childrens python...i'm new to snakes!!

[tracyk86]

Hey, just wondering about whats normal and what isnt with childrens pythons. I got mine last Tuesday (April 26th) and when I got him he was curious, touring around, fairly friendly. I did get some wrong info from the pet store about his heating, and it was pretty cool in his aquarium, but now I have it at 90 on the hot side and 80 on the cool side. His humidity is at 30-40%. He usually ate on Sundays at the pet store, and he had just upgraded to large pinkies about 2 weeks before we got him. About the last week, he has been hiding alot, no interest in food, he was almost "sneezing" every once in a while, but that since has stopped the last few days. He seemed like he couldn't open his mouth yesterday, but last night I was putting a humid hide in his cage, and woke him up and ticked him off apparently, and he was suddenly able to open his mouth and seemed much more active...tried to feed him, he had no interest in the mouse but really wanted to bite my hand off LOL. I've been doing alot of research and it almost seems like he is maybe shedding?? I'm not sure at all, he is confusing me, please give me some info!! Thanks!!

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

take some close up photos if you can. include the face and head.

[Will0W783]

You can easily tell when a snake is in shed because they will get very cloudy, almost as though someone put a film over them. Their eyes especially get opaque and cloudy and take on a bluish, creamy tint. Snakes will also become shyer often and refuse food. However, the sneezing thing has me worried about a possible respiratory infection. The Children's python complex (Children's python, spotted python, Stimson's python, and anthill python) are very warm, dry climate snakes. I would bump the cage temps up- you can safely have a basking spot of 100 for him/her and not have a problem with an overall hot end of 95 and a cool end of 85 or so. During the night you can drop it to 80. When I first got my pair of Stimson's pythons, I had their hot end at 85-87 and the cool end around 80. My female got a respiratory infection and had to be put on Amikacin. I now have her small basking area around 100 and her cool end at 87-88, with her hot end 93-95 around the basking spot and she's doing fine. She is quite preggers so my male is separated and also around those same temps. They are great snakes and are normally very docile, so it's likely yours may be getting ready to shed. It's also recommended that you not handle any new snake very much, if at all, in the first week that you own them, so they have time to adjust to their new surroundings and you without too much stress. Best of luck and keep us updated. :)

[tracyk86]

I can't get a good shot of his head, my camera isnt great, but it does seem like his eyes are clouding up, if he is shedding, how long does it take? I will put his heat up some more and see if he is more comfortable. I was thinking he was nervous with the new environment, and then I read up on shedding and figured that my be what it is. and hopefully, if he is shedding, he sheds healthy and soon so I can stop worrying about him!! I will look up some vets in my area and see what they can come up with in the respitory area. Also, he looks almost "dry" over his eyes, is it okay to mist them or bathe them? Thanks for the info!!

[infernalis]

If his eyes are clouding up, give him a week, he will shed and return to normal.

[shaunyboy]

is there any bubbles coming out the snakes nostrils or is the inside of its mouth got frothy bubbley watery stuff in it like excess saliva ? is its mouth slightly open because its breathing through it rather than its nostrils ? ive noticed carpets with an r.i. tend to have their heads tilted upwards like they're trying to keep their throat clear ? sneezing sounds like a respiritory infection.i'd take him to the vet for a check up.he will give you the appropriate medication to get him back to health.i run my capet tanks at 86f with no problems.but if i had a snake with an r.i. i'd crank the heat up to 90f to help the snake fight its r.i.your snake should respond 100% to an antibiotic.yor snake may require a higher heat.i'd go with willows advice as she has kept them before.

in more rare cases the sneezing can be caused by an abcess on the snakes lung.i have a jaguar python booked in this coming tuesday for keyhole surgery for that exact problem.if all goes well for my jag then the vet will remove the abcess and he will make a complete recovery.
cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

re your food.

try giving the food item a really good heat.i heat it until it feels roughly the same temperature of a living rat mouse etc.i then give the head a bit extra heat.offer the item with tongs.that way your snake wont get confused by the heat signature of your hand.

what age is your python ?

cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

A bit of dryness sometimes happen when they are close to shedding. Antaresia species are pretty dry climate snakes, so you shouldn't need misting, but you can try a gentle misting if you really want to. I have never misted my Stimsons (Childrens python cousins) and they all shed perfectly every time. It's funny, I just got nipped by my female Stim last night- totally wasn't expecting it from her. She was fine once I got her out but I think she thought I might be food..lol. Any snake can bite, no matter how tame it might seem.
If he is shedding, he will cloud up for about a week, getting cloudier and cloudier every day, then he'll clear up and look normal for a few days (usually 2-3) and then shed. The whole process usually takes around 1.5-2 weeks and you can expect him to shed once a month if he is young and once every month and a half to two months if he's adult.

[tracyk86]

he's about 3 months or so...just a little guy.

He has since shed and ate!!!!!!!! thank you so much for the insight everyone, if i have any more questions i will definitely post something on here again!!!

[shaunyboy]

what about some pic's of the wee guy ?????
cheers shaun

[Bree]

what about some pic's of the wee guy ?????
cheers shaun

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/99.gif We love pics! I agree!

[Freebody]

hey welcome to the forum :)
we really like pics here,wink wink, nudge nudge. lol