Oh yes, I love the rocks. It's always a treat for me when I reach their cages during cleaning or bowl washing or whatnot. With the retics and burms it is usually that I am met with indifference or a request for food. But the rocks always rush forward to identify me and then will often posture real big and "scary" and sometimes hissing loud.



They often identify me by sight, which I find particularly interesting as boas and other python species usually must have a direct smell with their tongues before they "know it's me". But with the rocks I can see a slight change in their body language when they recognize me and determine that I am not a potential preditor. There is a slight turn or tilt of their head and their body relaxes somewhat. I still give them a smell of my hand before taking them out though.



What they may think I am is beyond me, but some of them actually seem to enjoy being taken out and held. Others, that I got as yearlings and were never held by the previous breeder/broker are awkward and stiff and not liking it at all. I try to hold them as little as possible out of respect of their dislike for it. But I frequently hold the individuals that seem to like being taken out. They immediately cease all of the "I'm a scary snake" posturing and genuinely seem to enjoy being held.



But the moment I put them back, even before all of he or she is out of my hands, they often turn around to face me and begin the loud and pugnacious posturing. I actually like this and think nothing of it as I understand it to be all bluff, but just to err on the side of safety I still remain out of range.



This is part of the seemingly aggressive behavior that I think is often misunderstood by many keepers. For someone used to boas or burmese and other species this behavior would seem like nothing short of schizophrenic and psychotic. When you put a burmese back they usually just return calmly and coil up or simply try to get back out. But the rocks often immediately come back and confront you. I personally think that this is a deeply ingrained instinct, instilled by evolving for eons on a continent home to the planets largest land giants and preditors. To not be noisy and frightening undoubtedly meant sure death by predation or trampling. Those that were boisterous and intimidating were certainly more likely to survive to pass on the very genes that made them so confrontational. So I personally think that this is just something that is part of the rock python species and will be with them and in them for a long time to come.



As the most intelligent organism on the planet (disputed by the Dolphins, lol) it is our duty to understand this and to simply shape our caregiving/keeping of them accordingly. This is what most herpers fail to realize. I have noticed that many people expect every python to be like a burmese and when it isn't, rather than learn about it and understand it, they get rid of it. Personally, I feel that it is just as easy to care for and keep a rock python once you understand this seemingly strange, confrontational behavior, as it is to keep a burmese or retic. Maybe even easier than retics since retics have even more harder to cope with habits of being so asertive in doing what they want to do at all times. I find this much more troublesome than a noisy rock staring me down.



Anyways,.. sorry for the long post. This subject is difficult to sum up in 20 words or less. I'll post some pictures soon for you. But none of my rocks are "normal" rock pythons, just so you know. They are either patternless green rocks, partially broadbanded patternless green rocks, or rock/burmese hybrids. (For the record, my rock/burmese hybrids do not exhibit the typical rock, confrontational behavior) The average sizes of my rocks or rock hybrids are between 9 and 13 feet. The largest male is about 11 1/2 feet. The largest female is roughly 13 feet. All of my current rocks are about 2 1/2 years old and this is their first season breeding. They will all undoubtedly grow much more as they age and grow older.





>>It's good to know that some other rock keepers are outhere as well. Although i keep mostly burms and retics, i have a special place in my heart for rock pythons, it's just too bad that mine don't care much for a good meal.

>>How big are yours? If they are breeders they can't be too small, right? How about some photos?(does not have to be on the BMW, heheheh!) Take care.
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores." Mia Miselfani

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