First Snake Opinions...

[pythonmum]

A small click-clack (plastic tub), heat mat and thermostat will do for a hatchling. There are a few threads on how to set these up. An adult can be kept in most fish tanks or a smaller enclosure. I have a spotted and stimson in a fairly large enclosure which is about 4 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot (not thinking metric ATM - sorry). Here's a picture with labels. My spotted is out cruising the branches, too.

 

[Londos1990]

i Agree with alot of people who haver said the woma, abit costly but worth the moneyh, im surprised noone has said a BHP, there absolutely gorgeous and placid but still costly...... looking at growing to 2.4-3m at adulthood too

 

[Goulburn_herper]

A small click-clack (plastic tub), heat mat and thermostat will do for a hatchling. There are a few threads on how to set these up. An adult can be kept in most fish tanks or a smaller enclosure. I have a spotted and stimson in a fairly large enclosure which is about 4 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot (not thinking metric ATM - sorry). Here's a picture with labels. My spotted is out cruising the branches, too.

Rough conversion to metric is 1220mm x 610mm x 610mm

 

[Snakelove]

Ok- now that I have decided on something- a Spotted (and yeah, SnakeLove, I will get a blonde- they are so pretty!), I have some more questions.

Enclosures. How? Where? What? Brace yourselves for a heap of questions...
How big should the enclosure for the hatchie be? (I'll most probably be buying from Snake Ranch, so (s)he'll be about a month old by the time I get him/her.)
When should I update the enclosure size? And how often do you update it?
When should (s)he be in the final-sized enclosure? And how big should that be?

Also-
Where can I find some pictures of some Antaresia enclosures? I've been googling and googling, but I can't find a simple picture.
And where can you buy enclosures? Some people make them, but I'm not quite up to that.

And one more thing- how hot should their enclosure be? And do you need both a heat lamp and mat, or just one?

PHEW! A lot of questions, I know, but like I said before- I'm a TOTAL newbie to this.

Thanks again!

For a month old as everybody has already said click clacks are the best. coz they get stressed out if the enclosure is too big. you move your spotted whenever you feel its needed. and enclosure size should be at least the half the length x a quarter of their length x a quarter of their length of an adult. so spotted approximately get around to 1.5 metres. so an ideal enclosure should be around 900mm length x 600mm height x 600mm depth (rough estimates coz thats what im putting my spotted in when shes big enough) =P. it also depends on if theyre arboreal which spotteds are not. they love the floor space. and if theyre adults, they'll appreciate a bigger enclosure. they love to get belly heat so therefore heat mats are the best way to go when theyre still a hatchie. i dont think theres a special spotted enclosure. its just based on if they love the floor space or height and how big they'll get in the end. if youre in the brisbane area, you can get your enclosure at pet city mt gravatt (was recommended to go there). their ideal temps are 30-32 at the hot end and around 24 degrees on the cold end. i use a heat mat right now since shes still a little baby and still in a click clack but when you upgrade to a proper enclosure you can get a heat lamp and underneath that place a rock slate (a flat piece of rock) and that acts as a heat mat as well. i feed it once a week. and i crank up the heat to around 32 after she eats so she digests better. this is all just based on my forum and book readings. im gonna do this too when she grows. so if this is wrong then im screwed =P. hopefully that helped you out. haha =)

 

[SlytherinGirl]

That's great- thanks so much.
So is the Heat Lamp to ensure the right air temperature and the heat mat purely so the little snake can warm his belly? And you can do this with just a rock slate? That makes things so much clearer.
I've heard so many terrible stories about little baby pythons getting stuck in the heat lamp enclosures and overheating- can you simply prevent this with smaller holes in the wire, or is there another alternative?

 

[Colin]

antaresia can go off their food greatly stressing new keepers, most bredli I have ever owned (and theres been a few) are snappy as hatchies, darwins can be snappy but some are placid... Id suggest a high yellow jungle python. and as Jordan said not all are snappy.. I own over 40 and there are very few that are aggressive.. mainly the krauss line palmerstons tend to be snappy. the SXR & RL tully lines I have are beautiful looking animals, handle like a dream and feed like champions people that say jungles are all aggressive usually have very limited experience with them.

Id suggest getting one from a reputable breeder and not look for "the cheapest you can find" which are usually rubbish. get one from a clean disease free collection.. you get what you pay for and when you try to find the cheapest available from some unknown or suspect source all you usually get is problems and rubbish. your probably going to have your animal for many years so try and get one that is the absolute best you can find.. and not one you will be disappointed with after a few months.

have a look the the jungle thread for some nice examples
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes-37/the-jungle-thread-104609

 

[Snakelove]

i havent actually tried the rock slate theory yet. i suggest you checking out the temps everywhere around the cage for the first 2 days before you put the snake in there. i read the rock slate idea from this forum somewhere. and for the belly heat, a vet told me. and yeah you just have to make sure the light cages are really small so they dont wrap around it. thats great that i can help you =)

 

[SlytherinGirl]

Thanks Colin, but I think that I'll stick with the nice n easy spotted. I try not to confuse myself any more than I already am!
I'm posting off my license today (yay!) so it's all ready and confirmed! I'm so excited!

My mum (who's most concerned about aesthetics- she's not planning to do any more than look at the snake) is now looking at getting an enclosure that we can mount on antique legs. She's planning for it to be a beautiful enclosure- with the changable backdrop etc.

I can't wait until January- I'll post off my order to Snake Ranch pretty soon, I think.

 

[pythonmum]

Tiny Antaresia might get caught in a heat lamp cage, but if you start with a plastic tub, you don't have that problem. When you do have a light, you need a nice cage for it like those shown in my enclosure photo. They are from HerpShop and are very tightly constructed with small mesh that doesn't gap or fray. I've seen home-made ones from window screen wire and was unimpressed. Antaresia are not supposed to be arboreal, but mine like their branch as well as the floor space. If you want to make something nice looking, have a look at backgrounds available from aquarium shops. You can sometimes get nice posters, too. A good branch from the local bush and a cheap fake vine for colour really improve things. You won't need to worry about that for a year probably, as yours will live in a tub or small enclosure for a while. Make sure you have a good thermostat to control your heat source with a probe on the surface where the snake hangs out. Heat mats are famous for overheating and melting plastic.

 

[SlytherinGirl]

Can you keep the click clack inside the larger enclosure? Or is it best to have it on its own on top of a heat mat? Or both- in the enclosure on top of the heat mat?

 

[pythonmum]

A heat mat is usually OUTSIDE an enclosure. I've used them with click-clacks, but not with a larger enclosure. If the snake is in a click-clack, don't bother to put this inside another enclosure. Because the heat mat is on the outside of the tub, you may want to put something underneath to protect your table top from the heat. I always kept mine on an old wooden serving tray. Made it easy to pick up and move the whole setup because the thermostat is also outside the click-clack, with the probe sticking inside. I prefer ceramic heat emitters or reptile radiators for a larger enclosure. Some people use heat cord under tiles - see the fact sheet on HerpShop for an idea. I've used sand, Breeder's Choice (BC) and newspaper as substrates. I'm currently using BC for the Antaresia because it looks nice and is easy to scoop out their small messes. I change all plus the underlying newspaper every couple of months in their large enclosure. I use newspaper for my Morelia because they make amazingly large messes and I frequently need to clean out the lot. (Our big Bredl girl let loose on my son yesterday and trashed half of the kitchen area, too - very funny, but messy.)

 

[SlytherinGirl]

Okay, sounds good.
Hmmm... what else do I need to know?

And also, is there a book I should get about snakes? I've heard that 'Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity' by John Weigel is a good one- any advice?

 

[pythonmum]

That's good. Also read the articles on the Southern Cross site - articles by Doc Rock Reptile Husbandry Articles by Southern Cross Reptiles. The first one or two will really help you. If there's a herp society near you, that would be good to join and pick up some tips from experienced keepers.

 

[SlytherinGirl]

That site is great- I'm reading through it now...

 

[JAS101]

Just from my personal experience with morelia I would not recommend a darwin for your first. They can be really flighty and pretty keen to bite for the first year of their lives. They are a beautiful snake but I would never recommend them for a 14 year olds first snake.

My first was a coastal carpet, which is probably more suited for you if you can find a nicely patterned one. They are very gentle snakes on the whole. You would have to be unlucky to get a grumpy one. Just my opinion though, in the end just get what you want within reason and be happy with that.

i must be one unlucky guy cause i have 2 grumpy coastals lol, i think thats due to being not handled . the male is nuts after biting a dozen or so times it gave up and was nice and calm .

 

[JAS101]

Thanks Colin, but I think that I'll stick with the nice n easy spotted. I try not to confuse myself any more than I already am!
I'm posting off my license today (yay!) so it's all ready and confirmed! I'm so excited!

My mum (who's most concerned about aesthetics- she's not planning to do any more than look at the snake) is now looking at getting an enclosure that we can mount on antique legs. She's planning for it to be a beautiful enclosure- with the changable backdrop etc.

I can't wait until January- I'll post off my order to Snake Ranch pretty soon, I think.

yup spotteds are a cool snake , im glad a got a spotted as my first snake .

 

[peterjohnson64]

I have had lots of snakes and lots of different species. I have also found that species has little to do with temperament. If temperament is important to you (and I can understand that it would be if you want a pet) then you are better off buying an older snake with a known temperament.

 

[SlytherinGirl]

I have had lots of snakes and lots of different species. I have also found that species has little to do with temperament. If temperament is important to you (and I can understand that it would be if you want a pet) then you are better off buying an older snake with a known temperament.

I understand that; get a snake that's already calm. But I would prefer (as you can probably understand) to get a baby so that I can watch it grow up.

 

[JAS101]

I understand that; get a snake that's already calm. But I would prefer (as you can probably understand) to get a baby so that I can watch it grow up.

either way , just remmber its not IF u get tagged , its WHEN u get tagged

 

[SlytherinGirl]

lol- I'll keep that in mind. I'm prepared for pain.

What else should I know?