These non-venomous snakes have heat-sensing pits to help them track and locate prey. When they catch a meal, they kill it by constriction, similar to how an Anaconda kills its prey. In captivity these snakes can be fed a diet of frozen thawed rodents. A hatchling Spotted Python can be fed a pinkie mouse every days. The size of the rodent should be increased as the snake grows. Adult Spotted Pythons can be fed every 7 days for the duration of their life. As they are nocturnal snakes, it is best to feed them at night.
As this is a relatively small species of snake, they do not require extremely large enclosures. A juvenile will do well in a tub or rack system for the first few months of their life. The heat source heat mat should be placed at one end of the enclosure to allow the snake to thermoregulate. You should also include a hide at either end of the enclosure to allow the snake to feel secure.
As the Spotted Python grows, they can be moved to a larger enclosure. A fully-grown adult can be comfortably housed in a 3ft x 2ft x 1. Like all snakes, Spotted Pythons are cold-blooded, which means they cannot generate their own body heat and must rely on their environment to maintain correct body temperatures. The hot end of the enclosure should be approximately F while the cool end of the enclosure should be kept around F. Whichever method you choose, it is important for the heat source to be on one end of the enclosure to allow for a thermal gradient.
You must always ensure that your heat source is connected to a high quality thermostat. Place these in wide bowls made of ceramic or in clay pots. The python will simply slither around and lick water from the bowl anytime it wants to.
Change the water inside this bowl often. It prefers to remain on land, on rocky areas where it can remain hidden from plain sight to bask under the sun, Pythons are unable to regulate their temperatures well because of their cold-blooded nature.
They need to bask under the sun or under a strong tank light to increase their body temperature. Spotted pythons lay eggs or ovoviviparous animals. The eggs need a certain amount of heat to be able to hatch. The mother uses her body to provide warmth to her clutch of eggs. She will twirl around her eggs and will never leave this area until her babies hatch.
She will soon come back to the nest to resume her position around her eggs. A kind of shivering action is observed in mother pythons in an effort to warm her eggs up. They shiver their muscles to generate heat to keep the eggs warm and cozy. This unique natural action allows the spotted python mother to remain with her eggs instead of moving away to warm up. This also helps her protect her eggs from predators.
The eggs can take up to three months to hatch. Some python hatchlings will open the eggs with their egg tooth. During this very long time, the mother snake will not eat. It will remain in the nest to ensure the safety of her little ones. If you have a female python guarding her eggs, make sure to give it good food after her eggs have hatched. Offer live mice and small lizards laced with nutrients or supplements to bring back her state of health. After laying her eggs, the female incubates the eggs inside a comfortable nest up to 90 days until the eggs are ready to open.
The newly hatched pythons will remain in the nest for a few days before deciding to leave. The mating activity of spotted pythons start late April and may continue till the middle of August. Females will lay up to 18 eggs and will remain coiled near the eggs to provide heat. The tank must be tall as it is wide and should be secured under lock and key. Any successful breeder needs to understand that to be able to breed healthy young spotted pythons is to use healthy parents.
Place the male and the female pythons inside your breeding tank and allow these to remain inside the tank until the female lays eggs. Removing the males is crucial to avoid providing stress to the female spotted python. Remember that the female has to concentrate on laying her eggs and guarding it against predators.
Support the mother with the best lighting to improve tank temperature. The enclosure must be at a constant temperature ranging from 88 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime but should be reduced 5 degrees during the night time.
Spray water using a mister inside the tank to increase humidity. This temperature and humidity levels will keep your spotted python mother happy and comfortable and so will her eggs. Pythons are easy to keep as pets and to ensure that these are healthy and getting the right care and nutrition, you must learn to identify signs that your pet is healthy vs.
Pet pythons are generally healthy as long as it is given the right food and their cages kept clean. But sometimes these are not enough to avoid some health conditions. Healthy pythons have clear eyes, clear nose and mouth, are alert and active, eats regularly, with a rounded and full body and has healthy skin. Snakes suffering from health issues may have wrinkled skin, lethargic, with discharge coming from the nose or mouth, with abnormal feces or urine, decreased appetite, and vomiting.
For any of these signs and symptoms, take your pet to the vet at once. Your pet spotted python may become affected by several skin conditions including abscesses. This is due to a previous injury that becomes infected by bacteria and may look like a small lump on the skin. This can protrude to the internal tissues and organs and may be confused with tumors, constipation, and eggs that remain in the body. Meanwhile, blisters also affect snakes and these are fluid-filled skin structures that form along the underside of the snake.
This skin condition is because of the snake living in a moldy, dirty and overused substrate. Blisters should be removed by a vet because these could pile up and grow near the mouth and nose. A spotted python may also suffer from cuts and blisters. This is a preventable condition by ensuring that the accessories inside the enclosure are safe and will never harm your python.
Simple cuts may be treated by simple first aid but deeper and larger ones should be seen by a vet. Mites and ticks may also affect your pet spotted python. You can see mites as tiny moving dots that can be red, white or black. Ticks are larger and fewer but these can bury itself in between the scales and will not let go. Do not remove the tick with tweezers, simply soak the snake in a warm bath to remove these parasites.
If the mite and tick turn to an infestation, consult your vet right away. The size of the snake and its metabolic rate affects the time it takes to digest its food. But if you think that it has already been days or a week from the last time your snake pooped then it may be constipated. The first course of action is to let your snake remain in warm water for at least 15 minutes a day.
This will help stimulate digestion and excretion. But if constipation is accompanied by swelling of the belly, take your snake to the vet at once. This condition is common especially when you caught your snake in the wild.
A wild spotted python can pick up parasites from other reptiles and also from infected prey. Some signs of internal parasites include lack of appetite, regurgitation, lethargy and an overall tired and unwell appearance. One way to test for internal parasites is to take a fecal sample and test it in the lab. You must take your pet to the vet right away to have it checked for parasites. Regurgitation is usually due to stress, holding or handling the snake soon after it has just eaten and due to an undiagnosed and untreated illness.
This may be prevented by avoiding holding your snake after feeding, Make sure to have your pet checked by the vet for any untreated or improperly treated illness. Prepare a heated area inside the tank where your pet can stay right after eating. Cut up large pieces of food to avoid regurgitation. Also if your python has regurgitated the same kind of food on several occasions, it may avoid eating this type of food altogether and develop a psychological problem in response to regurgitation.
If you notice symptoms like lethargy, coughing, open-mouth breathing wheezing, runny nose or unusual clicking noises, your snake may be suffering from respiratory issues. Move the cage or enclosure to another part of the room or house away from other snakes and pets.
The area should be quiet so your snake can slowly recuperate. Most viral respiratory conditions will go away without treatment, just rest and the right temperature.
Shedding may pose a problem to pythons especially when the snake and its tank are not properly hydrated. The skin in the body and tail may shed easily but the skin surrounding the eye or the eyecaps and tail can take time and may cling to the body if it is too dry. Use a mister with water and spray this all over the tank, on the accessories and the snake body. Place a bowl of water inside the tank to improve humidity levels inside the enclosure.
As soon as you identify that your snake is beginning to shed its skin, soak it in warm water. Do this once a day. You must take your pet to the vet if it is having difficulty removing dried skin, especially on the eyecap. To prevent illness, extra care should be observed when caring for your spotted python.
First, make sure that the tank has the optimal temperature and hydration. Use the best tank lighting and humidifier. Use a digital thermometer and hygrometer to efficiently monitor tank health.
Have backup power like battery-operated lamps in case of power outages. Properly hydrate your snake by misting the tank with water. Keep a bowl of water inside and change this water daily. Change bedding often to prevent parasitic and bacterial infections.
Origin : Northeastern Australia. Size : 4 feet, thin bodied. You will find many ways on the internet on "how to" take care of this animal. This care sheet is showing the way we found works best for us from our many years of experience of breeding and caring for this species. Spotted pythons are good beginner snakes. Spotted python babies can start out in enclosures as small as 10 gallons. At around months, you can increase the size to 20 long or 30 gallon breeder size.
There are several kinds of enclosures that will work, e. If you use a glass tank, you'll want to provide a humid hide--that is, a hide that has some damp moss in it for humidity or mist the enclosure good when they are in shed. All snakes are skilled escape artists. You can use many types of bedding for your pet. Spot clean the bedding whenever they defecate. You should only need to clean the whole thing out about once a month or so.
Disinfect the enclosure and change out the bedding at that time. Zoo Meds wipe out or vinegar and water both work good for cage cleaning. Spotted pythons originate from the coastal areas of northeastern Australia and they like it warm, though they need to be able to cool off if they want to.
Like all reptiles, they are dependent on external thermoregulation to control their body temperature. This essentially means you need to provide both a hot and cool side to your enclosure. All the lighting and heat elements should be on one side and the other will then be the cool side.
This way your snake can move back and forth between the different temperatures depending on its needs.
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