Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As Requested I thought this would be a good time to post an update of the rock-cut cage and its subject. I'll start from the beginning. The female suboc was hatched October 24, 2008. She weighed 21 grams at hatching (all other weights were taken on the days immediately following a shed). Nov. 1st - 32 grams, nov. 29 - 49 grams, Dec. 30th 68 grams. January 15 she was cooled for six weeks. March 1st she was warmed up and on March 8th she was introduced as the only occupant to the rock-cut cage. No regular weighing schedule followed her introduction to her new cage as i wanted her to have as little physical interaction with humans as possible. I did record a weight of 207 grams directly after a shed on June 18th (this was the only time she has been touched during the last 5 & 1/2 months). June 25th she was seen stretched out at the bottom of the cage and was measured at 37"................... this pic was taken today. I conservatively estimate her current weight at 245 grams. She feeds on adult mice that she hunts in what I can only assume to be a natural type, stalking fashion. Each hunt ends in a surprise attack from above for the mouse. There has never been a near miss. When she is hungry, she emerges from her caves and I feed her. She decides when it is feeding time, not me. She eats every three days, almost like clockwork. In my opinion she is perfectly proportioned. I know she is large for a ten month old suboc by most keepers standards. In my program, this is normal. Well, that briefly tells her life history. It has been a lot of fun observing all of her behaviors. Kevin Muchnick

She hatched september 24, 2008 (not October). kevin

damn fine observations and way to get that snake where she has decided to be! What are the high and low temps in the enclosure?
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Todd Hughes

Todd, I built the cage with two spot lights in the front portion of the cage. I did this to heat the rock cut to a temp so high that the snake would basically be forced to retreat to her cooler cave shelters at the back of the cage during the day, much like it would be during the summer months in west texas. I was happy to find that the lights were not necessary to force this daytime retreat. because I do not use the heat lights the cage is the same temp as my room which is 78 degrees. The cage is three feet tall, so there is probably a three degree variant at most from top bottom. I do not use any heat of any kind for my transpecos rats that I keep in sweater boxes, they also are at 75 - 80 degrees depending on how low or high they are in the rack system. My rearing, breeding and incubating results are very good at this temp with no supplementary heat. Thanks for the reply, I'll post a pic or two of her stalking and capturing a prey item next time. sorry my pics aren't the best, I'm just not a photographer at heart. kevin

I remembered you saying that you had spots to heat the cut so I was wondering if she utilized the heat, but since you aren't using them I guess it isn't part of the equation. Yep, my subocs don't get heat, they do very well with ambient room temps over here. She's a growin' fool though! Cool post, cool cage, cool snake!

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Todd Hughes

Thats an amazing looking cage - and thanks for sharing your observations very interesting - she looks very healthy and obviously happy.
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Junglezone - Webdesign

Super, Kevin,
That cage is the ultimate.
Interesting about the "attack from above", in that I've noticed in my subocs that they appear to prefer this...
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Do you see her prefer certain altitudes in the cage on a daily cycle?
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Bill, Most of the time she is in here cave retreats. She will come out early evening when she is ready to feed. I usually find her high on the rock cut, just waiting. Aside from consuming her prey, only once have i seen her on the floor of the cage and she was in motion then. I find it interesting that as soon as the mouse finds its way to her belly, she imediately scales the cut to her cave entrance and slips out of sight. Almost as if she has just committed a crime. Thanks for the reply. kevin

Wish my blonde would eat like that. He's about a 2 week feeder and he cruises regularly, hungry or not. Funny thing, still growing and appears very healthy.

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to more pics, updates etc. in the future.

Very cool cage. Your observations are also very interesting. Please keep them coming!

Wow. Awesome snake and setup. Can't get over the size of that snake at that age. Nice job.

Did you ever show what the back of the cut looks like? Is there shelving, hollow...

March 7th I posted pics of the cage including one of the back. You can find it in this forum. Kevin

Thanks for the heads up...I missed it somehow.