Hi all, I have a few questions, but before I get to that I will introduce the situation.
I have recently moved house and in turn have adopted a 4 yo male Murray Darling Python. He is still in the same vivarium setup as he was when he was bought, it is very small, and has rarely been handled, his owner was a young boy who had a cancerous tumor in his brain, he loved to watch the snake, but was never well enough to handle him regularly. friends of family have tried to handle him, and although he is not agressive, he will strike many times at the person holding him. The snake has been fed twice weekly on adult mice since they got him. He is close to or more than 6 ft long and has a very small head and neck, but his body is about as round as a teens wrist.
Since I got him about 4 weeks ago I fed him only 1 mouse once per week for two weeks then I fed him a weaner rat about 3 days ago, which seemed rather big, and took him a long time to swallow. I'm not sure if there is a mouse or rat inbetween adult mouse and weaner rat size, but that would be good if there was. He has always eaten inside his enclosure. any info on feeding would be useful.
Because he has not been handled much, I have continuously gone to his viv and opened the door, or touched things in the viv with him in there, or cleaned it out with him in there to try to get him used to the fact that the door doesn't only get opened for meals...... I'm unsure on how to get him used to being handled, I have not picked him up myself because I'm scared of him striking at me and don't want to scare him by the instant reaction of pulling away. although I have not picked him up or touched him, I have had my hands in his viv many times and he has not struck me in his environment.
Because he is in such a small viv I am in the process of designing and building a larger viv for him. what I've thought of is 1200 high x 1200 long x 600 wide, with a 1200 x 600 x 600 base cabinet. I was thinking of using MDF with glass sliding doors (and painting it with a mould resistant paint). Because of the weight I was thinking of putting wheels on the bottom for easy maneuverability. Any ideas on what is the best wood/material to use? I want it to be strong, and to last. Does anyone have any comments on the size? is this too big or small or unsuitable? I also need help on what internals I will need eg, What kind of flooring (bark, grass, rocks), lighting, heating (mats etc), thermostats and thermometers and placements and temperatures, UV requirements, amount of water, ventilation (how many vents, where and how big - was thinking one on either side near the top, and one on the very top), do I plant live plants or use all fake plants and dead logs and branches, I do have some slate pieces for the heated area etc etc
Also because I am building a viv this big, I was wondering if MD's like company? should I get him a female to coinhabit with? or do they like to live solitary? If they do like to coinhabit, I would be happy to 'resue' another MD that somebody does not want, just like I have done with this little guy.
Please any information on MD's, building vivariums, feeding or anything else that anyone has to mention or comment on would be very useful for me and extremely helpful, I am a first time snake keeper, and want it to be a positive experience for the snake, myself and my family (young 2 year old daughter who loves animals).
Just before anyone decides to get opinionative or nasty, I'm trying to do the right thing by taking him in and am trying to find the best most useful information on how to provide him the best home/enclosure environment possible. I have rescued many animals from people who have just gotten over the excitement, and realised that an animal is a long term thing, and have and will personally take them into my own home and feed and care for them.
Any information would be helpful, even comments on if I am or am not doing the right thing with him in terms of feeding or vivarium setup.
Thankyou
I have recently moved house and in turn have adopted a 4 yo male Murray Darling Python. He is still in the same vivarium setup as he was when he was bought, it is very small, and has rarely been handled, his owner was a young boy who had a cancerous tumor in his brain, he loved to watch the snake, but was never well enough to handle him regularly. friends of family have tried to handle him, and although he is not agressive, he will strike many times at the person holding him. The snake has been fed twice weekly on adult mice since they got him. He is close to or more than 6 ft long and has a very small head and neck, but his body is about as round as a teens wrist.
Since I got him about 4 weeks ago I fed him only 1 mouse once per week for two weeks then I fed him a weaner rat about 3 days ago, which seemed rather big, and took him a long time to swallow. I'm not sure if there is a mouse or rat inbetween adult mouse and weaner rat size, but that would be good if there was. He has always eaten inside his enclosure. any info on feeding would be useful.
Because he has not been handled much, I have continuously gone to his viv and opened the door, or touched things in the viv with him in there, or cleaned it out with him in there to try to get him used to the fact that the door doesn't only get opened for meals...... I'm unsure on how to get him used to being handled, I have not picked him up myself because I'm scared of him striking at me and don't want to scare him by the instant reaction of pulling away. although I have not picked him up or touched him, I have had my hands in his viv many times and he has not struck me in his environment.
Because he is in such a small viv I am in the process of designing and building a larger viv for him. what I've thought of is 1200 high x 1200 long x 600 wide, with a 1200 x 600 x 600 base cabinet. I was thinking of using MDF with glass sliding doors (and painting it with a mould resistant paint). Because of the weight I was thinking of putting wheels on the bottom for easy maneuverability. Any ideas on what is the best wood/material to use? I want it to be strong, and to last. Does anyone have any comments on the size? is this too big or small or unsuitable? I also need help on what internals I will need eg, What kind of flooring (bark, grass, rocks), lighting, heating (mats etc), thermostats and thermometers and placements and temperatures, UV requirements, amount of water, ventilation (how many vents, where and how big - was thinking one on either side near the top, and one on the very top), do I plant live plants or use all fake plants and dead logs and branches, I do have some slate pieces for the heated area etc etc
Also because I am building a viv this big, I was wondering if MD's like company? should I get him a female to coinhabit with? or do they like to live solitary? If they do like to coinhabit, I would be happy to 'resue' another MD that somebody does not want, just like I have done with this little guy.
Please any information on MD's, building vivariums, feeding or anything else that anyone has to mention or comment on would be very useful for me and extremely helpful, I am a first time snake keeper, and want it to be a positive experience for the snake, myself and my family (young 2 year old daughter who loves animals).
Just before anyone decides to get opinionative or nasty, I'm trying to do the right thing by taking him in and am trying to find the best most useful information on how to provide him the best home/enclosure environment possible. I have rescued many animals from people who have just gotten over the excitement, and realised that an animal is a long term thing, and have and will personally take them into my own home and feed and care for them.
Any information would be helpful, even comments on if I am or am not doing the right thing with him in terms of feeding or vivarium setup.
Thankyou
