sophiedufort
08-17-15, 06:35 PM
As some may remember, Lilou is our Australian woma python. She's been with us for a couple of months, and loves to explore outside her enclosure. My husband allows her this freedom, under supervision, of course, and she spends lots of time on the bed in the evenings, poking at everything, inquisitive, very, very curious. I must say I'm a little jealous, as I am away from home a lot, and my husband (who works from home) gets to handle the snakes a lot more than I do. This has earned him preferential treatment. Lilou clearly is "daddy's girl". While she trusts me just as much, she prefers my husband's company. And here comes the weird behavior:
When Lilou gets spooked by something (it does happen, although we can't identify the source) she jolts across the bed, crawls on my husband's shoulder and hides in the crook of his neck. But that's nothing like what happened when she last ate. Mike put her in the feeding tub and offered her a mouse. She attacked almost instantly, being very hungry. Perfect strike, perfect coil around the prey. It was late at night, Mike had placed the feeding tub on the bed, so he could keep an eye on the feedings. A few minutes after he offered the mouse to Lilou, he peeked inside the tub to check on her. She was already working on swallowing the mouse, which was now half way down her throat. He sat back on the bed, away from the tub, waiting for her to finish. The next moment, Lilou bolted out of the tub (and that is a giant tub I must say, the largest we could find at the store), with the mouse still half dangling out of her mouth. She let herself drop on the bed and darted towards my husband, crawled on the pillow he was resting against and only stopped on his shoulder. It all happened so fast, it seemed unreal. Once she reached Mike's shoulder, she stopped, relaxed in a heartbeat and went on with finishing her meal.
Mike, who had snakes ever since he was a kid, told me he's never, ever, witnessed something like it. Neither did I.
Anyone able to offer a pertinent explanation?
When Lilou gets spooked by something (it does happen, although we can't identify the source) she jolts across the bed, crawls on my husband's shoulder and hides in the crook of his neck. But that's nothing like what happened when she last ate. Mike put her in the feeding tub and offered her a mouse. She attacked almost instantly, being very hungry. Perfect strike, perfect coil around the prey. It was late at night, Mike had placed the feeding tub on the bed, so he could keep an eye on the feedings. A few minutes after he offered the mouse to Lilou, he peeked inside the tub to check on her. She was already working on swallowing the mouse, which was now half way down her throat. He sat back on the bed, away from the tub, waiting for her to finish. The next moment, Lilou bolted out of the tub (and that is a giant tub I must say, the largest we could find at the store), with the mouse still half dangling out of her mouth. She let herself drop on the bed and darted towards my husband, crawled on the pillow he was resting against and only stopped on his shoulder. It all happened so fast, it seemed unreal. Once she reached Mike's shoulder, she stopped, relaxed in a heartbeat and went on with finishing her meal.
Mike, who had snakes ever since he was a kid, told me he's never, ever, witnessed something like it. Neither did I.
Anyone able to offer a pertinent explanation?