CARE OF PYTHONS
HOUSING
The ideal enclosure should be indoors, smooth sided and well ventilated with a perimeter larger than the length of the snake. Enclosures should be big enough to allow your snake to move around properly. Outdoor cages provide natural climatic conditions for the snake and allow room for them to move around. However, indoor cages give greater control over conditions, temperature etc. All enclosures whether indoors or outdoors must be escape proof. Pythons are arboreal (climbers) so dead branches should be present in the cage for them to climb on. Rocks and branches are required to assist with shedding (sloughing of skin). Do not tap on glass as this often stresses out your pet. Housing your python with restricted visibility is important as they like areas of seclusion. Carpet pythons like to climb quite a lot whereas Stimson’s are more ground dwelling so need less materials to climb upon.
Pythons should be housed separately (apart from when breeding). When forced to share a cage often one or both pythons will “sulk”, moving rarely and often losing condition. Keeping snakes apart makes feeding easier and will increase breeding success rates in the future. Often when you house 2 snakes together then you will often get one submissive snake which will often have a decreased appetite and lose condition.
SUBSTRATES
You can use artificial turf, paper, dry leaf litter/mulch, or for larger cages vinyl or cement flooring ok. Mulch gives the best purchase for crawling. You can spot clean mulch as needed and you should replace entirely once monthly. Be cautious however to avoid cedar wood mulch as this contains phenols that are deadly to all reptiles.
HEATING
The most important thing to remember is your snakes Preferred Body Temperature (PBT). For pythons this is 29-33 degrees Celsius (30-33 degrees for Stimson’s), less than this and they do not eat and digest properly. Heating lamps or heating pads are used to achieve the PBT. Arboreal snakes such as Pythons prefer overhead heating lamps. All heat lamps should be covered so that you do not induce thermal burns on your snake. Never placed uncovered heat lamps in your snakes enclosure. An alternative to a heat lamp is a heat pad. If you use heating pads they should always be outside the box/enclosure, never inside. You should also check that the thermometer probe is securely attached to the heat pad as you can get thermostat failures. Heat pads should only be underneath one end of the enclosure to create your thermal gradient. Thermal Gradients are a very important consideration when housing reptiles. You should create an environment where the enclosure has a warmer end and a cooler end. Thermometers should be placed at either end of the enclosure to monitor the temperature gradient. Some references recommend a gradient of 24-33 degrees from coolest to hottest spot in the enclosure.
The enclosure should have a heat lamp positioned over the tank with a large flat rock directly under the lamp which will hold and radiate heat. This provides a good hot spot for your snake. A lot of references recommend that temperatures should be cooled to 24-26 at night by attaching a timer to your heat source. Some references recommend retaining heat at 24-33 throughout the enclosure by using infra red, blue or green globes at night to retain heat in a dark environment so as not to disturb the reptile’s nocturnal routine. Generally if the snake is in good health and is from an area where it cools at night then it is ok to cool the entire enclosure to 24-26 of a night. If your snake is unwell then you can increase temperature 24 hours a day to PBT for 10-14 days to aid recovery and well being.
HIDES
Snakes need adequate hiding areas and they feel secure if they can touch all sides of their nest box/hide with their coiled body. For your snake you need to provide one hide box by the heat lamp and one away from the heat lamp as often they will choose to hide rather than seek warmth even if they need warmth. Although it is recommended not to house two snakes together if you have to for some reason you should provide each snake with a hide near the heat lamp and a hide away from the heat lamp so they can hide at either end of the temperature gradient.
LIGHTING
Lighting can be provided by incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. Some of the more expensive fluorescents (eg Vita-Lite) match sunlight spectrum thus makes plants and animals more vibrantly coloured and provide a healthier environment. All juvenile reptiles need some degree of UV light or sunlight exposure. However UV lighting is not essential for adult snakes. Lighting needs to be on a timer so that the reptile gets light and dark phases. Continuous lighting may cause anorexia and shedding problems. Similarly if a snake is housed by direct sunlight their appetite can be affected regardless of enclosure temperature and they may go into hibernation as they affected by the light/dark cycles. You should have the light source on a timer mimicking the seasons (for approximately 12 hours/ day & night in Summer down to 8 – 10 hours/day & 14 -16 hours/night in Winter. Be sure that exposure to natural light through a window is at the same end as the heating equipment otherwise the sunlight may heat the other end of the tank which is supposed to be your cooler gradient end. It is also a good idea to take your snake outside intermittently to get exposure to natural sunlight on warmer days. This is not advised on cold days or just after feeding. Also be aware that excessive handling can stress your pet snake.
HUMIDITY
Humidity ranges between 40-70%. You can easily control the humidity of the enclosure by the size of the water dish. The required humidity for each species varies according their natural habitat. Temperate species have a lower humidity than tropical species.
FEEDING AND WATER
Fresh drinking water must be available at all times and changed regularly. The water bowl should be untippable and large enough for the snake to submerge itself.
Often when you first purchase a Python it is unlikely to feed until it becomes familiar with its surroundings. Diet includes small mammals (prekilled lab mice, rats and gerbils) and chicks. Larger pythons will eat rabbits and larger prey. Pythons should be fed every 3- 6 week when not hibernating. It is important to ensure a snake passes excreta after each feed. Prior to shedding they will often cease feeding.
In the Winter months snakes may go into hibernation and not eat from mid to late autumn until spring. Anorexia (not eating) is a self protective mechanism for reptiles going into hibernation so that ingesta does not ferment whilst hibernating. Ideally snakes should be housed separately but if for whatever reason you house them together they should be fed separately. During breeding season both males and females may go off food.
HANDLING
Keep handing to a minimum to reduce stress levels, particularly pre and post feeding (try not to handle for 3 days after feeding). Also avoid handling when reptiles are sloughing as they have increased sensitivity at this time. Always wash your hands after handling reptiles as they can carry zoonotic diseases (diseases which pass from animals to humans).
HIBERNATION
A lot of reptiles seek shelter on colder days and most nights and this often leads them to go into hibernation. Although they tend to maintain body temperature in the daytime they cannot reach these temperatures at night unless in a constantly warmed room. During winter pythons kept in outdoor cages will enter hibernation and you must provide them with an adequate hiding retreat for this within the enclosure. Both sexes are inactive during cold weather. Feeding before hibernation usually takes place from late spring until autumn. Hibernation if affected by body temperature and photoperiod (exposure to light).
INAPPETANCE _There are several causes of inappetance. Stress from tapping on glass, frequent handling, frequent passers by and frequent handling can cause decreased appetite. Decreased photoperiod (shorter days) and decreased external temperatures often lead into inappetance followed by hibernation. Overfeeding can then lead to inappetance as well.
BREEDING
In the wild male snakes have increased activity in Spring and seek out females to mate. Cooling down and decreased photoperiod over the Winter period increases spermatogenesis (sperm production).
If you are trying to breed your snakes you will need to alter day and night length as well as temperature to instigate hibernation. You can mimic light periods to sunrise and sunset times. Also you must have them separated and when reintroduced more likely to mate.
You are best to buy reference books and research this in depth before attempting to breed. A permit is required to sell or trade offspring. All additions must be added onto your permit.
Two good reference books for you to get are;
“Pythons - A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual” by Patricia Bartlett and Ernie Wagner and
“What’s Wrong With My Snake?” by John Rossi and Roxanne Rossi.
