Posted by:
pooter
at Thu Mar 26 11:23:02 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by pooter ]
Like many animals (and people for that matter) temperment varies between individual animals, all in all - womas are one of the more docile pythons I have worked with though. You will occassionally find a young animal that is "spirited" but they usually grow out of it with some handling.
Womas do all have one thing in common, they love to eat. They really really love to eat, and as a result, many have a strong feeding response. Keeping in mind their love of dinner, and remembering how they hunt in the wild, they can sometimes get tense or even strike if you sneak up on them. Many people recommend grabbing them with a hook from the cage - I don't think that is necessary - but you certainly want to make the snake aware of your presence before you grab it - otherwise, you may need a paper towel.
As for the random bites, I think the keeper that experienced that was a result of either keeper error or an individual animal thing. I have never had one of my womas randomly bite me. As for the males being more prone to bite, that is complete BS... ignore it and move on.
I have 2 dozen womas in my collection, 2 of those are "spirited and you need to be aware of what you are doing when holding them - the rest of the womas I have at the moment, I would not hesitate to let anyone that was interested hold one. That said, they are snakes and snakes can and will bite - so there is no way to say for sure - but I can confidently say that with a woma that is used to being held, the chance of getting tagged is much less then with many other snake species.
Sand is not great, as it is possible to have issues.
Coco Coir is a horrible idea for womas. Coir works great for tropical animals that are kept humid. In a dryer cage though, it will actually wick moisture from the air and its surroundings. Womas are very tolerant of a wide range of conditions and can handle dry air better then many snakes - but what take the chance. Skip the coir - and be leary of any other advice given by whomever suggested that.
That said - what is a good substrate? I use craft paper, some like paper towels for smaller/younger animals. Newspaper works well, aspen does fine. Some keep womas on cypress mulch. I know there are alot of people outside the US and a few in the states that are now keeping womas and bhps on gravel and it seems to work well (wash the dust off thoroughly first).
For caging of most womas, 3x2x2 would do fine. Occassionaly, they get a bit larger and a 4x2 works better.
As for tips, insights and observations...
They are like good potato chips - you can't have just one. They are a fun species to work with, and most everyone that has them in their collection will tell you that they are one of their favorites.
If you have any more specific questions post em.. there are several people on here with lots of woma experience...
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RE: A few questions on Woma pythons? - pooter, Thu Mar 26 11:23:02 2009
