New owner with a normal male (Atticus) progression thread

[RoyalRegius]

The issues tend to arrive once their full grow. A hungry 5 foot python can be a bit more to deal with when it comes to using a feeding box.

[Shamri]

I did my first monthly cleaning/disinfecting yesterday. I washed everything with dish soap, rinsed, sprayed with a 10% bleach solution, waited a few minutes, rinsed, and then let dry. I was almost patient enough to wait for it to dry completely, but I admittedly baked some of the moisture off with the heat lamp. I emptied out the substrate in his tank and did the same dish soap/bleach treatment. It was a bit tricky to rinse without disturbing the UTH, but we managed. I had a bag of substrate ready to go once it dried, but I couldn't use it because it was completely damp. Luckily, I have paper towels in Costco-like quantity, so that is what I am using temporarily.

Atticus has apparently been taking lessons from his cat siblings, even though they have only met accidentally on the rare occasion. Just like they have to christen their clean litter boxes, Atticus decided that he had to christen his freshly cleaned cage. I like to think that it was his way of saying, "Thanks for all your hard work, Mom! Look what I made for you!"

One question I have is about the repti-vine he currently has. It seems very fragile, and I think the bleaching made it lose some of its integrity. The outside layer seems to be crumbling in spots, so there is repti-vine debris all over. I almost removed it today, but he was sprawled out on it with his tail curled around a plant. It was just too cute. Does anyone else have experience with this product, or recommendations for other fun snake perches? Here is a link to the product:

http://www.petco.com/product/10412/E...ngle-Vine.aspx