Snakes

[Jones.]

Hiya! Sorry to be back again.

I’ve had Squirt for about 4 months now and he’s s super defensive with me. I handle him everyday for at least 15 minutes and when he’s being handled he’s completely fine yet whenever I go to pick him up it’s like he’s never seen me before and he immediately goes into a defensive position and has even began to strike at me at this point. I’m a little confused and worried as to why he does this. He’s eating and shedding normally on a regular schedule, his tank has loads of shelter and hiding spots and I even half cover it at night for additional safety. I just don’t understand why he still isn’t comfortable and it’s becoming quite disheartening. Any advice would really be appreciated. Thank you!

[kivr & fireflii]

Hiya! Sorry to be back again.

I’ve had Squirt for about 4 months now and he’s s super defensive with me. I handle him everyday for at least 15 minutes and when he’s being handled he’s completely fine yet whenever I go to pick him up it’s like he’s never seen me before and he immediately goes into a defensive position and has even began to strike at me at this point. I’m a little confused and worried as to why he does this. He’s eating and shedding normally on a regular schedule, his tank has loads of shelter and hiding spots and I even half cover it at night for additional safety. I just don’t understand why he still isn’t comfortable and it’s becoming quite disheartening. Any advice would really be appreciated. Thank you!

Snakes can act defensive for a variety of reasons. Being underfed, husbandry is off, over handling, etc. What are you temperatures/humidity, and what are you measuring with? Can you post a picture of his set up?
-fireflii

[darwins]

winry looks just like my pastel ball python finn!!

[miss_skye]

winry looks just like my pastel ball python finn!!

Oh that's awesome! You should post a pic of Finn

[snowdrake]

so, I've been wondering, what is the difference between the charcoal and the anerythristic corn snake morph? I appareantly have a charcoal corn, but I don't know if that's true and if he might be an anerythristic one? I can post a pic if needed :3

[Uchuujin]

One of my ball pythons died sometime yesterday. She was the youngest/newest, and we had struggled with her from day one. She came from the breeder super underweight and absolutely infested with mites. We spent so much money taking her to the vet and getting that cleared up, only for her to stop eating. For the longest time we had been "force" feeding her until she got the hang of it, but even when she was eating on her own she didn't have the interest in food my other snakes have. She would just kind of gently take the body from you, it was like she had no strike drive at all. When she died, she was almost a year old, but she was still almost the same size we got her at.

I don't know if she was just sick with something that the vets never caught or if there was something wrong with her from bad breeding. IDK

But yesterday we fed her and left her alone to digest, but this morning we found that she had choked up her half-digested mouse and just passed away

I'm super sad but not surprised because of all her health problems. It was just one thing after the other.

I'm just worried about my other 2 ball pythons because their habitats are in the same room, so I hope it's not something contagious that they could get through the air or something? That's probably stupid, and they're probably fine since they're housed separately... right?

[SylverTears]

One of my ball pythons died sometime yesterday. She was the youngest/newest, and we had struggled with her from day one. She came from the breeder super underweight and absolutely infested with mites. We spent so much money taking her to the vet and getting that cleared up, only for her to stop eating. For the longest time we had been "force" feeding her until she got the hang of it, but even when she was eating on her own she didn't have the interest in food my other snakes have. She would just kind of gently take the body from you, it was like she had no strike drive at all. When she died, she was almost a year old, but she was still almost the same size we got her at.

I don't know if she was just sick with something that the vets never caught or if there was something wrong with her from bad breeding. IDK

But yesterday we fed her and left her alone to digest, but this morning we found that she had choked up her half-digested mouse and just passed away

I'm super sad but not surprised because of all her health problems. It was just one thing after the other.

I'm just worried about my other 2 ball pythons because their habitats are in the same room, so I hope it's not something contagious that they could get through the air or something? That's probably stupid, and they're probably fine since they're housed separately... right?

It's not a stupid worry to have. You should always quarantine new reptiles in a separate room because ailments can travel via different enclosures. Also keep some Provent-a-mite on hand. Sounds like likely this hatchling wasn't meant to thrive and it isn't contagious, but you can never be too careful in the reptile hobby.

[kivr & fireflii]

I'm sorry to hear about your new bp. :( I don't know a lot of issues that can travel between snakes via air, but I know often times people that have mite issues tend to separate rooms. By the sounds of the issues, I wonder if maybe there was an internal issue preventing the snake from digesting properly or breaking down all the appropriate nutrients? If she came underweight and with mites, I also wonder if there's some genetic issue the breeder was (knowingly or unknowingly) breeding. Either way, it sounds like she started with extremely poor care, and on top of whatever issue she had, the care you gave her just wasn't enough to combat it.
-fireflii

[.Starling.]

Heyyyy reptile owners of CS! I'm getting a western hognose very soon. I was wondering if you had any tips or good info for me to ensure that I give it the best home I possibly can.

[SylverTears]

Heyyyy reptile owners of CS! I'm getting a western hognose very soon. I was wondering if you had any tips or good info for me to ensure that I give it the best home I possibly can.

This species is pretty easy to keep. Keep them similar to a ball python at 85-88 degrees. They like to dig, so aspen or multiple layers of paper towels is a good substrate. Sometimes they can be tricky to get feeding well, so I'd recommend one well established on frozen thawed pinkies. Avoiding handling your new animal for a couple weeks to let it settle in.