My snake is all grown up now.
I thought I'd do a snake post, since Niko's fully grown now and I haven't put up pictures of him for more than a year. For anyone that doesn't know, in September 2011 we found a baby snake curled up in the recycling, and I kept it. Because in my family that's often how we end up with pets.
I shall put up some earlier pictures for comparison. Because I like before and after pictures.
When we first found Niko, hiding in the recycling, we put him in a tiny fish tank until we decided what to do with him. A year later he looked like this...
Complete with 2012 phone for comparison! I actually barely remember him being that small. Aw, he was adorable, and he's always so bright straight after shedding his skin that I can almost forgive him for immediately pooping everywhere. Seriously, don't pick up a snake straight after shedding. Let him poop in his water dish and then clean it out like everyone else.
I've learnt so much I never knew about snakes from the helpful people on the internet - and some things I never wanted to know and wish I'd never seen.
A year later in 2013, he looked like this.
King of the giant log, and just before he shed.
Niko is now just over four feet long, and he's eating extra large mice, with the occasional juvenile rat for a treat. It's still fascinating watching him cram dead things into his little head so they can disappear in the huge cyclinder of his body. And as a side note snake yawning is adorable!
This is him now!
When he last shed his skin it was five feet long due to stretching. I still have 2012 phone for demonstration purposes, and he's still king of the (not so giant now) log! What's been surprising, as he's grown, is how heavy he's gotten. Which shouldn't have surprised me so much really, since he's one great big chunk of muscle. But he's a hefty little bugger, and he has some power in him when he wraps around you and holds on so he can investigate things in mid-air.
So hard to get all of him in!
Aha, it's blurry and awful because it's a phone camera and he's escaping, but this is all of him!
He's about as wide as a Mars bar, I figure that's a fairly good comparison that most people can visualise. Imagine a snake made of Mars bars :D
I shall put up some earlier pictures for comparison. Because I like before and after pictures.
When we first found Niko, hiding in the recycling, we put him in a tiny fish tank until we decided what to do with him. A year later he looked like this...
Complete with 2012 phone for comparison! I actually barely remember him being that small. Aw, he was adorable, and he's always so bright straight after shedding his skin that I can almost forgive him for immediately pooping everywhere. Seriously, don't pick up a snake straight after shedding. Let him poop in his water dish and then clean it out like everyone else.
I've learnt so much I never knew about snakes from the helpful people on the internet - and some things I never wanted to know and wish I'd never seen.
A year later in 2013, he looked like this.
King of the giant log, and just before he shed.
Niko is now just over four feet long, and he's eating extra large mice, with the occasional juvenile rat for a treat. It's still fascinating watching him cram dead things into his little head so they can disappear in the huge cyclinder of his body. And as a side note snake yawning is adorable!
This is him now!
When he last shed his skin it was five feet long due to stretching. I still have 2012 phone for demonstration purposes, and he's still king of the (not so giant now) log! What's been surprising, as he's grown, is how heavy he's gotten. Which shouldn't have surprised me so much really, since he's one great big chunk of muscle. But he's a hefty little bugger, and he has some power in him when he wraps around you and holds on so he can investigate things in mid-air.
So hard to get all of him in!
Aha, it's blurry and awful because it's a phone camera and he's escaping, but this is all of him!
He's about as wide as a Mars bar, I figure that's a fairly good comparison that most people can visualise. Imagine a snake made of Mars bars :D