Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We’ve been having so much fun sharing experiences on the forum recently, that I forgot about a post Shaun D (serpentinedreams) made below that caught my attention. He noted how important it is to give active snakes like reticulated pythons hide boxes.

It took me more years than I care to admit before I owned up to the fact that most of my snakes really seem to benefit throughout their lives from hide places, not just when they are small. I think many of us who keep snakes that get large are pretty good at rationalizing along the following lines: Sure, when they’re smaller it is mandatory to offer them secure retreats, but at a certain point in their growth, snakes just don’t seem to need them anymore. After all, most of mine feed well and keep growing and breed. Right? Well, maybe they could do still better if their need for extra security was accommodated even after they approach giant-sized.

To be sure, the exceptionally large females may require something custom built, but for many others there are a large number of appropriately-sized plastic containers available these days that can do the trick. The Burmese python below is more than 12 feet, but certainly less than 14 feet long and yet fits in that “underbed storage box” (floor dimensions of 38”W x 17”D x 6”H) with room to spare.

Unfortunately, he was never the sweet-tempered pet that people assume they’ll be getting when they see that cute Burmese python in the pet store. He’s more like the ones that get dumped on rescues or die early on due to neglect because of a less than tractable personality. He was a heck of a breeder in his day, but was usually fearful of interaction with humans and never reluctant to strike. He’s had a real attitude adjustment since I belatedly wised up to his needs and provided him with that large retreat. And since I left the silly looking little wheels on the box, I can just roll him out of the cage when I need to clean it. What used to resemble a rodeo now produces barely a hiss. The same thing works well to cut down on stress for other snakes, like some blood pythons, that may resent being frequently handled.

Just FYI, that’s a 72”W x 36”D x 18”H Vision cage; a 75 watt ProProducts heat panel in the ceiling on the left side where ‘Nasty’ is getting a few extra rays on his head; and the white temperature sensing probe on the left leads out to a Helix basic proportional thermostat.

-Joan

You're right in that most big snakes will also hide. Of my 5 adult boas, most of them don't regularly use their actual hides but instead burrow under the sheets I use as their substrate. Either way, they're hiding. With all the different plastic tubs on the market, it's easy and inexpensive enough to outfit most snakes with a suitable hide box. An alternative method to a hide box for large cages is providing a curtain across half the cage front. My 12' girl is in a homemade 8' X 2' X 2' melamine cage - the entire left side of which is covered by dark curtains (minimum 4' of privacy area). There are also a number of snakes, juvenile and adult, that aren't usually classified as arboreal that will utilize branches instead of hides (my Solomon Island ground boas come to mind for one). Granted branches aren't practicle for burms, but something to think about with a number of other boa and python species.

Do you provide hide boxes for all of your burmese? Do you have others, or is this the only one?

You mentioned retics in your post below. Do you have some of those too? If so do you also use hide boxes for them?

Thanks and Happy Herping

>>We’ve been having so much fun sharing experiences on the forum recently, that I forgot about a post Shaun D (serpentinedreams) made below that caught my attention. He noted how important it is to give active snakes like reticulated pythons hide boxes.
>>
>>It took me more years than I care to admit before I owned up to the fact that most of my snakes really seem to benefit throughout their lives from hide places, not just when they are small. I think many of us who keep snakes that get large are pretty good at rationalizing along the following lines: Sure, when they’re smaller it is mandatory to offer them secure retreats, but at a certain point in their growth, snakes just don’t seem to need them anymore. After all, most of mine feed well and keep growing and breed. Right? Well, maybe they could do still better if their need for extra security was accommodated even after they approach giant-sized.
>>
>>To be sure, the exceptionally large females may require something custom built, but for many others there are a large number of appropriately-sized plastic containers available these days that can do the trick. The Burmese python below is more than 12 feet, but certainly less than 14 feet long and yet fits in that “underbed storage box” (floor dimensions of 38”W x 17”D x 6”H) with room to spare.
>>
>>Unfortunately, he was never the sweet-tempered pet that people assume they’ll be getting when they see that cute Burmese python in the pet store. He’s more like the ones that get dumped on rescues or die early on due to neglect because of a less than tractable personality. He was a heck of a breeder in his day, but was usually fearful of interaction with humans and never reluctant to strike. He’s had a real attitude adjustment since I belatedly wised up to his needs and provided him with that large retreat. And since I left the silly looking little wheels on the box, I can just roll him out of the cage when I need to clean it. What used to resemble a rodeo now produces barely a hiss. The same thing works well to cut down on stress for other snakes, like some blood pythons, that may resent being frequently handled.
>>
>>Just FYI, that’s a 72”W x 36”D x 18”H Vision cage; a 75 watt ProProducts heat panel in the ceiling on the left side where ‘Nasty’ is getting a few extra rays on his head; and the white temperature sensing probe on the left leads out to a Helix basic proportional thermostat.
>>
>>-Joan
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