Mazikeen progression thread

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

Yeah she has driftwood which she likes to lay on but I am thinking of just putting a dowel or PVC straight across her enclosure like starscream had in her bin enclosure, just to see if she likes it. Her enclosure is an 8" tall bin, so it would be very low to the ground and not much chance of her getting hurt. Good thing, because she is quite a klutz. She is always sliding off of her hides and her wood and her vines. She always looks at me like it's my fault too. [emoji23][emoji23]

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I know...BPs just don't have the right body shape for skilled climbing. And those plastic hides generally offer no traction at all. When I had a large BCI for many years, I got tired of watching her unable to use or enjoy the top of her very large plastic hide, so I built her one that was flat on top & nearly as wide as her enclosure so there was no place to slip off to, & I used a carpet mat (the kind with non-slip rubber backing) on top of her hide- that was a real success! She used it all the time, & with confidence...that looped carpet mat was great traction (& it was also washable), & she clearly loved basking on top of her hide.

If you do add a rod of some kind, keep in mind PVC is "practical" but very slippery too. Branches are preferred for texture, or you can add texture to wood dowels. (I've seen them wrapped with rope, for example)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

If you do add a rod of some kind, keep in mind PVC is "practical" but very slippery too. Branches are preferred for texture, or you can add texture to wood dowels. (I've seen them wrapped with rope, for example)

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Yes i have some extra silk pothos vine i think i'll wrap around it. This will be a fun project this weekend!

also, sorry for highjacking the thread!!

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

Yes i have some extra silk pothos vine i think i'll wrap around it. This will be a fun project this weekend!

also, sorry for highjacking the thread!!

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You're fine; it's nice to see people giving their snakes enrichment opportunities!

If you're going the PVC route, I'd like to suggest using something that ensures the PVC doesn't spin around when the snake tries to grab it -- one of the flaws I had with Mazikeen's early enclosure design was going cheap and only using two nails to hold the PVC pipe in; I shouldn've used some kind of corner brace and then cut out a section of the pipe, or siliconed it into place.

Nowadays, I tend to drill screws directly through the tub and into the branches to hold them into place.

While I'm here, my cousin's son came over and wanted to hold Mazikeen. She's grown a ton since he first meet her, so he was a little intimidated at first, but quickly got comfortable with holding her again.https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...98bcceb005.jpg

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Originally Posted by Starscream

Nowadays, I tend to drill screws directly through the tub and into the branches to hold them into place.

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Yes this is what I was thinking. While she is in a bin enclosure (for now) I do try to keep things as naturalistic as possible so I was thinking of seeing if I can find a suitable branch or maybe a wooden dowel and screwing directly into it from outside the tub.

Mazikeen is absolutely beautiful. What a great girl you have!

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Wow, Mazikeen got so huge! My favorite het red axanthic combo


Kaos Balls

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

Yes this is what I was thinking. While she is in a bin enclosure (for now) I do try to keep things as naturalistic as possible so I was thinking of seeing if I can find a suitable branch or maybe a wooden dowel and screwing directly into it from outside the tub.

Mazikeen is absolutely beautiful. What a great girl you have!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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I'm hoping to find some cork pieces big enough at the upcoming reptile expo here; when I get to decorating her permanent enclosure I'm thinking about doing a foam background with cork bark pieces. As well as having some cork hides. It'd be nice, at least.

And @Godzilla78 thanks lol. She's a nice looking super red axanthic in proper lighting -- yellow indoor lights never do her justice. To be fair to her, she had just eaten the week before in that last photo and was still pretty chunky from it.

Both my kiddos are in shed at the moment, so maybe soon I'll have some nice update photos for both threads.

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Originally Posted by Starscream

I'm hoping to find some cork pieces big enough at the upcoming reptile expo here; when I get to decorating her permanent enclosure I'm thinking about doing a foam background with cork bark pieces. As well as having some cork hides. It'd be nice, at least.

And @Godzilla78 thanks lol. She's a nice looking super red axanthic in proper lighting -- yellow indoor lights never do her justice. To be fair to her, she had just eaten the week before in that last photo and was still pretty chunky from it.

Both my kiddos are in shed at the moment, so maybe soon I'll have some nice update photos for both threads.

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That sounds awesome! I ended up making the branch! Luna doesn't seem to care about it much but after she outgrows her baby bin, I was thinking of getting another bp and recycling it. I want a male this time and I've read that males tend to utilize climbing branches more so maybe her future brother will get more use out of it lol.

I have pictures of my handy work in Lunas progression thread in BP Pictures if you wanna see!

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

That sounds awesome! I ended up making the branch! Luna doesn't seem to care about it much but after she outgrows her baby bin, I was thinking of getting another bp and recycling it. I want a male this time and I've read that males tend to utilize climbing branches more so maybe her future brother will get more use out of it lol.

I have pictures of my handy work in Lunas progression thread in BP Pictures if you wanna see!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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Sometimes it takes them a while to utilize things in their cages, especially if it's new. I've found that the more opportunities you give them to climb, the more likely they are to use them. It's also likely she's using it when you're not around to see her out and about.

Maze really liked the ladder I made her out of bamboo sticks and zipties. She's long since outgrown it, though. My japanese ratsnake has it now --like you said, recycling lmao. But, if you want something a little more visible, maybe consider colubrids?

And, on the Maze front, both she and Lan Fan shed today. I'm hoping to get some nice pics of Maze before the big game tomorrow haha.

I forgot -- I snapped a picture while Mazikeen was shedding. She apparently didn't think it was funny of me to catch her changing clothes, so to speak, and gave me the stink eye.

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