Length: 57.7 cm (+3.4)
Food: Pinkie Mice
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lacey has been going really well. We've been taking our time with regards to handling her. It's important with snakes, particularly young ones, not to stress them. The first sign of stress is going off their food. Lacey has eaten everything that we have ever offered her.
We have been feeding Lacey 2 baby 'pinky' mice once a week. So every Wednesday she gets fed. By Monday or Tuesday, every time we go near the enclosure she starts scouting us for food, thinking that it is feed time. She is certainly good on the tooth as it were.
Whilst I am not an expert on growth rates, the fact that Lacey is eating and has put on some size as indicated above is very encouraging. Diamond Pythons are a slow growing snake and I understand that the health of the snake can suffer if people try to rush their growth through food. So I am very mindful at this stage to avoid over feeding her and to keep her lean and muscular.
If you click and enlarge the photo above, you will see how I measure Lacey. You may notice a white line running down her spine and a number up in the top left hand corner. These are from a program called Snake Measure. Using this application and a photo with a length to reference (eg a ruler) you can accurately measure the length of a snake, even if it is not straight. You simply calibrate length by placing two points on the reference marker and defining how far they are apart. Then you progressively mark dots on the animal's spine that are joined automatically and the distance between them is measured against the scale you input to begin with. The length is then displayed in the top corner. Easy as joining the dots! Best of all it is a free program made available to all at http://www.serpwidgets.com.
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