Wiggles, the Children's Python

[Homebody]

Would you share a link or details on the camera you're using, in case someone considers buying one? Asking for a friend, of course...

Mine's an Argus Eco Pro. I chose it because it's battery powered, stores data on an SD card in the camera, and I could manage it on my PC. There are a lot of very good options that are both smaller and cheaper, but they require you to manage them via an app on your smart phone. I don't have a smart phone.

[Homebody]

The camera has been really helping me to get to know Wiggles better. I've never seen Wiggles so much as sip from his water bowl, but the camera caught him taking a dip. Actually, two dips. They were quick, not proper soaking, but it's still significant behavior.


One of the reasons that I use a large water bowl is so that he can soak if he wants, but after two years of never seeing him soak, I had started putting less water in the bowl. I didn't see the point. I, even, considered replacing it with a small bowl to free up space. Now that I've seen him using it for it's intended purpose, I'll keep it filled.

When he's in the terrarium, he splits his time between his sky hide and his ledge. No surprises there. I did see him use his wedge hide a couple times, either in or on it, and that did surprise me. When he's in the terrarium, he will periodically roam the enclosure for 30 to 60 minutes, once or twice a night. He's spent very little time basking, though he also hasn't eaten. He also spends a lot of time in the tub. Last week, I would have said he favors the terrarium. This week has been almost all tub.

Before I got the camera, my observations were limited to the evenings, and by my attention span. So, my observations were very limited indeed. Now, I'm able to observe his behavior for 16 hours a day. This will allow me to get to know Wiggles on a level that just wouldn't have been possible before.

Now, I don't want to oversell the value of the camera. I don't expect to see novel behavior very often. There is only so much Wiggles can do in his enclosure. What I hope is that I can develop a deeper understanding of why he does what he does. Even (dare I hope) be able to predict his behavior. If I could do that, that would be something.

[Homebody]

Wiggles weighed in at 287g last night, 10g less than last quarter. I'm not too concerned about it. I recall that his last weigh in didn't go well. So, I put an asterisk next to the measurement to indicate that I didn't have a lot of confidence in it. He hasn't eaten in 6 weeks, though. So, I suppose he could have dropped some weight, but I don't think he'd drop 10g that quickly.

His length measurement this quarter has a bit of an asterisk next to it as well. I couldn't get a nice shot of him straightened out next to the ruler. Serpwidgits does a pretty good job accounting for curves, but this time I feel the straight measurement is more accurate. So, that's the measurement I'm going with.




Three feet, finally, after flirting with it for so long.

[Bogertophis]

What's up with him not eating for 6 weeks? In shed?

[Homebody]

What's up with him not eating for 6 weeks? In shed?

Partially. I was experimenting with a random feeding schedule in an attempt to better replicate conditions in the wild. As happens when things are random, two feeding fell a week apart and this just so happened to be a week he was in shed. Now, you'd think, after missing the two previous feedings, that I'd have no trouble feeding him the next time around. No dice. He wasn't having it. He did eat last night so his brief fast is over.

One of the reasons I experimented with the random feeding schedule is that he's not an enthusiastic feeder. It's probably the reptilinks. Either the scent doesn't provoke a strong feeding response, or perhaps the larger links I switched to last year are too much. I'll probably switch back to the smaller links with my next order.

[Bogertophis]

I agree...that ^ ^ ^ explains a lot. Reptilinks etc. etc.

[Malum Argenteum]

I tried Reptilinks with about a dozen snakes, and only one of them would eat them more than once. Some of my rosy boas that would eat your shoe took one but refused to repeat the trick in subsequent offerings.

[Homebody]

I tried Reptilinks with about a dozen snakes, and only one of them would eat them more than once. Some of my rosy boas that would eat your shoe took one but refused to repeat the trick in subsequent offerings.

That surprises me because I know you keep king snakes and I thought king snakes would eat anything.

[Malum Argenteum]

That surprises me because I know you keep king snakes and I thought king snakes would eat anything.

I keep mountain kingsnakes -- Lampropeltis knoblochi, specifically. The mountain kings are naturally lizard feeders, though they'll wean onto rodents with some work. They can be reliable feeders but are virtually never 'foody' (I've never heard of one). You're probably thinking of the snakes in the former L. getula complex, such as the California king, which have a reputation for being very food driven. Those I have not kept, as they don't sound very fun.

[Homebody]

You're probably thinking of the snakes in the former L. getula complex, such as the California king, which have a reputation for being very food driven.

I was thinking that all king snakes are the same. You learn something new every day.