Thread: Send her down, hughie!

Originally Posted by windsock

During the televised coverage of the fires over here we saw a lot about the cute and cuddly critters like Koala and such. I was also saddened by the inevitable impact on the snakes and lizards you guys have plenty of. Little televised here about those. Would the reptilians have had the nous to head for non-flammable cover in the fires? How do they behave in those situations? As much as I am glad we do not have them here, I think they're pretty interesting animals.

She's just come out to sun herself on the granny flat, tin roof. The floorboards are 100mm wide so, if allowing for body curves, would put her around 2.4m-2.5m long.
Fridgesnake3 (2).jpgFridgesnake2.jpg

Originally Posted by Saitch

Wow, DM! Not being a smart arse but, after the rain in February, if you have used 25,000 litres of water over 3 months, that's a lot of water, around 270 litres per day, compared to our usage (and I don't think I'm smelly). Presently, both our 22000 litre tanks are 5 rungs down from the top.
Perhaps your tanks weren't chockers, to start with?
Link shows how much the average 'Townie' uses. People on tanks are known to be a lot more sparing with their use of water. No 10 minute showers etc.


Water consumption rises as south-east Queensland dam levels drop | Australian Water and Energy Exchanges research initiative

No, we installed a new 10,000 litre tank and moved a 5000 litre tank, after emptying it into the main 22,000 litre tank, plus another 10,000 litre tank was nearly empty. Now need lots of rain to fill them all before the end of the wetter first half of the year.

BOM have revised their forecast and it now looks like we MAY get some light falls Thursday and next Sunday (I'll believe it when I see it).
I still have about 10,000l of rainwater so hopefully that little bit of rain will save me using too much of this on the veggie patch

I usually get about 3,000l per inch (25mm) in my tanks So I need at least 8 inches of rain to fill them all up at the moment and I can't see that happening for another month or so yet.

Originally Posted by Saitch

She's just come out to sun herself on the granny flat, tin roof. The floorboards are 100mm wide so, if allowing for body curves, would put her around 2.4m-2.5m long.
Fridgesnake3 (2).jpgFridgesnake2.jpg

That is a ripper python, Looks to be in great condition as well

Originally Posted by Saitch

She's just come out to sun herself on the granny flat, tin roof. The floorboards are 100mm wide so, if allowing for body curves, would put her around 2.4m-2.5m long.
Fridgesnake3 (2).jpgFridgesnake2.jpg

Pretty cool! When they are in a period of hibernation are they in a torpor or fully alert and still feeding actively?

Ours have been very slow.
They are lovely snakes. If we didn't have chooks and a snall dog I would leave them alone, rather than relocate them.

Originally Posted by windsock

Pretty cool! When they are in a period of hibernation are they in a torpor or fully alert and still feeding actively?

Ours make sure they have a big feed (ours seem to favour birds and possums) before retiring to their chosen winter lodgings. This can make access difficult when the entry aperture is smaller than their bellies. They can regulate their metabolism so can go without tucker for quite some time. Ours would seem to lose well over a quarter of their body mass during their siesta. They will still come out for a bit of sunshine, on a nice day. I make sure that there is a water supply for them in proximity.

I had to block the granny flat access as we had quite a mess from urine coming through the cathedral ceiling boards.

I still feel a bit guilty about doing it. They have been using the same place for 10+ years.


EDIT: My guilt trip has just been superseded by a bit of grumpiness. I just heard a funny noise and Snakey has bent and pushed my 'Snake proofing wire' so as to gain access to said granny flat.
Fridgesnake4.jpg

Originally Posted by Saitch

Ours make sure they have a big feed (ours seem to favour birds and possums) before retiring to their chosen winter lodgings. This can make access difficult when the entry aperture is smaller than their bellies. They can regulate their metabolism so can go without tucker for quite some time. Ours would seem to lose well over a quarter of their body mass during their siesta. They will still come out for a bit of sunshine, on a nice day. I make sure that there is a water supply for them in proximity.

I had to block the granny flat access as we had quite a mess from urine coming through the cathedral ceiling boards.

I still feel a bit guilty about doing it. They have been using the same place for 10+ years.


EDIT: My guilt trip has just been superseded by a bit of grumpiness. I just heard a funny noise and Snakey has bent and pushed my 'Snake proofing wire' so as to gain access to said granny flat.
Fridgesnake4.jpg

Put a sheet of polythene in the ceiling? Being a cathedral type ceiling probably not an option.

We build bird-boxes for birds to nest in here. Quite a good way to encourage them to stay around in cold weather too I guess. Is this a thing for snakes given the problems they cause if in the ceiling? Make safe snake habitat for beyond the house or are they creatures of habit and will look for the ceiling regardless?