Serpentess
Very Well-Known Member
Omygosh.
The story goes:
Ever since I was about 7 I wanted a snake and yadda yadda, that day came around when I finally decided to get my reptile licence. I found a gorgeous little spotted for $245. Unfortunately the night that I brought him (or her) home I noticed a slight clicking sound coming from him (or her).... I knew exactly what that meant. The next day we were at the vets. They didn't know what to do... no one specialised in reptiles here. I knew he needed Baytril and so the vet weighed him up and gave him an injection. I returned to the supplier of the gorgeous little spotted and they offered to hold on to him while he was ill (considering the fact that I noticed his illness less than 6 hours after I brought him home). They said they would contact me when he got better. I loved that snake. I cried, hoping everything would be alright. I called in every 2 days to check on him. 2 weeks later - they had sold him.... WITHOUT contacting me. I was in disbelief.
They replaced him with his really feisty sibling. This little spotted was 6 months old. I kept him in a 40 cm plastic pet tub with a few hiding spots. Coming up to his (or her) first birthday I thought I'd spoil him with a brand new 3 foot tank, secured with a fitted "Snake & Lizard" Metal Mesh Lid, weighted down. I decked it out all with all these gorgeous plastic/fabric rainforest plants and that special reptile vine, awesome little logs and rocks, etc, etc. Anyway, he loved it... I always saw him climbing the vines/plants and curling up on a rock or in a log.
Feeding time came around, I had his rodents sitting in warm water defrosting, and his feeding tank set up ready and waiting... but I couldn't find him in any of his favourite hiding spots. This scared me. I immediately started taking out and inspecting every decoration one by one. After looking at a completely empty tank I freaked out. I searched every nook and cranny I could think of. The curtain rods, under the carpet, in my drawers in the back of the fridge, the neighbors gardens... everywhere. I asked my neighbors to search their houses for him... but he never showed up. I searched what to do online. We set up traps, I set up his tank with his heat mat and opened it - hoping he would return. The traps were made of a plastic drinking bottle containing a pinkie for scent. It was full of air holes and had a one way entrance (a flap made from a plastic bag). We set up about 5 of these all around the house, in the garden and in the neighbors garden... nothing was caught (except a bug or two).
About 2 days after he went missing I was outside at night. It was dark and my dog was sniffing near something that seemed to slither It was hard to tell because my dog is quite large and was towering over whatever it was.... I thought "oh god". I rushed in front of him and picked the snake up. I though "Ah huh! You've finally showed yourself!" Then it turned around to bite me and I quickly placed it down, while I told my dog to back away.... it was a Small-Eyed snake... gah, not my spotted - a lucky escape. We relocated this guy out of the yard near a small creek with a bounty of field mice and small skinks which was only a couple hundred metres away (this may have been where he came from and I only did this because he was an elapid and didn't seem to be scared of dogs - which is dangerous for any snake). He may come back some time in the future... but I have yet to spot him around.
Anyway... a few months past without any sign of any more snakes. I grew disheartened and blamed my cat... thinking he had caught and killed my snake - earning himself a $245 meal... I would look at him and say "you. you. grr. I bet you got him".... I never punished my cat (who was actually only a kitten at the time) but I always talked the blame on him, lol. After 3 months had past I packed up all his things and put them in a bag. His tank became home for 4 of my female mice... I was breeding mice and selling them to fund the purchases of frozen ones.
Last Friday I was studying for a university exam and looked for a small notebook... I only found my snakes old feeding and shedding logbook... since it had been almost 10 months since his disapearance I tore out the pages and sighed. That night was quite cold. I had grabbed a torch and got up to grab an extra jumper from my cupboard. As I walked past the old snake tank I skimmed the torch over the top (for whatever reason I do not know).... and paused. I called for my boyfriend - told him to come over here. I wasn't surprised by the fact that there was a largish snake on top of the home of my mice, but the fact that it was a spotted python had sent excitement to the tips of my toes.
I grabbed a pillowcase and my boyfriend placed the very fiesty snake inside it. I rushed around to set up a temporary tank to check it out. I pulled out the heat mat and water bowl and a hiding box and threw in some substrate then transfered the snake into the 5 min set up tank. I covered the tank with the pillowcase and let the snake settle for a little while... but I noticed that the first thing he did was curl up in the corner... not usual for a wild snake, I thought. I rushed over to my laptop and pulled out a few old pictures of the little spotted who escaped. I opened pictures that showed the snake from basically every angle. After a little while I removed the pillow case and peered in the tank.
Every single marking aligned. EVERY little dot and splotch. I checked my pythons estimated size for his age and it is almost exact. He is about the thickness of my thumb and around about a meter long. He was about the thickness of my pinky and about 60cms long we he escaped. I was absolutely thrilled! I couldn't calm myself, I was talkative and jittery with excitement.
But yet... as the situation dawns I am disheartened... because I don't have to confidence to handle him at this size. When he was younger his bites meant nothing but a single drop of blood... now however, I imagine those teeth would hurt. So have have planned to hold onto him for a bit and give him a feed or two (he's quite fat at the moment though). I will get him checked by my vet for anything out of the ordinary and will try to find someone who is experienced with grumpy spotteds. He's about 1 year and 9 months old, escaped early September last year.
Thanks for reading.
The story goes:
Ever since I was about 7 I wanted a snake and yadda yadda, that day came around when I finally decided to get my reptile licence. I found a gorgeous little spotted for $245. Unfortunately the night that I brought him (or her) home I noticed a slight clicking sound coming from him (or her).... I knew exactly what that meant. The next day we were at the vets. They didn't know what to do... no one specialised in reptiles here. I knew he needed Baytril and so the vet weighed him up and gave him an injection. I returned to the supplier of the gorgeous little spotted and they offered to hold on to him while he was ill (considering the fact that I noticed his illness less than 6 hours after I brought him home). They said they would contact me when he got better. I loved that snake. I cried, hoping everything would be alright. I called in every 2 days to check on him. 2 weeks later - they had sold him.... WITHOUT contacting me. I was in disbelief.
They replaced him with his really feisty sibling. This little spotted was 6 months old. I kept him in a 40 cm plastic pet tub with a few hiding spots. Coming up to his (or her) first birthday I thought I'd spoil him with a brand new 3 foot tank, secured with a fitted "Snake & Lizard" Metal Mesh Lid, weighted down. I decked it out all with all these gorgeous plastic/fabric rainforest plants and that special reptile vine, awesome little logs and rocks, etc, etc. Anyway, he loved it... I always saw him climbing the vines/plants and curling up on a rock or in a log.
Feeding time came around, I had his rodents sitting in warm water defrosting, and his feeding tank set up ready and waiting... but I couldn't find him in any of his favourite hiding spots. This scared me. I immediately started taking out and inspecting every decoration one by one. After looking at a completely empty tank I freaked out. I searched every nook and cranny I could think of. The curtain rods, under the carpet, in my drawers in the back of the fridge, the neighbors gardens... everywhere. I asked my neighbors to search their houses for him... but he never showed up. I searched what to do online. We set up traps, I set up his tank with his heat mat and opened it - hoping he would return. The traps were made of a plastic drinking bottle containing a pinkie for scent. It was full of air holes and had a one way entrance (a flap made from a plastic bag). We set up about 5 of these all around the house, in the garden and in the neighbors garden... nothing was caught (except a bug or two).
About 2 days after he went missing I was outside at night. It was dark and my dog was sniffing near something that seemed to slither It was hard to tell because my dog is quite large and was towering over whatever it was.... I thought "oh god". I rushed in front of him and picked the snake up. I though "Ah huh! You've finally showed yourself!" Then it turned around to bite me and I quickly placed it down, while I told my dog to back away.... it was a Small-Eyed snake... gah, not my spotted - a lucky escape. We relocated this guy out of the yard near a small creek with a bounty of field mice and small skinks which was only a couple hundred metres away (this may have been where he came from and I only did this because he was an elapid and didn't seem to be scared of dogs - which is dangerous for any snake). He may come back some time in the future... but I have yet to spot him around.
Anyway... a few months past without any sign of any more snakes. I grew disheartened and blamed my cat... thinking he had caught and killed my snake - earning himself a $245 meal... I would look at him and say "you. you. grr. I bet you got him".... I never punished my cat (who was actually only a kitten at the time) but I always talked the blame on him, lol. After 3 months had past I packed up all his things and put them in a bag. His tank became home for 4 of my female mice... I was breeding mice and selling them to fund the purchases of frozen ones.
Last Friday I was studying for a university exam and looked for a small notebook... I only found my snakes old feeding and shedding logbook... since it had been almost 10 months since his disapearance I tore out the pages and sighed. That night was quite cold. I had grabbed a torch and got up to grab an extra jumper from my cupboard. As I walked past the old snake tank I skimmed the torch over the top (for whatever reason I do not know).... and paused. I called for my boyfriend - told him to come over here. I wasn't surprised by the fact that there was a largish snake on top of the home of my mice, but the fact that it was a spotted python had sent excitement to the tips of my toes.
I grabbed a pillowcase and my boyfriend placed the very fiesty snake inside it. I rushed around to set up a temporary tank to check it out. I pulled out the heat mat and water bowl and a hiding box and threw in some substrate then transfered the snake into the 5 min set up tank. I covered the tank with the pillowcase and let the snake settle for a little while... but I noticed that the first thing he did was curl up in the corner... not usual for a wild snake, I thought. I rushed over to my laptop and pulled out a few old pictures of the little spotted who escaped. I opened pictures that showed the snake from basically every angle. After a little while I removed the pillow case and peered in the tank.
Every single marking aligned. EVERY little dot and splotch. I checked my pythons estimated size for his age and it is almost exact. He is about the thickness of my thumb and around about a meter long. He was about the thickness of my pinky and about 60cms long we he escaped. I was absolutely thrilled! I couldn't calm myself, I was talkative and jittery with excitement.
But yet... as the situation dawns I am disheartened... because I don't have to confidence to handle him at this size. When he was younger his bites meant nothing but a single drop of blood... now however, I imagine those teeth would hurt. So have have planned to hold onto him for a bit and give him a feed or two (he's quite fat at the moment though). I will get him checked by my vet for anything out of the ordinary and will try to find someone who is experienced with grumpy spotteds. He's about 1 year and 9 months old, escaped early September last year.
Thanks for reading.
