Ronon is a one and a half year old Morelia bredli who chooses to come out of his enclosure on a regular basis. Despite having just eaten 24 hours ago, he wanted out tonight as is evident by his pacing the door. A common recommendation is to leave your snake alone for 24-48 hours or more following a meal because it can cause them stress and interfere with digestion or make regurgitation more likely. This is a rule of thumb; however, it’s not set in stone. We endeavor to let the snakes decide on how active or sedentary they want to be in general and it’s no different after a meal. Ronon clearly wanted out and was more stressed by being forced to stay in than he was after being allowed out. He asked to come out, he chose to come out when given the opportunity, he calmed down and rested quietly on an activity station for several hours. When he was placed back into his enclosure, he was content and rested quietly on a ledge the rest of the night. Remember that snakes are individuals with different preferences and activity levels. What is stressful for one snake may not be stressful to another. Choice and control over their activities contributes to good animal welfare. Allowing them to make decisions with outcomes meaningful to them will lead to a more content animal in the long run. 
An Important Behavior Byte about Choice
Ronon is a one and a half year old Morelia bredli who chooses to come out of his enclosure on a regular basis. Despite having just eaten 24 hours ago, he wanted out tonight as is evident by his pacing the door. A common recommendation is to leave your snake alone for 24-48 hours or more following a meal because it can cause them stress and interfere with digestion or make regurgitation more likely. This is a rule of thumb; however, it’s not set in stone. We endeavor to let the snakes decide on how active or sedentary they want to be in general and it’s no different after a meal. Ronon clearly wanted out and was more stressed by being forced to stay in than he was after being allowed out. He asked to come out, he chose to come out when given the opportunity, he calmed down and rested quietly on an activity station for several hours. When he was placed back into his enclosure, he was content and rested quietly on a ledge the rest of the night. Remember that snakes are individuals with different preferences and activity levels. What is stressful for one snake may not be stressful to another. Choice and control over their activities contributes to good animal welfare. Allowing them to make decisions with outcomes meaningful to them will lead to a more content animal in the long run. 
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