Pythons as Pets

Pythons are not a very common choice to keep as pets. The minute you hear snake, you get goose bumps on your skin. Many people think all snakes are poisonous and dangerous creatures. But the truth is quite contrary, there are more non-venomous snakes than poisonous. Most snakes will hide and try to avoid an encounter with humans. They strike back only when provoked or when they feel threatened. These cold-blooded reptiles are just as mysterious as the dark side of the moon. There are many people who can never imagine bringing home these slithery creatures as pets.

Still, there are many others who find it quite exotic to bring home a python. They find the thrill of having a python as pet very intoxicating. But there are many things one should know before getting these snakes home. Although these are non-venomous snakes, they are nonetheless dangerous. You need to take a lot of care and precautions when bringing home a python.

Pythons are non venomous snakes that belong to the family Boidae and sub-family Booidea. There are about 25 known species of pythons and all of them are constrictors. The female python lays about 15 to 100 eggs. Pythons have a docile temperament and thus have become popular as pets.

Pythons are long and muscular snakes that can reach a height of about 35 feet and weigh more than 300 pounds. The most commonly kept pet pythons are blood pythons, Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, carpet pythons, etc. The ball pythons are the easiest snakes to keep as pets.

Blood Pythons
These are one of the most popular snake pets and are very easy to keep at home. They are not fussy pets and do not need special cages and protocols while keeping them as pets. The blood pythons require a secure, well-ventilated cage and you can always use a glass aquarium to house them. The aquarium should have a ventilated top made of perforated metal or screen wire. You can even use commercially available PVC, ABS plastic or fiberglass cages with a lot of perforations to house these snakes.

You can keep a thick pad of newspapers or crumple several pieces at the bottom of the enclosure. This helps the snake to hide, if it wishes to. Keep a bowl of clean water available 24/7 as blood pythons drink a lot of water. You can even give your blood python an occasional bath. If you see the blood python is hiding under water, it means that he is stressed or feeling insecure. Sometimes they do this, if they are troubled by snake mites. So you should watch out for these tell-tale signs and take appropriate action.

You need to maintain the temperature of the cage at a range of low to mid 80º F. The day time temperature should be around 80º to 82º F and the nighttime temperature should be at 78º to 80º F. You should also provide a basking spot for the blood python and temperature should be kept around 86º to 88º F.

They can survive on a diet of rats for their entire life. You can feed a large-sized blood python 2 to 3 rats at each feeding or one small rabbit for a meal. You may find many adult blood pythons do not eat anything during the winter months. Young blood pythons or hatchlings can be kept on a diet of live pink rats or live small mice. When their feeding habits become regular, you may feed them medium or large mice till they are large enough to eat small adult rats.

During shedding, elevate the humidity of the enclosure, 1 or 2 days before the shedding occurs. You can wet the newspapers and thereby increase the humidity. If you find your snake has not shed completely and some skin is attached to its body, soak the blood python in shallow water for several hours. This will help in shedding off the skin completely. The water level should reach just halfway up the side of the midbody of the snake. If your snake is weak or sick or has any other problems, do not soak it in water.

The cute little hatchlings prefer live prey as their first meal. You should keep the hatchlings or young ones in a temperature range of 78º to 82º F, for optimal feeding. The blood pythons begin to shed 3 or 4 weeks after hatching as opposed to other pythons that shed 1 or 2 weeks after hatching. It is very rare to find a red hatching. The brown, tan or orange-brown hatchlings gradually turn red adult blood pythons. They have their brightest red color developed, when they are 2 ½ to 3 ½ years of age, which keeps intensifying as they age.

Burmese Pythons
Burmese pythons grow to a size of 15 - 20 feet and weigh over 100 to 200 pounds or even more. This makes it very difficult to care for the snakes and their huge diet makes them very expensive pets. You will not easily find someone willing to adopt your Burmese python as pet, if you can no longer take care for it. Never ever release your Burmese python and keep in mind, many pet owners have lost their lives due to handling mistakes.

The Burmese pythons are generally docile and the hatchlings are a bit flighty. You need to tame them with consistent handling. The Burmese pythons have a huge appetite and can be a bit on the aggressive side. You should always have a second helper with you when you are handling this 8 feet or more pet. Your ignorance and slight error can result in your death.

You can keep the Burmese python as a pet in a 55 gallon tank when they are juveniles. As the python grows in size, you will need stronger and bigger enclosures. You should build a strong enclosure that is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall as they are similar to the Great Houdini in the art of escaping. You can use thick pad of newspapers at the bottom of the cage for juveniles. As the snake grows, you may use indoor carpeting like linoleum, as they are easy to clean and disinfect.

The temperature of the enclosure should be kept in the range of 85º to 88º F during the day and 78º - 80º F at night. The basking temperature should be kept in the range of 90º - 93º F. During shedding, increase the humidity by wetting the newspapers or placing a damp sphagum moss in a hide.

You should keep a bowl of fresh, clean water 24/7 and provide water for soaking. The larger snakes should be given a tub or water pool to soak. The Burmese pythons eat a lot and can be fed with mice or rats. You can feed pre-killed rabbits to adult Burmese pythons. The hatchlings need to be fed 1 or 2 times a week and the adult snakes once in every 2 weeks. This will help maintain the body weight of the Burmese python and you won't end up with an obese snake.

You should handle the hatchlings frequently in a firm and persistent manner. This will help them get used to handling and won't be fussy adults when you handle them. You should never handle the snake 2 or 3 days after feeding as it may regurgitate. When handling adult snakes, make sure you have helpers present when feeding or handling the Burmese python as pet. You should have one person for every four feet of snake, that is, 2 people for 8 feet snake, 3 for a 12 feet snake and so on.

Green Tree Pythons
Green tree pythons are also known as 'Chondro'. They can grow up to a size of over 6 feet. They are known for their beautiful colors like bright green, subtle pastel shadings and the occasional black color. The clutch produces hatchlings in multi-colors like chocolate-brown, red, yellow, etc. They have very long teeth as they are bird eaters in the wild. So you need to very careful of their sharp appendages.

The green tree pythons have a varied temperament and many are of tame nature. But there are a few that have a nature that is a complete opposite of tame. Therefore, many snake keepers, advice thinking twice before bringing one home. The cage requirements are not much as they like wrapping themselves on a branch. You can have 2 X 2 feet long cage with removable wooden perches. You can use only water as a substrate in the cage or place newspapers at the bottom of the cage. Be sure to moisten the newspapers daily to provide extra moisture. Place a vining plant called 'Pathos' with the roots in the water filled in the bottom of the cage. The vine acts as a perch for the green tree python as pet. You can also use plastic plants and perches and hence provide ample hiding place, since just like other pythons, green tree pythons are also secretive in nature.

The temperature of the cage can be kept at about 82º - 85º F and the nighttime at 78º - 80º F. During shedding, be sure to provide extra humidity to ease the shedding process. You can keep misting the snake with water, while it is shedding.

You need not provide a bowl of clean, freshwater to the green tree python as pet. They tend to drink the water droplets formed on their skin. You can feed the snake with dead rats. While feeding, dim the room lighting and the best time to feed is in the evenings. You can feed them every 10 to 14 days. You may find male green tree pythons refusing to eat for 6 months or even more.

Moving the green python tree snake from its perch is a quite cumbersome task. If you really need to move the snake to another perch, then lift the front coil with a type of hook and push the tail to chase the snake to move over the hook. Then you can gently transport the snake to its new perch.

Carpet Pythons
These are generally found to live on trees in their wild habitat. They are also known as Children's python. They are so-called because scientist John George Children was the one who first identified this group of snakes. The hatchings are about 35 cm in length and grow up to 3 meters in length. They were kept by farmers to get rid of the rodent infestation and slowly became popular. They are found resting out in the open and are active pet snakes. They are also docile in nature and therefore make great display pets. They are adaptable to a range of temperatures and humidity changes, making them very easy pets to care for.

The cage or enclosure should be a terrarium or vivarium. It is should be 50cm deep x 100cm high x 100cm wide. You can also provide plenty of branches for the snake to climb. You can use newspapers as substrate at the bottom of the cage. The cage temperature can be kept between 75º to 78º F during day and about 65º F during night. The temperature of the basking lamp should be about 87º to 91º F.

The carpet snake as pets should be provided with a fresh and clean bowl of water to drink. You can feed the carpet python with pink rats. Hatchlings can eat a prey that is about the size of a hopper mouse. You can feed the carpet snakes once or twice a week. While handling the snake, hold it from its belly and approach gently. You should make the snake aware of your presence before you pick it up.

Reticulated Pythons
These pythons actually hold the title of the world's longest snakes and not the anaconda. The anaconda hold the title for the heaviest snakes in the world. The adult female can grow more than 20 feet in length and the average length is about 15 to 18 feet. They are ideal snakes as pets, when given the right pet care and conditions.

You will need an enclosure that is about 3 meters in length and 1 meter in width with a height of 1.5 meters. They need a temperature in the range of 88º to 94º F during the day and night temperature of about 80º to 84º F. The humidity should be maintained in the range of 60 to 70%.

They should be fed small mice or pink rats. Adult reticulated pythons should be given adult mice or rats. You can even feed the adult reticulated python a rabbit. You can feed one rabbit every 3 to 4 weeks. The hatchlings should be fed once a week. You should also provide a bowl of fresh clean water at all times.

You also need to go through the legal guidelines of your area regarding keeping pythons as pets. Although there are many people who keep these illegally, you may not want to end up being sued for animal cruelty, animal abuse and even breaking the law of the land regarding keeping exotic animals as pets.

You need to have a lot of knowledge and understanding about the temperament of pythons too. Remember, never ever take any docile and tame python for granted. You always need to treat them with respect or face fatal consequences. Pythons are cold-blooded animals that need to be handled with care. They are not an objects to show off power or to exhibit bravery. They need to be treated as snakes and snakes with the ability to kill you. Always keep this in mind and bring home these pet snakes.