Alice the Bullsnake

Alice always has to check and see if “daddy” has anything else to feed her. Another website I was reading referred to Bull Snakes as vacuum cleaners when it comes to eating. This is my first Bull Snake, and that is certainly true of Alice. I fed her a total of 77g of rodent on Tuesday. When I remove the top of her feeding bin, she always crawls up the side of it towards me to see if I have anything else for her. At this rate I will be moving her to medium rats about halfway through the year.

I recently posted that Alice is 4.5 feet long. Looking at her Monday of this week, I think she is closer to 5 feet long.

Fed Alice her usual small rat and large mouse on Tuesday. She was in a great mood on Monday and Tuesday and I did not get any of the vocals from the prior week. Also, if you get Animal Planet, please watch Snakes’kin on May 5, 6, and 7 at 6pm EST. Do not know the schedule for any other timezone. So if you live elsewhere, please check your listings. Awesome show about a family in Georgia that run Southestern Reptile Rescue. Great people doing a great job protecting snakes and educating people about them. I am adding a link to their page to the blogroll.

Alice was extra grumpy today. She was really active and I decided I would go ahead and get her out for a little while. Most likely she was just hungry and wanted to be fed early. The entire time I was handling her she kept letting out these low, closed mouth hisses. She never showed the slightest sign of wanting to bite though. Each week I increase the meal size by a gram or two. I may go ahead and feed her today as tomorrow is shaping up to be rather crazy.

There are so many things about reptiles that I love and snakes in particular. The feeding behavior is a good example. I got Alice out yesterday to feed her. More accurately, she crawled up my arm and I lifted her out. I moved over to her feeding bin to put her in it. During this she was just calmly crawling on my hand and arm and taking in the scents. Once she was almost completely in the feeding bin she realized it was feeding time. Her body tensed up and her movements and tongue flicks became much more rapid. She had to investigate every single movement as it could be her next meal. This “switch” just fascinates me. She ate one small rat and one large mouse for a total of 75g.

I moved her habitat back downstairs as the temperatures were warmer than she needs on a 24 hour basis since warmer weather has moved in. I like having her on the main level as I can watch her from the chaise that is right in front of her habitat. Great place to read Reptiles Magazine 😀

Alice has been soaking in her water bowl this morning. I have never seen her do anything more than drink or crawl through it before. I am going to give her a more thorough exam for mites today.

Alice surfaced from her hide this morning. She had been contently hiding away since I fed her on Sunday. She is on the warm side of her habitat watching dad now.

My wife messaged me at work yesterday to let me know that Alice had left me two presents. She told me Alice had shed and that there was a second present in her water bowl. If you keep snakes. you know what the second present was that usually follows a shed. All that space and she nails the water bowl. She looks great though. Bright, crisp, yellow, black and browns adorn her scales again. I will be feeding her in a little while.

Alice is stretched out along the front of her habitat. I was just looking her over and noticed she is getting ready to shed again. They grow up so fast 🙂