Children's Python – more videos and information
Basic health checks
As in humans there is an endless list of potential health conditions that could affect a Children’s python, listed below are a few of the more common health issues that could possibly arise:
Respiratory illness – The causes of this can be a number of reasons including viruses, bacteria, extreme humidity (both too high and too low) and being kept at an inappropriate temperature. Some of the symptoms of respiratory illness may include open mouthed breathing ( caused by the snake’s nostrils been clogged with dried mucus), fluid in and around the nostrils and lips of the snake which can lead to bubbles forming when the snake breaths and the snake coughing or sneezing. If a snake shows any evidence of respiratory illness it should be taken to a veterinarian (preferably one that specializes in reptiles).
Retained slough (skin) – As discussed above under the “Water” heading, snakes will sometimes have trouble shedding all of their skin and it may remain stuck to various parts of the animal's body. Generally, it is easy to remove this stuck skin by soaking the snake in the water and if the skin does not come off of its own accord, it can be manually removed by hand.
Snake mite – The mite Ophionyssus natricis is a parasite that feeds on a snake’s blood and is found in reptile collections worldwide. Like many parasites, when feeding on animals they can spread disease and be irritating to the host. They can be hard to see but they often congregate around the eyes, cloaca and in the groove under the chin (mental groove) of the Children’s python. There are a few different life stages of this mite but when it is most visible it appears as a small black dot with a faint pale spot in the centre. One sign that your Children’s python may have an infestation of Snake Mite is that it is constantly sitting in its water bowl. This is assumed to help relieve any irritation and to drown the mites. If the snake does have mites and you remove it from the water bowl in which it has been soaking, you should be able to observe a number of drowned mites in the bottom of the container.
There is a number of chemical treatments to combat Snake Mite (these should be prescribed by a veterinarian) and should involve treating the snake, the enclosure in which it resides and all furnishings. Also if the animal enclosure has a substrate this should be removed and the snake kept on paper until after the treatment has finished.
As has already been mentioned, if a snake is showing any of these symptoms or there are any other concerns with the animal's health, a veterinarian should be consulted.
Python basic health check video
Watch Python basic health check (2:17)
Narrator: Taronga Zoo keeper
When looking at the health of a python there’s a number of important things to look for especially when obtaining your first snake. Whether you obtain it as a juvenile or as an adult is one important component.
If you’re obtaining your snake as a juvenile the most important thing to make sure is that it is feeding quite well. Usually you should never obtain a young snake that’s not had at least a good three or four feeds on its own accord before obtaining that snake because sometimes juvenile snakes can be quite hard to get going particularly as hatchlings.
So, once they get feeding from the breeder whoever’s supplying the snake make sure it’s feeding quite well and you’ve got a good feeding history. And that’s one of the most important things to look for.
When looking at the snake visually one of the important things to look for is that it doesn’t have excess sloughiness, skin stuck to its back. Snakes shed their skin fairly frequently. Juveniles shed their skin up to once a month. Adults shed their skin three or four times a year.
An important thing is to make sure it hasn’t got dry bits of skin stuck all over its back because that can indicate it either hasn’t been kept in humid enough conditions or there could be something wrong with it like a mite infestation or something like that, a parasite problem, you’re not sure about just by looking at the snake.
Another important thing to look for when looking at the snake is to make sure there’s no bubbles seen around its nose. And when it’s flicking out its forked tongue that tongue is quite forked. These are signs of a respiratory problem and that’s one of the more common health problems you see in reptiles particularly those that aren’t kept warm enough.
So, one of the things to look for is you’ll hear a wet, wheezy hissing. You might see bubbles coming from the nose or the tongue might not be properly forking. And usually by that stage it’s an advanced respiratory problem and definitely best not to obtain that animal. That’s certainly one of the things to look for.
If you see these problems in your snake that you’ve had whether it be in your classroom or wherever else for quite a while and you start to see these symptoms they’re indicative of oral respiratory infection and it’s best to get veterinary assistance as soon as possible because chances are it might need to be treated by antibiotics and the reason that caused that respiratory infection will need to be addressed and usually it’s because the enclosure is not warm enough.
It can either be the enclosure’s not warm enough, they’re not getting access to a warm enough basking spot or alternatively the enclosure might be too damp or too moist or too humid particularly for something like a Stimson’s Python which comes from a more arid region. And if it’s too wet in the enclosure that can bring on a respiratory infection as well.
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Handling
Handling of most snakes including Children’s pythons should be kept to a minimum. They do not particularly enjoy been picked up or nursed and therefore most handling should be restricted to moving the snake for cleaning, health checks and other husbandry purposes.
A snake hook can be a useful tool to make first contact when picking up a snake as it is at this time that a bite is most likely to occur. This can be due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, if the snake is startled by a large warm hand suddenly grabbing at it, it may want to defend itself, and the other is the snake assumes the warm hand entering its enclosure is food being presented to it and therefore it bites its assumed meal. When handling the snake should be supported from underneath and evenly with open hands.
Unless being restrained for a specific purpose such as a health check, the snake should never be held with closed hands preventing movement as this will cause stress to the animal and may lead to it becoming defensive. Also snakes do not like to be touched or petted on the head and this should not be done.
Also handling a Children’s Python for a few days after the snake is fed is not advised as this can cause the snake to regurgitate its meal.
Handling pythons video
Watch Handling pythons (2:38)
Narrator: Toronga Zoo keeper
Inside this bag here I have an adult Stimson’s Python. I’m transferring it in a soft breathable bag because that’s a good way to transfer pythons that way they feel secure, they’re hidden and they’re not going to bang around as much. So, I’ll get the Stimson’s Python out, he’s quite a friendly snake this one.
When getting him out first it’s important just to see where the head is and then lift the body gently underneath and not near the head. So, when handling a snake the important thing is to be gentle and support its body weight. As you support the body weight of the animal, it feels comfortable and it becomes less and less stressed.
Also important when you’re handling a snake it’s important not to handle mice beforehand because the only time I guess a friendly snake might lash out and bite unless it’s stressed is if it can smell the scent of mice on your hands. According to the snake his main sense organs are the tongue which he’s flicking out to pick up scent and also his heat sensing pits. He has got vision, he can see particularly if objects are moving but it’s not his primary organ.
So, by flicking out that tongue if your hand smells like a mouse, tastes like a mouse and is warm like a mouse he might think it’s mice and you might get an accidental bite. But otherwise if you support their body weight and you don’t handle any mice beforehand you should be quite alright. The individual temperament of every snake can be quite different. Some snakes might be naturally a bit more nervous. Other snakes might be a lot more docile and friendly. Sometimes bites may occur.
What to expect if you cop a bite from one of these snakes. If it’s a bite because he’s a little bit stressed or a little bit scared, it’s typically a bite and release. So, he’ll typically quick bite, release. It might bleed a little bit. It looks a lot worse than it is and typically be treated just like if you cut your finger, you’ll be quite alright. The only time a snake might bite and hang on as if it smells mouse or food on your hands and then it will bite and wrap up thinking it’s a mouse and then you may have a little bit more time trying to unravel the snake and enticing him to let go. But, typically if it’s stressed it will just bite and release. With a little bit of handling bites might not occur.
Bites are more common in juvenile snakes because as a hatchling python they’re only quite small and everything’s a predator to that animal. Whereas as they grow older and with frequent handling like in captive snakes, if you can purchase a captive one that’s been handled all its life they do become quite amiable to handling, just like the one I’m holding.
Typically lifting a snake out of the enclosure gentle handling like this can easily occur every day without any stress. But if it was to be passed around to person to person I’d limit that to more kind of once a week or so.
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