Wiggles, the Children's Python

[Homebody]

Wiggles weighed 308g last night. That's a slight decrease from October, but no cause for concern. As an adult, his weight is supposed to plateau. To lure him out onto the scale, I've started using feeder mice. Reptilinks just aren't enticing enough. My last weigh-in in December failed because I accidently dropped the mouse as I was trying to lure him onto the scale. He quickly snatched it up and retreated to his hide. No harm done. I don't really need to weigh him. I, mostly, just do it out of curiosity.



I don't have a new length measurement to share. I need to find a new snake measuring tool. My beloved Serpwidgets bit the dust.

[Homebody]

For my latest trick, I subdivided Wiggles's tub with a cardboard sheet.



Under the cardboard, he has a hide and some cardboard tubes with newspaper for substrate. Above the cardboard, he has a large water tray, another hide and a temp/humidity gauge with repticarpet for substrate.



Besides just giving Wiggles another level to explore, I theorize that the cardboard will help trap the heat from the heat mat raising the ambient heat on the lowest level and the water vapor from the tub raising the humidity on the higher level. I, also, think it looks nicer than when it was just full of junk. Time will tell if Wiggles is as pleased with it as I am.

[Bogertophis]

I think snakes LOVE multi-level dwellings, at least in my experience -when I've done similar effects. That's quite a change for Wiggles though...all that open space? And they still appreciate things to grab onto, though the carpet helps a lot for traction.

[Homebody]

I think snakes LOVE multi-level dwellings, at least in my experience -when I've done similar effects. That's quite a change for Wiggles though...all that open space? And they still appreciate things to grab onto, though the carpet helps a lot for traction.

Good point. I'll throw some insulated paper under the cardboard for added traction.

[Homebody]

For my latest project, I decided to make a cover for Wiggles's enclosure. The room that Wiggles's enclosure sits in is lit for up to 18 hours a day. Children's pythons are from northern Australia where the day/night split is around 12/12 year round. So, I decided to create a cover for Wiggles's cage in order to get his day/night cycle closer to that 12/12 split. I haven't noticed any ill effects from the excessive "daylight", but snakes hide their weaknesses well and long term effects can be hard to see.

The front of Wiggles's enclosure is a simple piece of 1/8" plate glass. For the night cover, I had another piece cut that I will cover with blackout film. I plan to complete the project this weekend. I'll post a follow up once it's complete.

[Homebody]

The shipment arrived early. Cover turned out as well as I hoped. Go figure.




From Wiggles's perspective with the flash:



With the flash off:



I've been pondering this project for a long while. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully, Wiggles will appreciate it too. Maybe, it'll, even, add years to Wiggles's life.

[ROSIEonFIRE]

I wonder what he can see with the cover in place. Are children’s pythons crepuscular?


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[Homebody]

I wonder what he can see with the cover in place. Are children’s pythons crepuscular?

Children's pythons are nocturnal, so he can see a lot better than you are I could. Also, as you can see from the last pic (without the flash), a small amount of light leaks in around the edges of the cover. So, he has enough light for him to navigate his enclosure.

[Homebody]

Wiggles basking after a meal:



Wiggles prefers to partially bask from inside his warm side hide. It's rare to see him basking on the slate that I provided for that purpose. Curiously, he does not regularly bask after meals, at least not immediately after meals. The reason that he is today may be that he had a larger meal than normal last night (17g vs. 10g). Perhaps, he's able to digest a regular sized meal at ambient temps, but needs his basking spot to digest larger meals. Hopefully, time and continued observation will tell.

[Homebody]

Wiggles proving me wrong, again.



I've learned the secret of getting your snake to do what you want. All you have to do is publicly state that he never does it.