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Eve
Snake Mite

United Kingdom
1 Posts

Posted - 15/03/2009 : 21:41:34

Hello we are both new to this site and snakes, and wonder if you could furnish us with some advice please.

We have recently acquired a pair of Breedign Royal pythons (not necessarily to breed from) the previous owener said that she had had a clutch but they were not successful.

We have had them a week now and on Friday it was our turn to feed them, the previous owener said that she used to sepearte them and give them an adult mouse each at night and by the morning it was gone and then she would put tehm back in together.

We did seperate them to feed them and unfortunately there was a casulaty (my partner) we did not realise just how quick they strike and he has a small graze on his hand.

we put them back in together on saturday, we handled them in the evening and she did not appear to be giving off good body language so we did not handle her but we handled him ( he was the one that bit my partner).

Today we have handled them both (we try to handle them everyday) she seems to have gained weight since we got her - we have weighed them both and they are aged between 3 1/2 to 4 years old they are about 4 foot long she weighs 726 grams and he weighs 540 grams. We were wondering if these are both good weights and lengths for the snakes. Also when we got them the previous owner said that she feeds them an adult mouse each every 10 days we have been told that they could be underweight and were wondering if you could advise about the following:- should we stick to feeding them an adult mouse every 10 days or should we advance to a weaner rat every ten days or should we feed them an adult mouse every 7 days ( by the way because of their weight concerns on friday we fed them 2 adult mice each and they went without a problem).

Any help or advice will be gratefully accepted, and no offence will be taken if you comment on the feedign habits at the end of the day our concern is for the snakes.

Thanks in advance.

Eve is partner to Lee.
Family Members are:-
Brindley - Boxer dog
Ferrets - Bonnie & Clyde
Beardies - Ozzy & Izzy
Pythons - Posh & Becks
Fish - too many to name

lee2308
Royal Python Moderator

United Kingdom
2597 Posts

Posted - 15/03/2009 : 21:55:38

hi and welcome to the forum,first of all your royals should be eating prey which is alot larger,possably adult rats.The general rule is to feed prey that is the same or 1.5x the size of girth of the snake at it's thickest part.As regards to handling,royals dont like to be handled too often.try to keep handling down to every couple of days (max)and you should never handle for at least 48 hours after feeding as this could cause regurgation(puking).if there is any other questions you have there is plenty of advice on here.

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Edited by - lee2308 on 15/03/2009 21:58:18

wolfspirit
Old Royal - I Post too much!

United Kingdom
5741 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 06:43:25

Hi Welcome to the forum

, this is a great place to seek advice.

I agree with what Lee has said, Royals dont need a lot of handling, and when fed your best to leave them totally alone for 48 hours to allow them to digest there meals. Most royals dont like frequent handling.

I would also house them in seperate vivs.

"No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from
now and make a brand new ending."
-- Source Unknown

Blackecho
Royal Python Admin

United Kingdom
11327 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 07:10:21

Hi Eve, welcome to the forum, a couple of points I can see.

As Lee has said, you should not handle for at least 48 hours after feeding or you could cause regurgitation which is very nasty for snakes.

If she is only 726g, then no wonder their clutch was unsuccessful, Royal females should not be bred until 1500-1800g, this could cause serious problems and even death. The male is obviously already sexually active and to stop this happening again before she's ready they need to be seperated permanently asap.

For 3-4 year olds they seem quite underweight (I have a 6 month old male already the same weight as your male), but this is probably due to feeding 1 mouse a week. I would suggest moving them to Rat Weaners and then slowly increasing the rat size. Still feed weekly for now.

Regarding handling, Royals are notoriously shy and easily stressed, I wouldn't handle more than twice a week personally, 3 times max.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions. You'll probably get more responses if you post in the Keeping or Health sections though.

MissCat
Fully Grown Royal

1971 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 07:45:57

hi Eve, nothing new to add, just thought i'd welcome you as well :)

dazb
Royal Python Moderator

United Kingdom
2847 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 14:18:43

hi and welcome...

AddicksGlenn
Yearling

United Kingdom
388 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 16:16:53

Hi ya

Dazzetski
Yearling

United Kingdom
461 Posts

Posted - 16/03/2009 : 21:08:36

Hello & welcome!!!

0.2.0 Cats (Spud & Phoebe) RIP Stevie fat man
1.1.0 Royals (Syd & Sofia)
2.2.3 Corns (Hogan, Shaggy, Sparkle, Tango, Fred, Haribo & Go Faster)
0.0.1 Columbian Rainbow Boa (Escobar)
1.1.0 Variable King Snakes (Lancelot & Guinaverre)
0.0.20 Fish

Colin S
Yearling

United Kingdom
148 Posts

Posted - 17/03/2009 : 23:05:27

Hello Eve,
well already some good advice for you and there is plenty more to be had.
Welcome to the site : -)