Merauke scrub python female, progression thread

[spazhime]

Had a really interesting experience with her recently. She was in shed for about a month and a half (Which can be an indicator of either a hormonal change, color change, or growth spurt. Honestly not sure which one this was. Normally she is only in shed for about two weeks before shedding). I missed the blue phase so didn't even notice she was in shed until she started to try and slough off the shed. Due to how thick and heavy the shed was, she would have needed a pretty intense humidity spike to help her out. Because I was unaware of her being in shed, she got a bit of stuck shed on the front half of her body. So of course I needed to take her out and give her a bit of a sauna to help her shed. Of course, she was really mad (I imagine she was super itchy and the stuck shed was likely pulling her scales uncomfortably) She musked, which she hasn't done in years, and struck at me quite a bit both before and after the sauna. She did not want me to touch her, but I knew she would feel so much better once the shed started coming off. I dodged her strikes and finally managed to get close enough with the towel to start rolling the shed off. Immediately she calmed down, stopped striking, and helped me get the shed off of her. As soon as we were done, she was immediately puppy dog tame again, letting me pet her head and all. It's just so interesting to me that what most people see as aggression is actually them trying to communicate. She was telling me she didn't want to be messed with in the only way she knew how, but the second she realized I was helping her she stopped and seemed to appreciate the help. Scrubs are so, so smart and honestly she is tied for my favorite snake with Leliana (my BEL ball python).

Anyways, here's some pictures of her gorgeous self