New snake to the family and need some help... Please...

[AussieBen]

Hi Guys,

I have only posted in the introductions area mainly because i didn't own any snakes yet, i am in the middle of building a DIY enclosure preparing for a purchase next year.

But today i was looking on gumtree under the " Reptile " section ( as i do ) and i came across a advert for a " Hypa Childrens Python " it was just around the corner, and it was pretty cheap, but that is not what drove me to purchase. I am a lover of animals and when i become a owner of a new pet they become apart of the family and get treated like it..

Well like i said, scouring gumtree, came across the ad, and although i am not a snake keeper, the conditions of the enclosure didn't look as great as it could have. Bit of straw on the bottom and a branch. So i called about it and went and picked it up, ( i call the snake a "it" because i don't know if it's male or female, and when i asked they weren't sure either). When i opened the cage, i got hit in the face with a awful stench, there was moldy droppings in there and a big bowl with no water. here is a pic of it, but that is after i scraped all the poop and straw out.

But if anyone can tell me what kind of snake it is, so i can get the care sheet straight away and make this snake a bit more comfortable. It is a pretty friendly thing, little weary at first but that i guess is being moved, the enclosure has 2 sides to it, so it is in the other side while i clean. Also is there anything from Bunnings i could maybe use as a substrate, i am going to turn this enclosure into one and give it a bit more room to move, and try and get the heat temp right. The enclosure did come with a heat cord that i am not sure if it was plugged in or not, so any advice will be appreciated, i have heat globes, globe cages, thermostat, heat cord, basically bits that i can use to get this right by tonight.

Anyway, Thanks guys & girls for any help.
AussieBen



P.S. I wasn't really prepared or planning on buying this little thing, but i know i can do a lot better than what it was already living in. I know people shouldn't buy on impulse and this certainly wasn't the breed i was aiming for but it will be a lot happier and comfortable here.

 

[justin91]

I'm not that sure but to me looks like coastal x something. Probably Coastal x Diamond? I don't really know.. Just looks like one to me

Definitely a coastal though.

 

[HerpAddict]

I'd say it's just a nice normal coastal. Looks similar to mine

Sent from my GT-I9210T using Tapatalk

 

[AussieBen]

Thanks for the quick reply Justin, I'll check the care sheets on both breeds now.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks HerpAddict. I appreciate all the replies.

- - - Updated - - -

Just an update and if i am doing anything wrong please don't hesitate to tell me.

I cleaned the tank out as best as i could, turned it into one enclosure instead of 2 small ones, i got some substrate from bunnings called "Earthwise Soft Fall" and layed that down, i hooked up a oz purple globe on one side of the enclosure above a tile and set the thermostat to 30.filled up the water bowl and cut o hole in a ice cream container that is larger than the other hide it had.

Problems are so far that i know, is, i can still smell that awful smell, the snake itself smells like it to, and is it normal for him to dig around in the substrate, as in bury his head around in it ??

Oh and the family decided that it is a male, and named him checkers ( until i get him to a vet, get him checked and start the process, whatever it is to get him sexed properly )

Sorry i put this in the wrong section to, thank you for moving it to the more appropriate one.

Is there anything i am doing wrong, or could do better.

AussieBen.


View attachment 301036

 

[ronhalling]

As the others have said it is either a Coastal Carpet Python or an Intergrade deffinately not a Childrens of any variety. 30deg C is not hot enough, you need around 32-34 deg c. the only way you will really get rid of the smell (and whatever caused the smell) is to get some F10 disinfectant/cleaner from a pet supplies shop or Vet, or maybe use a bleach based disinfectant/cleaner and give the enclosure a real good wash out, when it dries leave it out in the open for a couple of days to air out properly then make sure all the joins are sealed with a good non toxic sealant. On the interim while you are waiting for the enclosure to be ready you Snake can comfortably live in a 20 lt tub with some good air holes in the top and the heat cord set up under 1/3 of the tub, just make sure there is some airflow under the tub so the heat cord does not overheat or cause hot spots, then set the thermostat at 33 deg c, at this stage just use newspaper on the bottom of the tub, when the enclosure is habitable i would also be using newspaper on the bottom of it as well, as far as the smell on the snake you might like to put some warm/tepid water in the bath and let it swim around in it for 30 minutes or so (no deeper than about 1 inch deep) if the smell persists you might have to wait for its next shed. ...................................Ron

 

[The_Geeza]

Hypo Coastal

 

[AussieBen]

Thanks Ron & MidsReps, i appreciate the replies, I bumped up the temp this morning, he doesn't smell like he did yesterday, the tank does a little so i will go to the shop and have a look for the F10 today, i have to go and pick some food up anyway. I was watching him last night and to be honest it was pretty cool, he was cruising around checking everything out and what not.

Like i said earlier, it wasn't the breed i was looking for but the conditions it was living in were pretty bad, i know i am far from experienced in any sense but i know i can do better than that. I reckon i will knock together a new melamine enclosure for him next week and give him something fresh to live in.

Anyway, once again, thanks for all the help, i am so glad i joined up to this forum.
AussieBen

 

[Rlpreston]

Thanks Ron & MidsReps, i appreciate the replies, I bumped up the temp this morning, he doesn't smell like he did yesterday, the tank does a little so i will go to the shop and have a look for the F10 today, i have to go and pick some food up anyway. I was watching him last night and to be honest it was pretty cool, he was cruising around checking everything out and what not.

Like i said earlier, it wasn't the breed i was looking for but the conditions it was living in were pretty bad, i know i am far from experienced in any sense but i know i can do better than that. I reckon i will knock together a new melamine enclosure for him next week and give him something fresh to live in.

Anyway, once again, thanks for all the help, i am so glad i joined up to this forum.
AussieBen

It's hard to tell from the pic but if the enclosure is made from something porous then the smell will be tricky to get rid of. We had one come to us that looked like the enclosure was never cleaned (bought from pics which looked okay so we didn't realise until we picked it up and got it home). Luckily that one was melamine and well sealed so a couple of days to air out after a thorough scrub/rinse/repeat/F10 did the job. If at all possible pop it out in the sun too.

As for him smelling, be prepared when he sheds! The one from the enclosure above had his first shed with us and I had to do a full clean of his enclosure to get the smell out! It smelled worse than any kind of animal I've ever come across :/

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Firstly, if you place the enclosure in the sun, make sure the snake is not inside it! It will die in minutes.

Secondly, a snake should not smell at all during or after the shedding process, the exception being if it has a crap as it sheds, which isn't uncommon.

Jamie

 

[Rlpreston]

Firstly, if you place the enclosure in the sun, make sure the snake is not inside it! It will die in minutes.

Secondly, a snake should not smell at all during or after the shedding process, the exception being if it has a crap as it sheds, which isn't uncommon.

Jamie

I would've hoped it was obvious not to scrub/rinse/sanitise and air an enclosure with a snake inside it.

Also, not the snake that smelled bad, the shed skin did (I would attribute to living in his own filth before we got him.). No 'crap' to be seen.

 

[ronhalling]

Thanks Ron & MidsReps, i appreciate the replies, I bumped up the temp this morning, he doesn't smell like he did yesterday, the tank does a little so i will go to the shop and have a look for the F10 today, i have to go and pick some food up anyway. I was watching him last night and to be honest it was pretty cool, he was cruising around checking everything out and what not.

Like i said earlier, it wasn't the breed i was looking for but the conditions it was living in were pretty bad, i know i am far from experienced in any sense but i know i can do better than that. I reckon i will knock together a new melamine enclosure for him next week and give him something fresh to live in.

Anyway, once again, thanks for all the help, i am so glad i joined up to this forum.
AussieBen

I did not state in my reply that i admire the fact you rescued the Snake from less than satisfactory conditions and as long as your husbandry (cleaning, heat, feeding and enclosure) is good the snake you have aquired will be very easy to look after (as long as you know it may reach 3 mt or more and weigh upwards of 8 kilo's) when you build or buy the new enclosure you might like to take that into consideration as they can grow pretty quickly. If you come up against anything that that you don't understand or have questions about caring for your aquisition do not hesitate to ask here, you might not like some of the answers you are given, but remember there is a collective knowledge in this forum you will never find in books and every answer will be for the well being of your snake not you or your enjoyment, if you can get past that you will have a long, happy and productive herping life. Look forward to seeing more pics of your boy/girl in the future. ..................................Ron

 

[thomasssss]

i wouldn't label that guy as anything other than a carpet python , his heritage unknown (as thats what it is ) , calling it a diamond cross , hypo coastal ( i mean really ? look at the amount of black pigment ) or an intergrade is nothing but guessing based on looks , you have to remember the amount of crosses there are out there and the fact that they can look like pure animals

one things for sure though , he definitely doesn't belong to the childrens group

 

[The_Geeza]

i wouldn't label that guy as anything other than a carpet python , his heritage unknown (as thats what it is ) , calling it a diamond cross , hypo coastal ( i mean really ? look at the amount of black pigment ) or an intergrade is nothing but guessing based on looks , you have to remember the amount of crosses there are out there and the fact that they can look like pure animals

one things for sure though , he definitely doesn't belong to the childrens group

Lol took awhile

 

[thomasssss]

Lol took awhile

so it was a joke ? i was a little unsure as it was coming from you

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I would've hoped it was obvious not to scrub/rinse/sanitise and air an enclosure with a snake inside it.

Also, not the snake that smelled bad, the shed skin did (I would attribute to living in his own filth before we got him.). No 'crap' to be seen.

You may be surprised how many pet reptiles die when well-meaning new keepers put them out in the sun, in their enclosures, for even just a few minutes.

Jamie

 

[The_Geeza]

so it was a joke ? i was a little unsure as it was coming from you

Was just rearranging the hypa snakey knowing full well it's coastally ... Actually a nice looking carpet ... And glad someone has taken the rains

 

[AussieBen]

Thanks heaps everyone, i have been doing stuff to get it right all day, went and picked up some weaners today, the enclosure is out airing as i type, spoke to the reptile shop and got some advice from them, which was pretty good to.

I had a laugh at a few of these comments just now, i would never wash / scrub the enclosure with the snake in it, i won't be dragging the snakes enclosure out to let it have some sun, if he does go outside it will be put on the grass with some barrier around it, but i do understand how some people could possibly be. i am not to concerned really exactly what breed he is, i am not planning on breeding him at all, but as long as i have some sort of direction to look at in the way of care sheets and so on. He is a decent looking little fella, really friendly, and the the kids had a small pat to, I'm trying to teach the kids some snake safety.

I really appreciate every ones input, it is really helpful. WOW.. 3 meters, 8 kilo's.... I'm all good with that, he is apart of the family now, not sure how my partner is going to take that news though :lol:.

I did have a look at some stuff to put together a new enclosure, and i think that will be the way to go. it's not all that much and will be good to get him into something new.

Thanks again.
AussieBen

 

[OldestMagician]

There's been a bit of confusion about that soft fall mulch as it's unclear about what is actually in it.
People have said it looks like sugar cane mulch which would be fine for snakes, but if there are pine chips in there it could cause some issues.
It might be fine, but if you want to be 100% sure then Bunnings do blocks of Coir Peat which are around $2 each and are more than enough for a 4ft enclosure. Just make sure you DON'T get the one with wetting agent.
As has been said by others, good on you for giving it a chance at a better life.

EDIT: Slow release fertiliser, not wetting agent. Sorry.

 

[bundy07]

There's been a bit of confusion about that soft fall mulch as it's unclear about what is actually in it.
People have said it looks like sugar cane mulch which would be fine for snakes, but if there are pine chips in there it could cause some issues.
It might be fine, but if you want to be 100% sure then Bunnings do blocks of Coir Peat which are around $2 each and are more than enough for a 4ft enclosure. Just make sure you DON'T get the one with wetting agent.
As has been said by others, good on you for giving it a chance at a better life.

Dont mean to intrude and change the subject but Isnt coir peat soil improver, just asking coz I use that repti bark stuff for my stimsons python and just wondering what exactly is that coir peat as have never heard of it being used for snakes, is it ok for stimsons pythons aswell as it is obviously cheaper than the stuff I use.

 

[pinefamily]

Coir peat is the same material as kritter krumble.