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.