Some of you may have noticed he seemed a bit skinny in my initial post, but after some mental warfare, he’s now readily eating frozen thawed, and the difference definitely shows!
Now that I’ve got him eating well, here comes the fun part - making him a handleable part of snake-ciety. He isn’t terrible, persay, but definitely nippy enough that my motorcycle gloves have found a new purpose over these winter months. I hope with time and consistency, he’ll learn to trust me, as I know these guys are smarter than the average ball python and twice as suspicious!
Ah! So that explains the attitude! You will definitely have to work with him with gloves on. Sometimes short tails get backed up with hardened urates. My blood got backed up with hardened urates. Warm soaks and gentle palpitations takes care of them.
Not that your guy has that problem but it is something to keep an eye on……
Keep up with the good work and keep those gloves handy for awhile! . And more pics please!
Bloods are fun. Mine came around pretty quickly and grew into a quite a chill adult. She’s still much more likely to huff and puff at me than my other snakes, but that’s just personality. She hasn’t taken a swing at me in years (knock on wood ) unless it was food related.
@caron That’s good to know! No issues yet, but knowlege is definitely power when it comes to these things, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out.
Definitely keeping the gloves around for a good bit yet, though I look towards when I won’t need them! And of course, this boy’s too pretty to keep to myself!
@deanaii Thank you! I know a lot of Ivories tend to have their heads go grey as they age, so I wonder if his will too?
@jawramik Thank you! I’m inclined to think so too, lol.
I’ve been enjoying him so far for sure, and really hope he mellow’s with age.He hasn’t been hissy, but I can feel him tense a lot and he’s definitely gotten in his pot shots at me!
Was lookin through old pics and found this one from the day I got him back in August - not the best pic for comparison, but even still you can see that he’s gotten a lot bigger and thicker in these last 6 months!
Yeah, short tails have different body language than most other snakes, and learning to read their moods is a big part of learning to work with them. You’ve probably already figured this out, but when they go super tense and still, that’s when you need to watch out. They don’t go into an s-curve or follow you by moving their head when they’re thinking about striking, and they don’t have a big dramatic defensive display. They just go totally still and tense and the only part of them that moves is their eyes and their rapid breathing. That’s when you know they’re actively planning your demise.
I’ve definitely noticed that lmao. The “quiet before the storm (of teeth)”, so to speak. That’s alright though, he’s cute enough to get away with it for now. When he weighs 10+ pounds, however… That could really pack a punch
Musty Man update - had to pull him out for some cage maintenance, and oh boy are their poops no joke! I can’t believe something that size came out of this guy, although he’s growing like a weed.
He’s now just shy of 10 months old and is 284g of pure grump! Safe to say the motorcycle gloves are still in use as of this time.
Yeah, the first time my blood python pooped, I was looking right at the turd but didn’t register it as poop because it was SO MUCH bigger than I was expecting. I was like “Hrm, that’s weird, I don’t remember putting this log in this enclosure…oh wait.”
. And more pics please! 
) unless it was food related.
