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Bearded Dragon Care Sheet |
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nocturnal, terrestrial, carnivorous ~
First, Size, Weight, and Life
Span:
Do you
really want a snake that may grow more than 20 feet long and
weigh 200 pounds, urinate and defecate like a horse, will
live more than 25 years and for whom you will have to kill
rats and rabbits?
OK then. Next is Housing:
Build or purchase a strong
snake-proof enclosure. Select an enclosure especially
designed for housing snakes, such as the Critter Cottages(TM)
with the combination fixed screen/hinged glass top. All
snakes are escape artists; Burmese are especially powerful
when it comes to breaking out. A good starter tank for a
hatchling is a 55 gallon tank. After the first couple of
years (and some bigger commercially available enclosures),
you will have to build your own enclosure out of wood and
glass or Plexiglas. Some people partition off a large part
of a room or convert a walk-in closet into a suitable
Burmese "tank". Be prepared - giant snakes need lots of
room, not the least of which is room enough for you to get
in there and clean it out! Remember that your snake will
grow rapidly, even when fed conservatively, so you must
always buy or build an enclosure much bigger than the
present size of your Burmese.
Suitable substrate: Use paper towels, butcher paper or
unprinted newsprint at first. These are easily and quickly
removed and replaced when soiled and will allow you to
better monitor for the presence of mites and the condition
of the feces. Once the animal is established, you can use
decorative ground cover such as commercially prepared
shredded cypress or fir bark; do not use orchid bark. Pine,
cedar and redwood shavings should not be used as they can
become lodged in the mouth while eating, and due to the oils
(most especially in any cedar product), may cause
respiratory infections and other problems. The shavings must
be monitored closely and all soiled and wet shavings pulled
out immediately to prevent bacteria and fungus growths. The
utilitarian approach is to use inexpensive Astroturf(TM) and
linoleum. Extra pieces of Astroturf(TM) can be kept in
reserve and used when the soiled piece is removed for
cleaning and drying (soak in one part bleach to 30 parts
water; rinse thoroughly, and dry completely before reuse).
Remember: the easier it is to clean, the faster you'll do
it! Linoleum is easy to clean and disinfect and, when used
on the floor and a couple of inches up the walls of wooden
enclosures, will help preserve the wood from the acidic
urates.
Hiding Place: A hiding place should be provided for
Burmese pythons. A half-log (available at pet stores), an
empty cardboard box or upside-down opaque plastic container,
the latter two with an access doorway cut into one end, can
also be used. The plastic is easily cleaned when necessary;
the box can be tossed out when soiled and replaced with a
new one. Once your snake outgrows these easily replaced hide
boxes, you will need to use your imagination. Eventually,
you can use a large kitty-litter pan or suitably modified
garbage can. Once the snake reaches ten feet, you will have
to put your imagination (or hammer and nails and wood) to
work to devise increasingly larger enclosures.
Temperature:
Proper
temperature range is essential to keeping your snake
healthy. The ambient air temperature throughout the
enclosure must be maintained between 85-88F during the day,
with a basking area kept at 90F. At night, the ambient air
temperature may be allowed to drop down no lower than
78-80F. Special reptile heating pads that are manufactured
to maintain a temperature about 20F higher than the air
temperature may be used inside the enclosure. There are
adhesive pads that can be stuck to the underside of a glass
enclosure (unfortunately, when the time comes to move your
snake to a larger tank, the heating pad cannot easily be
removed from the old tank and reused). Heating pads made for
people, found at all drug stores and supermarkets, are also
available; these have built-in high-medium-low switches and
can be used under or inside a glass or wood enclosure. You
can also use incandescent light bulbs in porcelain and metal
reflector hoods to provide the additional heat required for
the basking area. All lights must be screened off to prevent
the snake from burning itself, and bright lights must be
turned off at least 12-14 hours a day to mimic a proper
photoperiod; if kept under lights all the time, the snakes
will stress and may become ill. If the proper temperatures
cannot be maintained without the incandescent light, then
you must use another source of non-light emitting or dim
light emitting heat. All pythons are very susceptible to
thermal burns and for this reason a hot rock must not be
used. Buy at least two thermometers: one to use 1" above the
enclosure floor in the cooler side, and the other 1" above
the floor in the basking area. Don't try to guess the
temperature. You will end up with a snake who will be too
cold to eat and digest its food. Once your snake is bigger,
invest in a pig blanket, a large rigid pad for which you can
buy a thermostat to better control the temperature.
Furnishings:
Water is the most important. Make
sure there is always a heavy, non-tip water dish that will
fit the boa for bathing. Secondly there should be a hide or
two, one on the how side, one on the cool side. Lastly, you
can add any climbing objects you want, as long as nothing
heavy can topple over on the snake.
Diet:
Allow your snake to acclimate for a
week or two to its new home. Start your hatchling (about 22"
in length) off with a single pre-killed week to 10-day old
"fuzzy" rat. A smaller sized hatchling may require a small
mouse. Older Burmese may be fed larger pre-killed rats. The
rule of thumb is that you can feed prey items that are no
wider than the widest part of the snake's body. While
Burmese (most of whom are bottomless pits when it comes to
putting down food) will often gladly eat prey that is too
large for their size, they will generally regurgitate the
prey item one or more days later--not a pretty sight. If you
have not had any experience force feeding a snake, you may
not want to try it yourself until you have seen someone do
it. It is very easy to overfeed Burmese as most of them are
always eager for food, whether they need it or not. Be
judicious--you will end up with a giant snake soon enough.
Just feed enough to keep it healthy, not obese.
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