Large breed snake. Tell your story. What? Why? What did you learn? Different?

[Skyrivers]

Every day is still a learning experience for me still. I enjoy all my animals but the big ones really are special to me. Everyone here knows I love Reticulated Pythons.

Why retics? Amazing animals all the way around. Love the big personalities. Expressiveness, curious, keeps you on your toes, the coolness of creating a large enclosure for them to enjoy and add a visual effect to the room, and so many more reasons.

Things I have learned? Tongs are never to long. (If you have one you know what I mean.) Today and tomorrow will not be the same. They are super intelligent for a snake, and (from my experience) even picks a person to trust over others(Imprint might be to strong of a word but yes). Love to swim and climb. High energy even when getting some size to them. They remember! You can not train them to sit or stay but you can teach them habits.

Different? Very. Not as chill as a RTB, doesn't hide as much as a BP even when in a display cage, expressive more so than any other species I have. Can be Huge! The word Tank comes to mind.

I have always dreamed of working with animals from the time I was a kid. I was 5 when I told my Mom that I wanted to do research and live with animals to help educate others about them. I watched National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau as a kid that fed my passion. Even movies like Tarzan influenced my desire to help people understand animals better. I left my dream behind when I went to collage and 3 years into a Marine Biology degree my Dad tells me that teaching was the only thing I would ever be able to do with my degree. I wanted to do research. I wanted to study and learn and teach others how to live and communicate on their level to improve so people would be kinder and understand them better. A little more than a year ago it hit me, I can now afford to work with animals with the job I have.

People say it is unreal how I communicate with my dogs so easily and with few words. Dogs communicate with eyes, facial expressions, body posture, and subtle noises. My house has almost a primal feel to it is what I have been told. My dogs don't behave like pets but like family members with me as head of the pack (Cloud is second and he knows it!) All it took for them is understanding and agreeing on methods of communications. As a result, I can ask them to do almost anything and they will do so. Even Zelda my blind great dane. Trust me Danes are hard to train when young because of their short attention span.

We know snakes have their ways of communicating simple things like hunger, fear, and trust. They even play. If you never see your retic play it is because you don't give them something to play with. She plays with her cage because of how I designed it. She moves things around to her satisfaction, well that things that are moveable. she makes her cave cozy by moving substrate around to her liking.

I chose snakes because I feel that they are misunderstood by quite a large portion of the population. I feel that if I can teach people who fear or even hate them to love them then I am successful. At this point I also work to educate on husbandry issues as I learn along the way. I tell people, "Just spend 5 minuets with my animals and even if you don't love all snakes, you will love mine." So far, everyone who has given it a try, has changed their feelings, even if not completely, in some way about them. Some say they will only handle my animals because of how calm and wonderful they are.

Now I have a wonderful collection of animals that I love and grow to understand more and more every day. I work hard to educate myself and others. I work hard to accept that not everyone will give them a chance but most will try if you spend time building them up. I love Rainbow and even Monty (the beast) so much and appreciate them for what they are. Simply, AMAZING.

Lets hear your story about your large snakes.

[distaff]

My biggest snake so far, is an adult Sonoran Gopher. Would love to go bigger with a BCC, or a male dwarf Burm...someday. Unfortunately, I don't think BF would have anything that large in the house, and our home is really too small for much more in the way of ANY enclosures as it is. At some point, I'll probably build a good shed.

I find the gopher to be very calming. I like the feel of the weight of her when I have her draped on my shoulders. She moves slowly. The cornsnake, in contrast is always a bit restless.

[Snakeboyaz]

I've been thinking about starting a thread similar to this recently. I've been around animals fo as long as I can remember, my 5th grade teacher had a red tail boa in the classroom and I got hooked on reptiles. I think what's always drawn me to reptiles and snakes in particular is how different they are to us. Mammals and birds for the most part seem to express emotion through facial expressions, body language and vocalizations in ways we find familiar and understand. Reptiles are kind of like visiting with an alien species, it takes a lot of effort to understand their bahaviour, the challenge of understanding them is something I've always enjoyed.
As far as retics go, from the first picture I saw of one as a 5th grader I was hooked. I would read everything I could find on them, stare at every picture of one mesmerized. Every time I got to see or hold one I became more passionate about them. I never got one as a kid, probably not a bad thing but always knew one day I would. Now that I have my two they're are even better than I ever imagined, no other animals I've kept can compare and I have zero desire to keep any other species of snake.

Things ive learned from them? The best things in life are worth the wait haha. I think for me working with animals that have a real capacity to harm you teaches you some humility, you have to work within the parameters they'll let you. Having them now also makes me a little sad thinking about how many large constrictors have been in the pet trade that you know have suffered Ill fates because of how accessible and inexpensive they have been to buy. Since I've had mine I've gone from the 6x3 cage is suitable for all but the biggest females to planning on 7x3x3 2story cagesfor their forever homes and racking my brain on how I could fit even bigger.

[Skyrivers]

distaff,

Thank you for sharing.

My biggest snake so far, is an adult Sonoran Gopher. Would love to go bigger with a BCC, or a male dwarf Burm...someday. Unfortunately, I don't think BF would have anything that large in the house, and our home is really too small for much more in the way of ANY enclosures as it is. At some point, I'll probably build a good shed.

I find the gopher to be very calming. I like the feel of the weight of her when I have her draped on my shoulders. She moves slowly. The cornsnake, in contrast is always a bit restless.

Snakeboyaz,

I agree that their methods of communication are very alien to most people who don't take the time to learn their language. I also am in love with Reticulated Pythons. As you said, RESPECT is huge for these guys. Humility is also something they teach you.

Thanks for sharing.

I've been thinking about starting a thread similar to this recently. I've been around animals fo as long as I can remember, my 5th grade teacher had a red tail boa in the classroom and I got hooked on reptiles. I think what's always drawn me to reptiles and snakes in particular is how different they are to us. Mammals and birds for the most part seem to express emotion through facial expressions, body language and vocalizations in ways we find familiar and understand. Reptiles are kind of like visiting with an alien species, it takes a lot of effort to understand their bahaviour, the challenge of understanding them is something I've always enjoyed.
As far as retics go, from the first picture I saw of one as a 5th grader I was hooked. I would read everything I could find on them, stare at every picture of one mesmerized. Every time I got to see or hold one I became more passionate about them. I never got one as a kid, probably not a bad thing but always knew one day I would. Now that I have my two they're are even better than I ever imagined, no other animals I've kept can compare and I have zero desire to keep any other species of snake.

Things ive learned from them? The best things in life are worth the wait haha. I think for me working with animals that have a real capacity to harm you teaches you some humility, you have to work within the parameters they'll let you. Having them now also makes me a little sad thinking about how many large constrictors have been in the pet trade that you know have suffered Ill fates because of how accessible and inexpensive they have been to buy. Since I've had mine I've gone from the 6x3 cage is suitable for all but the biggest females to planning on 7x3x3 2story cagesfor their forever homes and racking my brain on how I could fit even bigger.