That ain't a toy you silly worm

Since it has been a few weeks and the snake still has not eaten, I decided to follow the advice Mike Willbanks posted on his site. I had transfered the snake from the larger cage into a smaller box so I could easily find the mouse back in case the snake hadn't eaten it. Bought a live mouse, still quite little. Waited until late evening. Put mouse in cage. Switched off light and left the apartment.

Came back about two hours later. The mouse was nowhere to be seen and the snake was curled up inside the shelter. All looked fine until about ten minutes later the snake started moving around again and that was not supposed to happen. After the feed the snakes normally stay rolled up inside the shelter for a few days while they digest the food. So I opened the box, lifted the shelter and there it was: a little pink mouse, quietly asleep. I mean, seriously... You're not suppsed to play with it, it's your food!!

Gonna stick to Mike's advice and wait five days before I repeat the procedure.

The best product designed by Apple

For as far as I'm concerned the best product Apple has designed so far is the box of the iPod Classic. Sure, the music player itself does what it;s designed to do but the box has turned out to be an absolute hit - with my ball python.

When I first got my python I was looking around te house for something that I could use for shelter and this was the only container compact enough to make sure the snake could curl up inside and feel nicely enclosed. I cut one of the short sides away to create an entrance. Turns out the snake loves it - as a matter of fact it has refused to go into any other shelter I tried to use so far.

I'm not entirely sure what I will do when it gets soiled eventually, guess I'll have to ask all my friends to give me their iPhone and iPod boxes.

A couple of pics

Still not hungry

Went to Singapore for a week on a business trip, thinking that when I got back the snake might have settled down enough to eat. Allowed it out of the cage onto my arm, gently transfered it into a large plastic container with clip-on lid, placed inside a large brown paper bag. I put it in the bag to give it a more enclosed feeling, and to prevent the snake getting stressed by anything moving outside the enclosure. Took a mouse out of the freezer, thawed it in warm water and held it in front of the snake. It sniffed the mouse for a while, went around it, then left it. I left the mouse inside the box, put the lid on and left the snake with the mouse overnight. Checked again in the morning - mouse still there, with the snake resting its head on top. Is he taking the piss??

I'm now going to follow the instructions Mike posted on his site: get a live mouse, put it in the cage with the snake, switch off the light and leave. Return an hour later, check whether snake has eaten the mouse.

Will post about the progress on here.