Angolan Python: Training Tuesday 28 September 2021

Our Angolan Python, Radek, was produced by TB (Terry Burwell) Snakes and hatched on 20 June 2021.

https://www.morphmarket.com/stores/tb...

He arrived here on 25 August 2021 and ate that night. He ate twice his first week here and completed target training sessions each time. Radek is housed in a 24"L x 18" D x 36" H Exo-Terra terrarium. He has a humidity box, two ground hides, one elevated hide, several perches and ledges, and piles of large rocks for climbing, basking, and hiding in or under although he rarely hides. Radek spends most of his time visible and in the upper half of his vertical space. He climbs a lot and is active at night. During the day he sleeps/rests on his highest Magnaturals ledge. He seeks time out of his enclosure and spends time exploring almost every night.

Despite what some publications state, the most current phylogenetic research indicates that Angolan Pythons' closest living relatives are the African Rock Pythons, Python sebae.
R. Graham Reynolds, Matthew L. Niemiller, Liam J. Revell,
Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: Multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling,
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution,
Volume 71,
2014,
Pages 201-213,
ISSN 1055-7903,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.....
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...)

The generic online care sheets for this species do not accurately describe the behavior and preferences I observe in ours. He is highly active, rarely hides, never balls up, and spends the majority of his time arboreally moving around some on or near the ground level when he wants out of his enclosure. Since we are only observing this one, it is possible his behavior is not typical of the species; however, with limited study of Angolan pythons under captive management and no studies specific to behavior, it is possible the care sheets are in error. I always recommend providing as many options as possible for your snake and then see what preferences they have over time by observing their behavior.

www.BehaviorEducation.org