Care Experience: Experienced snake keeper Food: Live or dead prey. Primary prey animals are mice and rats. Adult feeding: every 2 to 3 weeks Feeding young: Every other week Water basin: Yes Change water: twice a week Food There is a choice to offer the prey animals alive or dead. It is advisable to offer dead food. This is because it is more practical and prevents the food animal from injuring your snake. Thereby it is advised to offer the food animal with a pair of tongs and to feed your snake outside the residence. This ensures that your hand is not associated with food and prevents your snake from grasping your hand during feeding. If you go for live food, you must supervise it during feeding. The prey can also injure the snake. If you hold several snakes together, feed them separately, as it may happen that the snakes injure each other during feeding. The ideal prey is about the same width as the widest part of the snake.
Water The shorttail python needs a large water bowl, not because they are in it but because they drink a lot of water in a session. A water container that can hold 2 liters is enough to satisfy its drinking cycle. Change the water if the water has run out or if the water has become dirty.
Cleaning The shorttail python is unique in that it relieves little to not often. In young animals it can be once a week or once every 2 weeks. In adult animals it can be every 30 to 45 days. This means that the accommodation needs to be cleaned less often. The best advice is to remove faeces as soon as you see it.
Handling To feed the and to clean the accommodation you will have to handel the snake. If you handel your snake use a snake hook or lift it with both hands. Do not hang your snake around your neck, this is because if the snake falls it will clamp itself around your neck. There are some important things to look out for when handling a . First make sure that your snake understands that you are going to handle it and move gently when you handle it. Also make sure that your hands are washed and do not smell like food. Finally, do not handle your snake when it is peeling and do not handle it in the dark.
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