New Snake!
I posted a few months ago about how I was planning on getting a snake in October and I finally am getting around to posting some pictures!
In September a friend of mine who has had many, many reptiles offered me her old 20 galleon tank that she'd gotten for her Bearded Dragon when it was still a baby. She gave me the stand, the tank, the locking screen lid and the hood free of charge in exchange for hauling it away and scrubbing it myself. I ended up not needing the hood at all.
Desert backgrounds!
Some of my snake books kept nearby for research and checking on possible snake problems. And yes. They can give you nightmares. Especially the ones re: the diseases...
Another shot of it before I had hides or substrate.
And the final effect.
Well, after a lot of looking at the Dixie Reptile Expo, I finally stumbled upon my new snake. He is a Ghost Brooks Kingsnake and he's about 2 years old. His name is Pixel because his pigment looks more pixelated than banded, though his bands are recognizable if he's stretched out.
Of all the snakes that I handled at the expo, he was the only one who never thrashed in my hands after being picked up, never struck at me, and didn't musk all over me. My husband actually was able to handle him without any difficulty and over all he was extremely docile. I worked out a reasonable deal with the breeder and brought him home on the 20th.
On the way home he was pretty active. He moved around his cage a lot and seemed very calm while being handled, though he was very adventurous and tried to explore whenever he was out of the cage.
His enclosure seems to be doing him a lot of good, but I'm thinking about getting him a larger hide on the cool side of his tank.
As you can see, he's pretty tame. He likes to hang out on shoulders, wrists and arms for the most part.
I love this picture. I feel like he's saying, "Waz up?"
This one also makes him look pretty cute for a snake.
He is a very huggy snake and likes to use the tip of his tail to cling to my fingers...which of course, is usual behavior for a snake.
And another side shot of his face.
Two days after his first meal, he got ready to shed. I pulled him out of the cage for an hour or so to clean it up. I managed to get this close up shot of him. His scales remind me of the old etch-n-sketch I used to play with when I was a kid.
He likes to roam around the edge of the cage and stretch out before folding himself over into a loop.
This is a sort of blurred picture of his current set up. Both the cactus and the plant are fake. The skull is a bit smaller than I think he needs, but he used it to get out of his skin last night, so I'm not sure if I should get rid of it.
This was another head shot before he shed.
This morning when I woke up, he'd shed without any issue. I'd increased the humidity in his tank that night by doing a good mist on his substrate and when I got up, there was snake skin coming out of both of the eyes of his skull hide. Since I'd been waiting until he shed to feed him, I got him some dinner after I came home from work. It was pretty awesome. The first time I fed him, he seemed almost bored with it. He snatched the mouse (thawed) from my tongs and then just sort of gulped it down within a few minutes. This time though, when I lifted the lid to his feeding bin, he lunged out, mouth wide open. He scared the crap out of my husband, but I intersected his gaping face with his mouse and he happily squeezed it until it bled. Which also freaked out the husband. Anyway, after his delicious dinner of mouse, I put him back in his cage, but instead of curling up to sleep like he'd done last week, he was still in hunt mode and began racing around the enclosure and banging his head on the screen top.
Then, he did this.
So at first, this freaked me out. A lot. I'd been reading about mouth rot and even though there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his mouth, I was worried that he'd gotten a piece of substrate in his mouth. I'd been careful to keep his feeding bin clear, so I just didn't know what it could be. I decided that maybe his tank was too hot so I turned his bulb off for a bit and waiting. After all, he was completely in his water dish.
Then I went through my books and checked some online forums. Apparently it's really common for snakes to reset their jaws after they eat? I've been watching him pretty close and that seems to be what happened. He hasn't regurged or done anything unusual since this.
Please someone also calm my over active imagination and tell me I'm not crazy for being freaked out about this. This is my first snakes and while I have read a ton of books, nothing beats experience.
Anyway, thanks for all the help I received when I first started asking questions! I'm really happy with Pixel.
In September a friend of mine who has had many, many reptiles offered me her old 20 galleon tank that she'd gotten for her Bearded Dragon when it was still a baby. She gave me the stand, the tank, the locking screen lid and the hood free of charge in exchange for hauling it away and scrubbing it myself. I ended up not needing the hood at all.
Desert backgrounds!
Some of my snake books kept nearby for research and checking on possible snake problems. And yes. They can give you nightmares. Especially the ones re: the diseases...
Another shot of it before I had hides or substrate.
And the final effect.
Well, after a lot of looking at the Dixie Reptile Expo, I finally stumbled upon my new snake. He is a Ghost Brooks Kingsnake and he's about 2 years old. His name is Pixel because his pigment looks more pixelated than banded, though his bands are recognizable if he's stretched out.
Of all the snakes that I handled at the expo, he was the only one who never thrashed in my hands after being picked up, never struck at me, and didn't musk all over me. My husband actually was able to handle him without any difficulty and over all he was extremely docile. I worked out a reasonable deal with the breeder and brought him home on the 20th.
On the way home he was pretty active. He moved around his cage a lot and seemed very calm while being handled, though he was very adventurous and tried to explore whenever he was out of the cage.
His enclosure seems to be doing him a lot of good, but I'm thinking about getting him a larger hide on the cool side of his tank.
As you can see, he's pretty tame. He likes to hang out on shoulders, wrists and arms for the most part.
I love this picture. I feel like he's saying, "Waz up?"
This one also makes him look pretty cute for a snake.
He is a very huggy snake and likes to use the tip of his tail to cling to my fingers...which of course, is usual behavior for a snake.
And another side shot of his face.
Two days after his first meal, he got ready to shed. I pulled him out of the cage for an hour or so to clean it up. I managed to get this close up shot of him. His scales remind me of the old etch-n-sketch I used to play with when I was a kid.
He likes to roam around the edge of the cage and stretch out before folding himself over into a loop.
This is a sort of blurred picture of his current set up. Both the cactus and the plant are fake. The skull is a bit smaller than I think he needs, but he used it to get out of his skin last night, so I'm not sure if I should get rid of it.
This was another head shot before he shed.
This morning when I woke up, he'd shed without any issue. I'd increased the humidity in his tank that night by doing a good mist on his substrate and when I got up, there was snake skin coming out of both of the eyes of his skull hide. Since I'd been waiting until he shed to feed him, I got him some dinner after I came home from work. It was pretty awesome. The first time I fed him, he seemed almost bored with it. He snatched the mouse (thawed) from my tongs and then just sort of gulped it down within a few minutes. This time though, when I lifted the lid to his feeding bin, he lunged out, mouth wide open. He scared the crap out of my husband, but I intersected his gaping face with his mouse and he happily squeezed it until it bled. Which also freaked out the husband. Anyway, after his delicious dinner of mouse, I put him back in his cage, but instead of curling up to sleep like he'd done last week, he was still in hunt mode and began racing around the enclosure and banging his head on the screen top.
Then, he did this.
So at first, this freaked me out. A lot. I'd been reading about mouth rot and even though there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his mouth, I was worried that he'd gotten a piece of substrate in his mouth. I'd been careful to keep his feeding bin clear, so I just didn't know what it could be. I decided that maybe his tank was too hot so I turned his bulb off for a bit and waiting. After all, he was completely in his water dish.
Then I went through my books and checked some online forums. Apparently it's really common for snakes to reset their jaws after they eat? I've been watching him pretty close and that seems to be what happened. He hasn't regurged or done anything unusual since this.
Please someone also calm my over active imagination and tell me I'm not crazy for being freaked out about this. This is my first snakes and while I have read a ton of books, nothing beats experience.
Anyway, thanks for all the help I received when I first started asking questions! I'm really happy with Pixel.