Hello all!
I'm a reasonably new snake owner several months into owning a western hognose, who is doing awesome! I also recently bought a female Children's Python at an expo a few days ago. She looked to be in good health at the time, no mites and didn't seem too skinny. She never struck at me, but she did nuzzle and try to bite several times. I was assured that she would calm down with steady handling, and I wrote the behavior off to young snake nippiness.
On the drive home, I realized that I'd forgotten to ask how old she was - messaging the seller later, I was told that she is about a year and a half old. That surprised me for a number of reasons:
Visually, she's got a more defined pattern than many of the images of Children's Pythons I've seen online. I'd assumed it was an age thing, since it sounded like Children's and Spotted Pythons tend to look really similar when they're young, but if she's a year and a half, her coloration should have lightened and her spots gotten more diffuse by now, yes? I'll attach a pic for reference.
Temperament-wise, I'd heard that Antaresia pythons across the board tend to be really docile and inquisitive snakes, once they get out of the juvenile nippy stage. I would have thought she'd be out of that by a year and a half. That said, it could have been the increased stress between the expo and having just got her home (she tried the same thing while I was weighing her and getting her set up in quarantine). I also would have expected her to strike out of nerves, rather than the nuzzle-and-bite that she is doing...?
Size-wise, she seems small for her age. She weighs in at 51 grams, and the only size chart I can find clocks individuals in a clutch in at anywhere from 100g-250g at 12 months, much less at around 18 months. That said, I could only find the one chart - what's actually a good weight for a year-and-a-half old Antaresia python? If she is underweight, should I try and feed more like every 5 days (as long as she's defecated first) to help her put on weight, or stick to the every 7 I'd originally planned?
Thanks in advance for any and all help!