Mirror, mirror, on the wall ...

[Marla]

Have any of you ever subjected a ball python to long periods of exposure to a mirror? My new snake came in with a tank with a mirrored back wall, which is kind of cool because I can see where it's head is easily, but I have seen it appearing to be keeping an eye on "the other snake" and rubbing against the back wall but have not observed any rubbing on the front. I've never kept a snake with a mirror yet, and I wondered if anyone had and observed behavioral or other correlations or results of the practice.

[iceman25]

I'd remove the mirror if I could in all practicality. Might cause the poor thing stress over who the better looking snake is :wink:

[JLC]

Yeah...you might try covering that side of the tank with something to see if the behavior changes. But if the snake doesn't seem stressed out at all, then there is probably no harm in it. Hard to say for sure, though.

[Marla]

Well, s/he has been kept in it for four years, so I doubt it's going to cause any tremendous trauma, but I thought if I were a BP, I might relax more if I didn't think I had a nosy neighbor always staring at me. I was considering getting an aquarium back to cover it with, but would have to stick it on the inside of the tank to do that because the mirror IS the back wall of it.

[JLC]

Right...I figured you'd have to do something creative to cover it. I think I would (once the snake is fully acclimated to its new family) just out of scientific interest. I wouldn't put anything permanent over it...just something temporary to see if/how the snake's behavior changes. You're right though, that if it has been that way for this long, it probably doesn't cause any particular stress. Heck...he might even miss his "companion" if you covered it up or moved him into a different enclosure.

[Marla]

LOL ... that's true! S/he might get lonely. I suppose I could try covering half of the mirror and see if s/he shows a preference for one side over the other, but I'm going to have to put a second hide in there first so it's more objective.

[JLC]

That's a great idea! Lemme know how things turn out when you get that set up...I'm really interested!

[Marla]

Absolutely, Judy!

Am I to understand that this entire group is too enlightened to have experimented on/tortured their ball pythons with mirrors? No one has any behavioral observations to offer?

[jotay]

Ozzy's cage is in my son's room on his dresser which has a mirror behind it and when he would be in the tank before i put a bunch of plants along the back wall he didnt pay much attention but when I open the lid on the cage he will crawl out toward the back and right to the mirror and just kinda stare.
Kinda like he will stop sometimes and just stare at me so I would assume he thinks he is another snake, hard to tell.

[Marla]

Thanks, Jotay. I've known other animals that perceived their reflection to be a second animal, like bettas who will try to fight their reflections. I wonder what experiences others may have had?