kitallen23
New Member
Hi all!
I have been deeply in love with snakes since my early years, but never been able to own one. I've been very patient and waited for around 12 or so years now, and I think it's finally time! I have a few questions about everything, so I'll use this thread as a question board that I can update when more questions arise (and I'm sure they will)! Any answers will be much appreciated - even if you can only answer one or two of my questions, that will be great. Every opinion helps!
Firstly, about the snake itself. I am hoping to get a beautiful Stimson's Python! From what I hear, they are very well-natured and great as starters. I heard that it makes a big difference whether a snake is land-dwelling or tree-dwelling for when it comes to handling; tree-dwellers will curl around you and get all cosy whereas land-dwellers won't want to stick around. Is this true? And if so, which one best describes the Stimson? This is important to me as I will be handling the snake a lot!
As far as maintaining the snake goes, I'd like to know a few things. It sounds ridiculously easy to own a snake; after building a lovely setup for the guy with water, appropriate size and scenery, all that's left is maintaining the water and feeding the guy once every week (early life) or second week (later life). How often does the enclosure (terrarium?) need cleaning out? Is there any other maintenance I need to consider? And if I were to go away over a weekend, for example, would the snake be fine by itself given it has water and the heat stays on?
A potential problem I have is that I own dogs, who I love and cuddle all the time. A close friend of mine owns rabbits, and whenever she is near a snake, it becomes very interested in her (because of the scent). Would this be a problem with me and my dogs? The dogs live in another part of the house from where the snake will live, but it would be nice to know that the snake won't be sniffing around all the time.
Thanks for reading and for any help I'll post more questions in this thread as they come to me!
- - - Updated - - -
Ooh, two more questions!
1. Does gender make a difference (are females friendlier, for example)?
2. I know this sounds really silly, but it's relevant to my current location and situation; I have heard that there's such thing as manufactured "reptile sausages" that can replace the thawed mice/rats. I'm guessing this is frowned upon, but what are the facts when it comes to reptile sausage?
I have been deeply in love with snakes since my early years, but never been able to own one. I've been very patient and waited for around 12 or so years now, and I think it's finally time! I have a few questions about everything, so I'll use this thread as a question board that I can update when more questions arise (and I'm sure they will)! Any answers will be much appreciated - even if you can only answer one or two of my questions, that will be great. Every opinion helps!
Firstly, about the snake itself. I am hoping to get a beautiful Stimson's Python! From what I hear, they are very well-natured and great as starters. I heard that it makes a big difference whether a snake is land-dwelling or tree-dwelling for when it comes to handling; tree-dwellers will curl around you and get all cosy whereas land-dwellers won't want to stick around. Is this true? And if so, which one best describes the Stimson? This is important to me as I will be handling the snake a lot!
As far as maintaining the snake goes, I'd like to know a few things. It sounds ridiculously easy to own a snake; after building a lovely setup for the guy with water, appropriate size and scenery, all that's left is maintaining the water and feeding the guy once every week (early life) or second week (later life). How often does the enclosure (terrarium?) need cleaning out? Is there any other maintenance I need to consider? And if I were to go away over a weekend, for example, would the snake be fine by itself given it has water and the heat stays on?
A potential problem I have is that I own dogs, who I love and cuddle all the time. A close friend of mine owns rabbits, and whenever she is near a snake, it becomes very interested in her (because of the scent). Would this be a problem with me and my dogs? The dogs live in another part of the house from where the snake will live, but it would be nice to know that the snake won't be sniffing around all the time.
Thanks for reading and for any help I'll post more questions in this thread as they come to me!
- - - Updated - - -
Ooh, two more questions!
1. Does gender make a difference (are females friendlier, for example)?
2. I know this sounds really silly, but it's relevant to my current location and situation; I have heard that there's such thing as manufactured "reptile sausages" that can replace the thawed mice/rats. I'm guessing this is frowned upon, but what are the facts when it comes to reptile sausage?