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wolfspirit
Old Royal - I Post too much!
United Kingdom
5741 Posts |
 Posted - 01/07/2009 : 07:34:05
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Got This with permission from Rachel yesterday as i thought they contained valuable information and hopefully can be made stickies, 2nd one to follow..
The Royal Python.
Royal Python Basics.
Royal pythons come from Africa where they are most commonly found in dry areas. Royal pythons often make their homes in rodent burrows as this is their ideal environment – quiet, dark, small, slightly humid and secure.
Royal pythons are naturally secretive and solitary animals, they are found alone except for in the breeding season when they will pair up to breed and also occasionally if rodent burrows are scarce.
Royals are also primarily nocturnal, coming out from dusk till early morning when they are less likely to be seen as prey but have the perfect opportunity to secure their own feed as well as get to a nice warm temperature.
Royal Pythons In Captivity.
Royals pythons are undoubtedly one of the most popular pets of today in the reptile industry and can be bought from many different places with many different labels on them.
Captive Bred (CB) – These hatched from eggs that were from two royals bred in captivity.
Captive Farmed (CF) – These have hatched from eggs from females caught in Africa, once hatched the babies are then shipped across the world to Europe & the USA.
Long Term Captives (LTC) – These are royals that were caught in Africa as juveniles – adults but have been in captivity for a period of time and are no longer considered wild – this time length can differ depending on peoples opinions it can means 6months to 10years.
Wild Caught (WC) – These are royals taken from the wild and put in captivity within a fairly recent time frame.
*Note: All the above terms can relate to other species but royal was used for the purpose of this document.
Keeping Royals – The Ideal Way.
The best method of keeping a royal in captivity is providing an environment which simulates to a degree it’s natural living conditions. This means you want to provide a living area that it feels safe and secure in. If using a vivarium then it is best to decorate it and fill it with hides so that the royal can get into areas where it can achieve the secure feeling. Tubs also work very well, they aren’t as pleasing to the eye as a nicely done up vivarium but they do suit the purpose as a giant hide where the royal isn’t left feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Heating is the most essential thing to consider when keeping royal pythons, they require good ground temperatures and it is also essential to provide good air temperatures too so it is best to use overhead heaters as heat mats fail to effectively heat the air and heat mats can also be dangerous to large snakes due to the weight and pressure being applied to the mat by the snakes body.
Feeding is also something to think about. Royals feed naturally on rodents so this should be the staple diet of the captive royal, feed at intervals ranging from 7 days for young royals to 2-3 weeks for adults and males as royals are often overfed in captivity and it is important to remember a royal is more likely to feed if it doesn’t have a set routine as they are opportunistic feeders. Remember – a mouse will not walk past the royal at 9pm on a Friday night each week so there is no need to feed like clockwork.
Common Problems & Cures.
“Help, my royal python won’t eat!”
This has to be possibly the most common problem seen with royals and has earned them an undeserved reputation of being poor feeding snakes. Remember royals like warm, dark, cramped, quiet and peaceful places.
So have you got your royal in a vivarium that looks beautiful but doesn’t have a lot of hiding spots? If so change that, introduce more hiding spots be it logs, ceramic caves, flowerpots or anything you like – give it hiding places! If this doesn’t work put your royal in a small box for a while with a hide and water bowl.
How are you heating your royal? If you are using a vivarium then you need to be using a guarded ceramic ideally as this heats the air and the ground fantastically and emits no light. If using tubs then a heat mat is the only viable heating option available. When using heat mats it is vital to remember that heat mats heat the ground only and not the air so you must make sure your room temperatures are warm otherwise the royal is breathing in cold air and cold air can often cause feeding problems as they know their digestion may not be up to scratch and they may also think it is a different season to what it actually is.
Are you using lights? If so then get rid of those, royals are nocturnal and live in burrows so therefore they don’t have access to glaring lights shining on them so it is unnatural to them and also very stressful. If you really do want to use lights then use red heat lamps with a guard as snakes are unable to see red light so this won’t affect them like a normal light would.
*Note: Ideal temperatures are 90-92°F on the hot side, 85°F on the cool side and 80-82°F in the air. All overhead heat sources and lights should be guarded as your snake may not go near it now, but it will and it could die from just that one contact! Also all heat sources should be on a thermostat as without this, lights, ceramics and heat mats can and will overheat and can exceed 100°F easily which can kill.
Are you handling your royal? Stop that straight away, to a royal you are huge and you are scary and you are picking it up in the air which is just not meant to happen and never would in the wild so instinct says it’s a predator and it’s being attacked. Also royals may seem like they enjoy a ‘stroll’ around your living room – they’re not strolling they’re trying to get away from you to a safe spot where they can curl up.
Royals are not snakes which will tolerate being mucked around with, if you want a snake to handle and show to your friend and family you’re better off with a corn snake as they tolerate a lot more.
Handling is the biggest cause of stress in a royal, and stress is the biggest cause of non-feeding royals. The key here is to just leave it alone.
“Help my royal is sneezing/yawning/clicking or bubbling when it breathes!”
Well here you probably have what is known as a respiratory infection, the reptile equivalent of a common cold. Snakes don’t have diaphragms so they cannot expel mucus like mammals can so it builds up in the lungs and causes breathing difficulties.
The biggest cause of this problem is poor air temperatures, make sure you have the right environment for your royal and check that with a digital thermometer don’t just rely on a thermostat to be perfectly correct!
Just improving the temperatures your royal lives in will help a great deal but more is needed, get the snake to a good local reptile vet as soon as you possibly can as these small infections can escalate rapidly if not dealt with. Your reptile vet will guide you from there but a course of fortum and baytril or marbocyl is normally given in most cases.
If you can it is also worthwhile investing in an ultrasonic nebuliser and some F10 disinfectant, dilute the F10 with water at the ratio of F10:Water 1:200, pour this into the nebuliser and then nebulise the snake for 20minutes, twice a day as this allows the disinfectant to get into the lungs and start fighting the bacteria faster than antibiotics.
“Help, my royal has shed but still has skin stuck to it!”
Poor shedding is also a common seen problem in royals and this is due to humidity levels being too low. While royals don’t need humidity so high they should be sprayed they do require a relative humidity of around 60% which can be achieved by simply keeping the water bowl over or under the heat source.
So, your royal has shed and the skin is still stuck what do you do?
If there is a small amount of skin left on the snake then fill a tub or run a bath of luke warm water and let the royal run through your hands in this and try to gently rub away the retained skin, if this isn’t effective try putting the snake in a damp pillowcase or a pillowcase filled with sphagnum moss as this usually gets skin off too.
If the royal has basically not shed at all then fill a tub with luke warm water so it is about 2/3 full, put in a brick or a hide that will sit and still be covered by the water but allows the snake to rest, this means that the snake can’t drown if it becomes tired from swimming but it cannot get out of the water either. Leave the snake like this for 2-3hours with the lid on the tub and then check back, the royals skin will either look like a huge baggy sack, will be off or look no different. If it’s off the brilliant – job done, if it’s a huge sack then gently rub it and it’ll break and peel off like a soggy sock but if it’s still stuck then leave the snake for another few hours and change the water if needed.
Retained eyecaps are often seen with poor sheds and the best thing to do here is just leave them, if the humidity is correct for the next shed they will come off with that, if they don’t then consult a vet and they will give drops to remove them or may be able to do so on the spot.
Dented eyes are also becoming more common and this is too a sign of dehydration and poor humidity so using the tub of water for a length of time method works well for this too.
General Summary.
Royals can make fantastic snakes to own and do brilliantly in captivity if all their needs are met, the only problems royals have in captivity is their keepers, it is due to our faults they get so many problems.
Feeding issues may require a change in husbandry or they may need a change of food be it, rat to mouse or gerbil or alternative food types. Illness can also be dealt with if effective treatment is given and husbandry issues are amended.
Reading up on royals is essential for potential keepers to know what they are doing with their new pet. Internet forums can be an excellent resource but should never be relied on as bad advice can still be given even when experience moderators are around to watch over it all. Doing your own personal research will also teach you a lot more too as you will stumble across new information accidentally while looking for your intended subject and this can only broaden your knowledge and better prepare you for keeping a royal. Google will give a huge amount of links to internet sites across the world which is brilliant but books are also a valuable tool as these will help you more in the long run at those times when the internet isn’t accessible.
Reading up is also very beneficial to keepers who have either kept for 1 week, 1year or 10 years as there is still so much to learn it cannot all be learnt at once and it can be guaranteed that a new piece of knowledge will be gained each time something is read!
Recommended Reading.
http://www.ballpythons.ca
The Ball Python Manual – Phillipe De Vosjili
The Complete Ball Python – Kevin McCurley
Pythons Of The World Volume 2 – Dave & Tracey Barker |
"No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from
now and make a brand new ending."
-- Source Unknown
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Edited by - wolfspirit on 01/07/2009 07:43:04 |
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