February 1st is National Serpent Day and to celebrate serpents on this wonderful day I thought I would use this blog to introduce you to our keepers, our snakes, and our favourites (I know, I know, we’re not supposed to have favourites, but we all do).
I’ve already written a blog about serpents for World Snake Day back in July, but snakes are really cool and they deserve 2 days of the year to celebrate their existence. My last snake blog included some cool snake facts and you can find it here.
At Wingham we have 11 species of snake made up of 23 individuals. All the serpents we have here are constrictors (yes, even the little ones) and the majority of them are super friendly. Most of our snakes are on display for you to see but we have a few off-show in our prep kitchen too.
As you don’t get the chance to see our off-show snakes I thought I could introduce you all.
Californian Kingsnake
First up is our Californian Kingsnake, or ‘Cali King’. Our Cali King is albino, thus earning him the name Custard. Usually, this species is black and white in colour. Where ours is albino, there is no pigment in the scales, so he is a yellow and white colour with pink eyes. He lives a quiet life during the day and spends his day under some corkbark snoozing away.
Speckled Kingsnake
Next up is our Speckled Kingsnake, or ‘Spec King’. She’s an old girl at 17 years old and just like our Cali King, she will spend most of the day sleeping. Her eyes are starting to show signs of aging with the possibility of cataracts coming in. This doesn’t affect her appetite or her aim though, and she gets about perfectly fine.
Royal Python
The other individuals we have off-show are the same species as some we have on show, which are Royal Pythons, Corn Snakes and a Savu Python. But, as a quick introduction to these individuals there is:
Yuno the baby Royal Python. This guy can be a little feisty sometimes but most of the time is super relaxed and very cute.
Corn Snake
Laker the Corn Snake was found in a building supply warehouse in the bathroom and gave some people quite the fright. He was caught up and given to us and has gone from being a feisty biter to a chilled, inquisitive dude.
Savu Python
Lastly, our Savu Python. She is a bit of a feisty individual and will often attempt to bite or will strike at the glass, but this keeps us on our toes and she keeps our snake hooking and handling skills in top form.
Now, time for the Reptile & Ivert team and their favourite and not-so-favourite snakes to work with on the section:
Hannah
My favourite snakes on the section are the Speckled Kingsnake and the Texas Rat Snakes (also known as Black Rat Snakes).
The Speckled Kingsnake, Tallulah, has the best appetite and she is a really fun snake to feed, throwing in all her effort to chase after her food and has a good go at a tug-of-war when she catches it, even in her older age. I’m not sure what else draws me to her but she’s a pretty cool and sweet snake to work with so she is up there as a favourite.
We have 3 Texas Rat Snakes and although they’re all fabulous in their own way, 1 specifically stands out for me. Our oldest Tex Rat is a complete sweetheart and has never even attempted to bite anyone in the time that I’ve known him. He is extremely chilled and is my go-to snake when I need to train people on snake handling, hooking and restraint, because he is super tolerant and happy being handled.
My not-so-favourite snakes to work with on the section are our Reticulated Pythons and our Corn Snakes.
Our Reticulated Pythons are well settled into their new enclosure, and we are able to work around them easily more often than not but if they’re ever having a bad day or if we have to catch them up for some reason then they are incredibly difficult to work with. They are very heavy and have a large mouth with fairly large teeth.
Our Corn Snakes made the list as they are the least inquisitive Corn Snakes that I’ve ever encountered (other than Laker, who is a little curious). It doesn’t seem to matter what we do, these guys just don’t do a lot.
Beth
Beth’s favourite serpent on the section are the Carpet Python and the Burmese Python.
The Carpet Python, Sebastian, is one of Beth’s favourites because he’s “cute, nice and lovely”. He’s one of our larger snakes on the section and definitely has a sweet temperament. He’s often hanging out curled up on the floor but occasionally he will be sitting on the branches higher up in his enclosure.
The Burmese Python, Suzie, is another favourite. Beth enjoys scratching her butt (it helps with getting her to move out of our way as she is much too heavy to lift) and likes how it often seems like there is no brain inside her head. Beth also enjoys Suzies fun little wobble when she’s lifting her head and top part of her body off the floor to be nosey.
Beth’s not-so-favourites on the section are the Blood Pythons. This is because there is not a lot we can do with the Blood Pythons. They don’t enjoy being touched, let alone handled, so we only handle them to move them, and they don’t often pay attention to any enrichment given to them.
Ben
Ben’s favourites are Suzie the Burmese Python and the Savu Pythons.
Suzie has made the favourite list because she doesn’t do much (this is because her species is a sit and wait predator, especially at the grand size that she is), but when she does do something, it is really interesting. Ben also likes Suzies’ big chunky head.
We have 3 Savu Pythons and they’re one of Ben’s favourite species because they’re endangered and ours will contribute to breeding, therefore they’re an important species of snake. He also likes them because all of ours are bitey, this makes them a little more fun to work with (yes, we understand how weird that may sound).
Ben’s not-so favourites on the section are the Corn Snakes and the Reticulated Pythons.
The Corn Snakes made Ben’s not-so-favourite list because they’re quite common. Corn Snakes are often seen in zoos that keep reptiles and they are also incredibly popular in the pet trade with hundreds of different colour and pattern variations available.
Our Reticulated Pythons made the list because despite them having a large enclosure and the snakes themselves being over 25kg and 13-15ft in length, they have managed to find the best hiding spots so no one can see them. They also don’t do a lot, including exploring any enrichment we offer them. They’re impressive serpents, it’s just a shame not many people get to see them.
Sam
Sam’s favourites are the Savu Pythons and the Blood Pythons.
Our Savu Pythons are a favourite of Sam’s because they look cool (their scales are iridescent, which means they show almost a rainbow of colours when the light hits them). Sam also likes them because they’re bitey (again, yes, we understand how weird that may sound).
The Blood Pythons are another favourite of Sam’s and when I asked him to explain why he responded with “They’re very cool, just everything about them is so cool.” So, yeah, Sam thinks Blood Pythons are cool, end of discussion.
This is a CITES protected species and ours were seized upon being illegally brought into the country. This is not how they would look in the wild, the photo below is a true representation of them.
Sam’s not-so-favourites are the Corn Snakes and this is because they don’t do anything. Obviously, they do a little, but just like I mentioned previously, these guys are the least inquisitive Corn Snakes I have ever worked with. Sam is currently doing an enrichment study with them and they are being pretty rubbish candidates.
Ash
Ash’s favourites are the adult Royal Pythons that he named Toffee and Banoffee and the Reticulated Pythons.
The Royal Pythons are some of his favourites because of their “little faces” (they have a super cute puppy-like face) and because they’re inquisitive. If you visit the Reptile House, you may see Toffee being active and up against the glass. They’re often nosey when we go into their enclosure to change their water or clean.
The Reticulated Pythons, Morgana and Merlin, also made Ash’s favourite list because they make the day fun, especially if you have to catch them up. Ash likes a challenge and with the Retics being the impressive size that they are, they definitely serve as a challenge if we have to shift them or box them up.
Ash’s no-so-favourites are the Corn Snakes – would you like to guess why?
That’s right, they don’t do anything.
James
James has the Savu Pythons on his favourites and not-so-favourites list. He likes the Savu Pythons because they keep you on your toes where they’re often in a sassy mood. But, despite all this sassy-ness they can be a pain in the butt on feed days and can be a little sensitive if we move them before we feed them and sometimes wont eat their mouse. Therefore, they’ve made James’ not-so-favourite list because he thinks for such sassy serpents they should really eat their food.
Leon
Leon is a volunteer on the Reptile section, he’s been with us for a while now and is basically part of the team. His favourite snakes are the baby Royal Pythons and the Savu Pythons.
Leon liked the Royal Pythons so much that he was given the job of naming them and called them Asta and Yuno. Because he got to name them, he has an attachment to them. He also likes that they can sometimes be a little bit sassy.
He also likes the Savu Pythons because they have a bit of sass. As they’re a little more difficult to work with than our super friendly snakes it means Leon is able to practice his snake hooking and handling skills.
Leon’s not-so-favourites are the Reticulated Pythons but only because they are one of the snakes that he cannot work with as a volunteer therefore they can’t really be a favourite (due to their size and for safety reasons, our volunteers cannot work with our large constrictors). Otherwise, none of the snakes that he can work with fall onto his not-so-favourite list.
Conclusion?
Okay, so you may have realized that reptile and invert keepers are weird, we do like the bitey guys. We know it sounds crazy, even more so if you’re reading this and aren’t sure about snakes, but they do keep you on your toes. Usually, with serpents that are less friendly, we will only bother them when we need to (water changes, cleaning, health checks) as we don’t want to cause them unnecessary stress. It’s nice when we finally get them to trust us more and they no longer feel the need to defend themselves by striking at us or biting us.
You may have also realized that we all prefer a snake that does stuff, whether that’s mooching about their enclosure or interacting with the enrichment that we give them. Generally, snakes do spend most of their time chilling out and usually get active once we go home or around feed day, but our Corn Snakes don’t seem to. Maybe we should get a camera trap to see what the Corn Snakes get up to at night so they can be moved off of our not-so-favourites lists.
Honorable mention:
Also, just a quick mention to the only snake that didn’t make it onto anyone’s list as it would be rude to miss him out of this blog, our lovely little Western Hognose. He is all hiss, no bite and spends most of his time buried in the sand or sitting on top of his cactus.
Who are your favourite snakes to see when you visit the Reptile House?
