| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 31/10/2010 : 11:45:58
Hi all,
first of all i appollogise if this question is always asked, i have done many searches and when searching for a possible problem all you will find is info on that problem not how common it is.
My wife and i are looking to get a snake around dec, this will be our first snake and were starting the research early as its something we believe should be done before taking on any animal.
As a first time keeper everyone we speak to (with a few exceptions) is recommending a corn snake, while they are beautifull it is the royal python that we fall in love with everytime we see and whose general placid slow temperment we feel will better suit us.
Now the majority of people seem to be pushing us away from a royal's due to feeding problems, searching for this on the internet obviously doesnt result in many posts "my royal doesnt have a feeding problem" forum responses seem to be an equal mix of people with no problems and people with (or people that have heard of problems).
on sat we visited a reptile shop that was recommended to us by someone who's family and friends have all kept reptiles for a long time and are highly regarded in the rep world,whilst the shop owner still recomended corns as a first snake, when we told him how we feel about the royals he told us they are another good first snake, many questions followed about feeding issues and as to how much royals can be handled without stressing them. His answers have intrigued me to research more into royals after nearly striking them of my list of possibles.
I was told that feeding issues are rare among cb royals, that they will sometimes take a little to settle into a new home and that occasionally they will go on fast but this is part of there natural behaviour and if they do fast to weigh them regular, as long as they dont loose weight (which is very rare)then all is ok. The chap seemed very confident about this and offered to help with any problems if they occured.
As far as handling his seemed to love it he had his own 2 adults in the shop that he was trying to breed and whenever someone walked by they were nosing and climbing on the glass to come out, he told me they love to be handled and he takes them out as much as he can and that it doesnt cause them stress or problems eating, he also told me how these two snakes are used around the schools with children and again theve never had problems, when he opened them up they were straight out and on him, he also had a couple of cb10 juveniles in that he told us are often out with him and when he opened them up they were straight out and seemed to love to be handled, there was no defensive postures and they didnt roll up into a ball at any point, just seeming content to wrap around his and our wrists and to chill out there.
Now i know behaviour is largely down to individual snakes but the way his snakes were has made us even more in love with royals, there such amazing gracefull creatures.
So rather than asking do royals have feeding problems other than what has been suggested is a natural fast (this seems to get answered mostly by people who have experienced problems) id like to ask people to post up there experiences both good and bad and i would also appreciate if anyone would like to share there thoughts and opinions on keeping a royal as a first snake.
Many thanks
Brett |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 22/11/2010 : 12:06:21
Thread cleaned up and re-opened. Please keep it friendly and on topic otherwise it will be locked perminently.
Thanks |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 20/11/2010 : 00:10:25
its being locked now as the topic has been covered and see no good coming from it now.
Kehhlyr,i will be recommending that you get a 50% warning for being abusive too. |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 20/11/2010 : 00:01:20
Parts of this post removed:
I think that setup looks good.
Actually jealous that my royal house doesn't look like that.
My little royal is in a 50L rub with aubiose a single hide and a water bowl, he seems happier that way.
Edited to add
Rubs and balls, always go together in my opinion.  |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 19/11/2010 : 11:31:05
Edited
You might not think its practicle (Sp!) and it might well not be, however, as I said, i'm working on it. Thats what I do, solve problems, i'm an engineer. I prefer not to give in at the first sign of difficulty as I believe that overcoming practical difficulties are very fulfilling. Engineers also rely on empirical data to draw their conclusions which is why I invited your proof on your claim (assumptions?)and wouldn't make such claims myself unless I was absolutely sure about them. It may have been done in a way that you felt threatening, and if so, I apologise, however, its not my fault if your sense of humour is lacking.
|
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 18/11/2010 : 07:41:07
lol, bullet was always fed on mice until i got bow, i honsetly dont think he notices a difference because he always strikes at them and eats them iwthout any hesitation lol
bow was originally fed on mice by the breeder but before she came to me the breeder fed her a few rats to see if she would take and she did, but i dont know what she prefers as she has not eaten with me yet   |
| n/a |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 23:55:23
quote:
Originally posted by Brett1980
shes on black small mice atm, is rat better to feed, or is it a case of when shes an adult a rat will be more suited to her size?
Both. Rats contain more nutrition for royals; also when a royal is mature a rat is more appropriate to their size than several mice. It's said that because of this a royal should be started on rats, because it can get addicted to mice. When I got Shahi he was allegedly feeding on small mice; it took him a while to get started again, and so although I'd started on this forum by then and learned about rats being better, it took me up till now to introduce him to rats ... I fear he may remain a mouse junkie! lol.
The converse is the rule for corns - keep them on mice and don't let them get addicted to rats! One of my corns mopped up Shahi's refused rats but got a big mouse for her last feed ... don't think the gannet noticed!
I can see the sense of getting a larger snake accustomed to a larger size prey - and rats, apparently, have a greater fat content which is apparently appropriate to royal requirements. However, in the wild they may often prey on multimammates ... a large multimammate is as long as a rat weaner ... umm... rocket science.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to keep on trying to get him on to rats, but if he insists on mice ... well I know a good cheap frozen supplier!
Sorry this is so inconclusive. The general rule is, rats are better. And loads of people have no trouble at all changing over.
Handy tip - if you want to buy another snake, get a rat-eating gannet to recycle any refused rats!
|
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 23:13:23
shes on black small mice atm, is rat better to feed, or is it a case of when shes an adult a rat will be more suited to her size? |
| n/a |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 22:26:23
Congrats!
Is she on mice or rats? I tried Shahi with a rat today and got panic in his feeding rub and a couple of strikes but no takes when he was in his hollow bamboo (I'm trying to change him on to rats.) He took a mouse in his viv though - they do like being on home ground, don't they? The little git is training me, I swear it!
I think they know we'll do what they want us to! Congrats again. |
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 22:16:34
well changing topic :D first feed today took a little bit of time, she didnt like been fed in a faun outside the viv, but in the viv :D i got a real nice strike, 5 mins of making sure the dead thing was really dead and then down the hatch. |
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 17:14:32
Edited
(not at all saying that keeping a royal in a rub is inapropriate as they are very handy and i am not dising the way breeders keep royals, i think it is very practicle the way they do it and there snakes thrive in it and they have no problems)
|
| n/a |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 16:54:11
quote:
Originally posted by Brett1980
At the end of the day its not about what you or i think, its about what is right for the snake, there is nothing poor about the snake and at 3 months old it is right to provide plenty of cover and places to hide to help them feel safe and un-stressed, this has been achieved with hides and plenty of foliage to break up the open space. While it may be natural to throw some dirt in there and create underground hides this is totally inpractical on a multitude of fronts.
stop trolling for attention and i think the saying "if you havnt got anything good to say dont say anything" fits best. Thats not to say if there is something detrimental to the health of my snake dont say anything, on the contary pls do, but derogatory and demeaning comments have no place.
Hear hear.
Actually, if you use aspen substrate you can create underground burrows. Just get a few kitchen roll inners and heap the aspen on top - instant inviting 'caves'. Don't know what you'd use when the snake got bigger, though, but there must be something that could be utilised. Snakes in the wild will utilise just about anything. My corn snake book features a photograph of a wild fox snake curled snugly up in a discarded carpet. Snakes don't give a toss as long as they're comfortable! |
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 16:21:46
At the end of the day its not about what you or i think, its about what is right for the snake, there is nothing poor about the snake and at 3 months old it is right to provide plenty of cover and places to hide to help them feel safe and un-stressed, this has been achieved with hides and plenty of foliage to break up the open space. While it may be natural to throw some dirt in there and create underground hides this is totally inpractical on a multitude of fronts.
stop trolling for attention and i think the saying "if you havnt got anything good to say dont say anything" fits best. Thats not to say if there is something detrimental to the health of my snake dont say anything, on the contary pls do, but derogatory and demeaning comments have no place. |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 15:08:35
Comment removed by Administrator.
Please refer to Forum Guidelines: http://www.theroyalpython.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2224 |
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 13:33:06
quote:
Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake
quote:
Originally posted by Roly
Yeah, I just love the way that he's gone out of his way to recreate the natural flora anf faunae of Western Africa :-)
Hey up, there's always one eh lol ...
i see what u meen |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 13:10:21
quote:
Originally posted by Brett1980this is a temp/growing viv the fauna is in no way meant to represent west africa, it is meant to provide lots of hides and protection for a young royal that may otherwise feel stressed in a large open area. were hoping to make her bigger viv more natural to west africa (minus dirt burrows) when she is an adult and large enough
I actually have considered the feasibility of a vivarium of enough depth to allow the bottom third to be filled with earth and have artificial burrows integrated to give a below ground environment as well as above it. In fact, i'm planning one - but its still back of a fag packet stuff at the moment.
Oh, and Danny, I look forward to your comprehensive paper on studies you've undertaken which prove once and for all that captive bred animals have no instinctive imprint of what a natural environment would be for their species....  |
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 17/11/2010 : 07:42:02
quote:
Originally posted by Roly
Yeah, I just love the way that he's gone out of his way to recreate the natural flora anf faunae of Western Africa :-)
im sorry but not everyone wants to recreate a natural viv. it doest have to be the same as what it is in the wild as they have never expierienced it. as long as the viv is suitable and has plenty of hides, plenty of shelter, then does it really matter what it looks like?? |
| Brett1980 |
Posted - 16/11/2010 : 22:24:08
rofl, a tarts boudoir ehh, wouldnt know never been in one myself, but yeh the red light is a little red, on a positive note it keeps the viv at the correct temps.
:( u meen theres no jungle vine and ivy style stuff in west africa my dreams are shattered :(
this is a temp/growing viv the fauna is in no way meant to represent west africa, it is meant to provide lots of hides and protection for a young royal that may otherwise feel stressed in a large open area. were hoping to make her bigger viv more natural to west africa (minus dirt burrows) when she is an adult and large enough
Thanks for the comments and welcomes everyone else |
| n/a |
Posted - 16/11/2010 : 20:05:00
quote:
Originally posted by Roly
Yeah, I just love the way that he's gone out of his way to recreate the natural flora anf faunae of Western Africa :-)
Hey up, there's always one eh lol ... |
| Snecklifter |
Posted - 16/11/2010 : 19:49:48
Yeah, I just love the way that he's gone out of his way to recreate the natural flora anf faunae of Western Africa :-) |
| reptiledanny |
Posted - 16/11/2010 : 19:10:47
i think it looks really good and there is plenty of secure places for him to hide in |
