Anyone owns White Lipped Pythons and lived to speak of it???

[bistrobob85]

Hey, i wanted to know what you guys thought about the white lipped python... I have dealt with one of them a long while ago ( a juvenile ) and it was pretty mean. I know tons of snakes tame down eventually but some give more trouble than other... I just LOOOOVE their irresdescent colors but i would really prefer if they would tame down, a little like Brazilian Rainbow Boas do... I really don't mind snakes with an attitude, my Emerald Tree Boa as a perfect example, but i wouldnt take another unhandleable snake specie in... Who has some and what do you think of them???

phil.

[Stockwell]

Yeah I lived, but barely.. D'albertisii were probably my biggest herp disaster ever, and I haven't had many.
I wanted them for many years, but when I finally got a group of blacks, they were trouble right from the get go.
I had to to put vinyl Mac Tac on the glass of their cages as any movement in my herp room would result in them striking the glass, and that cause some mouth rot problems.
They need high temps to avoid respiratory problems , but you can't breed them without providing steep drops in temp at night during the winter.
But its hard to have 68F nights and 86 days, and if you don't get them hot enough with those night dips, they develope respiratory problems.
Another thing is the babies strike but often don't eat.
While trying to breed mine they ended up constricting each other a couple times, and seemed more interested in eating each other than mating.
A couple times I had to wrestle with 7 foot White lip balls and toss them in a bathtub full of water to separate them, after which they decided to come after me instead.
I had 3.3 and I should point out they were wildcaughts, but 3 of them died in the first 2 years from RI's
I ended up shipping the others to my US broker...NO Charge!! I just wanted rid of the damn things.
When they arrived at JFK, they had shredded the snakes bags, and came straight for the USF&W wildlife inspector, who used his boots to get them back in the box... Apparently he had a few choice words for me.
Luckily my consignee was on hand to calm him down, or my entire shipment would have been sent back..

Sorry you asked..?? LOL

[bistrobob85]

Hem, well i knew they were very aggressive, i wouldn't expect less from them... Pretty interesting fact, the RI and mouth rot... I will consider this! These snakes seems like a long friendship with your vet! Has anyone else had White Lipped Python that would have been CBs??? There are sometimes big differences... Thanks for your warning, Stockwell!!

phil.

[Invictus]

To summarize for Uncle Roy - White lips are the devil. Make no mistake. :)

[LdyDrgn]

They certainly aren't afraid of anything! They seem to sit there and just DARE you to get closer, LOL

We have to handle our male like a hot... using two hooks to pull him out and put him back. Morti can handle him on the odd occassion, but trying to get him back into his cage is a real hassle!

[ryan337]

My brother had a trio and once you got them out of the cage they were the most friendley snake.

[Katt]

White lips aren't the devil!!

Roy, you have to stop talking about your killer white lips from space! The poor li'l white lips are getting such a bad rep!!

W/c white lips can be tamed down, even to the point of being educational snakes. It takes dedication and time, plus they will not calm down if you DO NOT HANDLE THEM. Which is what I think happened with Roy's. He's not exactly Mr. Cuddle Pants.

[justinO]

I've only had mine for a very short time (closing in on a year).. so far, i've not had any problems with resp's.. although my big female sometimes strikes the glass when i walk by. I treat her as if she was hot as well. i hook and tail her to put her into a holding bin for cage cleaning.

I personally enjoy having them. bad temper and all.

[bistrobob85]

Yeah, well i dont mind the bad temper at all. They are nice display snakes and some can eventually be tamed up... I think they will be the next snake specie i will get in, after i get my other ETB and Dumeril's...

phil.