Lizard's totally unnecessary snek thread

This is true. And even food drive is not a terribly strong motivator for some. Angel's been on live and dead prey. I haven't fed her live, but I'll wiggle her "prey" for her most times to give her some stimulation.

She'll strike and constrict a wiggly dead mouse, but if I just plop a mouse in there she won't even do that. She'll just do the snake equivalent of sauntering vaguely over to the food and chowing down.

For all BPs are called puppies, they're really the cats of the reptile world. Lazy, fussy, and a little dim but very cuddle-able.

 

Serket does the same thing lol. Strudel will hit that rat like a bullet every time though. And that is pretty much the exact perfect description of ball pythons I have ever read.

 

Do ball pythons ever show a knack for learning how to open their enclosures?

 

I've never experienced it, but my cage has multiple latches and a heavy lid. That said, I now need to go check and make sure Quantum Mechanics didn't open her cage.

I know of people who have had escapees. One of the advantages of plastic tubs is they lock down tight, but I like the aesthetics of glass (even if it makes humidity maintenance a bitch) so I got a heavy, mesh lid that interlocks with the top of the cage and latches down.

 

A beeps primary method of looking for an escape route is mostly just shoving their nose into things randomly. If they don't like their environment they can be very persistent about it, so that's why it's important to a) make sure your husbandry is correct and b) make sure you have an enclosure that latches securely from the outside. If you DO have an escape point that you don't take care of and secure, you can bet they'll learn where it is after a couple times.

 

Try wrapping a piece of card board big enough to cover most of the screen but the part where you have any heat/light elements in some aluminum foil and putting it over the screen mesh. Less area for moisture to escape through and reflects the heat back into the enclosure so it will help stabilize ambient temps too.

 

Snakes are awesome and while I am terrible about talking about them, I really love this thread. BP genetics are super fascinating.

 

Welp, I was going write up a post explaining marking and pattern terminology, but wheremyscalesslither beat me to it.

 

I haven't heard of anything besides:
"Wobble" in Spider (motor control issues)
"Kinking" in Super Cinnamon and possibly Caramel (spine formation issues)
and there's potential for something weird in Woma or Super Woma but I forget what.

 

http://www.owalreptiles.com/issues.php

A list of current known issues that are genetically linked in ball pythons. The homozygous spider is a weird one. Some people claim it's lethal, others claim it just doesn't do any thing special so there's no way to tell one from a het spider anyway. People who have bred spider to spider pairings report everything across the board from perfectly normal and healthy clutches that hatch fine to lower than normal hatch rates, to females totally slugging out (the eggs they lay are infertile). I honestly don't think we'll ever get the answer to that one :/

 

I have also had friends refer to them as happiness noodles :D

 

"Long Dog" seems to be common

 

Cross posting pretty snek pic from tumblr! Both girls shed this week so they're all shiny and pretty aaaaah.

 

@Lizardlicks THAT PUPPY FACE OH NO

 

I'm still trying to figure out what cultivar these crocus are. I've never seen the fall blooming variety and they totally surprised me when they came up after we had a dip in temps with some rain over the weekend. Something the old owners planted so there isn't anyone I can go ask.

 

Well that settles it. I need an enchi bee. Crap.

 

I doubt it, since they're in the formal flower bed right next to the house. Unless someone found wild ones and decided the best place for them was obviously their garden, which could be possible.