Early June 2003
The Beginning
While reading the Online Trading Post in my search for a puppy, I saw an ad for juvenile Carpet Snakes. To see an ad such as this wasn't unusual, it was just that on this day I realised... I can keep reading them and wishing, or I can do something about it.
I did something about it.
Picking up the phone I rang the number and spoke to Geoff, explained that I was a total novice at keeping snakes and started asking questions.
He was very patient with me and rather than answer a million questions over the phone, suggested I come over and ask my questions while meeting his juveniles.
So, I met and fell in love with snakes. Lots of snakes. Snakes of all colours, roughly all the same size and with varying levels of energy. (Lets be clear here though. These are not any old snakes, these are Carpet Snakes... just thought I had better clarify my desire to keep a snake... it does not extend to toxic snakes. You can keep them away from me, someone else can be the lunatic!)
Geoff had approximately 30 juveniles looking for homes and as I held (literally) handfulls of snakes, (with my hands looking like Medusa's head), I knew I had to have one.
With a photo of my chosen snake, my questions answered and a new purpose, I set out to aquire the license I needed to keep reptiles of this ilk.
This was far easier than I had expected. QLD have a download link on the EPA website - www.epa.qld.gov.au and through this I downloaded, filled in and submitted my application, along with the licensing fee. (All the details are on the site, if you have any questions, go there and read).
Then it was a case of wait while the application was assessed.
I had no reason to believe I would be knocked back and the time waiting was not spent idly however. With the decision made to keep a snake, I now had to have something to keep it in.
The Snake House
I was in the process of turning an old monitor housing into an aquarium when I saw Geoffs ad. This was a bonus for me as it meant I already had a suitable snake house already under construction.
By removing the monitor electronics and tube, I was left with a plastic shell on a stand. As a monitor needs to be well ventilated for cooling, it came premoulded with neat vents. Perfect for airflow and too small for escapees.
I purchased a piece of perspex and with the use of an acrylic, aquarium approved silicone, (no nasty toxic fumes), I laid a silicone bead around the inside of the monitor and carefully placed the perspex on the bead. Now the technical part starts. I dug around in the kitchen cupboards and came up with two bags of sugar and 4 cans of crushed tomatoes, these I used to weight the perspex onto the silicone bead.
The weights used here were very important. As the perspex is flat and the inside of the monitor front is not, it was critical that I find a way to twist and push the perspex, thus forcing it to mould itself to the curves of the front casing and thereby eliminating any cracks that would allow a snake to escape.
Even though the silicone had a cure time of 24 hours, I left the weights and perspex undisturbed for as long as possible (in this case 7 days) to ensure the greatest bond.
I then fitted simple hasp locks to each side of the monitor front panel. This allows me to firmly close the front panel and if neccessary, lock it down to keep small and curious fingers out.
The next step involved fitting a light and thermostat to the snake house, the light of course for warmth and the thermostat to ensure the warmth stays at the right level and does not over heat, dehydrate or burn the snake.
I chose a 'trendy' bedside lamp that uses a small 40 watt (spotlight beam) bulb for heating. As the snake house is a 6 month home only, it is not large enough to support a normal globe and would overheat very quickly. The lamp is on a flexible stand that allows me to move the light within the cage depending on temperature.
The thermostat I purchased from Geoff. However, these are available from pet shops that specialise in Reptiles or via websites online. This had to be fitted to the light power supply and although I did this myself, if you don't know what you are doing, I suggest you be on the safe side and get an electrician to do it for you.
A small drill was used to create a hole just big enough for the power cable to exit the monitor and to fix the thermostat in place.
That done, all that was left to do was purchase thermometers and place them at strategic places within the snake house. Call me paranoid, I bought 4. I justify this by the fact that this is a new snake house, it is a relatively small airspace and with so much venting, the warmth/cooling areas are unknown. Until I am satisfied that the thermostat is working, the warm spots are warm and the cool spots are cool, I will check all four thermostats each time I go near them.
Newspaper was fitted neatly to the bottom, a heavy small ceramic bowl of water was placed inside and bingo. The snake house was ready for an inhabitant.
The Snake
While making the snake house up I received some good news from the EPA, my licence application was accepted, and some mildly disappointing news from Geoff. Unfortunately the snake I had chosen and already named 'Sybil', had been mistaken for another and had been sold.
I say 'mildly disappointing' as it is difficult to choose a snake. They aren't like puppies that clearly choose you. You have many little babies (just under 30 by the time I chose) and other than their markings, they are very similar in temperament and behaviour. It really comes down to the markings and what you find attractive.
So, it took me a further 2 hours to decide which one to have instead and finally I settled on Cleopatra. I made a good choice.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra is, as has already been mentioned above, a Carpet Snake. I will have to find out from Geoff exactly what sub species of Carpet Snake she is. He did tell me once but I was asking so many questions and getting so many answers, that the answer to that question was one that slipped between the brain and muscle tissue, never to be retrieved.
Cleo is a mid brown base colour, with darker brown patterning ringed by black outline. Her belly, or underside, is light tan to almost pink in places. She is not evenly marked, having spots and stripes all over the place. She does however have a solid dark brown stripe ringed in black, that runs from mid back to the tip of her tail.
After having had her for a week, I have discovered when being handled, she is extremely active. Never content to sit and be admired, or to wrap herself over you and watch the world.
Rather, like a young child, she has to explore and wander. Checking each crack and crevice of your clothing, before turning and heading in the opposite direction to repeat the process. If you put her inside your jumper, she will find the quickest way out and want to go exploring again. If she were human, she would be diagnosed ADHD.
She likes to watch. The only time I have seen her with the typical (as I understand it) snake slit eyes is when she has dinner in her sights or she is in bright sun. Otherwise, her pupils are usually fully dilated, or a variation of and she is looking. Always looking and watching. She has a fascination with faces and can often give you a start when she rears up around your neck to look into your face.
She has never shown any aggresive behaviour, even when confronted with a scary situation such as water (see below) or waking (also see below).
In her snake house, she likes to hide in the cardboard box the thermostat came in. A hole in which I cut in the side to enable her to use it for this very purpose. She will curl up in there, occasionally poking her nose out to watch you for 10-20 mins before snuggling back inside. Equally attractive to her is hiding under the newspaper.
She does not like heights. I supplied her with a 'perch' (tis a bird perch, adapted for her house) but she moves off it as quickly as she can if I put her up there and she has never ventured there willingly. Likewise, on the first day she coiled herself around the lamp stand for a while, but then vacated that spot and has never returned to it.
She likes to be woken up slowly. It seems to take her a minute or two to clear the sleep fog and gentle stroking until she lifts her head and looks at you is needed before attempting to pick her up. To attempt to lift her too soon results in rigidness and what appears to be a fear reaction, possibly caused by the sudden loss of the ground beneath her.
She does not like baths or water as we discovered after she had 'dirtied' herself (snake poo stinks). After filling the bath with lukewarm water and gently lowering her to it. She felt the water and went into a wild frenzy of whipping around. Having to be quickly gathered up and held firmly to stop her hurting herself and to calm her. She eventually calmed down enough to be again lowered into the water and she was better, but although the bath was shallow and she had a dry end within reach, she would get very upset if I removed my hand from her vincinity.
Having no other experience with snakes, I have no guidelines to go on. I can only tell you what she is like and what she does. I rely on other snake owners to tell me how this compares to their own snakes behaviour. Thus I will get an indication of how much individuality a snake has. How much it is driven by instinct and how much is personality.