Letting your snake explore?

[Jeo123]

So is letting your snake explore the living room(supervised of course) a bad idea? I feel like living inside a tank must get kind of boring after a while. Of course I can easily see the counter point of to a snake, being placed in the middle of a wide open room with nothing to hide under isn't a very secure feeling.

Thoughts?

[Alexandra V]

Personally, I'd be a bit hesitant to let my snake explore, even under supervision, just because what if they get into or under something and you can't find them again? I've heard horror stories from a friend who used to breed corns, one escaped (okay, not supervised, I know) and they found it beaten to a pulp in the couch springs.

I'd be really terrified to have my snake get around heaters too (they get really hot, burns...) and anything that you might not know is there (holes, or ways to get into places that they shouldn't be in).

I just don't think it's a good idea.

[loonunit]

I think most of my ball pythons do enjoy it, but I've also had them crawl into stereo speakers and into the guts of couches when I went to answer the phone or even just looked away for a second.

I recommend starting them out in a semi-confined space, like a cluttered desk or a small bookshelf. See what kind of amazing trouble you get into there before you try letting them wander around a whole room.

[steveboos]

I only let them roam around when i'm cleaning cages and they DESERVE to explore. My Het Pied female usually will post up somewhere and put on her strike pose, she lost her priviledges. Everyone else cruises around with no issues, but they can get themself into some trouble roaming around a room with too much clutter.

[anatess]

True stories from my house:

1.) My kid wrapped the snake around his belly while reading on a wicker wing chair... he tried to get up but half the snake was coiled around the wicker behind the foam back. He got "stuck" to the chair. It took us a loooong time to unravel the snake out of the wicker diamonds.

2.) Another kid put the snake on a microfiber armchair. The snake was able to wedge himself through the crack between the seat and the back. She then happily crawled inside the arm of the chair and stayed there. We had to break apart the chair to get her out... and that's after she pooped and peed in the foam.

3.) My kids play fort with my snakes. They would put a snake under a "fort" with a flag and they would draw battle lines and have their toy soldiers/tanks/airplanes/whatever fight on the "battlefield", etc. The snakes don't go outside of their fort-hides. They never do.

4.) My pastel escaped once. We found her coiled inside a drawer about 5 feet from her enclosure.

5.) The albino escaped once too. We found her under the sink cabinet (behind the kickboard) not more than 10 feet from her enclosure.

6.) Our western hognose escaped once. W found him happily crossing through the middle of our bedroom floor... completely on the other side of the house from his enclosure. I have a 3,000 sq foot house.

So yeah, my ball pythons aren't really the most fun of snakes although they are still really cool to handle. They don't go places. If they're cruising - it's because they're trying to find some place to hide. Once they got their safe spot, they're staying there until they get cold or get hungry.

My western hognose, though... yeah, he likes to cruise around and pretend he's a cobra or something.

[uwanaknome]

I have a large stick in Brutis's tank that I will take out with him from time to time. I will place him next to it in the middle of the living room and he will just hang out there. He likes to go to the highest point of the stick and parascope and look around.

Sometimes I let him explore without the stick while I sit next to him, but he usually just crawls up next to my leg and chills...

[Void]

Long as you're there keeping an eye on em and making sure he/she doesn't get into something it shouldnt then it shouldn't be a problem. Just don't place em on the floor then go do something in the other room ya know