Cleo - my first snake

[Bogertophis]

...I feel almost as neurotic about trying to do everything right as when my wife and I had our first human kid . The difference is she wants nothing to do with Cleo.

You've obviously "done your homework" so I hope Cleo gives you no anxiety...& also that in time your wife will come to appreciate her too. BP's are pretty sweet pets,
but so many people were raised to fear all snakes...well, give her time. I'm an "animal lover" but never expected to get into snakes & didn't until I was an adult, after
realizing that most of what people repeat about snakes is false information.

[Bodie]

Sounds like you're doing great with the husbandry. BPs love the night. With mine he does not come out during the day. Every now and then he will stick his head out to see what's going on, but when the lights go out.....He is out and about cruising and exploring

[Maron]

Seems it was too early for a meal.

She looked at the mouse for a few seconds then turned away like “Dude! I’ve barely unpacked my stuff and you are dangling mice in my face! Get outta here.”

I will try again in a few days.

Does the time of day have any effect on their eating tendencies?

[Shayne]

I will try again in a few days.

Does the time of day have any effect on their eating tendencies?

Absolutely. Always feed at night. They're nocturnal and that's when the feeding response kicks in. I have one that hasn't eaten in 2 months and what I do is attempt a feed, no strike, then wait another week to try again.

Sounds like Cleo is in great hands. Good luck and keep us posted.

[KleoTheSnake]

Dude i literally just got a baby ball python a month ago and also named her Cleopatra or kleo. Beautiful snake.

[Maron]

Cleo was actually going to be called Alpharius (or Alfie for short) as I was going to get a male, but then I picked Cleo out at the expo and had to come up with a name more befitting of a royal princess.

Most of my pets have been named after historical figures in the past - Napoleon the rat, Musashi and Achilles the ferrets, to name a few.

I went with Cleo as I also wanted something my Japanese relatives could say without too much trouble and figured Boudicea might be a handful .

Do you have any photos of Kleo? Would be interesting to see whether they resemble each other in any way.

[Maron]

I am so happy. Cleo just took her first mouse from me. It was tough going but we got there.

When I tried 2 days ago she was outside her hide and basically turned away from the mouse and headed in the other direction and I gave up. This time I decided to be a bit more persistent. It was a trial and error mess but she took the mouse eventually .

She was in her hide and I warmed the mouse up and dangled it around in front of the entrance but there was nothing. Then I foolishly took her hide off and tried to tease her with the mouse, sometimes even rubbing her body (I read this on an old post in this forum somewhere) but she balled up and hid her head. I was losing hope and put her hide back over her still all balled up.

I hit the mouse again with the hairdryer and tried jiggling it again but nothing. Then my wife, who for someone that wouldn't look at a picture of Cleo a few days ago was showing quite a bit of interest in the feeding attempt, suggested I just leave the mouse there for a while. So I just popped him down with his head just inside the hide and left him there for a few minutes. When I came back I could just see Cleo's head a couple of centimeters from the mouse and so gently picked up the tail and moved him back and she struck, and missed. But now I had her attention and I just teased the mouse's head inside the hide a little more and she struck again and wrapped it up (it is quite a surprise when she strikes even though I was praying for it).

I tugged on the tail a little bit to make sure she had it properly and wasn't just striking it out of fear and she had a good grip. After a couple of minutes the mouse started slowly disappearing into the hide.

By now I had all the lights off to make sure nothing disturbed her and I couldn't see jack other than the mouse's tail slowly creeping into the hide.

I am pretty certain she ate it but am just going to wait until morning to check it out for sure.

I feel so relieved. There are so many posts about them not eating that it is easy to feel intimidated and over worried, especially at the beginning.

Sorry for the long waffle but I am just pleased she took a mouse.

Edit...
I just checked her before bed and she had moved over to her warm hide and there is no sign of a mouse in her cool hide...mouse 0 - Cleo 1!

[Shayne]

Yesss! That's awesome! Don't worry about the long post as we all totally understand what it feels like to have one not eat. It's worrisome, to say the least. Now, what I do is my noodle at least a couple days with no interaction and about day 3 (after his meal) is when I take him out for handling.

Congrats!!

[Ax01]

Cleo is very cute! congrats on your first snake and congrats on a successful feeding!

[Maron]

Today I took Cleo out of her enclosure for the first time since she came home last week for 15 minutes of handling.

She was shy at first but soon began exploring my arms and belly.





And a quick video:



Does her breathing seem normal? Seems a bit heavy to me.