#short-tailed python

[teleos]

i have never in my life been able to get my eye makeup this good. also i don't wear eye makeup but still

[sunfish-exotics]

Chai Latte ☕️

[hound-bound]

Had Bakar out for some sun today! First time this year it's been warm enough, I think he enjoyed himself 🧡

I love how his salmon blushing is still so vibrant!

[fucxingcuties]

Sumatran Short Tail Python (Python curtus), Aceh Province variety, family Pythonidae, from Sumatra, Indonesia

photograph by AC Exotics

[herpsandbirds]

Brongersma's Short-tailed Python aka Blood Python (Python brongersmai), family Pythonidae, Narathiwat, Thailand

photograph by David Frohlich

[dilly-monster]

I moved last week and everyone had a terrible time lmao

[lexotics]

This is the first short tailed python I've worked with, and I absolutely love their big personalities. Dolores is supposedly a bit "spicy" but I had no issues handling her or getting her out of her enclosure. She huffed a bit and was quite tense if you tried to pet her but otherwise was quite docile. Definitely not comfortable handing her to children just yet but she's an absolute dream 😍

[stay-wild-smol-child]

Just a couple blue boys today

[punished-impartial-speaker]

been working with Tikhiy a bunch lately, so it’s quite a switch hanging out with this guy again. he is so chill and friendly and personable, which I am very thankful for because he is also absolutely enormous :)

[biting-rose]

RAINWINGS ❀!!

very obvious bias for them on my part - we are doing design notes for now, expect countless headcannons on their culture and life etc

-generally based on large parrots and pythons! in a fantasy sense, they are covered in scales that look/act as feather plumage, able to bristle and be moved for display or emote as body language together with their frills! their face looks like a snakes, able to scent heat and taste the air with tounge flicks

-they also have larger longer 'feathering' near the base of their tail that looks like macaw tails which helps them make tight turns when flying. their bird like wings all together make them agile in short bursts, but they do terribly when it comes to distance flying

-they have an elongated front thumb, large hook claws on their wings, and their hind talons look like a bird's for their arboreal lifestyle!

[thlpp]

Have you seen that someone (Clint from Clint's Reptiles) target-trained his tegu? I thought it was super cool. I know a lot of tegus can be a bit bitey because they associated human hands with food, so they think it's feeding time, which is why Clint decided to give target-training a try.

(Clint is a zoologist with a YouTube channel for people who aren't familiar)

Idk, tegus are so cool. Reptiles (and a lot of non-mammals tbh) are a lot smarter than a lot of people think and target training is a good demonstration of that (I also know of an animal sanctuary that is target training an alligator, so it's not just tegus)

Short answer: yes, I watched all of Clint's videos about argentine tegus, including the one showing how he target-trained Gus-Gus. These videos helped affirm my interest in adopting a tegu myself, but the one of the largest factors have been posts by @kaijutegu showing how intelligent and rewarding tegus can be as companions.

Before picking up my new friend from her old keepers, I bought a shocking pink dog toy to be our training target. I chose this specific shade because I personally am allergic to pink, and don't own anything of that color, which would make the toy uniquely associated with feeding time.

I stuck it on a stick and have been showing it to her when offering food. Her lack of appetite and desire to just nap (trying to brumate, I guess) make it a bit difficult with the training, since food is the main reward in that system, and if she's not interested in food, the rest just doesn't work.

The flip side of this is that she's not been trying to nibble on my hands as a snack, so there's that.

We're still establishing rapport, though, and having a solid foundation of trust is pretty much a requirement for any enriching interaction between her and me. I'm looking forward to when we get there!

She was being given up because of changes to her temperament, supposedly becoming cage-defensive and bitey, explained by her entering "guberty" (tegu puberty). I haven't seen a lot of that from her, but this may be because I'm a New Person and therefore Scary, I don't know.

She did bite my sleeve once while I was trying to get her from under a sideboard, but that was clearly because she felt cornered (which she was). After being extracted from under the furniture and on the way to the cage, she also scratched my wrist trying to wiggle herself free, but that one time was very different from her typical behavior. Since then the access to underneath the sideboard has been barricaded shut, so as to avoid repeating this situation, as neither of us enjoyed it.

I have been picking her up almost daily without incident since, so she's not quite the anger monster I was expecting.

Note on picking up tegus: My understanding is that the best way to pick them up is kind of like you would a bunny rabbit: the football hold. Scoop your forearm under the tegu's chest, tummy, and pelvic girdle, then gently grip the base of tail with other hand. My new friend hasn't objected to being lifted that way.

PS - This is not a blanket endorsement of all things Clint has ever said and done. I'm highly critical of his support of breeding spider ball pythons, for one, so don't at me. However the vast majority of his videos are filled with good information, and if he manages to prevent people from impulse-buying a venomous snake or a crocodilian, he's doing good.

[teleos]

phlllbbbbbtt

[sunfish-exotics]

Timelapse of a sketch for a future traditional pet portrait! I like to lay them out digitally to be able to make quick adjustments to the composition.

[hound-bound]

Morning coffee and news with the big boi

[heartfullofleeches]

Hey how about Everglades darling x Raccoon yandere 🦝🦝🦝

The trash panda fell in love when the Everglades darling fed them So they wouldn't have eat out of the garbage 🥰🤣😆🦝

Raccoon Hybrid Yan still digs through their trash, but now they do it to locate the precious artifacts Everglades Reader throws away-

-

Equiped with your phone and a backpack full of whatever you might need during your exploration, you step out the front door for another exciting day in your never ending search of the evasive beast known as the twenty foot python. Marching down the steps, loud banging catches your ear from the side of your house where you normally leave your trash bins.

Not again-

Pocketing your phone, you race down the short flight to locate the souce of the banging before they're able to run off. Rotten fish and discarded trash crunch and squelch beneath your feet as the grass of your lawn parts way to the gravel of your driveway. You hate to waste the gifts you've received from those you met in the swamp, but the smell from your kitchen was starting to act like a beacon to your house.

"Hey!"

"Shit-" Dangling legs desperately kick at the sides of your trashcan, puffy tail thrashing as they wipe at the air searching for ground. Wrapping your arms around their waist, you lift them over the side of the bin - releasing them as the smell of decay assaults your nostrils.

Pinching your shirt over the bridge of your nose, you peal a chip bag from their ear. "If you're hungry you can just knock on my front door. What happened to all the food I gave you two nights ago?"

"Oh, that's back at my tent! Don't worry, I'll ration it! I'm not looking for food this time, just things you don't need anymore that you won't mind me taking!"

Looking at their clothing, you notice something familiar about the stains on their shirt.

"Is that the shirt i threw out last night? I've been using it as a rag for weeks."

"Yeah....But since you threw it out I can keep it, right?"

"Get inside the house. We're getting you a bath and some new clothes. Might also need to invest in some locks for my trashcans."

[herpsandbirds]

Brongersma's Short-tailed Python (Python brongersmai), family Pythonidae, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

photograph by Rushenb