The Rufous Beaked Snake

Basics about my snake(I'll keep it Chronological)

Monday (Feeding Day) - In the morning I usually wake up to a familiar face staring at me from his cage. He is sort of timid and when I walk up to him he normally goes back into hiding. At other times, he will hide his body and only expose his head and a small portion of his tail.

Some time between the morning and afternoon, I make it a point to take him out of his cage to let him explore. He is generally afraid of being too high in the air with no stability. I make it point to keep him close (with protective clothing) and allow him to wrap the last third of his body around my forearm. He generally hides between my body and arm and observes where we are going. I have found that his favorite thing to do is crawl on my bed and search about the room (he is also very fast so you have to keep watch on him constantly).

Later in the afternoon, once the Mice have Thawed, I start the feeding process (I have a few snakes). I normally save feeding my Rufous for last so he can relax and enjoy his meal (he does not like sudden movements and will run and hide). Feeding is done by placing a Thawed Mouse on a paper towel to keep substrate from getting in his mouth.

On feeding Live Mice... I assure that Live feedings are very successful with the "Rufous Beaked Snake. However, I advise against it because of the possible harm to the snake. For educational purposes, I will compare the feeding response of the Rufous Beaked Snake to that of a "Midget Body Builder Gone Wild". He is incredibly strong for his size and well... I have never seen a mouse be permanently constricted to less than half it's size (in diameter). I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

On feeding Dead Mice... I like this best because he comes out, inspects, wolfs it down and grabs a drink of water. And well, that's it! Just remember to get the Paper towel out of the cage.

Tuesday / Wednesday - I generally leave him alone to digest his prey. However, I do monitor what he does and is as follows... I still wake up to him staring at me or some part of the room through his cage. I leave him alone except to change his water (done every other day). He goes back and forth like always from each hide box and that's about it.

Thursday - Sunday - These are the days that I take him out and handle him the most (similar to Monday's). These are the times where I handle him and Inspect his cage. These days I inspect the cage for "Poo-Doo" and spot clean as necessary. I am always on the prowl for mites and stuff and use these days to check all of my snakes for any abnormalities.

I will post a scientific care sheet as I get the time... this is just a basic chronological week of the life of my Rufous.