Hello
So happy to have found a forum that I can ask questions about this big, beautiful, wonderful snake that I inherited/rescued from a friend. I know very little about reptiles, so I began to study. I am fascinated! But still a little lost....
Sativa came to live in our head shop about three years ago. She was 8 feet long and about 80 lbs. I converted a 6x4 glass and wood display case into a lovely terrarium with great humidity, some logs to climb in and (when she doesn't kill it laying on it with her current 90lb self), fresh grass to lay on. I lined the wooden bottom with indoor/outdoor carpet and tacked it down with velcro. I placed a reptile heat pad under the carpet with two layers of carpet over it to cushion it, and added a ceramic heat lamp (only it doesnt give off light, just heat) along with a sunlamp on a 12 hour cycle for natural light. The ambient air temperature stays around 87 degrees, but she can also go to the other end of the enclosure, where there is no heat lamp or pad. She has a big flower pot tray as a bathtub, and a big rubber dish for fresh water. She grew two feet! She is now 10 feet 3 inches long. She sheds every 6 weeks like clockwork, and she is vibrantly colored, with a nice "bat" tail, but not as fat as it used to be.
I have been feeding her f/t rats - the "jumbo" size. I had been feeding her every 2 weeks, but she grew so fast, so I slowed down to every 3 weeks. She still looks great.
So, about a month ago, I went to feed her (so, I don't put her in a tub for feeding - she is too big for anyone to pick up by themselves in our family and I don't even have a tub big enough for her) and she struck at the rat (as she often does). As she did, her teeth got caught in the carpet/mat and she flipped out!! Managed to pop the carpet loose with a big stick and she did not lose any teeth and did not appear injured - but since then, she is one pissed off girl. She had always been curious and not defensive, never struck or seemed in any way aggressive. Now, every time I open the top of the enclosure, she strikes first and asks questions later. She has not bitten me, but I dont stick my hand in there, either. I was able to clean her cage this weekend, but it had been a while since I was able to, and she just let me do it, for some reason.
So, I called a reptile guy. He tells me that the poor girl is STARVING and that rats are not enough food for a ten foot snake. So here I am. I feel a great responsibility to care for her and make her life as happy as can be, living in a cage. I also am very reverent that she is a big predator animal and I respect the responsibility I have in caring for her. I look forward to learning a lot more about my snake.

Sativa came to live in our head shop about three years ago. She was 8 feet long and about 80 lbs. I converted a 6x4 glass and wood display case into a lovely terrarium with great humidity, some logs to climb in and (when she doesn't kill it laying on it with her current 90lb self), fresh grass to lay on. I lined the wooden bottom with indoor/outdoor carpet and tacked it down with velcro. I placed a reptile heat pad under the carpet with two layers of carpet over it to cushion it, and added a ceramic heat lamp (only it doesnt give off light, just heat) along with a sunlamp on a 12 hour cycle for natural light. The ambient air temperature stays around 87 degrees, but she can also go to the other end of the enclosure, where there is no heat lamp or pad. She has a big flower pot tray as a bathtub, and a big rubber dish for fresh water. She grew two feet! She is now 10 feet 3 inches long. She sheds every 6 weeks like clockwork, and she is vibrantly colored, with a nice "bat" tail, but not as fat as it used to be.
I have been feeding her f/t rats - the "jumbo" size. I had been feeding her every 2 weeks, but she grew so fast, so I slowed down to every 3 weeks. She still looks great.
So, about a month ago, I went to feed her (so, I don't put her in a tub for feeding - she is too big for anyone to pick up by themselves in our family and I don't even have a tub big enough for her) and she struck at the rat (as she often does). As she did, her teeth got caught in the carpet/mat and she flipped out!! Managed to pop the carpet loose with a big stick and she did not lose any teeth and did not appear injured - but since then, she is one pissed off girl. She had always been curious and not defensive, never struck or seemed in any way aggressive. Now, every time I open the top of the enclosure, she strikes first and asks questions later. She has not bitten me, but I dont stick my hand in there, either. I was able to clean her cage this weekend, but it had been a while since I was able to, and she just let me do it, for some reason.
So, I called a reptile guy. He tells me that the poor girl is STARVING and that rats are not enough food for a ten foot snake. So here I am. I feel a great responsibility to care for her and make her life as happy as can be, living in a cage. I also am very reverent that she is a big predator animal and I respect the responsibility I have in caring for her. I look forward to learning a lot more about my snake.
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