How to Keep a Snake (or two or three - or 24!))

Diedra (All photos courtesy of Guy W.  www.facebook.com/SelectEctotherms)

When Guy was 6 years old, he caught a snake in a park in Sacramento, California. And he loved the experience. But his mom was not so enthusiastic about his idea of having a pet snake. So she got him a turtle. Throughout his childhood he always had pets like most of us do: a hamster, a rabbit, a cat and dog. Plus the turtle. Mr Wassather, as the boys call him, is a teacher at my kids' school, had to wait up to grow up to get what he wanted. And he got it: there was Darwin, his first ball python, when he was 20 years old.

                                                    Vassa, by GW

And now... He currently has six adults and 18 babies snakes, and a Mexican red-knee tarantula! There's Vassa and Diedra, a pair of ball pythons (Python regius), and Griff and Mira, a pair of Amazon tree boas (Corallus hortulanus), and a pair of black-tail cribos (Drymarchon melanurus), Coal and Negra. The babies (ball pythons and Amazon tree boas) do not have names, but are all 3-4 months old.  They live in a separate room in his home, in locking cages, with the comforts of a five star hotel for snakes: temperature controlled, locking cages, and a very passionate owner who takes care of them.

I confess that I still have a long way to go to be able to get physically close to a snake, but I couldn't hold my curiosity to understand how it all works. Guy was kind enough to share his passion and knowledge and maybe he will inspire me to change my feelings about them.  My kids were lucky to see and touch one of his ball pythons at school. Both of the boys think snakes are cool, not scary,  and have no problems about touching them!  I also would love to do that some day. But before that I needed to understand more about them. So, here's Guy's interview for Petzi:

When did you realize you wanted snakes as pets?

Since I was a little kid I would read books about reptiles, and just tried to learn everything I could about them. When I began studying anthropology and evolution in college, I again became fascinated by snakes due to their unique body shapes, and incredibly slow metabolisms (I have had males go off feed for 4 months during the breeding season! They don't eat the entire time, yet hardly loose any noticeable body tone!). I first brought a snake in for a lesson when I was doing my student teaching. The students were totally engaged, and learned much about snakes and reptiles in general in a hands-on way. The longer I keep snakes, the more I see the importance for education about them, and the classroom is the perfect place to reach dozens of students (and even some parents and teachers!). I also love going out and finding snakes, lizards, amphibians, and invertebrates in the wild. We have many species that are common here, such as: pacific gopher snakes, king snakes, northern pacific rattlesnakes, a variety of salamanders and newts, and even scorpions and tarantulas!

How do you interact with snakes?

I do consider them all my pets, although the fact that reptiles are such different animals slightly changes the way I interact with them. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I don't talk to them! I know they don't have external ears, and that they do not vocalize to communicate (other than hissing, which indicates a defensive reaction to stress), so I know they get absolutely nothing from me talking to them (unlike many mammals), but I still find myself talking to them all the time! Most of my time interacting with the snakes is during general cage maintenance (changing waters, cleaning cages, weighing them). Having so many snakes requires a large amount of time to take care of! In general, snakes are more content to be left undisturbed, assuming all of their needs are being met in their cage (proper temperature, humidity, security, etc). I spend a good amount of time observing the snakes in their cages--while certain species may exhibit specific behaviors, there are individual differences as well, and observing them exploring their cages is a great way to learn more about them!

Can you share something about their personalities? 

Griff (Photo by GW at www.facebook.com/SelectEctotherms

My ball pythons are my most placid snakes. When I take them out, I will let them crawl around and explore for a little bit (always supervised!) before I put them back in their cages. These are the snakes that I bring to school whenever we are learning about snakes. My Amazon tree boas can be more active when being held, and being that they are an arboreal species, feel most secure when their tail is securely wrapped around something. They also possess large infrared heat pits along their upper and lower jaws which are very sensitive. They use these for feeding, but because they can be more defensive, this leads to them sometimes biting because they see a large warm hand coming in to grab them. Once they are out of the cage though, they are content to explore so long as you are holding them in a way that allows them to feel secure. My black tail cribos are my favorite to handle -- they are active, alert, and fast. I handle them the most often because in the wild they can have a range of many miles, so it is important to make sure they get time to burn some calories, as life in captivity isn't nearly as energy expensive as living in the wild.

How do you choose the types of snakes to take care of?

My first snake was chosen when I was  learning about ball pythons. One day, I saw a pet store had them on sale for only 30 dollars, so I researched the care requirements and went out and bought the snake and all the needed supplies. I then learned how many different color and pattern mutations there were in ball pythons (called "morphs" -- governed by Mendelian inheritance -- dominant, incomplete dominant, recessive, etc. mutations), and was fascinated by the variety. Learning about all of the different combinations that different "morph" ball pythons could produce led me to get my second snake (Diedra) and later my third (Vassa). Last year was my first year breeding snakes, and it was amazing to see little baby snakes coming out of eggs! It was also exciting that because of the genetics of ball python mutations, I knew what the babies could possibly look like. Then I began to learn about Amazon tree boas, and how they naturally occur in many different colors, but it is not yet understood what determines their appearance. I found it amazing that two grey snakes could produce any variety of red, yellow, orange, or grey snakes. I got Griff around a year and a half later, and this was my first year of breeding Amazon tree boas. Twelve of the babies I currently have are from Griff and Mira. Griff is a light grey animal with purple hues, while Mira is a heavily patterned orange, and their babies range from dark grey/ black to bright orange/ red! What drew me to the cribos is how active and alert they are. They also require much more work than my other snakes, which presents more of an enjoyable challenge. 

Would you describe snake's keepers as introverts, extroverts or really they are not like "cat" person or "dog" person stereotypes?

In my experience, people do not typically have very fond feelings towards snakes, let alone those who choose to keep them. This comes from many things: phobias, bad experiences, misinformation, etc. This is one of the reasons I enjoy being able to educate students and parents on facts about reptiles throughout different science units in the classroom. That being said, there are many different types of people who keep snakes and other reptiles, and for a variety of reasons. In my experience, it's a pretty even split between people who are very outgoing and people who are more introverted, much like anything else in life.

What are the resources a new snake person should know before having one?

Responsible reptile keeping is crucial in today's climate --there are many extremist groups that are funding legislation against pet ownership, and reptile keepers have been under fire in the recent years. The United States Associate of Reptile Keepers (www.usark.org) is a group that is dedicated to preserving the responsible keeping of reptiles in the US. Record keeping is also something many reptile keepers make a practice of, myself included, I record feedings, sheds, cleanings, and water changes. This helps ensure every animal is being provided for properly, and is invaluable should a snake get sick and require veterinary care. Record keeping is especially important when breeding, to ensure the lineage of the babies is tracked. This becomes crucial with species that are no longer being imported, due to the fact that inbreeding is more of an issue due to a finite gene pool. Whenever you are buying a snake, it is always important to ask about the parents of the animal and their lineage. If anything, this ensures that the person you are acquiring the animal from knows the health history, and that they are knowledgeable about the care for the species. 

Guy Wassather 

Now a little FAQ about snakes prepared by Guy for Petzi:

• What do they eat? Most eat appropriate sized frozen thawed (more humane for the food, safer for the snake) mice or rats. The cribos enjoy a more varied diet, including frozen thawed day old chicks and  fish (whole and fillets from the store).  
• Do they ever escape? No! Snakes do not escape on their own. They escape due to inadequate housing, or irresponsible handling practices (letting snakes roam around unsupervised).
• What happens when they get sick?-There are vets that specialize in reptile and exotic animal care. I have had to take Mira and Diedra to the vet before, but just as preventative measures, and it turned out nothing was wrong. It is important to have an experienced, knowledgeable vet in your area! 
• Do snakes feel slimy? No. The iridescence of their scales may make them appear slimy, but they are actually dry and typically smooth.