Juvenile Darwin

[J-A-X]

Thanks Niall, yeah he's an awesome looking Fella, caught my eye straight away, only went in there to get some Flea powder for the Cat!!

LOL expensive flea powder !

as has been said. put a base on the cages or buy some proper ones from your prefered supplier, enclosing the base has its problems when you blow a globe - which happens way too often, and unless you have easy access to the globe its going to be a pain to change them. most that are bought either have easy removable bases or are easily removed from the roof with a screwdriver. why so many lights ?? one heat source and one 'daylight' lamp should be sufficient

keep an eye on your thermostat dial too, it has a habit of moving when they crawl over it ! !

there is little danger of him crawling in there while the lights are on, its when the thermostat turns them off it can be dangerous, if he gets the urge to get warm he'll squeeze himself in there because he knows thats where the heat comes from, then all of a sudden the lamp comes on full bore and the snake then has a problem.........

couple of other things ive noticed, get a cover for the fluro too, he'll easily break the globe if he decides he want to squeeze between the globe and the batten (no one said pythons are smart) and get rid of the mecury thermometer ! i've had a juvi coastal smash one before. head to bunnings and for $20 pick up a indoor/outdoor temp gauge, it has a long length of wire attached to a probe which you can easily insert into the tank by drilling a small hole, and putting the main unit on top of the tank.
and i'm not liking the idea that he can climb on the wires from the thermostat either.

oh and upsize his food I've got 5 darwins and just looking at the size difference between python head and snake butt , he needs upsizing and the others are right, classic Darwins can look awesome .

 

[WOODSNAKE]

G'day Ness, thanks for your reply and thanks for the advice and Link, i'll check it out

 

[Snake-Supplies]

Hi and welcome,

Cheers Col,Point taken on light cages, but surely he wouldn't squeeze himself into a spot that would be Hot to touch?

Dont bet on it... I don't think snakes are very... well... "smart"

 

[WOODSNAKE]

G'day Jax, thanks for your reply, i just spent 20 min replying and my computer crashed so this time i'll try to be quick!
I have taken everything you said on board and will get it rectified! the lighting was given to me so iset it up as he had it...my thermostat doesn't seem to be working, so i've ordered a newy.. what lighting would you suggest? the infrared is only a 60 watter as are the coloured globes and the flouro is a UV Blacklight .. i think..I appreciate everyones help and i'll be upsizing his feed next week :0

Cheers Phill.

 

[WOODSNAKE]

Darwin off his Tucker

Hello again, I've done a few mods on the enclosure (recaged the lights, new thermostat.etc.) but since i have i haven't been able to get him to feed?..... he was feeding regularly on a weekly basis and taking 2 small Rats. Before i took jim from the cage to work on it he had become quite aggressive biting me every time he was handled ,he had also just shed his skin, he was only in another box for a matter of hours and then returned,he did a bit of exploring but wasn't interested in a feed. It's been over 2 weeks now and still not feeding.My lights go off around 31 and the basking lights are on for 8 hours a day the night time temp drops to the mid 20's, should i add more Heat? Does he want to hibernate? stressed? are the new batch of Rats tainted? any ideas? Cheers Phill.

 

[Nes88c]

Your cages look good!

My advice would be that he is just stressed. Two weeks is nothing for a snake, so don't stress about that too much, also because it's colder now (even with ur heat n everything it's still colder in the air) many of us have burmating snakes. Which just means they don't eat during winter. Your snake sounds like he needs some time to settle to his new environment. I know you have had him for a while now, but remember, new house, changed environment, new smells, new owner, new view are all things that can stress a snake.

I Suggest that you leave him be for a week or two (checking on him just not handling when it's no necessary) and if his enclourse is in a high traffic area in your house, either cover it up or move it so he gets used to his new home in your home.

Also I know you probly know this already, but just make sure your using cream or soap suitable for handling snakes as we do have scents, some snakes don't like, also make sure you use this when feeding, sometimes scents are left on our hands n sends our little friends on hunting mode.


Also... Some snakes don't like to be handled during a shed, or can damage their new scales and as I would imagine can be uncomfortable to the snake, this is true for just after a shed, so best to leave them a day or two post shed.


Hope this helps

 

[WOODSNAKE]

Thanks for your reply Ness, I'll take your advice and just leave him be for awhile,maybe i should stop stressing myself : ) Thanks again, Phill.

 

[ralliart3]

Nice darwin you have there. We have two that are a quite a bit smaller than that. You will be happy that you invested in some cages, this is what our MD does every now and then sometimes covering the whole cage!

 

[Leeloofluff]

Hey mate, very cool snake. And good on you for taking on the advice given, those lights gave me a heart attack! But all looks sweet now. As with not eating, a little more heat always helps. I liked to keep my Darwin at a hot spot of 33-36 and he loved it! Ate for me every time.
But it could just be stress, he has had a busy two weeks just let him have some peace and quite and try try again. But my tip is up the heat, it's a big cage so he has plenty of room to move away if he wants

 

[WOODSNAKE]

Nice darwin you have there. We have two that are a quite a bit smaller than that. You will be happy that you invested in some cages, this is what our MD does every now and then sometimes covering the whole cage!

G'day ralliart, He,s a big fella! and yeah he tends to do the same but usually at night when its' cooler, a bit more peace of mind now. Kool photos, MD is that Murray Darling?
Cheers Phill

Hey mate, very cool snake. And good on you for taking on the advice given, those lights gave me a heart attack! But all looks sweet now. As with not eating, a little more heat always helps. I liked to keep my Darwin at a hot spot of 33-36 and he loved it! Ate for me every time.
But it could just be stress, he has had a busy two weeks just let him have some peace and quite and try try again. But my tip is up the heat, it's a big cage so he has plenty of room to move away if he wants

G'day Leeloofluff, thanks for your reply, yeah i need to get another infrared, it peaks at about 31 and thats only when the basking lights are on as well (still sorting things out) I spoke to a dealer yesterday and she said not to worry too much about his feed she feeds some of her bigger ones Monthly and said he'll be fine for some time yet. Thanks for your reply,
Cheers Phill

 

[ralliart3]

G'day ralliart, He,s a big fella! and yeah he tends to do the same but usually at night when its' cooler, a bit more peace of mind now. Kool photos, MD is that Murray Darling?
Cheers

Yep sure is a Murray darling.