SNAKES ALIVE!

It's been my experience that when it comes to snakes, opinions are restricted to two camps: those who love them and those who hate them. Unfortunately for the snakes, the latter group greatly outnumbers the former. I love snakes and don't understand the negative attitude they engender in many people. Contrary to popular belief, they are not slimy, and the vast majority are harmless. When approached they will flee. Imagine moving about your environment, capturing prey, fending off predators, and reproducing - without limbs. Snakes have pulled it off in grand style. Wild-caught specimens can make fine pets, especially king snakes, milk snakes, and corn snakes. But the variety of captive-born reptiles available today is staggering. All things considered, that's definitely the way to go. The large constrictors (boas and pythons) have long intrigued me. My favorite among the giants is the Burmese python. Impressive in size (growing to twenty feet or more), beautifully marked, and generally docile they make magnificent pets. Breeders have produced them in an enticing assortment of colors and patterns. Rare or new forms can be very expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars. However, a normal Burmese, clad in an array of greens, gray, and browns is a striking creature and very inexpensive. Babies can be purchased at reptile shows for about forty dollars. I wanted to add another Burmese to my collection, and since I already had a normal, an albino was selected. You might think that an albino snake would be pure white but that's not the case. A baby albino Burmese is basically white with tracings of yellow/orange and pink. Hatchlings tend to be "nippy", but outgrow their defensive striking behavior within a few weeks. My little snake (a female) was three weeks old and 18 inches long. A ten gallon aquarium with a screen cover and newspaper on the bottom housed the young serpent. A heat lamp fastened to the cover, a hide box, water bowl, and a rough rock completed the decor. A thermometer and a device to measure humidity were installed. I used a thoroughly rinsed Windex pump spray bottle to increase the enclosure's humidity. The rock served two purposes. Positioned under the heat lamp, it provided a basking spot and would be there for the snake to rub its snout against to begin its first shed. This event occurs shortly after the snake's first meal. I'm sure you noticed that I haven't mentioned the snake by name. I don't name my snakes for two reasons. Snakes don't hear air-borne sounds, or if they do, they hear only very low-pitched sounds. Secondly, they lack the cognitive ability to realize a sound (me saying her name) relates specifically to them. My beautiful albino took her first prey a few days after taking up residence in her new home. She constricted a small mouse (sometimes called a "hopper"), and when it stopped moving, proceeded to swallow it. The sequence of events, from prey detection to ingestion was quick and well coordinated, just like an adult performance. The reptile was ravenous. She moved on to adult mice, then small rats, then adults, then to multiples of the biggest rats I could find. The ten gallon aquarium morphed into a 8' x 4' x 3' custom-made plywood and plexiglass cage. Over the years I handled my Burm regularly. She grew at an astounding rate and I didn't want to eventually have to deal with fifteen feet of muscle, sharp teeth, and nasty attitude. Feeding became a problem; the biggest rats were too small. I needed to provide larger prey animals. A friend came to the rescue. He knew a man who was raising a breed of giant rabbits. I purchased one of the monsters and presented it to my now ten foot albino Burm. When the rabbit entered the cage it was struck immediately. Apparently a rabbit's foot isn't so lucky after all. I'd never imagined a rabbit could shriek as loudly as this one did. People came running from all over the house. They found the scene disturbing, and after voicing their displeasure, beat a quick retreat. So huge was the bunny that having subdued it , I wondered if the snake could swallow a creature so large. To my surprise, after an hour of pushing and pulling and twisting, the rabbit disappeared down the snake's grotesquely distended mouth. There would be no more live rabbits after this episode. I located a pet store that stocked frozen ones and they were the main course from then on. On a diet of two frozen-thawed rabbits a week my snake continued to grow. By her seventh birthday (hatchday?) she measured 15 feet in length and was as thick as my thigh. Big, healthy, gorgeous, and dog-tame - the most impressive animal I've ever had the privilege to keep. Yet, even as I admired her size I realized I would have to give her up soon. The once spacious cage was now inadequate and I had nowhere else to keep her. Eventually, I sold my giant to an enthusiast who devoted an entire room to his snakes. The Python Palace featured sub-floor heating, a large tub, logs and poles for climbing, and a ventilation system. I felt confident that my pet would have a comfortable life there. TOP PHOTO: Having dispatched its prey, the snake begins engulfing the rabbit. BOTTOM: After an hour's struggle, the rabbit has been reduced to a memory and a bulge.