hour for the entire day. Unfortunately, since I just fed her yesterday, she's been in her hide the whole time hahah. And I fell asleep in a chair in front of her cage and just woke up.

how funny, why is that? You think they react to the new snake?

I thought I’d post, I was sent these pictures of Pixie’s parents, a male axanthic patternless to a female xanthic DH patternless axanthic. Pixie hatched in October 2015, and these adults are only between 5~6 feet! First pic male, 2nd pic female. They are currently 8 years old, and they were farm raised in Indonesia.

It’s really hard to reproduce them in captivity- only a few people were able to. 95% of Tanimbars are imports/wild caught.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg


I’d say Pixie herself is about 4 feet long right now.


(above animals owned and pics taken by Andre Mondin)

and here's some Pixie! I handled her today like a fool.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso4_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso5_1280.jpg

And here she's chilling on her branch. She drapes her whole body across it.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

Cool. Bigger than I thought she was.

Beautiful animal, congrats! What I love about checking in on this site is being introduced to animals I wouldn't even know to look up.

I saw your first pics and thought, what an awesome looking python. Then I look it up and find out it's Morelia!?! M. a. Nauta! I love all Morelia!!!

The iridescence Tanimbar have is fantastic! Great choice!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

Cool. Bigger than I thought she was.

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Okay, maybe 3.5 feet... I'm just estimating! Her tail is very long.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rock

Beautiful animal, congrats! What I love about checking in on this site is being introduced to animals I wouldn't even know to look up.

I saw your first pics and thought, what an awesome looking python. Then I look it up and find out it's Morelia!?! M. a. Nauta! I love all Morelia!!!

The iridescence Tanimbar have is fantastic! Great choice!!

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Thanks! Actually same, I knew about scrubs, but I didn't know about the nauta subspecies until I saw her at the show... and I researched on my phone on the spot. LOL

Yeah they're morelia! Or at least, they used to be. Apparently it's simalia nauta now. Boelen's pythons are also simalia now, since a couple years ago.

Congrats on picking up Pixie! She's very pretty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I'm actually weirded out by those vertical lines on her side. Pretty sure they're markings, but not totally sure.

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Looks like the little bends they get in their scales from staying coiled up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Congrats on picking up Pixie! She's very pretty.



Looks like the little bends they get in their scales from staying coiled up.

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Thanks!
ahh I see, I've never seen those before! Funny

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Okay, maybe 3.5 feet... I'm just estimating! Her tail is very long.



Thanks! Actually same, I knew about scrubs, but I didn't know about the nauta subspecies until I saw her at the show... and I researched on my phone on the spot. LOL

Yeah they're morelia! Or at least, they used to be. Apparently it's simalia nauta now. Boelen's pythons are also simalia now, since a couple years ago.

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If his mama called him Morelia, imma call him Morelia! Actually, the proposed change is quite interesting. Below is from the actual research. Seems they suggest all scrub pythons might be on their own "branch" in the "tree of life".

And Nauta is latin for sailor, seaman, mariner. Cool all the way around!

A number of studies have suggested that taxonomy in the genusMorelia does not reflect actual evolutionary relationships Pyr-on et al., 2013b; Rawlings et al., 2008. For instance, Rawlings et al.(2008) suggested that Morelia might be paraphyletic, and identifiedthree lineages: (1) M. boeleni, (2) M. carinata + M. viridis, and (3) M.amethistina + M. bredli + M. oenpelliensis + M. spilota. We added thespecies M. tracyae, M. clastolepis, M. nauta, and M. kinghorni to ouranalysis and recovered a slightly different arrangement. We foundsupport (BS = 92, PP = 0.99) for the Australasian/Indonesian cladeof scrub (amethystine) pythons (M. oenpelliensis, M. boeleni, M. tra-cyae, M. amethistina, M. clastolepis, M. kinghorni, and M. nauta) and aclade of the carpet and tree pythons (M. bredli, M. carinata, M. spi-lota, and M. viridis), which is sister to the children’s (dwarf) pythons(Antaresia). Within the scrub pythons, we found a basal placementof the enigmatic M. oenpelliensis and M. boeleni, and we foundstrong support for the distinction of the species M. tracyae, M. ame-thistina, and M. clastolepis, though not the closely-related derivedspecies M. kinghorni, and M. nauta (BS = 57, PP = 0.93) described in Harvey et al. (2000). It should be noted that Harvey et al.(2000) suggest that M. amethistina likely comprises a cryptic spe-cies complex, a sentiment which is echoed by O’Shea (2007). Among the tree pythons, we did not find strong support for theplacement of M. carinata or M. viridis (other research suggests thatthe latter is likely two species: M. viridis and M. azurea; Rawlingsand Donnellan, 2003 relative to the rest of the clade; however,we did find support for the distinction of the carpet pythons M. bre-dli and M. spilota (BS = 100, PP = 1.0), as well as the distinction ofthe subspecies M. s. spilota and M. s. variegata (BS = 100,PP = 0.88). Additional subspecies are described in M. spilota, anda more extensive analysis would determine whether this wide-spread species is in fact a species complex. Our analysis supportsa close relationship between the tree, carpet, and children’s py-thons, but we are unable to recover strong support among thesespecies, likely due to the availability of only mtDNA sequencesfor M. carinata and most species of Antaresia. Additional samplingof markers should help to resolve the species’ relationships in thisclade. However, it is clear that Morelia is likely paraphyletic withrespect to the other Australasian/Indonesian pythons, and we rec-ommend resolving this paraphyly with a new generic name for thescrub python clade (M. oenpelliensis, M. boeleni, M. tracyae, M. ame-thistina, M. clastolepis, M. kinghorni, and M. nauta).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rock

If his mama called him Morelia, imma call him Morelia!

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Nice "Coming to America" reference :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dboeren

Nice "Coming to America" reference :)

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Hahaha, yes. Nailed it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rock

If his mama called him Morelia, imma call him Morelia! Actually, the proposed change is quite interesting. Below is from the actual research. Seems they suggest all scrub pythons might be on their own "branch" in the "tree of life".

And Nauta is latin for sailor, seaman, mariner. Cool all the way around!

A number of studies have suggested that taxonomy in the genusMorelia does not reflect actual evolutionary relationships Pyr-on et al., 2013b; Rawlings et al., 2008. For instance, Rawlings et al.(2008) suggested that Morelia might be paraphyletic, and identifiedthree lineages: (1) M. boeleni, (2) M. carinata + M. viridis, and (3) M.amethistina + M. bredli + M. oenpelliensis + M. spilota. We added thespecies M. tracyae, M. clastolepis, M. nauta, and M. kinghorni to ouranalysis and recovered a slightly different arrangement. We foundsupport (BS = 92, PP = 0.99) for the Australasian/Indonesian cladeof scrub (amethystine) pythons (M. oenpelliensis, M. boeleni, M. tra-cyae, M. amethistina, M. clastolepis, M. kinghorni, and M. nauta) and aclade of the carpet and tree pythons (M. bredli, M. carinata, M. spi-lota, and M. viridis), which is sister to the children’s (dwarf) pythons(Antaresia). Within the scrub pythons, we found a basal placementof the enigmatic M. oenpelliensis and M. boeleni, and we foundstrong support for the distinction of the species M. tracyae, M. ame-thistina, and M. clastolepis, though not the closely-related derivedspecies M. kinghorni, and M. nauta (BS = 57, PP = 0.93) described in Harvey et al. (2000). It should be noted that Harvey et al.(2000) suggest that M. amethistina likely comprises a cryptic spe-cies complex, a sentiment which is echoed by O’Shea (2007). Among the tree pythons, we did not find strong support for theplacement of M. carinata or M. viridis (other research suggests thatthe latter is likely two species: M. viridis and M. azurea; Rawlingsand Donnellan, 2003 relative to the rest of the clade; however,we did find support for the distinction of the carpet pythons M. bre-dli and M. spilota (BS = 100, PP = 1.0), as well as the distinction ofthe subspecies M. s. spilota and M. s. variegata (BS = 100,PP = 0.88). Additional subspecies are described in M. spilota, anda more extensive analysis would determine whether this wide-spread species is in fact a species complex. Our analysis supportsa close relationship between the tree, carpet, and children’s py-thons, but we are unable to recover strong support among thesespecies, likely due to the availability of only mtDNA sequencesfor M. carinata and most species of Antaresia. Additional samplingof markers should help to resolve the species’ relationships in thisclade. However, it is clear that Morelia is likely paraphyletic withrespect to the other Australasian/Indonesian pythons, and we rec-ommend resolving this paraphyly with a new generic name for thescrub python clade (M. oenpelliensis, M. boeleni, M. tracyae, M. ame-thistina, M. clastolepis, M. kinghorni, and M. nauta).

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Interesting, thanks for the text! I just took a look at the article. Since simalia is apparently official now, guess that's what I'm using lol!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Interesting, thanks for the text! I just took a look at the article. Since simalia is apparently official now, guess that's what I'm using lol!

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Yes, they are very unique pythons! I am looking forward to seeing future pictures and reading about her handling. Enjoy her!

Very cool looking animal. Love the eyes.

She’s so much better with handling today! Brief and calm and ending on a good note did the trick really quick. She didn't flinch out of her skin when I touched her in the enclosure either. And shes even in shed now too, which I didnt notice until after I took her out.

Sorry about all these crappy iphone photos LOL. I figure I should keep handling short and simple for now, until she really gets used to it, before bringing in a bulky camera.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...32zso1_500.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

Here's the other day...
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

She’s so much better with handling today! Brief and calm and ending on a good note did the trick really quick. She didn't flinch out of her skin when I touched her in the enclosure either. And shes even in shed now too, which I didnt notice until after I took her out.

Sorry about all these crappy iphone photos LOL. I figure I should keep handling short and simple for now, until she really gets used to it, before bringing in a bulky camera.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...32zso1_500.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg

Here's the other day...
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso1_1280.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...2zso2_1280.jpg

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Looking good!

Keep it up. I want to see you with a 24"-30" tall cage eventually.

You made a wonderful decision taking that snake home!