Knew something was off from the minute he willingly went the strand

Especially with his money who willingly goes there nah soz

Both Leon and Levi are provided with full spectrum UV lighting. This is via Arcadia T5′s which are quite bright, but still feeble compared to the power of the sun. 

It is interesting that they will seek out these patches of sunlight that fall across their vivariums in the morning (weather permitting). Levi will actively move with the light and factor it into his morning basking routines.. Leon spends a lot less time in the sun patches... but for a “cave dwelling rat snake” I was surprised to see him choosing to sit in the sun patch at all.    

There is no UV in this sunlight (as it does not go through the glass) and they have that already anyway... So there must be something about the intensity or spectral composition of the sunlight specifically which is attracting them for whatever reason... be it the light itself or maybe the deep rooted association with warmth.   

That last anon reminded me of  a great paper I found (Takatsuki 1938) about some scientists documenting the antics of this one russian rat snake in captivity. 

I feel like it captures the personality of these snakes...particularly their determination when it comes to climbing!  

The Russian is being kept in a big outdoor terrarium made of zinc sheets with a shallow pond next to the institution. There’s a cherry tree on one side outside the terrarium. The walls of the terrarium are 135cm high bent inward at the top. The snake is 157cm long and weighs 1010 g. 

Taskatsuki, R (1938) Some observations on snakes, Animal Psyche, Vol 4:1 , p1-7  (Psychological Institute, Keijo Imperial University)

I think there could be an element of truth to this. It’s essentially operant conditioning.. In other words a certain behaviour from the snake (biting) becomes associated with a certain positive response from the keeper (being returned to the safety of the enclosure).. So the animal is more likely to repeat that behaviour to get the desired reaction if it becomes a pattern..   

 This could happen with a snake, positive reinforcement training works with many animals, even fish. So yes, If you are bitten by your snake when handling them its best to try remain calm and wait a little while,  until they are relaxed again before returning them to their enclosure, not just immediately stick them back. You only need to wait like 3-5 minutes it will be enough to stop them making the association between a bite and being returned straight to the enclosure. 

Equally though, If your snake is biting defensively when out it is a sign it might be stressed out. So you don’t want to force the issue.. or your snake is just going to associate being out with being stressed. The best way Iv’e found to progress with bitey or nervous snakes is to keep handling sessions quite short and positive if possible, particularly make sure to end on a good note when the snake is calm. Gradually the snake learns that you aren’t a threat and so will be less stressed by the interaction and less inclined to bite.. 

Hello anon, yup they are terrestrial.  Though I have heard a few keepers say ball pythons used to be more commonly classified as semi-aboreal. 

Certainly there are populations of wild ball pythons that live in mangroves and are very commonly found in trees and even feed on avian prey (birds made up 70% of the diet for males and 43% of the diet for females).  Male ball pythons seem more inclined to climb that females and even have a different parasite load associated with their more arboreal lifestyle, particularly during breeding season. [x] [x] [x] 

WHY DID THE SNAKE CROSS THE ROAD?

  The most common way I see snakes around here is on the road.

Sometimes alive. Sometimes dead, if they’ve been unlucky enough to meet with a car.

On the cool, windy- but-sunny days we’ve been having lately, I’ve seen them quite frequently, probably because they’re too slow to be gone before I get there.  They probably also like the heat of the gravel or tar.  When Craig was collecting snakes in…