Do pythons eat crickets?

[Cegninedorf]

I saw this article -- School Snake Back After Missing For A Month -- and I had to stop to question the leaving of cricket-traps for the pythons...I guess it just wouldn't be a good idea to leave mice around a school (where most schools have more than enough generally running around as it is!), and maybe the crickets' actions might attract the python's curiosity...or, maybe I just don't know about a peculiar taste in the palate of pythons.

I had to laugh, though, when I saw this article & I thought for a moment of sending it to my principal...but it took me long enough to convince him that all would be well with my own snake that I don't need one little article to completely set me back!

 

[Jimmy Johnson]

no

I hope they didn't do it thinking the crickets would entice the python.
That would indicate they are probably feeding it crickets.
Not good.
Obviously the python won't be around very long.
Would have been much better off if it wasn't caught.

 

[Checkerbelly]

We should write to the school and tell them they're slowly killing the snake.

It all adds up -

5 years old
2 feet long
named "slim"

It's probably a ball python. The poor thing must be starved.

 

[MegF.]

Man, that really bothers me now. If there are any NY folks who know where this school is......

 

[NyanNyan]

I mean after reading all the comments... thats just wrong... -.- someone should write a complaint. Not me however, because I am a noob. Still me as a noob knows this is wrong why can't they?

 

[jaxom1957]

Do pythons eat crickets? I saw this article -- School Snake Back After Missing For A Month -- and I had to stop to question the leaving of cricket-traps for the pythons...I guess it just wouldn't be a good idea to leave mice around a school (where most schools have more than enough generally running around as it is!), and maybe the crickets' actions might attract the python's curiosity...or, maybe I just don't know about a peculiar taste in the palate of pythons.

I hope they didn't do it thinking the crickets would entice the python. That would indicate they are probably feeding it crickets. Not good. Obviously the python won't be around very long. Would have been much better off if it wasn't caught.

We should write to the school and tell them they're slowly killing the snake.

Man, that really bothers me now. If there are any NY folks who know where this school is......

I mean after reading all the comments... thats just wrong... -.- someone should write a complaint. Not me however, because I am a noob. Still me as a noob knows this is wrong why can't they?

Is it too much to ask that everyone STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS? If the snake is five years old, it is doubtful that they are feeding it crickets, nor does the name "Slim" necessarily describe it's girth. Before starting a petition to have the school administrators burned at the stake, take a chill pill.

 

[Paradox]

Well frankly if it's 5 years old i'd expect it to be longer than 2 feet... :shrugs: What do I know though...

 

[MegF.]

I would too...Even a ball python should be larger than 2 ft. if it's 5 years old and has been fed properly. I can't imagine why they would set up "cricket traps" to catch him, unless they were cricket traps and they baited them with a mouse or whatever so that he'd go in them and wouldn't be able to get out? Something like a bottle trap? You'd be surprised at how little people know about the animals in their care. The burmese I rescued was smaller than my corns at more than 2 years old...they'd only been feeding her a mouse every 2 weeks. Didn't even know what kind of snake it was!

 

[Checkerbelly]

Is it too much to ask that everyone STOP JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS? If the snake is five years old, it is doubtful that they are feeding it crickets, nor does the name "Slim" necessarily describe it's girth. Before starting a petition to have the school administrators burned at the stake, take a chill pill.

Let's all take a chill pill, jaxom.

 

[Plissken]

Well frankly if it's 5 years old i'd expect it to be longer than 2 feet... :shrugs: What do I know though...

Absolutely. My ball python is well over two feet and he's only about a year and a half, maybe not even that.

Now, if they were talking about a boa (not that they eat crickets either) you could say, yeah, okay, male rosy boa or something. But I don't know of any python which can be 2ft long at adulthood. :shrugs:

 

[Duff]

I agree people should chill out a bit. Found another article about this (since it's almost my backyard) and it is a ball python, and according to that article, they do know it eats mice. As far as the 2 feet, how many people look at a snake and then just take a quesstimate about the size. Calm down people, not everyone who isn't a member of this forum doesn't know what they're doing.

 

[ADevil]

5 years old and 2 foot does sound a bit dodgy if you ask me... :eek1:
I think just about every python ive ever seen or held under and around 2 years old has been just about 2 foot long..

Maybe its a new morph of midget python :shrugs:

A. Devil

:devil01:

 

[Cegninedorf]

Wow...the responses have been more than I expected. And really, I didn't expect any.

I actually am quite calm about the whole article -- no chilling necessary, already quite chilled -- I was more curious about it, than anything. I figured if they've had the snake for any length of time -- especially it being in a school! -- the teachers would know that crickets are a no-no and mice a solid yes. However, as I'm not omniscient, I'm not going to claim that all crickets are a no-no; I've done no research at all on ball pythons, what do I know? Perhaps they are good as bait...I have no idea...I really should've labeled this "Snakes in the news..." I thought it was cute how the principal put a nice little spin on the snake's vacation & how poignant it is to me, as I'm a teacher with a snake coming into her classroom.

So, perhaps the snake just comes from shortie parents and thus its length is genetic, and the author of the article goofed on writing cricket traps versus mouse baited traps. Who knows. Either way, the Slim is happily & hungrily back, I bet.

 

[BeckyG]

My son's yearling bp is 2 1/2 feet long. My adopted bp who wasn't fed regularly before I got him is still almost 3 feet long at 2 years old. So a 5 year old bp that is still only 2 feet long suggests malnutrition to me. Perhaps some education of the educators is in order.

 

[Hypancistrus]

It annoys me when teachers don't take care of their classroom pets properly, because they are teaching about 30-150 students a year to do the same.

I have 6 aquariums (5-75 gallons), 1 corn snake, 6 treefrogs, a pac man frog and gerbils in my classroom, and all get immaculate care. My students insist that "you don't need to siphon your aquariums- my dad doesn't!" and I gently but firmly educate them otherwise.

As a comparison, though, I have two colleagues who keep turtles (2 painted turtles and a diamondback terrapin between them) and the one guy doesn't have UV on his two, and the second has no light or heat, and "hasn't cleaned the tank since August." Great thing to brag about, and a wonderful thing to teach his students- animals are novelties that will fit to our desires and schedules... or else.

*sigh* It gets me so mad... :twoguns:

 

[Cegninedorf]

Hmmm...I found this article about the same incident, and neither the snake's age or time at the school is mentioned. Snake hiding in New York middle school It does state once again that Slim is 2' long -- but not his age...and I've read that ball pythons average 4-5' in length as adults, so perhaps the original article that I mentioned was quoting the other snake's age, assuming that both came to the school at the same time. I mean, sometimes the media doesn't quite get things 100% right all of the time...

I do agree that it is frustrating when it is those who are supposed to be setting the example -- the teachers -- who actually cause more damage by teaching all of the wrong things to do. That is an incredible disservice to the students, as we then can't blame them for their ineptness as they trusted their teachers to show them the correct way to be. I find it incredibly discouraging with how my 2nd graders come to my classroom treating the world like it's completely disposable. I try to set a good example, instill greater awareness in them about the world around them, and to understand that their actions do have consequences -- sometimes severe ones. However, if my colleagues behave as if they're simply around for the paycheck, my work is practically futile. I can only hope for the best and that with my getting these students as young as they are, I can change some of the incorrect learning and set them on a more open-minded and thoughtful path.

We'll see, I guess...

By the way...I am looking up the school's info to see if I can contact the teacher to clear this up...I found an email address for the Board of Education, so hopefully I'll hear back from them. I asked about Slim's diet & age, and I worded it quite nicely that I'm not writing to offend, but merely out of concern for the animal's welfare based on media accounts. I'll post the reply, should I receive one...