Wiggles, the Children's Python

[Homebody]

Last night, Wiggles completed five laps around my living room and, when he'd had enough, he put himself away. He was hanging out on his branches when I went to refresh his water and replace his ice block. When I was done, I just laid down in front of his enclosure to watch him. He stopped by to give me a sniff before climbing out onto the top of his enclosure. Over the course of a lap, he'll climb my house plants, surf the screen of the open window, climb down off the window sill into a large fern, crawl under one end table, behind my couch, under the matching end table, and finally head for the door. There I tap him, scoop him up, and return him to the activity station on top of his enclosure. Last night's session was particularly satisfying because my daughter was there and it was she who scooped him up at the end of each lap. I just love sharing the joy I get from playing with Wiggles with others. It was also satisfying because Wiggles was able to end the session when he'd had enough.

It was funny to me how it ended. On the fourth lap, I could see he was getting tired. He stopped to rest in the fern, under the couch and in the wicker basket on the second end table. So when I scooped him up, I thought he'd return to his enclosure. I'm pretty confident that he knows how to get back into his enclosure from his activity station. He's done it before. He did start for the enclosure entrance, but surprised me by heading out for another lap. I'm not sure if he tried to return home and just got confused, or if he changed his mind and just decided he wanted to go for another lap. Either way, on lap five he didn't dawdle. He raced through it. I think he was eager to get home. Sure enough, at the end of it, he quickly and confidently put himself away.

It was a prototypical activity session. He started it; he was active but also safe during it; and when he'd had enough, he ended it. I know they won't all go this well. Wiggles and I still have a lot to learn, but I expect good quality sessions like this one to one day become the norm.