View Full Version : Injured carpet
I have had my female coastal carpet for a little while, Last reptile show in T.O. The other night she was apparently going intoshed and I did not notice when I placed a live hopper for her to eat. Long story short the hopper chewed on her. I treated her with polysporing and she is doing just fine, the bites have scabbed over and are healing and she is the same pleasent snake to handle as always, only she wont eat:( .
I tried offering her a thawed hopper after her shed, no luck. A few days later I tried a live one, no luck. So it has been three weeks with no food, should I be worried? What can I do?
I am also thinking of getting anothe juvenile, can I house to carpets together?
Thanks Carp
She is probably still shocked and stressed over the experience... let her be for another week, and offer her FROZEN THAWED FOOD!!!!!! Or at LEAST pre-killed or stunned!!!!!!! If you MUST feed live, watch at all times!!
She will eat eventually, don't worry until she starts losing weight.
You can house them together, provided there is enough room for both and you feed seperately.
Zoe
AnthonyC
03-03-03, 12:36 PM
Keep the polysporin on the wound. You may consider cleaning it every day or every other day with alcohol and/or hydrogen peroxide on a cotton swab.
Like Zoe said, don't worry unless the animal appears to be losing weight. You should really consider switching to frozen/thawed. Every animal in my collection now takes frozen/thawed, and it really is a lot easier...both timewise, and on the wallet.
I wouldn't even think about putting another carpet in there until you get everything straightened out with this one. I would make absolutely sure this one's feeding regularly (for at least 4 weeks) before you try housing another one in there.
Housing carpets together is something that I've had some luck with. But, when the male comes of breeding age and the female is still not ready, you may see the male stop feeding...as was the case with my Irian Jayas this year. Two females could be housed together through adulthood if the cage is large enough and they're separated for feeding. I'm assuming you wouldn't even consider putting two males together, so just make sure that you KNOW their sexes.
She should of been able to make quick work of that mouse even if her eyes were glazed over blue. Carpets have great heat sensing pits and she would of "seen" (more like a 6th sense) the body heat and snatched up that mouse. It's incredibly accurate, like she can see 20/20 still. maybe she wasnt hungry.
but i agree with everyone else. switch to prekilled then to frozen/thawed if you can. prekilled is messy business when you do it yourself. as long as you can get over the mental part of killing an animal with your bare hands, its all graavy!
Thank you all for your imput, it is much appreciated by a newbie herper like me.
Carp
She sounds like could be just fear of food biting back. Also What is the husbandry like? Temps, Humidity? How did you That the prey? How did you offer the prey?
I have a hide rock for her,2 mediumsize grape vine branches that run the length of the terrarium and a branch for her to hang on. zoomed heat pad under the tank and a 65w bulb ontop of the tank. Is that ok? should I use a 100w bulb?
Depends? What are the temps at? and how much humidity? All depends on the cage. with a heat pad you may only need a 40W ot you could need a 250 W CHE. best is to get a digital thermometer for the cage. They are like $7-8 at Radio Shack (U.S)
Kyle Walkinshaw
03-07-03, 05:28 PM
How bigs the set up?
Oh, the tank is a 33gallon set up. I just 2 days ago increased the heat light to 100w and have a 75w nightglow light.
Kyle Walkinshaw
03-07-03, 06:25 PM
100 Watts is good for 33 gal. what are your night time temps with and without the night glo? Its probably not that important to use it plus unless you have two fixtures the more you unscrew the bulbs the less they will last you.
I am not sure of the temp as I need a new thermometer, but the increas in the wattage of the bulb seems to be having a positive affect on the snake. She was basking on the brach to the night bulb and is out of her hide more with the 100w bulb. Her scabs are off in all but one are and I will attempt to feed her on Monday.
Please get an accurate thermometer for a reading. It's really not good to try to fix a problem by action- reaction point of view. A digi thermometer will tell you for a fact if your temps are right. Too hot and the snake could get very stressed. Too cool and it wont eat. There has been a great deal of research involved in the making of caresheets for snakes. A reputable one knows what they are talking about. Please let us know what the temps and humidity are.
The_Omen
03-10-03, 11:35 AM
Besides swapping to f/t, try swapping the type of food as well.
You say hopper, but not whether it is mouse or rat..
Try an appropriate sized, OTHER food item since the one that bit it, prolly has it scared of the smell of them now.
As for alcohol on a reptile, no, it can cause more damage than you think. Stick with neosporin or novalsan scrub(chlorohexadine) or peroxide cut 50/50 with water.
The temp in the hot end of the tank is 26-27C and the middle is 23 and the end is 20C. The humidity is just under 30%.
The hopper I was refering to is a mouse. The alternative is a rat pup. I have read a great deal of care sheets, and often they conflict. Any advice is appreciated.
Carp
J_Riley
03-11-03, 08:39 AM
for the USA herpers, 26-27 C = 78-80F, 23C = 73F and 20C = 68F
Are those daytime or night time temperatures? If daytime, they sound a little low to me, unless she can get closer to the heat source at the warm end than the thermometer is...i.e. if the thermometer is 1" above the substrate, and she has a branch to climb on under the CHE, then her basking spot is probably closer to 30C or 86F, which is acceptable.
30% is too low IMO, how was her shed? Patchy I bet, unless she has a humid hide box. You need to cover at least 50% of the screen top with a damp towel/cloth and mist at least once a day and drive that humidity up...shoot for something between 60% and 70%
Food:
Rat pups would actually be better for the long term. CCP's will outgrow mice fairly quickly, easily reaching 7' in length and more. If it's a female, 12' is rare but not unheard of...
Like I said remember these are rainforest snakes. They need higher than avg humidity. I agree 70 even up to 80% if a shed is coming. I would also have an untertank heater so the snake doesnt have to climb to get his 90 degree basking spot.
My male Queensland Coastal Python is a touch over 8' right now and he isn't even 2 yrs old. Be prepared for rapid growth from yours. Coastals are the largest of the Carpet Pythons.
Also by covering the top with a damp towel will bring your temps up a bit too so I would not go with a larger CHE. But keep in mind the towel will be dry in 1 day probably. Also make sure the towel doewsnt contact the lighting fixture, the CHEs get brutally hot and could easily start the towel on fire.
Offered her a thawed hopper on monday and no luck, do you think I should remove her from the tank and offer her a fresh killed rat puu in a closed box so the smell is stronger for her?
I have added the damp towel to the top of the tank and will check the humidity levels and let you guys no if there is a change. Thank you all for your help.
Carp
How warm is the prey you are offering? It should be warm to the though(not burning hot) if the prey isn't warm enough, your snake probably won't strike.
I personally Always feed in a feed tub(with a couple exceptions). Not so there is a stronger scent, just so the snake doesn't get trained that everytime the cage is opened it's feeding time. I usually dangle the f/t rat in front of the snake(with tongs) Usually with it dangling in front of their face its hard for them to resist.
The Humidity in the tank is up to 60%, thanks Ed r the damp towel idea worked. I do have an under tank heater and an overhead heat light. Still no luck with her eating. I tried her with a stunned rat pup in a small box to encourage her but to no avail. 6 weeks and counting.
Carp
As forementioned, I wouldn't even consider housing this snake with another until her issues get straightened out. If you still wish to house two carpets together, and have taken into consideration all the possible conflicts that go along (<a href="http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10887">click here</a> for reasons why snakes should not be housed together except for breeding), you must still quarantine any new addition for 3-6 months before he should even be in the same room as your present reptiles, let alone sharing an enclosure.
Originally posted by JIMI
She should of been able to make quick work of that mouse even if her eyes were glazed over blue. Carpets have great heat sensing pits and she would of "seen" (more like a 6th sense) the body heat and snatched up that mouse. It's incredibly accurate, like she can see 20/20 still.
Regardless, many snakes don't feel comfortable feeding at any point in their shed cycle, even when their eyes clear up.
having clouded eyes at the beginning of a shed cycle doesnt mean they wont feed, or that they're uncomfortable. i've fed my carpets while they're in blue and most of the time they strike and eat like normal. and they werent doing it because they felt uncomfortable because thier behavior wasnt any different than any other feeding time they've had.
i think maybe it's the setups out there then. if a snake feels uncomfortable while it's blind during a shed in thier own enclosures then maybe feeding them during that time would stress them out. but if a snake feels comfortable in its surroundings, then being blinded doesnt make them uncomfortable... they KNOW they're safe.
your herps are only as happy as thier enviroment allows. bad setups make cranky snakes.
When I said they feel uncomfortable, I did not mean they felt insecure. I have snakes that as soon as their bellies go pink refuse meals, they still have every bit of vision they have, as they are still not close to being opaque. But as a snake gets closer to a shed their body goes through different things, some which i believe makes them feel uncomfortable. Kind of like eating Thanksgiving dinner in a pair of jeans that are too tight ;) Some snake seem fine with it, some don't. These are my observations. IMHO it's not soley a security issue.
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