My snake collection - pic heavy.
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 11:01 pm
Due to popular demand (well @Donald asked 
), I have created this post to share photos of my snake collection. There will be some photos of a couple of my favourites that are no longer with me, and also some omissions from the ones that I currently own. Mainly the corn snakes as they are generally two fast to hold using one hand whilst holding a camera in the other.
I am by no means an expert herpetologist, but have been keeping snakes for half of my life so have picked up a certain amount of basic knowledge during this time. I have recently made three additions to bring me up to a current total of 13 snakes. I think that is going to be my lot, but remember first saying that when I had 4.
My first foray in to snakes was to buy a baby corn snake. he was an amelanistic (basically an albino) corn of just a few weeks old. I had him for 24 years until he sadly died on 6th April this year.
This is Alf.
And one of his sons at a few months old.
Another of my favourites no longer with me was a Het albino (one of the parents was an albino) Burmese python.
On to my largest snake that I have. A golden, or albino Burmese python named Damien. He is about 12ft at the moment and is hard work. he was never handled enough while small and is so defensive always wanting to get away and hissing to say he's not happy. I managed to improve his temperament significantly, but still have some way to go.
Two of my recent additions have been Boas. the first is Sammy, a salmon boa (a slight colour variant on the common boa constrictor). he has turned out to be somewhat of a rescue. I didn't know it when I first went to see him but he seems to have some slight neurological issues. It manifests itself in some lack of control of his movements. He still gets about, and feeds ok but does have some 'head wobble' and 'corkscrewing'. I believe it is brain damage down to extremes of temperatures. The old owner had a heater that was turned on for 12 hours a day rather than being controlled by a thermostat. Basically it was like a sauna during the day and room temperature (often chilly I would think) at night. I decided that I would put up with him and the condition rather than return him to the environment that I believe caused the issue.
My other boa is a 10 weeks old Sharp Albino named Alfie
He looks quite big in that one - but only because its very close up.
Last but not least, I have 5 royal pythons. These will be my next focus for a breeding program. Without going in to too much detail royal pythons are very popular for breeding as there is huge scope for breeding different colour variations (or 'morphs') to end up with some very impressive results. It is possible to spend literally thousands of pounds on some of the rarer / more sought after varieties. I tend to be patient and wait until the prices come down to a more realistic level.
I have two females that are 'normal' colours.
And my males are all 'morphs'.
Mfalme an albino
Boris, the Spider
And Barry, the bumblebee. My most recent addition. Many of my photos don't do the animals justice. None more so than in this case. The yellows and red spots barely come out in the pic, but are quite vivid in reality.
You will have noticed that a few photos have been taken in plastic boxes (RUB - really useful box). Many people choose to keep their animals in these, as they are space saving, and low maintenance. I would not criticise this practice as the snakes I have seen (or bought) being kept this was always seem healthy, and tend to feed ok which suggests they are happy. I do use RUBs for short term use while cleaning out etc, but actually keep all of my pets in vivariums. I feel this is a better environment for them, and also allows me to see them more easily.
Apologies for the length of this post. I felt if it was something I was going to do, then it had to be done in a certain amount of depth.
), I have created this post to share photos of my snake collection. There will be some photos of a couple of my favourites that are no longer with me, and also some omissions from the ones that I currently own. Mainly the corn snakes as they are generally two fast to hold using one hand whilst holding a camera in the other.I am by no means an expert herpetologist, but have been keeping snakes for half of my life so have picked up a certain amount of basic knowledge during this time. I have recently made three additions to bring me up to a current total of 13 snakes. I think that is going to be my lot, but remember first saying that when I had 4.
My first foray in to snakes was to buy a baby corn snake. he was an amelanistic (basically an albino) corn of just a few weeks old. I had him for 24 years until he sadly died on 6th April this year.
This is Alf.
And one of his sons at a few months old.
Another of my favourites no longer with me was a Het albino (one of the parents was an albino) Burmese python.
On to my largest snake that I have. A golden, or albino Burmese python named Damien. He is about 12ft at the moment and is hard work. he was never handled enough while small and is so defensive always wanting to get away and hissing to say he's not happy. I managed to improve his temperament significantly, but still have some way to go.
Two of my recent additions have been Boas. the first is Sammy, a salmon boa (a slight colour variant on the common boa constrictor). he has turned out to be somewhat of a rescue. I didn't know it when I first went to see him but he seems to have some slight neurological issues. It manifests itself in some lack of control of his movements. He still gets about, and feeds ok but does have some 'head wobble' and 'corkscrewing'. I believe it is brain damage down to extremes of temperatures. The old owner had a heater that was turned on for 12 hours a day rather than being controlled by a thermostat. Basically it was like a sauna during the day and room temperature (often chilly I would think) at night. I decided that I would put up with him and the condition rather than return him to the environment that I believe caused the issue.
My other boa is a 10 weeks old Sharp Albino named Alfie
He looks quite big in that one - but only because its very close up.
Last but not least, I have 5 royal pythons. These will be my next focus for a breeding program. Without going in to too much detail royal pythons are very popular for breeding as there is huge scope for breeding different colour variations (or 'morphs') to end up with some very impressive results. It is possible to spend literally thousands of pounds on some of the rarer / more sought after varieties. I tend to be patient and wait until the prices come down to a more realistic level.
I have two females that are 'normal' colours.
And my males are all 'morphs'.
Mfalme an albino
Boris, the Spider
And Barry, the bumblebee. My most recent addition. Many of my photos don't do the animals justice. None more so than in this case. The yellows and red spots barely come out in the pic, but are quite vivid in reality.
You will have noticed that a few photos have been taken in plastic boxes (RUB - really useful box). Many people choose to keep their animals in these, as they are space saving, and low maintenance. I would not criticise this practice as the snakes I have seen (or bought) being kept this was always seem healthy, and tend to feed ok which suggests they are happy. I do use RUBs for short term use while cleaning out etc, but actually keep all of my pets in vivariums. I feel this is a better environment for them, and also allows me to see them more easily.
Apologies for the length of this post. I felt if it was something I was going to do, then it had to be done in a certain amount of depth.
and say that I seem to remember other members mentioning keeping snakes, but I didn't know who or what snakes they have.