Are you ready for kevin?

handsome new addition, congrats!

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Congrats! He's gorgeous. :) I'm glad he's fitting in so well, and maybe he'll mellow out a bit more in a few years.

I played with the idea of a carpet python for awhile before I got River, and I held a few in person. They definitely acted a lot like River did when she was a baby. She's still interested in getting into stuff, but with size she's gotten slower so that helps out. XD I still need to keep an eye on her, but she's not off my body in the blink of an eye anymore. haha The carpet I held was grabbing EVERYTHING within reach and I basically needed to be another branch for it crawl onto to get it back into its tank.

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Thanks much!

He actually couldn't be any more mellow. This situation is quite different from what I've experienced with any of the others. Granted he is older than any snake I've brought in, but I expected a bit more anxiety and timid behavior. Not to be! He's never even postured to bite.

Last night he took a meal, a small rat. Nick told me he had not eaten in 3 weeks so I fed him and put him up.

This afternoon there was absolutely no lump in him. I don't recommend doing this as it goes against what you should do, but I went into the cage and decided to see how he was doing. He was curious, came toward me, I was expecting a bite, but instead he came out further and further.

I ended up having a short handling session and it was fantastic. I swear the Aussie snakes have something special going on.

Here are photos from today. Some of the other pictures make him look larger than he is. You can see here his head isn't a lot bigger than my thumb.
https://i.imgur.com/nCKeMpH.jpg

My advice for handling the semi arboreal snakes is to use an "acclimation branch/perch". Even though his head isn't big now, you can see the typical Bredli, bulldog head starting to show.
https://i.imgur.com/HNP9jxm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ttvss5q.jpg

There are some new studies going on with this species. I'm very happy I went this route and am excited to see Kevin's progression.

Congratulations! What a beauty he is - I love those rich caramel hues. And it's wonderful that he is living up to that gentle Bredli reputation. You went through a lot with the retic, and it's just nice to see that you are able to relax and truly enjoy your snakes now.

I agree that there is something really special about the Australian pythons. I have a Jungle Carpet, a Stimson's, and a Children's, and they all have so much personality and intelligence - they're a delight to keep and to handle. I think I have the capacity, in terms of time to really work with each animal, for one more snake (and besides, 10 is a nice number, right??) and am really struggling between a Bredli, an IJ or - just to take an entirely different direction - a Dumeril's. We'll see.

I don't know if you've seen me mention her before, but my sensei in terms of target and station training my snakes is Lori Torrini. She keeps a group of 23 (I think 24 now?) Bredli that she's doing a series of behavioral studies with, and her short videos about this work are always fun to watch. If you think you might enjoy them, you can check out her youtube channel.

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Originally Posted by Caitlin

Congratulations! What a beauty he is - I love those rich caramel hues. And it's wonderful that he is living up to that gentle Bredli reputation. You went through a lot with the retic, and it's just nice to see that you are able to relax and truly enjoy your snakes now.

I agree that there is something really special about the Australian pythons. I have a Jungle Carpet, a Stimson's, and a Children's, and they all have so much personality and intelligence - they're a delight to keep and to handle. I think I have the capacity, in terms of time to really work with each animal, for one more snake (and besides, 10 is a nice number, right??) and am really struggling between a Bredli, an IJ or - just to take an entirely different direction - a Dumeril's. We'll see.

I don't know if you've seen me mention her before, but my sensei in terms of target and station training my snakes is Lori Torrini. She keeps a group of 23 (I think 24 now?) Bredli that she's doing a series of behavioral studies with, and her short videos about this work are always fun to watch. If you think you might enjoy them, you can check out her youtube channel.

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Yes!! She is doing incredible things.
Observational studies and caging studies.
I have a link I’ll post eventually.

This is one of them.
https://www.behavioreducation.org/apps/blog/

She also has videos and I believe she joins a podcast and speaks on cages.

Interesting stuff.

Congrats on an awesome new addition! It's refreshing to see you be able to relax with all of your snakes again. You've got a nice crew, Kevin now included. I can't wait to see him continue to grow up! :D

Bredl's are probably my favorite Morelia, and one of my favorite pythons overall. Between their unique ecological/evolutionary history, hardiness, laid-back temperament, and beautiful colors, they're hard not to love. The only real reason I don't plan on getting one right now is their large adult size. A 6-8 foot snake of that strength and girth approaches a size I wouldn't want to handle alone (a few decades down the road). I've heard stories of males topping off at five feet, though, and have yet to meet an adult Bredl's in person and handle one. There will be a python in this house yet, and a Bredl's could end up making the cut after all.

The stuff Lori is doing is definitely interesting. The snake body language chart is particularly useful. It's definitely helped me understand my crew better. Experimenting with different caging options, layouts, and enrichment is next on the list on this front.

As promised, here is Fernie fresh shed and working on her sun tan.

I just came on to share some pics, but this thread looks like it's got some good stuff going on. I'll have to come back after dinner and get caught up. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dab12c63d9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...593369b2db.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1278459264.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1a61b75537.jpg

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Very nice!

Kevin is working on settling in so he's out of the lime light for a bit.

Those are some sweet looking pictures you snapped. Fresh shed and ready for summer!

Kevin is in a darker phase and yesterday's weather was grey to match.

I had him out for a bit just to keep up on his handling frequency.https://i.imgur.com/OilLoJ5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fmuX4e1.jpg

Our female, black, pit bull was caught in the background here. She had other interests in the yard, and rarely does she show concern over the reptiles.
https://i.imgur.com/huJdhki.jpg

He did do a lot of exploring after the pictures.

I was able to get a measurement of approximately 4 feet 2-3 inches on him.

He's longer than I thought and he's probably growing now that he's eating a bit more frequently.

Looking good!!!

I've got Fernie out as I'm looking at your thread. What an awesome species!!! I'm so happy I finally went that route!