Simply Subocs

is when your snakes' bellies are full. I either read that or heard that somewhere, and I couldn't agree more.
I took this picture today while I gave her a random snack. I try to let my females have more frequent meals at this time of year, ranging in size from fuzzies to weanlings with an occasional adult.
Another really big silver female of mine didn't touch either of her two adult mice last night, so this morning I took one of the adults with a pair of 16" tongs and wiggled it around sporadically in front of her hide-spot, and she glanced at it with an interested expression, then struck and pulled it in.
I couldn't help but think, "Well, why on earth did you not eat them last night?".
And it reminded me that these are animals that have evolved over millions of years to be hunters, and that cannot be ignored no matter how adaptive or opportunistic they may be in captivity.
TP rat snakes have been tracked moving long distances at night, probably hunting.
It's just another important fact that I have learned while keeping these guys, and also an important thing to keep in mind if you are lucky enough to own one or more.
These are not mindless robots that conform to "our standards", but are living things with individual likes and dislikes and innate needs. Subocs remind me of that moreso than other species that I have kept. And it is really just another reason to love them.

And I feel the weight of responsibility to care for them the best I can, and to make them feel comfortable enough to forget that they are captive, if that is even possible. I admit that I haven't progressed my husbandry practices to that exalted standard yet, but I am working at it.
In other words, I envision the day when my captive charges are all sitting pretty in room sized vivariums filled with real Chihuahuan desert flora, rocks, and sunlight.

It is my firm belief that animals are here on this earth for us to use and enjoy, but not to abuse and destroy. They should be treated with the most respect that we can find in ourselves to give, and we should be actively engaged in the cause of their preservation and conservation.
Probably the main reason that I keep these beautiful creatures is because I feel connected with Mother Nature when I am around them, and it is peaceful and fulfilling to have that connection. Perhaps I would not keep any at all if my time and circumstances permitted me to enjoy them out in their own natural turf. It is much more exciting and exhilirating to see a plain old normal brown suboc slithering around on a West Texas cut than to see a silver one slithering on aspen bedding. Still, it is a pleasure to have them here in my own home where I can observe them at leisure. I'm a pretty lucky guy.