Royal Pythons are not actually all THAT sedate - the idea of the "sedentary" Royal Python that spends its life in dark holes has been bandied about for a few decades because the snakes aestivate in burrows during the hottest parts of the year, and this is when they are easiest for the trappers to locate. This does not mean they spend their whole lives underground, nor does it mean they are "ambush predators" that sit and wait most of their lives - on the contrary they are surprisingly active "search hunters" that happen to do most of their hunting at night and, in the case of adult females, hunt in burrows for rodents.
Males and smaller animals exhibit a completely different mode of hunting - they climb trees and target a completely different source of food. We know this from a variety of sources:
"Survey of the status and management of the Royal Python (Python regius) in Ghana" lists pythons being found in trees, although points out that the species is very adaptable to the point of being semi-invasive and responds well to anthropogenic disturbance. It also mentions a specimen being found up a tree.
"Food resource partitioning of a community of snakes in a swamp rainforest of south-eastern Nigeria" lists woodpeckers and warblers (both consummately arboreal species that do not spend much if any time on the ground) as among the most numerous prey retrieved from Royal Python stomach (Cisticola warblers were the single prey genus that had the highest number found in Royal Pythons during the survey).
"Why do males and females of Python regius differ in parasite load" points out that males (which are more arboreal) carry different and much higher parasite loads than females, possibly as a result of the differences in habitat use.
"Jebels By Moonlight" lists a first hand observation of a Royal Python hunting in a tree in Sudan.
"Sexual size dimorphism and natural history traits are correlated with intersexual dietary divergence in royal pythons (python regius) from the rainforests of southeastern Nigeria" - half of the male pythons encountered over a two year period were found on trees. The diet of male pythons under a certain size had a huge percentage of birds and arboreal mammals.
"Species trade and conservation: Snake trade and conservation management (Serpentes.spp.)
An assessment of the impact of the pet trade on five CITES-Appendix II case studies" lists the species as being both terrestrial and tree-dwelling animals.
The fact is Royal Pythons are extraordinarily adaptive snakes that can tolerate a wide variety of habitats and are not negatively affected by anthropogenic change to the same extent as many other reptiles are. They can be terrestrial AND semi-arboreal depending on the habitats they inhabit, although according to studies by authors such as Luca Luiselli they reach their highest population densities in forested areas as opposed to grassland.
It is worth noting that males especially seem to have adapted to fit a different niche to the larger females to the point that diet composition is almost totally different in several studies, and includes a significant percentage of birds and arboreal mammals that are most likely being stalked and captured in trees at night. They are also picking up a completely different parasite load because of this!
Within the confines of a terrarium, there is no reason whatsoever to not provide at least one or two branches for the snake to climb on. Nor is there no reason not to provide overhead lighting or UV. It is simply common sense. To quote Frances Baines from another post on the subject in this group , "Why, for example, do we have to find a 1961 book on African Reptiles (by G. S. Cansdale) to find that the Royal Python "in the wild is often encountered sunning in bright light" (quoted by Sillman, A.J., Carver, J.K. and Loew, E.R., 1999. The photoreceptors and visual pigments in the retina of a boid snake, the ball python (Python regius). Journal of Experimental Biology, 202(14), pp.1931-1938. Indeed that was my experience also with at least one specimen I found in the wild!
(Another good point there - Royal Pythons see UV very well. That is not really something you would expect a nocturnal animal to do).
Personally I think if people like the security and humidity of a tub for their Royals - put one with an access hole inside the vivarium and let the animal decide where it wants to be. That pretty much approximates a burrow with a constant temperature and humidity in a much drier environment. If the snakes like security and confined spaces soooooooo much, they surely would never come out, right?
Having tried this myself, and having seen first hand other people's enclosures offering a choice of places to climb, correct lighting, and an enriched habitat - along with seeing how the snakes themselves respond to it - I simply cannot see how anybody thinks a sterile tub with newspaper compares,
There are actually no specific papers regarding enrichment studies in Royal Pythons that I am aware of, however there ARE very convincing ones for a wide range of other snakes including Jamaican Boas and Burmese Pythons that are fairly categoric on the effect enrichment has on these animals.
As a result, there is actually quite a lot of evidence that it DOES matter if a snake uses everything in its enclosure and is given an enriched environment as opposed to a sterile one.... there is simply NO way to refute the accumulated body of evidence on that score whatsoever.
Whatsmore, the notion that "there is no way of telling whether the snake is happier/ acting differently" or that "the snake won't act naturally" is quite mistaken - reptiles provide a unique opportunity to investigate the influence of experience and the environment on behaviour. Their very morphology and dependence on real variables such as temperature link them to both physical forces and the spatial configuration of their environment and thus, they may be particularly responsive to environmental manipulations via enrichment. Most importantly, they are precocial and typically do not live in social groups thus eliminating this confounding variable in enrichment studies.
What this means is that it is actually very easy to study behavioural changes and preferences in these animals and there have been quite a few studies presented that attempt to do just that by behaviourally testing snakes housed in enriched and standard conditions.
I can list some very good papers here that are well worth checking out for those that are not sure whether there really is a difference for reptiles kept in enriched enclosures, many of them available for free on this page:
Environmental Enrichment Alters the Behavioral Profile
of Ratsnakes (Elaphe)
Lynn M. Almli and Gordon M. Burghardt
Habitat Manipulation in Hunting Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Species)
Pitman B and Clarke R.
Some Observations on Snakes
Riot Takatsuki, Psychological Institute, Keijo Imperial University.
The importance of enrichment for advancing amphibian welfare and conservation goals: A review of a neglected topic
Christopher J. Michaels , J. Roger Downie, and Roisin Campbell-Palmer
Using student-centred research to evidence- base exhibition of reptiles and amphibians: three species-specific case studies
Rose, Nash, Ferguson et al.
Experiments of Odor Enrichments Affect Behavior of Species of Snakes
Mao Jie Zuo Zhili Yang Xiaoyi Cheng Jian Xie Yi (Chengdu Zoo & Chengdu Wildlife Research Institute,Chengdu,610081,China)
Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 391 - 398 A Critical Review of Zoo-based Olfactory Enrichment
Does Enrichment Improve Reptile Welfare? Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius) respond to Five Kinds of Environmental Enrichment
Bashaw, Gibson et al.
The physiological and behavioural impacts of and preference for an enriched environment in the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Beth C. Casea,*, Gregory A. Lewbarta, Phillip D. Doerrb
An Assessment of Environmental Enrichment on Morphology and Behavior of Yearling Rat Snakes (Elaphe obsoleta). ***8220; Almli, Lynn M., 2004. Master***8217;s Thesis, University of Tennessee
Corticosterone suppresses immune activity in territorial Galápagos marine iguanas during reproduction.
Berger, S. et al., 2005. Hormones and Behavior,
Environmental enrichment and cognitive complexity in reptiles and amphibians: Concepts, review, and implications for captive populations.
Burghardt, G. M., 2013. Applied Animal Behaviour Science,
Problem of reptile play: Environmental enrichment and play behavior in a captive Nile soft-shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis.
Burghardt, G. M., Ward, B. & Rosscoe, R., 1996. , Zoo Biology
Personality Traits Are Expressed in Bullfrog Tadpoles during Open-Field Trials.
Carlson, B. E. & Langkilde, T., 2013. Journal of Herpetology
Visual discrimination and reversal learning in rough-necked monitor lizards (Varanus rudicollis)..
Gaalema, D. E., 2011. Journal of Comparative Psychology
Using Operant Conditioning and Desensitization to Facilitate Veterinary Care with Captive Reptiles.
Hellmuth, H., Augustine, L., Watkins, B. & Hope, K., 2012. Exotic Animal Practice
Spatial learning of an escape task by young corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata, Holtzman, Harris et al, 1999. Animal Behaviour Vol. 57, Issue 1
From slither to hither: Orientation and spatial learning in snakes.
Holtzman, D. A., 1999. Integrative Biology
Investigatory behavior in snakes, II: Cage cleaning and the induction of defecation in snakes
Chiszar, Wellborn et al, 1980. Animal Learning and Behaviour, Vol 8. Issue 3
Spatial learning of an escape task by young corn snakes,Elaphe guttata guttata.
Holtzman, D. A., Harris, T. W., Aranguren, G. & Bostock, E., 1999. Animal Behaviour
Environmental Enrichment for Dendrobatid Frogs.
Hurme, K. et al., 2003. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
Operant conditioning in the indigo snake.
Kleinginna Jr., P. R., 1970.
Psychonomic Science
Zoo-Academic Collaborations: Physiological and Psychological Needs of Reptiles and Amphibians.
Kreger, M. D., 1993. Herptologica
Behavioural flexibility and problem-solving in a tropical lizard.
Leal, M. & Powell, B. J., 2011.Biology Letters
Experimental evaluation of environmental enrichment of sea turtles.
Therrien, C. L., Gaster, L., Cunningham-Smith, P. & Manire, C. A., Zoo Biology 2007
An experimental test of the link between foraging, habitat selection and thermoregulation in black rat snakes Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta
G Blouin-Demers, Journal of Animal Ecology 2001
Assessing environmental enrichment for juvenile Jamaican boas Epicrates subflavus Stejneger, 1901
Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife and Preservation Trust 1996
Investigatory behavior inthe plains garter snake (Thamnophis radix) and several additional species
Chiszar, Carter et al, 1976. Animal Learning and Behaviour, Vol 4, Issue 3
Each of these studies (and there are many more, this is really just a sampling) presents a different example of how experimental procedure can be used to infer preference and the effects of enrichment among reptiles and amphibians.
In short, there may be no paper specifically on the effects of enrichment on Royal Pythons (YET) but to expect that because of this the evidence for it is inconsequential would be a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of the evidence provided above (some of which concerns other pythons and boas).
One more point to make to wrap up this post - many will state that "breeding" in tubs is evidence that they are adequate. In fact there is recent evidence presented that long-term stressful environments can encourage breeding in snakes (biologically this is a sound strategy - in an inhospitable environment, producing as many offspring as possible so that there is a greater chance at least some will survive is a common reproductive strategy!). So the idea that people having successes breeding this hardiest of pet snakes, which is known to be so adaptive as to be semi-invasive in parts of the world, is not really that strong evidence at all.
