Initial introduction to a new enclosure:

This is a pivotal moment in a new snakes life. Everything is new, nothing smells like home. This potentially is the largest stress that we are going to put on our snake. What happens initially from here is all important to ensure your snake settles in adequately. In the immediate term , certainly for the first 5-7 days the snake is not to be handled. Handling your snake will hamper this settling in process and add more stress onto the snake. After our initial settling in period the first job of the keeper is to ensure the snake feeds successfully.

If a snake is still stressed out (potentially from not being left alone to settle in) it may refuse food. To refuse a first meal is not unheard of so if it is refused do not panic. Remember it’s a snake not a hamster, there is time for things to fall into place. If an animal is stressed it may upset the stomach, so in certain cases a snake may feed and then throw up the meal a short while after. This is more problematic than refusal. The action of regurgitating the meal may have irritated the throat and stomach lining and it is best practice to leave it a few weeks to settle down. So as hard as it might be, as strong as the temptation may be; leave your snake alone to settle in.

When a snake enters a new enclosure for the first time we can expect a lot of roaming and investigating initially, then the snake will seemingly go to ground and disappear. Snakes will usually defecate within hours of entering a new enclosure. Under normal circumstances it is good practice to stay on top of spot cleaning the enclosure but for this settling in period we are going to let this slide. By leaving the faecal material within the enclosure this provides a chemical marker for the snake to reference as it investigates it’s new tank.

During the first week settling in and before the first feeding effort takes place it should also be anticipated that a snake, particularly a baby may be more defensive, even aggressive than would be anticipated normally. Try to keep perspective about what a monumental change you are putting this animal through. Yes the snakes recommended here are some of the very best species to keep as a novice but just give them some time to settle in initially.

Once the first feed has taken place we must always wait 48 hours before handling the snake. This rule remains true for the rest of the snake’s life.

Handling your pet

Handling regularity and duration:

This is difficult to make cast iron recommendations on, as snakes vary so much not only from species to species but also from individual to individual. Broad recommendations relating to age can be made however with the understanding that any issues that arise such as refusing food we react to quickly. Baby snakes are less tolerant than older animals. Handling sessions should be short and the interval between sessions quite widely spaced to allow to snake to calm back down after handling. As the snake gains weight and grows, which of course is our main priority their tolerance and patience increases. Watch for signs of agitation and restless or fast behaviour after a while. This is a sign the snake has had enough and should be returned to its enclosure. By the time the snake is approximately 18 months old its tolerance for handling will have grown considerably. In most instances the snake can be handled each day apart for the 48hrs we are waiting after feeding. Most snakes will be quite happy for 5-10 minutes a day with no adverse affects to their health. By the time the snake is approaching adult size after 3 years most species are now well socialized and can be handled for up to 20 minutes a day apart from the 48 hours after feeding. If we notice reticent to feed or adverse confrontation behaviour consider you may have exceeded what your individual snake is comfortable with when it comes to interaction. All snakes are different.

Removing the snake from the enclosure:

Upon entering a snakes enclosure  you are within the animal’s territory. If a snake is going to feel threatened it is during the process of removing the animal from the enclosure. The longer this process takes the more likely we are going to run into territoriality issues with the snake. We do not believe in petting or stroking a snake it its own environment. The snake should be removed so as to encourage submission and compliance with the keeper.

With as little disturbance as possible locate the snake, in most instances certainly for younger snake they will be hiding. Gently hook a coil of the snakes mid body with your index finger and lift in a smooth and steady fashion. Take care not to allow the snake to use its head to coil around any of the vivarium apparatus as they may hang on to stop you from removing them from the enclosure. Once the snake is removed from the enclosure most snakes that have displayed any behavioural issues that we may associate with territoriality will become submissive and compliant.

 
Handling technique:

It is important a snake can move freely. Snakes do not take kindly to being restrained. Make sure our hands are not sweaty so that the snake does not stick to our skin resulting in jerking movements by the snake. Snakes have very sensitive heads, whilst the common understanding is that snakes are deaf they are highly sensitive to vibration. Some of the bones we associate with the inner ear and hearing apparatus are still present and closely aligned to the lower jaw. As the chin is regularly in contact with the ground care should be taken around the snakes head. If the snake wants to investigate you by flicking its tongue onto your skin to smell you or it wishes to rest its head on your person that is fine. Approaching a snakes head and touching it is not recommended, it can trigger flight by rapid reversal of direction and maybe even biting if the snake feels adequately threatened. The best way to explain handling technique is to imagine your hands are limbs and branches on a tree that the snake will use to exercise around. Allow the first third of the snakes body to investigate and look around whilst supporting the midriff and tail. Often times it does not escape a snake it is off the ground and in an effort to feel well supported may wrap its tail (surprisingly tightly) around a wrist or finger. This is normal. Initially until you are totally comfortable with the handling process ensure this is not done in a crowded room particularly if there is likely to be over eager hands rushing in to touch the snake. Handling should take place in a quiet and calm manner to ensure the snake stays as calm as possible as it begins to realise you are not a threat.

Younger keepers should always be supervised during handling sessions. Parents know their children and need to honestly assess how mature and responsible their child is regarding the free handling of animals. Our advice would be certainly in the early days of snake keeping experience to make it a family experience for you all to share together to be able to see the interactions of the child with the animal. Baby snakes rarely tolerate stroking, this should be taken into consideration. Conversely a mature animal will show no adverse reactions at all to being petted gently. Once again tolerances to this will grow with time. The initial building of a relationship with a baby snake should be by handling only and with the introduction of stroking at a later date. I cannot specify when that later date will be, it depends on the individual snake. Watch the snakes demeanour you will learn to interpret behaviours as compliant or not.

Free roaming.

A monumentally bad idea. Snakes have a very nasty habit of going precisely where we don’t want them to and making their return a nightmare situation. They will find their way down into the cavities of sofas, they will seek out cracks in floorboards, they will search out gaps in pipe cladding making for nightmare situation of a disappearing snake. Consider the room you are in now as you read this book. Take a moment to risk assess just how many nooks, crannies and bolt holes your snake could disappear to. Whilst trying to find your snake again it will potentially feel the vibrations of you moving around frantically trying to find them and they may well keep on the move meaning areas need to be searched more than once. An altogether safer proposition is to forego free roaming and allow the handling time you to be one of its major forms of exercise.

Bathing.

This is not something that needs to happen but some keepers like to allow their snake to swim. Certain species would naturally swim as part of their life cycle, others however would not. Owing to having a large tubular lung they float well and all snakes can swim. Yes a single lung not a pair, granted a few types of snakes till have two but the vast majority have had to adapt the way organs are sized to fit into a tube of a body. The left lung may be present but is often vestigial (small and unused) the right lung has been extended down the length of the body. The very rear of this lung is called the saccular lung and is used more as a buoyancy aid than for oxygen extraction. Swimming can be useful exercise for snakes particularly those that we may have been a little generous with when it comes to mouse size portions. Swimming in tepid water loosens stools so be warned it is common for snakes to pass urate and faecal material in the bath or tub. Snakes are at no detriment not being given swimming opportunities though and will be quite happy to stay in the safety of their enclosure.

Outside:

This too can be as risky as free roaming. Supervision is essential. We have never subscribed to allowing snakes outside but if we think about it there may be benefits by way of stimulus and enrichment for the snakes life. The snake may be stimulated by the new smells and tastes and shapes to investigate. The snake may also feel threatened and respond badly to this over stimulus. As always this is down to the individual. Be mindful of pests such as cats that may pose a threat to your snake as well as pathogens it may encounter to which it has little or no natural defences being captive bred and not of wild origin. If you live in temperate regions be considerate of outdoor temperature, your blood is a stable 37°c, your snakes is not.  Equally on sunny days patio stone flags and tarmac can become excessively heated by the sun, do not allow your snake into contact with these surfaces either.  

Do not increase the regularity of feeding attempts, and already stressed snakes may become even more so if it is being disturbed by keeper and prey item incessantly. Sometimes it is a matter of patience. Do not lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with a reptile. One of nature’s most efficient animals and what we regard as a long time without eating may be no time at all for a reptile. Most keepers are pre-programmed to be sensitive to food intake because their previous pets may have been the smaller mammals such as hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs etc. If one of these animals were to go more than 48 hours with eating they would be panicking. Remind yourself you are dealing with a reptile and we can afford to be relaxed about initial food intake.

Another consideration may be that the snake is about to begin or is mid way through a shed cycle. It is common place for snakes to refuse food during these periods. By allowing time before panicking it may become obvious as the snake dulls and eventually goes into milk thus revealing a highly possible reason why the snake has forgone nourishment.

*If concerned or lacking in confidence seek out veterinary advice. Some of these treatments are very strong and it is easy to get wrong*

Dealing with snake mites
The enclosure:

•    Ardap. Is an incredibly strong aerosol spray insecticide used to fumigate vivariums, chicken coops and kennels. This spray must only be used in well ventilated rooms where all animals have been removed. Highly effective in dealing with mites but will cause serious neurological issue to animals sprayed with it. Remove the water bowl and spray entire inside of the enclosure including décor and apparatus for 5-10 seconds. Close enclosure doors. Leave to fumigate tank for 20 minutes. Remove enclosure doors for a further 20-40 minutes (or until the smell of the spray has gone). The snake can be bathing during this time either in water or oil to try and remove as many mites as possible. This is a highly effective spray mistakes during application can be costly, even deadly to animals.


Both the snake and enclosure:

•    Callington™. Also known as Callington’s Top of Descent ™. A spray that originated in Australia and was widely used in passenger aircraft to deal with any stow away bugs that may have hitched a ride inside on passenger clothing. Seemingly non toxic to vertebrates but deadly to invertebrates it has proven useful in the fight against reptile mites. Subsequent generations of mites may now be developing resistances to this treatment. Remove water bowl and spray the enclosure with the snake still present. Close enclosure doors and allow tank to be fumigated. Subsequent generations of mites may now be developing resistances to this treatment. Can be used in conjunction with Frontline from the vet.

•    Prevent-A-Mite ™. An American aerosol spray variant that will bond to surfaces and kill mites for up to 30 days after use. Being British I have never used this method and cannot comment on application or efficacy.

•    Hot Shots ™ or Vapona ™ No Pest Strips. The active ingredient here is diclovos which is an organophosphate used as an insecticide. It comes in the form of a large yellow rectangular block. This can be cut up with a robust pair of scissors.  Usually a square centimetre of yellow block per cubic ft of enclosure. Place cut up section of block within a cricket tub or wax worm or mealworm pot and tape closed so the lid cannot come off. Remove the water bowl from the enclosure, leave snake in enclosure and place tub within the enclosure for 48 hours. Remove tub, replace water bowl for 24 hours, remove water bowl and replace tub for 48 hours. Repeat for a period of 9-12 days. Wait 7-10 days and repeat process again.

•    Hydroaspis or Taurus Mites. Predatory mite cultures that can be purchased from specialist pet centres or online. They prey specifically on snake mites and will consume both adult and eggs. Just place in the enclosure and let them do their thing. This methodology may be particularly useful for complex enclosures we do not want to strip out and clean. Be prepared for it to take a while to shift infestations in these types of enclosures.

Many experienced keepers will have developed their own process of elimination for mites.

Food and feeding of snakes:

Snakes do the vast proportion of their growing within the first three years of life. Of the three years the first twelve months is most important. Generally speaking we are more generous with food in the first year than we are later in life (the only exception being when we are conditioning females to breed later in life) Snakes are usually very small at birth and suffer with predators as a result. Snakes need to feed, grow and shed rapidly to move up the food chain as a matter of urgency and become an effective predator in their own right. Feeding regimes vary species to species depending upon metabolic rate, usually neonatal snakes are fed every 5-10 days. There are different food choices to be made. Some choices will only become options later in life due to size. Some snakes are picky about size, colour, smell and a certain amount of trial and error may be needed to find foods your snake enjoys. As with all things, particularly with older animals we can experiment with different food types to offer variety of diet.

Others may want more select options based on origin. Or example Royal Pythons (Python regius) seem to have a predilection for multimammate mice and gerbils. Prey items are purchased frozen at a local pet store, certainly in the case of mice, rats and chicks are usually clean and smell free. Many rodents are excess lab stock, some may even come with certificates stating they are disease and pathogen free.

Foods should be allowed to thaw naturally. Complete prey means just that. All entrails and waste products are still present within the carcass of the prey item. By using means of artificially warming prey we could encourage bacterial reproduction. This may cause issues for the snake, plus warm or hot water may remove scent and reduce or remove recognition of prey. Wet prey may also cause substrates to stick to the fur and be ingested alongside causing further issues. The only time hot water could be used is to ‘flash heat’ the head of a prey item for snakes with heat-sensing pits to use for accuracy and stimulus purposes.

Why is it important that we notice?

A lot of snake species even one we may consider arid in origin may appreciate a hide that has damp substrate. This would usually be provided as a moss box, the purpose of which is to recreate the burrows into which the snakes would retreat whilst this process takes place.

The bluish white hue is created by a milky substance that builds up between the layers of new and old skin, this also affects eye sight. Snakes have a fixed eye scale called the brille. This ocular scale is part of the shed skin so the milky substrate seriously affect accuracy and recognition for hunting and evading predation. Because of this heightened threat to life many snakes will hole up during this process. Many also as a result will forgo food in captivity. It is generally accepted that once the keeper recognizes the shedding process beginning  that it should be left to it’s own devices. The shedding process may make your snake of shorter temper than usual and this should be bore in mind.

From beginning to end, the beginning being the dulling and subsequent build up of ‘milk’ to the actual act of shedding of the skin this process can take from 7-14 days. Worthy of note is the skin will clear in the 24 hours prior to shedding and on occasion one could be forgiven for thinking the snake has already shed and you go looking for a skin that is not yet there.

Keeping records:

The advice network you use (specialist pet centres, breeders and vets etc) need a way of quantifying how your snake has been doing. It is important to maintain record not only for you to assess development but invariably the people you seek advice from will ask:
•    “When did it last feed?”
•    “When did it last shed?”

Below is an example record, try creating your own for your snake. If your snake is for your child this can be part of the responsibility that has to be shown for owning the snake.