Discussion time - Boredom and "enrichment" in snakes

[MD_Pythons]

Dude, this thread is four years old. Necropost much?

[Zincubus]

I agree with you. Reptiles are intelligent creatures, too. And not just lizards--snakes, as well. And I think you're right when you mentioned that maybe it's because we can't always interpret their body language as well as other animals, like cats or horses. Or even lizards.
So many owners say they're content to just sit in a small, sterile tub (which has nothing to do with their natural environment), with a water dish, and maybe two hides. It's ridiculous. Sure, they'll survive. That covers their basic needs. But their psychological health will suffer.
I recently read an article published by herpetologists that no, ball pythons do not just burrow in some hole and "wait for their food to come." They know they need to search for food. And they love climbing trees. They're semi-arboreal, a fact proven by scientists that few owners know.
And to those owners who say their herps do well in plastic tubs with nothing to do all day BUT sit in their hides waiting for food, explain to me just why they are finicky eaters. In the past year of having my ball python, she has never ONCE passed up food. I don't have the greatest setup for her yet (I'm going bioactive this weekend, finally), but she's not in a tub, with artificial hides. Yet any owner who has plastic tubs will say ball pythons are finicky eaters. Any owner with a naturalistic setup or bioactive one will likely say theirs eat 99% of the time.
Bioactive environments are one way to add enrichment. It's completely natural, so it reminds them of home.
Another rather necessary "enrichment" item should be a branch. Again, they're semi-arboreal.
I really like the idea of building the ends of branches into a wooden enclosure, so that if the snake climbs the walls, he can go through all the branch ends. I can't find it on Google again.
It'd be neat to see what one would do with cat toys lol.
I'd say that they're creatures, they need a life. They're alive--they aren't just inanimate objects designed for display. They have thoughts, emotions, personalities, and intellect. Thus, they need something other than a tub, with two hides (if they're lucky) and a water bowl. That's not a life. That's a life dimmed down for our entertainment. But that's not what they were designed for, was it? They need some form of enrichment, and we as responsible owners need to provide it. Otherwise, it should be illegal.

Excellent post - we share the exact same views , it seems .

Marry me !!

Wait .... Better run that past the wife , first


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[Zincubus]

somehow i dont think they just hide all the time and sit around to ambush rhodents.

there is this ball python temple in Benin that a few hundred ball pythons use as a hiding place during the day. and each night they all move out, all of them leave the temple behind and go hunting in the surrounding areas. in the morning they all return. farmers that have ball pythons on their farm say the same thing, they have their hiding place for the day, but at night they are all on the move. some BP breeding farms operate the same way, the pythons need to get their own rhodents, all that the humans do is to provide the right hiding place at the right location and to seperate out and lock up the gravid females for egg laying.

so i dont think they are as sluggish as some of these posts characterize them. they have a hiding place for the day and a hunting area for the night, and they move quite a distance each night, and some exploration has to be involved because they are not born with a hiding place and a hunting ground, they need to figure it out and find the right places.

i dont think they are interested in toys or anything like that, but im sure that when you give a BP more room to roam around it will be appreciated and used by the BP.

Very interesting .


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[BluuWolf]

I absolutely believe that snakes have personality. Each of my little ones are very unique in their own ways and I love to see it but in my experience all of these enrichment items and all that didn’t do anything for them.

I used to keep my guys in larger enclosures with branches and things to climb on and all that fun stuff and they never used them once lol. Sure at night my guy Meeko would sometimes poke his head out to get a drink and look around a little but that’s it and I didn’t see Azura at all until it was time to feed lol

I know some will say just give them the space and they will use it and even if not it doesn’t hurt, but in the case of my girl Azura she has thrives so much better in a rack system. I had lots of clutter (so many plants you could barely see in there XD) and all temps and humidity were correct but she still was very very shy in and out of the enclosure and would frequently skip meals. After switching to a rack it’s like she bloomed! She has quickly become one of my bolder snakes and always pokes her head out to say hello when I open up her tub lol.

Now am I saying all snakes are like mine? No of course not! If your snake loves the room then by all means keep doing what you’re doing but exceptions don’t make the rule lol

I give my guys hides still and some fake plants as well and they have plenty of room to stretch out and move around if they wanted to, but as for enrichment items or toys or something I don’t because I know they won’t use. Yes I recognize and love their personality and don’t see them as some unfeeling creature but I also understand them and know what they need and what they just don’t care about


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[Zincubus]

I absolutely believe that snakes have personality. Each of my little ones are very unique in their own ways and I love to see it but in my experience all of these enrichment items and all that didn’t do anything for them.

I used to keep my guys in larger enclosures with branches and things to climb on and all that fun stuff and they never used them once lol. Sure at night my guy Meeko would sometimes poke his head out to get a drink and look around a little but that’s it and I didn’t see Azura at all until it was time to feed lol

I know some will say just give them the space and they will use it and even if not it doesn’t hurt, but in the case of my girl Azura she has thrives so much better in a rack system. I had lots of clutter (so many plants you could barely see in there XD) and all temps and humidity were correct but she still was very very shy in and out of the enclosure and would frequently skip meals. After switching to a rack it’s like she bloomed! She has quickly become one of my bolder snakes and always pokes her head out to say hello when I open up her tub lol.

Now am I saying all snakes are like mine? No of course not! If your snake loves the room then by all means keep doing what you’re doing but exceptions don’t make the rule lol

I give my guys hides still and some fake plants as well and they have plenty of room to stretch out and move around if they wanted to, but as for enrichment items or toys or something I don’t because I know they won’t use. Yes I recognize and love their personality and don’t see them as some unfeeling creature but I also understand them and know what they need and what they just don’t care about


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I'd say that adding snake 'toys' is just taking things too far and quite simply just daft .

My Pythons and Boas all have branches and use them in the evenings- especially the Royals !

Kings and Corn don't seem as interested though .

Snakes are all so different maybe that's why we love them


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[SDA]

I'd say that adding snake 'toys' is just taking things too far and quite simply just daft .

What are you talking about? I have squeaky toys and those little hamster wheels for mine and they love them! What's so daft about playing dress up with my snakes and teaching them fetch?

Joking aside, I put a new humidity probe in my BP's cage and he has spent the past week thumping it against the wall like a kid with a new soccer ball so who knows about them toys huh?

[AbsoluteApril]

If the enrichment doesn't add any extra stress (which may be hard to measure) I have no issues with it and happy to see people providing larger enclosures and offering more options for the snakes to explore and do snake things either in or out of the enclosure.

And to those owners who say their herps do well in plastic tubs with nothing to do all day BUT sit in their hides waiting for food, explain to me just why they are finicky eaters. In the past year of having my ball python, she has never ONCE passed up food. I don't have the greatest setup for her yet (I'm going bioactive this weekend, finally), but she's not in a tub, with artificial hides. Yet any owner who has plastic tubs will say ball pythons are finicky eaters. Any owner with a naturalistic setup or bioactive one will likely say theirs eat 99% of the time.

Mine basically 'sit in their hides waiting for food' in tubs but they also eat fine and are not finicky. I know lots of others in the same boat, I think your generalization was painted with a bit of a broad stroke.