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I need a little help on keeping womas. Can I keep them on pine shavings? Water available all the time? Misting? Do they like to soak? Climbing?

I am used to keeping Emeralds and Green Tree Pythons. So, please excuse the questions.

Thanks for all of your help.

Can I keep them on pine shavings?

No. Keeping any snakes on pine is a bad thing. I keep womas on aspen or newspaper. They prefer aspen because they like to burrow.

Water available all the time?

You can go either way on this. I keep water available for them, but they will produce quite a bit of urate. I have successfully kept them without water too, with soaked rodents being a good source of hydration. I just feel safer with water available though.

Misting?
No, my womas don't need supplemental humidity at all. They are desert animals. But I have found that the standard humidity in the reptile room doesn't bother them. I keep mine next to my boas and water python without any problem.

Do they like to soak?

My male will occasionally soak when it is time for him to shed.

Climbing?

They are not arboreal at all. These are ground pythons. Like I mentioned above they like to burrow, some tubing might be more appropriate for these snakes than perches or branches.

Here are some pics of set ups I have used with success.

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1.1 Womas, 1.0 Australian Water Python, 1.0 Australian Olive Python, 1.0 Cape York Spotted Python,1.0 Albino Green Burmese, 1.1 Loxocemus bicolor (New World "Pythons" ), 1.1 Hog Island Boas,1.0 Peruvian Red-Tail Boa, 0.1 Belem Brazilian Red- Tail Boa, 0.0.1 North American Wood Turtle, 0.0.2 European Pond Turtles, 1.0 Leucistic Alligator Snapper, 0.0.1 FL Red Belly, 0.0.1 Concentric Diamondback Terrapin, 0.0.1 Marine Toad, 0.2 "Flame" Crested Geckos, 1.0 Yellow Ackie

Thank you very much for the enlightenment. I just got him yesterday and need some help. You have supplied that. Thanks again.

Now I need a female.

One thing I would reinforce is having water available at all times. My woma's bowls aren't big enough for them to soak in, but they do have drinking water available at all times. Soaking won't hurt them at all, so bowl size is up to you. I just find a smaller bowl easier to keep clean since they're not tracking through it all the time.

I would also add that womas love hide boxes. They're very hardy and tolerate a very wide range of conditions, and so will do fine without, but they do spend a good amount of time in rodent burrows. That burrowing instinct is easily satisfied by an upside-down flower pot saucer with a notch cut in the side big enough for the woma to enter/exit. You should size it to the snake, i.e. it should be a snug fit so that the animal feels secure as opposed to feeling like it's in a huge cave. They won't hide ALL the time - they still get out and cruise the cage alot, but they do seem to like having a dark, snug retreat available.

Best regards,

Steve Reiners
BoaMorph

www.BoaMorph.com

Thankls so much for the input from both of you. I am one of those that likes to do my own research but I could find nothing about the husbandry for the Woma. Maybe one of you could write something about husbandry of the Woma and Black-headed for the care sheet section.

Hey, if you can dig it up there was an issue with an article on Woma care in Reptiles Magazine. It was the July 2004 Issue. It has a Hognose on the cover. It shouldn't be too hard to find it. It's recent so you should be able to get a copy at a show.
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1.1 Womas, 1.0 Australian Water Python, 1.0 Australian Olive Python, 1.0 Cape York Spotted Python,1.0 Albino Green Burmese, 1.1 Loxocemus bicolor (New World "Pythons" ), 1.1 Hog Island Boas,1.0 Peruvian Red-Tail Boa, 0.1 Belem Brazilian Red- Tail Boa, 0.0.1 North American Wood Turtle, 0.0.2 European Pond Turtles, 1.0 Leucistic Alligator Snapper, 0.0.1 FL Red Belly, 0.0.1 Concentric Diamondback Terrapin, 0.0.1 Marine Toad, 0.2 "Flame" Crested Geckos, 1.0 Yellow Ackie

Well, thank you very much. I have the entire collection of Reptiles Magazine and I am going to look it up right now.