LOOKING AFTER THE BOA
Professor Raymond L. Ditmars, sop-tim y tendent of the reptile-house for the New* York Zoological Society, has been describing toa writer in " Chambers's Journal "^ tha delicate task of forcing a newly-cap-tured boa-constrictor to tako its food before I tbat creature will take it on its own ac-y i count. After a big snake has made up L its mind not to starve itself to death (aaid L; tbe professor) its appetite is almont i*"*y.' ; satiable. It will eafc any quantity of rait& mice, chickens, rabbits and all uorts -el -v small birds and animals. ;'yL : After these snakes have learned to est LI bave observed thafc they begin to take ■ notice of children who approach their cages.; This seems to show that boa-constrictors are man-eaters. They will watoh a child '. ... as long as it is in sight; and occasionally! I have seen them strike at children througfc the glass. Fortunately for the little one** the glass is nearly an inoh thick, and thi snake gets a bruised nose for bis paina* Strangely enough the snake shows no in-' L terest in grown-up folks. I suppose v p ; " child meets its eye as bf'utg ol more sodJK able size. * " _ . v It is surprising how the skin of theee'; .y great snakes will change after they hatje y taken to food. While they are starving themselves the skin becomes dull of huer and tbe beautiful steel-blue colouring BOy characteristio of the python disappears :- After they have been feeding for a months w however, all this iridescent colour reap- y pears, and they become sleek and welt. groomed in appearance. y \ When we first ta&oa » great snake out. of its box we rub it all over with vaseline* and repeat this massage aboufc once every" two weeks. This treatment, prevents tiui '* development of skk. diseases, to which then y are very subject. It also enables them. '.-■ to shed their skins. If a snake does nos LL shed its skin periodically ifc very booq Lv sickens and dies. It is not generally known that snakes a^e very subject to lung troublo; but the change from the temperature ot their sjjrv * ; tive haunts to that of colder climes bri_H|i - ' on a species of pneumonia, ana at t_D__-|. L they also develop real diphtheria. The temperature in which th*y thrive ',-' best in captivity is between . eighty and ninety degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures below sey^ &^g§ B»lu. qg£g| h^ L tal&b'- * ■
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19030912.2.6
Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Issue 7808, 12 September 1903, Page 1
Word Count
407LOOKING AFTER THE BOA Star (Christchurch), Issue 7808, 12 September 1903, Page 1
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.