As the snake grows, so does their food size. Once an Antaresia python has reach months of age, it should be eating fuzzy or weanling mice. At this stage rat pinkies can also be offered. Pythons can open their mouths a lot wider than most animals and so can devour larger prey items than their head size. However, never offer prey which is too large as this can tear the mouth and cause injury. Once the python is approximately 60 cm long, it should be able to eat adult mice or fuzzy rats without too much trouble.
Live food is NEVER recommended to be given to pythons, as it is terrifying for the prey and potentially dangerous to the snake. Mice and rats have been known to kill snakes by biting and scratching in defense. Live rodents can also be a source of parasites, which are killed by freezing, and nutritionally there is no difference between live and frozen food. After eating, snakes should not be handled as can cause stress and result in regurgitation of the meal.
It is best to let the snake digest fully and pass waste before handling at length. Each python will have a varying metabolism dependent on temperature, but allow at least a couple of days before handling. Try feeding your python about days after you get it home and given it a chance to settle in. Afterwards, only offer food after the snake has passed waste then wait a few days to feed again. It may not have passed the last food completely as yet.
Pythons should not be fed more often than once a week. All snakes need water to survive. Try to provide a water bowl which is deep enough for the snake to drink from and if it wants, to swim in occasionally. Always check the bowl for any sliminess which can build up. Brumation is similar to mammal hibernation and it basically means the reptile enters a period of inactivity during the cooler months.
Antaresia pythons do not go into a true brumation as some of our southern snakes do. However, as the temperature drops, your python may want feeding less often or not at all. This is a process of removing old skin which could be damaged, too small for the growing snake or simply the natural process of being a reptile. When the snake is coming into shed, its eyes become milky and its appearance becomes grey and dull.
They will refuse food at this time. Many snakes will not need help with the shedding process, however you can help by spraying the snake with warm not hot water to help the old skin become moist and easier to discard.
Note that during the shedding process, your snake will not be able to see properly, so can become easily alarmed. Snakes should not be handled at all during this time. Whilst snakes are relatively low maintenance compared to some pets, they do require some routing cleaning. Faeces and shed skin should be removed as soon as you see it. It is important to remove waste immediately as germs and disease can build up in the enclosure and cause illness if good hygiene is not practiced.
Depending on which substrate you use, this will also need regular changing. Every months it is advisable to remove your python, all the cage furniture and substrate, and give the enclosure a thorough clean. Using a reptile cage cleaner spray will ensure that any harmful bacteria is killed. Wash any hide rocks, rocks and water bowls with tap water do not use bleach and let dry naturally. Most deaths in captivity are stress-related which brings on a lowering of the immune system causing disease.
A common problem that snakes are prone to is internal and external parasites. These are however easily treated. Respiratory infections, characterized by loss of appetite, wheezing and nasal discharge, are usually a result of poor hygiene and husbandry techniques.
Scale rot and mouth infections can also occur in poorly maintained snakes. They have a pattern of large reddish-brown blotches along their body with a paler background. Antaresia stimsoni inhabits the largest range of any other Australian python species. These snakes are found in a wide range of arid environments, in topographic features such as rock outcrops and stony ranges. On the sandy plains and dunefields it is likely to be found with isolated large trees or on those margins of dry watercourses or large termite mounds and larger clumps of spinifex.
Stimson's Pythons move in a side-to-side swimming motion. Small mammals, frogs, birds and lizards make up the diet with the python able to sense the body heat coming off their prey. They flick their tongue to taste the air and use their eyes to find their food. Like many other snakes, it can go for months without feeding. Birds of prey and large reptiles eat Stimson's Pythons.
On more than one occasion I have witnessed cannibalism among the babies of this species, so I highly recommend keeping them in separate tubs right from the start. I use paper towel substrate until the babies are feeding well. They usually undergo their first shed nine to 14 days after they hatch, and until they have shed I keep a portion of the paper towel slightly damp to ensure a good shed.
Neonates absorb a good portion of yolk from their eggs, which provides them the nutrition they need to get a start on life. To tease-feed a baby, hold a dead pinky in some tongs and begin gently prodding and pushing it at the snake in an attempt to irritate it into biting onto the food. Once it does, release the pinky and hope the baby python wraps around it to constrict and eat it.
It may take several attempts and some patience on your part for this to occur, but each time it should take less effort before the snake accepts the pinky. After a few tease-feedings, young A. However, it may be necessary to force-feed stubborn individuals that refuse all attempts. If the snake shows any signs of aggression during force feeding, go back to tease feeding. Nearly all the adults I have raised have turned out to be great, amiable captives.
Most have a strong feeding response and quickly learn to associate the keeper with food, so I recommend using a snake hook to begin interactions with them so your warm hand reaching into the enclosure is not mistaken for a warm mouse. Any snake keeper, from the novice to the advanced, will enjoy working with this amazing little python. The amount of natural variation and selective breeding potential promises a bright future for anyone willing to make a place for them in their collections.
In that time I have worked with most of the other available species of python, and I can truly say A. Currently, the genus Antaresia includes four species. In addition to A. Since then, several more specimens have been reported from a nearby locality that is in Papua, Indonesia.
More extensive research will need to be done to determine the relationship of the New Guinea population to the Australian Antaresia. External parasites such as snake mites are always a possibility when bringing a new reptile into an established collection, however, so I highly recommend quarantining any new reptile away from the rest of your collection for a minimum of 90 days. This will give you a chance to determine the health of the new animal.
I have a couple specimens in my collection that are at least 25 years old, and I suspect they could live for many more years. Ryan Young is a professional reptile breeder with one of the most diverse python collections in the U.
He owns and operates Molecular Reptile, and his primary interest is in maintaining unique and pure forms of the Australian and Indonesian species, as well as producing amazing mutations of several species. Visit his website at molecularreptile.
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