Care Sheet for PythonsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 3.00 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 10/28/2006 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Pythons |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Donni |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Childrens Python (ANTERESIA CHILDERNI) |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | All pythons from the genus ANTERESIA |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Probing is the only definite method of sexing these snakes as there are no colour distinctions between the sexes |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Substrate: These are savanna snakes from Northern Australia, so a fine reptile sand is quite a good substrate, in one of the darker colours to help them camouflage their chocolate brown marked bodies.
Plants: Light coloured grasses, of a sun-bleached look.
Water: A water dish big enough for the snake to submerge completely is essential, with the water changed daily. |
Lighting and UVB: | Not really necessary, although some Herpetologists like to use a lower wattage uvb bulb for the natural lighting effect, and others will use an 8watt moon bulb at night, again for the natural effect. Neither is detrimental to the snake. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | A temperature grading of 75F-85F.
The savanna’s are a relatively dry area, so not much humidity is needed, although a warm misting once a week can aid shedding when it begins. |
Heating and Equipment: | An under tank heater of the appropriate size for your vivarium is essential. It should cover a little over one third of the base. |
Caging Provided: | I provide a tank with both the UVB and moon bulbs on a 12 hour day period, and then for a 6 hour night period with the alternate hours being dark.
My tank size is 36"x15"x15" glass, with a cave hide at each end with grasses and branches dotted throughout.
The substrate is the reddish coloured river bank sand 1"deep, with a large water dish placed one third on, two thirds off the heat mat in the centre back of the Viv. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Children’s should be fed as much as they will take of an appropriate sized mouse once weekly moving to by weekly when fully grown.
An appropriate sized mouse is one that is slightly thicker than the snakes body, but not too big that the snake has difficulty opening its jaws or swallowing. This gets easier with practice.
My Children’s will swallow 3 small mice once a week, but is too small for anything bigger. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Mice carry almost all of the needed dietary requirement a Children’s will require, but a good breeder of frozen mice, or a well cared for and gut loaded live mouse is essential. poor quality mice are the bane of the snake keeping world as they carry little nutritional value. |
Maintenance: | A very easy snake to deal with, as even my 3 year old son can handle ours, and at an under 3 foot average size, one of the 3 smallest pythons available.
Saying that, they do have their own personalities, and some, as with all snakes, can be a picky eater, a bit nippy or rarely even both. |
Some Words on this Species: | A great little snake, easy to maintain and extremely hardy. great to handle or show, and I use mine for classroom demonstrations, which shows how notoriously docile they are. |
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