Baby Python Care

First snakes are often purchased as Hatchlings/hatchies. In WA all hatchies must be at least 3 months of age before being sold and must be transferred to your licence by a licenced dealer.

Hatchies are very easy to care for in their first 12 months of life as they do not require a full sized vivarium immediately.

Young snakes are small and have a tendency to hide more than settled, adult pythons. Providing a home that is also small where the python can thermo-regulate and  reach water easily is recommended. A small, limited environment provides security for young pythons who could possibly be overwhelmed by a large enclosure. In the wild they will often find a tight fitting crevice where they will hunt from, bask from and live. It’s very hard to replicate this in a large vivarium and most often the baby python will seek out security over the need for warmth. In turn they will stop feeding. For this reason small tubs are essential to give the pythons warmth, food and a feeling of security. Their instinct is that open space is full of predators such as birds and other reptiles. The other advantage of a small tub is they are escape proof. Small pythons are escape artists and can fit through the smallest of gaps!

Click – Clacks

Click Clacks are the term used for a small plastic tub used to house young pythons.

The most popular tub brand used by breeders is Sistema and can be purchased at all large supermarkets, Kmart, Target and Spotlight.

A good size to start with is the 7LTR – 10LTR tub and this will house your hatchie until it is around the 40cm mark.

Building a Click – Clack

What you will need:

• The plastic tub
• Soldering Iron
• Paper towels
• Dowel / hacksaw (non essential)
• Water bowl and 1 – 2 hides

OK, so you want a tub that is very secure but you also need to provide some air ventilation for your snake. If you don’t already have a soldering iron, grab a cheapie from Bunnings. Melting the plastic can be messy and provide toxic fumes so preparing the tub in a well ventilated area is a good idea. Having some paper towels or newspaper handy to wipe the excess melted plastic from the iron is handy too.

Melt some holes into the sides of your tub – there’s no “real” method to this. I like to follow the ventilation procedure for large enclosures which is ventilation towards the bottom of one side and towards the top of its opposite side, plus in the lid but usually people just go to town with the soldering iron and place a few rows everywhere in both the tub and the lid.

If you want to put some climbing “branches” in (dowel) then you will need to cut them to size with the hacksaw and melt larger holes for them to go through with the soldering iron. I like to add two and often choose one narrow one (around 10mm) and a thicker one (30mm) – I’ve found they can’t support a full belly on the narrow perches. But the hatchie will use whatever you give them.  Many breeders also use the plastic trellis as a perch. Cut to fit in the click clack it forms a half pipe that the baby pythons can sit on. They also seem to use it to assist shedding.

Line the completed tub with paper towels and add a couple of hides in different areas. Pythons like to feel secure and prefer hides that touch/press their body on three sides so choose something size appropriate. For young pythons, a toilet roll with the ends pressed in is perfect – if they’re slightly bigger a John West tuna slices cardboard box or a light globe box are also useful sizes. Sometimes providing hides that are too big will create an insecure python that could lead to defensive behaviour. It’s important to remember that pythons are not humans. What we would find comfortable and enjoyable is very different to what a python needs. Pythons find comfort in tight fitting places.

Heating

Popular heating methods for hatchies are heat cords and heat mats. If you only have the one snake however, you could stick with a heat mat. Both will achieve the desired effect of heating. It’s important that heat mats have air flow, as they have been known to burn if they are sandwiched and too much heat is built up.

An absolute must for any python heating is a thermostat and a thermometer. Think of the thermostat and the thermometer as python health and safety 101.

All heating must go into a thermostat and you want to provide heating to ~33 Degrees Celsius. You can melt another hole for the thermostat probe to sit inside your tub on the floor where the heat is being supplied or your can secure the probe direct to the heat mat and adjust the thermostat to reach the desired temperature inside the tub on the hot spot (use your thermometer to guage this).

It cannot be stressed enough that a thermometer is to be used in conjunction with a thermostat, though the thermostat has a temperature setting. What shows on the thermostat is not the exact temperature the snake is receiving. Testing the cage temperatures regularly should become common practice – knowing the conditions you are providing for your young python is critical in understanding their behaviour and preventing serious issues. A thermometer will ensure you can see the actual temperature. Probe thermometers or infra ret temperature guns are the best way to monitor the temperature your python is receiving inside the tub. My personal opinion is that the Infrared laser point temperature gun – $25 from ebay is an essential piece of equipment when keeping reptiles.

Heating should span about 30% of the floor of the tub.

Water

Pythons need access to fresh water at all times. Providing a sturdy bowl that is just big enough for the python to enter its entire body into and placed on the cool side of the tub is perfect. The water should be changed every few days. If you notice your python drinking after providing fresh water, you have probably not changed it often enough.

Food

Most dealers / breeders will provide a record sheet with your hatchie that will tell you when and what it last ate and when it shed last. If you don’t receive this, ask the seller what size the python has been eating. Dependant on age this could be pinkies / velvets / fuzzies.

Young pythons that are new to your collection should be left alone and not handled or offered food for around 5 – 7 days. This allows it time to adjust to its new surroundings and work out any stress it might be in from the environmental change. We find not handling during this period will result in a snake that is far less nippy and defensive.

Offer thawed food via tongs (mouse head facing python) and gently jiggle a few inches from the python’s head or in front of the hide hole if it is not out and about. If the python immediately retreats or seems stressed, you can leave the rodent in the tub with the python overnight in the hopes that it will eat when less stressed. Good signs that your python will eat are immediate stillness followed by non-stop scenting with its tongue. Be patient. If it doesn’t eat first go, leave the rodent in overnight. If it’s there in the morning, try again the following week and continue the ‘no handling’ rule. (Not removing the rodent the next morning can result in a very unpleasant odour that afternoon!)

Whichever rodent size you feed your python should be left with a decent little bump in his belly but not so large a bump that all of the scales are stretched around the food item.

It is always best to provide one big meal rather than lots of little ones. i.e. if you find you are giving your python 3 x velvet mice it is time for an upgrade to fuzzies and so on. A well referred to rule is “Rodent should weight 30% of snake’s weight”.

Young hatchies can sometimes be fussy eaters – if this is your first snake buy a hatchie that has been feeding well – breeders will know their better feeders from their more difficult hatchies.

Shedding / Sloughing

Pythons shed their skins in order to grow. Signs of shedding are:

• Increased hiding
• Bathing/submergingin water bowl
• Defensive  behaviour
• Reduced interest in food
• Changes in colour of skin and eyes

The python will withdraw from the open usually when it is entering the shed cycle. Pythons secrete an oil beneath the skin and the ocular scale (eye scale) to help them remove it. The snake appears to go “milky” and dull. Mid way through the shed cycle the eyes go rather opaque and have a blue tinge. Towards the end of the cycle the blue tinge and the milky appearance disappears and the python appears to “clear” up. The skin will appear saggy around the neck area.

The python should not be handled or fed during  this time as shedding their skins can be uncomfortable and the changes to the ocular scale reduces their ability to see clearly.  Most shedding pythons won’t be interested in food, but not offering food to especially piggy specimens during this time is recommended – removing a loose skin is easier without a nice big lump in the middle. Shedding begins with the python rubbing its nose to loosen the skin.

As a python keeper it’s important to learn the signs of when the snake is about to enter the shed cycle. Knowing when it is going into shed/slough means we know when to leave it alone. Generally from the time we notice the milky eyes, the snake will shed in 5-7 days. Though sometimes as long as 10 days.

A python in ideal conditions will shed its skin in one big long piece. If it is coming off in many pieces, it would indicate the python is a bit dehydrated and moisture/humidity levels of the enclosure may need to be monitored and adjusted. A digital hygrometer will measure humidity, and usually levels between high 30’s and low 40’s are fine.