That "mental" scrub I mentioned? First play time today!

[StellaDoore]

I know how you guys love a scrub, so I thought I'd fill you in on recent happenings. A while ago I started a thread about handling snappy scrub pythons. Well, I finally got him off my mate!! It took a while, but we got there eventually, and I'll only be looking after this scrub for a few months so no need to fret about me being able to house a 5m+ python.

I've left him in his enclosure to settle, fed him, left him a bit more and finally worked up the courage to handle him! He was bagged when I bought him home, so this is actually the first time I've held him.

I took the cowards approach and put on a long-sleeved, thick jacket plus some thin leather gloves. I know gloves are debatable, but I practiced gently handling my pythons before moving onto the scrub so I could get a feel for the animals. (I also don't think the gloves would've stopped a bite, but they were really more for my peace of mind )

Took him outside in the sun, got a few hisses, but that was it! No striking out, no attempted bites. He was in S-position for a while, but then decided to start exploring up my arm (I was very quick to stop him before he got anywhere near my head). The hardest part was getting him off as he was wrapped tightly around my hand.

So, a few Qs. First off, if I took off the glove will he freak out at the feel of human skin? I'm more comfortable, but don't trust him at all yet.
Second, my friend gave me some fake plants to furnish his enclosure with and provide more hide spots, are they okay to leave in there? They don't seem like they'd do damage, but I'm curious for opinions.

tl;dr? Thought I was getting the Hannibal Lecter of snakes, turns out he's alright =)

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Only a small one! Everything you mention sounds fine, but just a word about "trust" - don't EVER trust it, and don't EVER let it near your face. They can go from calm to dmented in a second if something sets them off. Never take it for granted - not a problem now, but in a year or two...

Jamie

 

[StellaDoore]

He's only little, yeah, but still intimidating. When he does get grumpy it's impressive to see how far and fast he can strike. Knowing that, I didn't even let him get passed my elbows, no way is he ever going near my face!
From stories I've heard, they're not a snake to let your guard down around.
Pretty though =)

 

[Icarus]

cute snake! I did the same thing when I looked after some mental Darwins for a friend... gloves, long sleeved jumper... lol. And those fake plants are fine, I've got some in with my diamond. The only problem is sometimes when I'm getting her out she curls her tail around and brings them out with her!

 

[Hamalicious]

Hey thanks for sharing, good to hear personal success stories every now and again. Ahhh i love Scrubbys! One day....

 

[Joemal]

Only a small one! Everything you mention sounds fine, but just a word about "trust" - don't EVER trust it, and don't EVER let it near your face. They can go from calm to dmented in a second if something sets them off. Never take it for granted - not a problem now, but in a year or two...

Jamie

Congratulations Stelladoore now at some stage you will have to hand it back lol and that will be hard to do .Even though they have a reputation to uphold they still grow on you after awhile and you will find you will want to either keep it or get another one .Good luck and just remember what Pythoninfinite says .

 

[StellaDoore]

Congratulations Stelladoore now at some stage you will have to hand it back lol and that will be hard to do .Even though they have a reputation to uphold they still grow on you after awhile and you will find you will want to either keep it or get another one .Good luck and just remember what Pythoninfinite says .

Yeah, I'm already getting attached. He's so interesting and just gorgeous! At least this is giving me a small taste of scrub ownership, they're special animals. I might have to tell the owner I lost it...(joking!)

I don't think there's any way I could ever trust him like I do my other pythons, but I can't help but think this will be anything but a good learning experience for me. And it's a nice change from my stimmie and olive, ha ha

 

[Monitors_R_Us]

Scrubbies IMO have the nicest pattern of all snakes in Aus.

 

[Bananapeel]

Is that his dinner? and if so what is it you feed him? if you don't mind me asking.

 

[jairusthevirus21]

Excellent to hear! i agree! trust and scrubbies dont mix. I love how i can take mine out for a bit and place them back in the enclosure and there fine. Only to close the sliding glass doors, turn around and hear a thud to the glass as soon iv looked away... sneaKY ********r....
I use a welding glove to take them out. but shake them off as soon as iv got most of the body out.
as for cage furnishings iv got only a few as things can get messy if they decide to wrap around every thing. I find more hide boxes are a much easier way.

 

[StellaDoore]

Is that his dinner? and if so what is it you feed him? if you don't mind me asking.

Lol, that's not his dinner, it's just a really dark portion of the wood. He's a long and lean snake, and his previous owner had him on something like 70g rats so i gave him one; he smashed it down so I'll be getting him onto something larger next feed. Yet to weigh the snake, I'll attempt it tomorrow.

Jairus, I think I might take a similar approach to you: gloves on to get him out, off once he's out of his cage. I'll see how that goes. The plants aren't posing too much trouble yet. They're fairly light and movable, and so far I've taken them out before removing the scrub from his hide.

 

[Bananapeel]

Oh oops that's embarrassing. looked like a possum haha!
He did look a bit lean to be eating a possum! not that anyone can feed their snakes possums.
Sorry bout that. my bad

And that's definitely not a cowards approach! If that were me I think I'd be dressed in chain mail and an astronauts helmet thing!

 

[jairusthevirus21]

Oh oops that's embarrassing. looked like a possum haha!
He did look a bit lean to be eating a possum! not that anyone can feed their snakes possums.
Sorry bout that. my bad

And that's definitely not a cowards approach! If that were me I think I'd be dressed in chain mail and an astronauts helmet thing!

OHH! your not meant to feed possums to Scrubbies????? hhhmmmm but there are soo many in my shed.....lol. Il just have to stick to kittens then....