Tiny Python! (Anthill - Antaresia Parthensis)

[Caitlin]

There are a lot of big and beautiful pythons on this site - but I wanted to give some attention to our smaller friends. So here's a snapshot of Cricket, my Anthill Python. He'll be a year old next month and has just graduated to eating large pinky mice. At maturity, he'll be all of 19-20" long, and even though he's tiny, he is a fierce predator who takes his meals very seriously! As is true for the Antaresia in general, he has all of the curiosity, intensity, and intelligence of the larger pythons - just in a miniature python body. I love all of my snakes, but these little guys hold a special place in my heart.
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[Bogertophis]

Such awesome little predators. I share your enthusiasm for these diminutive pythons...I've had my larger version, a Spotted python, for 11+ years now, & recommend
them as pets for all the same traits you mentioned. I've never known an Anthill python but yours looks very similar to mine (mine is a 'granite phase'). None of the fussy
eating habits that BPs have...I don't ever have to warm the mice, lol. (do you?) Mine is about the size of an adult corn snake.

[dakski]

Beautiful animal.

Got to love the big personality in a small package.

Thank you for sharing.

[Caitlin]

Such awesome little predators. I share your enthusiasm for these diminutive pythons...I've had my larger version, a Spotted python, for 11+ years now, & recommend
them as pets for all the same traits you mentioned. I've never known an Anthill python but yours looks very similar to mine (mine is a 'granite phase'). None of the fussy
eating habits that BPs have...I don't ever have to warm the mice, lol. (do you?) Mine is about the size of an adult corn snake.

Granite phase Antaresia are very pretty! My three (Stimson's, Children's, and Anthill) are all wild type, and I am sure some of my friends wonder how I can be so enthusiastic about little brown spotted snakes when they're all working with spectacular Ball Python morphs, lol.

But I agree with you - they are fantastic pets. Easy husbandry, not fussy about eating at all, and very nice to handle because of that python tendency to be slow-moving rather than squirmy. They also seem to have real personalities and overall are just charming. And no, I never have to bother with warming mice - that mouse is a done deal as soon as they see it, though my Children's is funny at feeding time: she comes FLYING toward the mouse, all fierce, then suddenly brakes in front of it and takes it very slowly and delicately.

When recommending these guys as pets to new keepers, I hesitate to describe them as 'bulletproof' because I don't want a new keeper to become careless about husbandry as a result. But they are really tough, resilient little snakes.

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

It's so tiny! They are probably the coolest little snakes on the planet.

[Bogertophis]

...And no, I never have to bother with warming mice - that mouse is a done deal as soon as they see it, though my Children's is funny at feeding time: she comes FLYING toward the mouse, all fierce, then suddenly brakes in front of it and takes it very slowly and delicately...

That's what my Trans Pecos rat snakes often do...they seem to be more aware & deliberate. They are snakes first, of course, but they also exhibit self-control, showing that they remember they don't need to be fierce. I had one that used to eat from my fingers very carefully. Snakes that react this way seem smarter, or maybe the word is "evolved"? They clearly learn!

[vivi]

Now all you need is a spotted and you will have all the antaresia! Super cute, yet fierce, thank you for sharing!!

[Skyrivers]

There are a lot of big and beautiful pythons on this site - but I wanted to give some attention to our smaller friends. So here's a snapshot of Cricket, my Anthill Python. He'll be a year old next month and has just graduated to eating large pinky mice. At maturity, he'll be all of 19-20" long, and even though he's tiny, he is a fierce predator who takes his meals very seriously! As is true for the Antaresia in general, he has all of the curiosity, intensity, and intelligence of the larger pythons - just in a miniature python body. I love all of my snakes, but these little guys hold a special place in my heart.
[IMG][/IMG]

I love him... I love my retics but he is a beauty also. Do you have a full body photo?

[Bogertophis]

BTW, if your Anthill python is anything like my Spotted (?), he has impressive iridescence too. Good things DO come in small packages...

[Caitlin]

They are iridescent for sure, especially in the sun! I am sort of spoiled in the iridescence department thanks to my Brazilian Rainbow Boa, but the Antaresia are really surprising with that quality. I'll get a full-body photo of Cricket next to something that makes for an easy size comparison, though it'll be a few days because today was feeding day. I still laugh about this year-old snake muscling down a large mouse pinky.

And Vivi, the completionist in me considered a Spotted, but I think I am content with these three. If I get another snake at all, it'd likely be a Dumeril's. But aside from occasional twitches because I love all of the Australian pythons and would love a Bredli and a Papuan, I feel like I'm at a good place snakewise. I have the right number to set up a very attractive 'snake wall' of PVC enclosures in my study, I can handle my guys enough to keep them habituated to me without over-handling, and I can provide enrichment to this crew as well. As is true for all of us, I think, there's always a bit of a yearning for 'just one more', but I think I am at a good place as is.

Plus I always keep unexpected rescues in the back of my mind. I have at least one friend with very fragile health, and I know for sure I'd end up with his python if he becomes unable to care for it.