12 votes

My yellow rat snake was eaten by a live pet mouse!

Sorry for your loss. This is one of the prime reasons many keepers choose to feed their snakes dead food items. If the snake is not interested in feeding, it will most of the time just ignore the ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
9 votes
Accepted

What forms of "body language" can be identified in snake behaviour?

There are roughly three kinds of moods you need to be able to tell apart in snakes: Hungry / looking for food Scared / pissed off Relaxed / exploring around How exactly these moods look differs ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
9 votes
Accepted

What are snake morphs?

Within the snake trade there is a lot of effort going towards breeding animals with different coloration. A well known example of this is an albino mutation. Albino means that the animal is missing ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
9 votes
Accepted

Does a pet boa/python measure the owner by lying straight?

No, snakes don't do any kind of measuring their prey before attacking like that. Typically they can see whether they can eat what they see. Similarly to how you don't have to bring out a tape ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
8 votes
Accepted

I just read my hognose snake is venomous. Should I be worried?

Yes, Hognoses are venomous, but you shouldn't be worried. Let's explore venom a bit. Use of venom For many snakes, venom has an obvious purpose. Killing prey. But this is not the only purpose. As ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
8 votes

Snake died suddenly. I have no idea what happened

I'm sorry to hear about your snake. It is possible that the evergreen branch still posed a threat. I work as a reptile keeper in a zoo, and we as a rule will not use any evergreen regardless of its ...
ChameleonTail's user avatar
7 votes

Do snakes give birth to live young or lay eggs?

This depends very much on which family the species of snakes belongs to. So there are three ways of giving birth: Viviparious, live birth. Most mammals do this, and according to this comment some sea ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
7 votes
Accepted

What anaconda species/variants/whatever (if any) would be plausible to keep as pets in Belgium?

This answer is based on the situation in the Netherlands. I'm not up to speed with the exact Belgian laws, but I do know that there is quite an active trade in reptiles between the two countries. I'...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
6 votes

Why would my royal/ball python strike but not eat?

Update Over a year later the python has now been feeding consistently for 6 months or more. I can't be sure why they weren't eating to begin with but we made a few changes to the feeding routine; We ...
R Day's user avatar
  • 253
6 votes
Accepted

Safe hot-rock for corn snake

To answer your question, it is a little of both. The reason hot rocks are frowned upon more than UTHs and basking lights is because they fail to spread heat as much as the previous. To feel the ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
5 votes

Do snakes give birth to live young or lay eggs?

In hot climates most snakes lay eggs, but in colder climates, like Scandinavia, snakes keep their eggs inside their body until they hatch, thus giving birth to live snakes. The common adder/viper ...
trond hansen's user avatar
  • 19.5k
5 votes

My dog has been bitten by a snake (adder) twice; is it now "vaccinated"?

Short answer: no, your dog is not "vaccinated". I couldn't find any specific numbers about how many doses of adder venom are required to build up a tolerance, but from all I could find it ...
Elmy's user avatar
  • 32.9k
4 votes
Accepted

Which is the better hiding place for a Kenyan Sand Boa?

You are going to want both ideally. The deep substrate is good for burrowing (which they will do) but not deep enough to cut down on the heat. I would say at least 1 hide and deeper substrate is ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
4 votes

My pet snake seems to have some sort of bugs crawling on its face; do I need to worry?

I saw this post resurrected and I want to put in a resource I found. Mite Eradication 101: Permethrin Permethrin comes in many forms - Provent-A-Mite (PAM), NIX/RID head lice treatment, Permethrin-...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
4 votes

How to choose the right size of mice for my snakes?

General rule for snakes is you feed them food that is as wide as their widest dimension. If my snake at it's widest was the size of a toiletpaper roll, I should feed it rats that would fit inside the ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
4 votes
Accepted

How to proceed with a pet snake that starts jabbing when held?

Snakes are a lot more likely to bite when they are hungry. My ball will act like he wants to strike me about a day or two before his scheduled feeding day then for two or three days after he will be ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
4 votes

Why would my royal/ball python strike but not eat?

Good to hear that your snake is eating reliably, now. They can be very picky eaters, and they are notably skittish, and it is fairly normal for them to fast for months at a time. However, when a snake ...
DaveInAZ's user avatar
  • 151
4 votes
Accepted

Suitable heat source for young blood python

Disclaimer, I linked a few example products. These were the first items I found, I do not own or sell these specific products, or am in any way affiliated with them. There are roughly four ways to ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
4 votes

My snake died suddenly

Sorry to hear about the snake. There's a pretty large array of things that could have happened. You might already know a lot of this, I tried to be thorough. I also tried to rank them in order of ...
SuperStew's user avatar
  • 277
4 votes

Ratsnake with mouth deformity

Definitely have a vet look at this. Snakes normally don't sneeze, so that's red flag number one. That along with the mouth not closing properly sounds a lot like the snake might have troubles with ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
4 votes

Is my cornsnake overweight?

Slightly. The mounds you describe are indeed a sign that he is a bit chubby. It doesn't look too severe, though. The scales still overlap nicely. You shouldn't be able to see the skin between the ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
4 votes
Accepted

Why would defanged snakes not bite?

A few things before I answer the question: This video is not a good example of how you should keep or handle your snakes. Venomous snakes are unforgiving to keep. As much experience as you might have,...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
4 votes
Accepted

Can a red belly black snake kill a horse? How would I know if my horse has been bitten?

Can a red belly black snake kill a horse? Probably not. Wikipedia lists its venom as having a LD50 in mice as 2.52 mg/kg, with an average of 37mg administered in a bite. I'd expect horses to be a lot ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
3 votes
Accepted

Swelling of the cloaca

I have taken the snake to a professional. Although the swelling was severe there was nothing protruding from the vent that would indicate a prolapse. Also there was no bloody stool on other bacterial ...
DanSchneiderNA's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Should I worry that my milksnake likes to hang out behind the rock facade?

Usually when this happens, it is because the snake feels there is a lack of adequate hiding enclosures in the cage. As you can tell, a snake loves to squeeze into the tightest space possible that can ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
3 votes

My snake has started shedding, but seems unwilling/unable to finish

Humidity is key here. If the enclosure isn't humid enough, the shed may dry out and be hard for the snake to remove. It is essential that these stuck pieces are removed, because they may hinder the ...
JAD's user avatar
  • 1,793
3 votes
Accepted

My snake has started shedding, but seems unwilling/unable to finish

During a corn snakes shedding phase you will have to increase the humidity to facilitate a shed. A healthy shed comes off in one full piece. A trick that works quite well is: 1) Grab a clear ...
Rebecca RVT's user avatar
  • 12.6k
3 votes

What are the minimum requirements for keeping a snake?

Since the previous answer was so thorough about snake care, I'm just going to focus on what kind of snake is best for a beginner and where to get one! General agreement is that the best beginner ...
Betty Coltrane's user avatar
3 votes

Water conditioner for a snake

What type of treatment? Most of the time, conditioner for water is just getting rid of chlorine, both fish conditioner and ReptiSafe do this. From what I read on forums, it seems that ReptiSafe and ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 1,456
3 votes

What alternative foods can I try feeding my snake?

I have a lavender king snake, and I also have a breeding pair of doves, which have given me about a dozen doves in around a year, I've been pulling the eggs when they are laid, ideally before ...
Tracy's user avatar
  • 31

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