Feeding Cheeto

My lovely little Kenyan Sand Boa (KSB) named Cheeto (after her gorgeous orange colorations) has been a joy to have!

Cheeto climbing

She has been mine for about two months now! Her favorite activities consist of burrowing, exploring my desk, and, strangely enough, climbing the walls over enclosure and laying on the lip of the lid. She's a weirdo, but she's my weirdo.

Now, one thing that I wish I would have known before getting a KSB is how picky they are.

From all the people I have talked to these are some of the differences in feeding KSBs:

• Type of rodent
• Mouse
• Rat
• Freshness

• Live
• Frozen/Thawed
• Freshly killed
• When
• Day
• Night
• Where
• In a paper bag
• In a feeding tub inside the enclosure
• In a separate feeding tub
• Left in a bowl
• How
• Tong feed
• In a bowl

All these options provide for a wide array of different combinations of how KSBs can be fed and attests to the peculiarity of the animal.

Now, I love my Cheeto, but she is causing major concern. Now it could be her "off feed" season, but I really don't believe in that.

She has only eaten once since I got her. And it isn't for lack of trying on my end - once or twice a week I offer her a frozen/thawed pinky mouse and about twice a month I make a 45 minute drive to Plano to get a live pinky mouse. I have tried every combination possible to get her to eat.

Her husbandry is satisfactory according to the breeder I purchased her from: 20 gallon long tank, 90 degrees on the hot side via an Under-the-Tank heating pad and 80 degrees on the cool side. In my quest to get Cheeto to eat, I have reached out to other owners on social media: some people say she's in too big of an enclosure, some say the hot side isn't hot enough, etc., etc..

This weekend I will be picking up another live pinky and I will see what happens. Worst comes to worst, and I really do not want to do this, but the breeder suggested assisting her with feeding. This would bring stress on both Cheeto and I so I don't want it to come down to that. I just want my snake to eat. 

More to come later.

Perspectives

Having a snake is a lot of fun in my opinion. There are so many aspects of it: the gene types, the food types, the reptile shows, etc. and I absolutely love it!

Now normally when I tell people I have a snake they look at me in horror. And honestly I didn't expect that type of response when I first got Marbles.

Growing up, I had always been fascinated with reptiles. I was never given a reason to fear them because I was taught to respect them.

So when I first started to get these negative responses to my baby, I was shocked! How can someone not be interested in these amazing creatures?!

The funniest (and most often) comment I get is "Don't let her sleep with you. I read this news article once about how this lady let her snake sleep with her and it was just sizing her up to eat her!"

Y'all.

That's ridiculous. I understand fully that being attacked by a snake is a possibility but *if* that story is even true, there are some criteria of that situation that is a tad different than mine (and most reptile keepers):

1. Those snakes in the news are much bigger than the average pet ball python
• Marbles is about two feet long unlike some other breeds of pythons that can be up to fifteen feet long.
2. Those snakes are wild animals
• Marbles was bred in captivity, as are most snakes that are being kept.
3. Mama didn't raise a fool
• I understand that these animals are dangerous, so why would I put myself in a position (sleeping with her) where I am not able to control the situation? The answer is I don't! I have yet to meet someone that sleeps with their snake.

Other concerns that have been voiced to me:

• "What if she bites you?!"
• If we're being honest, my dog's bite hurts more than Marbles.
• On that subject, yes I have been nipped at because I either scared her by moving her too fast or I smelled like mouse. She did not lash out because she is evil.
• "What if she gets out?!"
• This is a perfectly valid concern. Snakes are strong enough to push their enclosure tops off if its just a screen with no latches or locks.
• To alleviate worry about this, I have locks on her enclosure.
• "Snakes are gross."
• All animals are gross. Cats, dogs, fishes, horses, and birds poop and pee, yet they are still kept as pets.
• Just as with all other animals, if you keep their spaces clean, then it won't get dirty.
• "I had a bad experience with X type of snake when I was younger and therefore I don't think you should get one."
• Other people's experiences with snakes does not make me love Marbles any less or regret getting her.

Like, look at my baby. She is absolutely adorable.

      

A common misconception is that pythons look scary. But look! They're not like other venomous snakes that have the pointy eyes, sharp fangs, etc. (those snakes are still beautiful) but pythons have a puppy face that just gets me every time.

Adorable. Not to mention those colors are absolutely beautiful!

*Disclaimer: These are all my opinions and I do not speak for all reptile keepers, just what I have learned by going to reptile shows, talking with reputable breeders, my own research, and my own snake keeping experiences*

Also none of the pictures are mine except the one of Marbles and I give credit to the original artists.