Pat the baby biak green tree python

[Sauzo]

You know after you mentioned Pat being active in the other thread I couldn't help but notice how active Ganja is now in her pvccages cube. I can tell you have adequate hiding spaces, perches and heating and I assume you have the lights on timers but I wonder two things...

1) Is more space better even for neonates? We are told they should live in a tiny tub until a year old but is that really the best for them? People used to swear ball pythons only should live in small cages but Dante is so much more active in his 4 foot cage. Queso, my neonate rosy boa is super healthy and active in his 20 long tank.

2) Is lighting on a cycle as beneficial for them as for others. Since placing Ganja in the new cube and having the LED light on a timer she is so much more active than in the tub. Same thing with Dante and Queso. They have a much better and more active routine on a lighting schedule.

So I wonder, is your setup then the better option for healthy neonates? Pat is eating like a horse and active so barring stress I would assume that is a good sign. I mean I am thrilled Ganja is being so active, it makes me think her muscles will strengthen now.

What do you think?

1) IMO there is no too big for most neonates. The deciding factor in how big you can go is if you can maintain the correct humidity, temps, gradients etc and most of all the security. Baby snakes dont live in 6 qt tubs in the wild. But they do have LOTS of hiding spots. Like i said, if my T10 didnt have sliding glass doors with the gap, i would have converted that over to a jungle for Pat already. Now some neos dont do good in large spaces but that is the individual snake. You will know if the snake is eating and doing snakey stuff and quiet during the day. If it is pacing and looking anxious during the day, you might need to go smaller. But usually with that, you will also notice it not eating.

2) I have all my snakes on light timers. They come on at 8AM and go off at 9PM. A lot say you dont need lights for them and boas etc but i give them lights anyways. Now i dont give them blinding bright lights. I just give them your standard amount.

As for whether its healthy or not, well i judge the health of the snake by does it eat, gain a normal amount of weight and grow normally, act normal, not highly defensive or stressed. To answer those questions about Pat, yes, he is growing, had a shed with me, eats like a horse and doesnt hesitate, poops, pisses, gets exercise and doesnt seem stressed. Two days while cleaning his paper towels, i bumped his perch and woke him. He calmly turned around, looked at me and then moved up to the top perch under his heater and curled back up and just sat there with his head down watching me lay down fresh paper towels.

This morning, i was misting down his paper towels and plants and i accidently hit him with some mist since he was camped out right in the middle of the middle perch lol. He had his head buried in his body. He lifted his head out, looked at me and just sat there lol. I went about business in his cage like changing the elevated water and his bottom water dishes and he just sat there with his head on coils looking at me. Didnt move, his or anything. So i feel he is settling in good and doesnt seem spooked or defensive. Once he gets bigger, I'm going to start working with him by lifting his perch out and just putting my hand flat under him and let him just look at it and smell it and hopefully he will start to get curious and wander onto it without trying to kill me lol. But that will be a long time as i dont want to mess with a baby even though he isnt that much of a baby anymore. At night when he is cruising around, he is at least 18 inches. Like i said, he is growing like a weed. He was a skinny little pencil thick baby a month ago. Now he is as thick as my pinky and eating small fuzzy mice like a champ.

And Pat doesnt really use any hiding spots anymore. He loved sleeping in his plant when i got him. Then that changed to sleeping behind the plant on his perch. Now he just sits pretty much anywhere during the day and at night, like i said, he just tries to find trouble. He's like a mini Caesar lol.

And yea, the exercise should strengthen your snake. And like i said, i would give lots of smaller perches so your snake can use its tail more without putting lots of stress on the wound by trying to grip too big of perches or being scared of falling. I use 1/4 inch perches for Pat and he can basically touch his one side coils to the other side of coils when he is perched if that makes sense. Basically he can wrap the whole perch by just touching his bends in his coil on each side of the perch which he does a lot when sleeping like you see in the most recent pic. His front coils touch his rear coils. I woke him up there though but his head was inside his coils. Not sure if that is a way they keep themselves secure on it or what but Pat usually does that during the day but at night, he usually is loosely coiled or just stretched out on a perch.

Anyways, hopefully your little girl recovers.

[Pengil]

He reminds me of Verdi the snake from the kids picture book.

[Sauzo]

He reminds me of Verdi the snake from the kids picture book.

Lol never heard of it. I need to look it up now.

[Sauzo]

He reminds me of Verdi the snake from the kids picture book.

Haha too funny, I just looked it up and i can see the resemblance lol.

[SDA]

Sounds like Pat is settling in just fine. I was worried with how much it was moving around but from he recent pictures it does look like it is perching during the day and has found a nice spot. Ganja picked her favorite spot right away and goes back to that after roaming at night. She has been using her tail and by proxy vent area a lot lately to hold on to things while climbing and I like that.

Looks also like your plants are starting to grow rapidly. That's my biggest drawback for live plants is the inevitable cutting back that needs to be done and that mouth full of needles just waiting to inform me that it is her cage and I do not belong

[Sauzo]

Sounds like Pat is settling in just fine. I was worried with how much it was moving around but from he recent pictures it does look like it is perching during the day and has found a nice spot. Ganja picked her favorite spot right away and goes back to that after roaming at night. She has been using her tail and by proxy vent area a lot lately to hold on to things while climbing and I like that.

Looks also like your plants are starting to grow rapidly. That's my biggest drawback for live plants is the inevitable cutting back that needs to be done and that mouth full of needles just waiting to inform me that it is her cage and I do not belong

Good to hear your worm is moving more and using its tail.

Pat actually has like 4 spots. I catch him under his CHE either curled up under it or stretched out fully across the perch, then on the second perch at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical perches, and finally on top of his plant. Last night I caught him in a new place. He had his tail wrapped around his top perch and was stretched out on the semi vertical perch.

And honestly, I'm not too worried about Pat biting me. He seems pretty laid back and the few times I have disturbed him from sleeping, he just calmly lifts his head from under his coils and looks at me and then either sits there or slowly climbs to a higher perch and curls back up. He did hiss a few times when I first got him and disturbed him but he doesn't do that anymore.

As for cutting plants back, that's why you use something like a Parlor Palm or other palm which grows slow or use nerve Plant which is more of a low grower. I ended up taking out the Pothos and Prayer Plant as they were growing too tall and interfering with Pat's ability to sit on his lowest and second perch.

I need Pat to grow faster so I can get him either that giant AP cage or something more realistic like a 4x2x3 A20.

[SDA]

Yeah I wish RBI made a 3x2x2 I would buy that in a heart beat. The drop down opening they have is so useful. I figure the 2x2x2 is good for a few years so maybe they will make one by then.

[Sauzo]

I only deal with AP. Love their cages and Ali is awesome to deal with. Even though their LED lights make me wonder, Ali had no problem getting new sets out to me the day after i talked to her at no cost even after almost a year.

I personally am not a fan of drop down doors. My Constrictors NW cage had a drop down door. I prefer sliding doors for any of my large constrictors as they double as awesome shields for happy eaters. I'll be doing most likely an AP A20 cage, the 4x2x3 one for Pat maybe end of next summer. That should last him his life. That huge cage would be nice but realistically, I dont see a 8x4x4 cage sitting in my living room hahaha. Thats just a little overkill.

[Sauzo]

Alright all you Pataholics!! Here is Pat snoozing under his coils after a hard night of causing trouble and pooping. The little guy is always pooping or peeing lol.

[tttaylorrr]

Alright all you Pataholics!! Here is Pat snoozing under his coils after a hard night of causing trouble and pooping. The little guy is always pooping or peeing lol.

the cutest lil poo machine