Rescued Centralian Python, NEED HELP

[bonesage]

Hi all so im completely retarded at all this, but i recently rescued a centralian python from people who no longer wanted it. He was being kept in a garage with no windows and had no light in his cage for months aswell as every time i saw him, he didnt have food and he hadnt been fed in a long time when i got him.

i dont have a license so i will NOT be keeping him, ive found a licensed owner to take him on but he cant be picked up for a couple of days. i'll end up of having him for a week all up.
i would of given him to a pet shop but thats where the people who neglected him got him from so i couldnt do it and have him end up in bad hands again.
now as hes been neglected his cage is FILTHY and i want to get him out of there to clean it. but as im sure you could guess hes SUUUPER peeved off.
ive managed to get him a working heat lamp and monitor his temperature keeping him at around 30C, got his moldy empty water bowl out and give him new fresh water, as well as ive fed him about 2 days ago after i fixed the light so he could digest it. and remove his old skin which was cramping him that had been in there for months.

but theres still feces EVERYWHERE, ive bought him a complete new enclosure to rehome him with as well as a hiding rock (hes got nothing to hide in, in his current cage and room to put it).
but in all honesty im very scared to handle him, as i said, im unlicensed and i have never owned a snake before i just want to get him out and love him and either move him into his new enclosure or clean his current one of feces and give him a hiding hole at the least.

Basically i want to know how i should remove him saftely for both of us, ive watched youtube tutorials but they all use hooks that i dont have access too.
hes been through so much i just want to make him as comfy as possible and ready for his new life when his new licensed owner comes for him. im solely doing this for the sake of the snake and ive given him away to this licensed owner for free with two enclosures (his old one and the new one). so please dont hate me if im doing something completely freaking retarded, im trying my best

 

[jello158]

Hi all so im completely retarded at all this, but i recently rescued a centralian python from people who no longer wanted it. He was being kept in a garage with no windows and had no light in his cage for months aswell as every time i saw him, he didnt have food and he hadnt been fed in a long time when i got him.

i dont have a license so i will NOT be keeping him, ive found a licensed owner to take him on but he cant be picked up for a couple of days. i'll end up of having him for a week all up.
i would of given him to a pet shop but thats where the people who neglected him got him from so i couldnt do it and have him end up in bad hands again.
now as hes been neglected his cage is FILTHY and i want to get him out of there to clean it. but as im sure you could guess hes SUUUPER peeved off.
ive managed to get him a working heat lamp and monitor his temperature keeping him at around 30C, got his moldy empty water bowl out and give him new fresh water, as well as ive fed him about 2 days ago after i fixed the light so he could digest it. and remove his old skin which was cramping him that had been in there for months.

but theres still feces EVERYWHERE, ive bought him a complete new enclosure to rehome him with as well as a hiding rock (hes got nothing to hide in, in his current cage and room to put it).
but in all honesty im very scared to handle him, as i said, im unlicensed and i have never owned a snake before i just want to get him out and love him and either move him into his new enclosure or clean his current one of feces and give him a hiding hole at the least.

Basically i want to know how i should remove him saftely for both of us, ive watched youtube tutorials but they all use hooks that i dont have access too.
hes been through so much i just want to make him as comfy as possible and ready for his new life when his new licensed owner comes for him. im solely doing this for the sake of the snake and ive given him away to this licensed owner for free with two enclosures (his old one and the new one). so please dont hate me if im doing something completely freaking retarded, im trying my best

How old is it roughly?

 

[Prof_Moreliarty]

Should be able to find a hook for $10-15 from a pet store it's gonna be best solution. Sorry don't how well you know these people or who in vic you would report it to but they need to held accountable in some way/have there license taken away fined etc they don't even deserve to look after a goldfish. Do they have children?...

 

[bonesage]

whooops i should of put that in. Hes rougly 3 years old and id say about 2m in length judging by his skin being longer than my entire arm span.

 

[jello158]

being that age, I would agree with Prof_Moreliarty, you can pick hooks up pretty cheap. good luck with it all

 

[bonesage]

Should be able to find a hook for $10-15 from a pet store it's gonna be best solution. Sorry don't how well you know these people or who in vic you would report it to but they need to held accountable in some way/have there license taken away fined etc they don't deserve to look after a goldfish. Do they have children?...

id say im pretty close with them, i havent shamed anyone yet as they gave him to me because they like me. but its been a process trying to get him off them so until he goes to his new home and theres nothing they can do about it, im keeping them anonymous to avoid them taking the snake back off me for 'bad mouthing' them. and yes one had a child around 3 but i dont know if the child had any contact with him.
and thankyou ill look around for one today. i was considering getting one off ebay but it wouldnt get here before he goes to his new home. aparently theyve never used a hook with him. but theyre alot more confident and assertive with snakes than i am and i think he can tell.

 

[kitten_pheonix]

If you cant buy a hook coat hangers can be bent into shape fairly easily =) or let him cruise out of the current enclosure and pick him up by the tail and pop him into the new one that way using a bent coat hanger to steer his head away from you

 

[MrVic]

$10 paint roller with flexible arm. Remove the roller sponge, snake hook.

 

[PythonLegs]

$10 paint roller with flexible arm. Remove the roller sponge, snake hook.

Genius!

 

[wokka]

If it has heat and has eaten it should be ok. You can put a towel over it and pick it up towel and all. If you are really worried about cleaning it put it in a wet pillow slip for a while but make sure it has access to heat after that!

 

[jungle_smith]

The license system is all good and we'll but they never actually check what conditions animals are kept in. Many snakes I have seen are kept in enclosures that have no decoration they are just a melamine box. I find it appaling snakes are kept in that state let alone the state described of this poor snake.

GOOD ON YOU FOR RESCUING THE POOR CREATURE.

I spend allot of time building enclosures for my creatures whether they be snakes or scorpions I try to give them all a naturalistic type enclosure imwith enrichment and I wish more people would do the same.

 

[Beans]

I just wanted to pop in and say that I am so happy to see you doing this.
You have never handled a snake, don't have them as pets yet you are so willing to make sure this little guy has another chance in life. A good number of people would probably just have been "Eeew a snake let it die LOL" And not bothered.
But not you.
It makes me so so happy to see that you aren't just going to ignore him because hes a snake. Kudos to you, you are doing a wonderful thing by helping this guy. Also another good way to get a snake out of an enclosure is to get a cardboard box that it could fit into, close the box up and cut a small hole into it, make sure that box is his only hide, wait till he goes in and lift the box out.

Also there needs to be more people like you.

 

[bonesage]

Thankyou so much everyone for your help. He has a loving family with children that are all pretty much responsible adults now and the whole family loves him. He's in a thermostat enclosure with his new hiding hole, proper bedding and environment and its CLEAN. Thank you for your kind words also I truly appreciate it.

 

[Gruni]

Maybe you got a bit of a taste for things and could get a license and your own snake. 8)

Too late now but for further interest, Longqi always said when handling wild rescue snakes in Bali he used two pillow cases over his hands and they were easier to approach and if they did try to tag then they would generally get the loose folds of the cotton, this still allows you to use a hook and it doesn't restrict your sense of feel the way gloves would.

 

[GBWhite]

As mentioned above good on you for being concerned about the welfare of this critter.

Longqi always said when handling wild rescue snakes in Bali he used two pillow cases over his hands and they were easier to approach and if they did try to tag then they would generally get the loose folds of the cotton,

Hahaha...I shouldn't laugh Joerg but I find this pretty funny. Snakes can still tag you through cotton pillow slips - remember me telling you about the Tiger that got me through a collecting bag? - and that was at least 2 or 3 times thicker than a pillow slip, plus python teeth are a bit longer than our elapids. From my experience with both wild and captive snakes I also doubt that they are easier to approach with a couple of pillow slips dangling at them as you attempt contact but if he reckons it works for him, then so be it.

For anyone who has very little or no experience handling captive non-venomous snakes of any kind, the box method is definitely the best option and the use of a hook is the next best thing. For anyone inexperienced with handling vens, be they wild, captive or otherwise, then it's even simpler....DON'T TOUCH!

Should mention that I picked up a nice Green Tree Snake on the road about 50 metres from my place this morning. So with visits to the yard by 3 carpets plus a red belly and green tree just down the road in the month since we got home - who needs to go herping...lol.

Also had a young mate who's mother had a carpet lay a clutch in the mulch pile in her garden. They were pretty open to the wet weather and predators so they covered her and the eggs until they hatched about a fortnight ago. The young fellow took them up the road from his place and let them all go in the scrub.



Jungle_smith,

Cage furnishing can enhance the look of an enclosure but despite what you seem to think, snakes don't care about the aesthetics of their enclosure. Sure they make an enclosure look attractive but there is no real need for them. What is important is the health and welfare of the captive. As long as its housing is kept clean, and it/they are provided with fresh water, food, a hide, room to move and heat gradient they are quite happy.

Have a good one guys,

George.

 

[Gruni]

LOL, I know George, I wasn't saying it couldn't tag you through it. I think his point was that it disguised your heat signature and like you said the dangling part of the case would distract it and it might strike at that rather than your hand... I just mentioned it because I remember him swearing by it. Personally I'd be grabbing a hook and worst case I might woos out and wear a pair of leather gloves. :lol:

 

[bdav70]

nice work mate, you're doing a great thing for this poor creature. It saddens me to hear that people could keep an animal in this condition