Profile: Tube Steak

[millertime89]

Just picked up a young-ish BP today. I'm the third owner (fourth counting the pet store) of this guy. He weighs in at a seemingly healthy 473 grams, however his previous shed was terrible and had stuck shed all over his front half or so (including one eye cap. Got most of it today after giving him a bath, but couldn't get a few spots because he simply wouldn't let me. That includes the one eye cap. I'm gonna give it another go tomorrow and see if I can get the rest. Pictures will be posted momentarily.

Oh, and he has been named tube steak, not sure why other than my friend who went with me to pick him up suggested it and I was laughing so hard I couldn't NOT name him that.

Also, not sure if he's showing the early signs of RI, or if he was just huffing at me. I definitely heard what sounded like a wheeze, but it was VERY intermittent and he had no other visible signs that I could see, temps were set at 80 night, 88 day.

ANYWAYS. I present to you, TUBE STEAK!
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_0859.sized.jpg

stuck eye cap
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_0861.sized.jpg

trying to get the stuck shed off
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_0853.sized.jpg

got most of it, this isn't all of it.
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_0858.sized.jpg

exploring the new home, he's on paper towels for the time being.
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_0862.sized.jpg

The other thing I brought home today... this one was not so exciting. 86 in a 70, thought it was 75, whoops.
http://www.1320video.com/img/album258/IMG_0864.sized.jpg

[CK SandBoas]

I love the name! Lil Tube Steak is adorable, now to just get that pesky stuck shed off him. I hope the wheezing sound you heard was just Tube Steak telling you to let him be:)

Oh, and Ouch on the ticket!!!

[stephanbakir]

Ouch man, great snake though.

[millertime89]

ha ha, thanks guys, only heard it twice, and it was only shortly after I pulled him from the tub, hoping it's nothing serious.
That ticket hurts... gonna call tomorrow and find out about maybe taking STOP class in iowa, the drive and the cost is gonna be less than the ticket and the insurance hike.

[spots]

Hate to laugh HAHAHA, sorry :) but whats the ticket for? I've got more then my fair share of those :(
Nice snake man. how old do you think he is? Great name TUBE STAKE, looks to fit him well.

[millertime89]

86 mph in a 70 zone
no clue, like I said, I'm the 4th owner of him (hopefully the last if I have anything to say about it). I asked the guy who I bought him from, I'll see if he knows. He said it was named "puppy" and he would ask girls if they want to see his puppy, so he might have a nickname...

[KORBIN5895]

How will you get that eye cap off? My 4 ft boa just had a terrible shed and his skin came off right at his eyes.

[KORBIN5895]

Oh and that dudes nickname is probably Ped or Perv.

[Gungirl]

Cute little snake you got there.. You really should give him another hide so that he can hide on the hot and cold sides. On the name "Tube Steak" all I think of is Perv.... lol

[alessia55]

Cute ball python you got :) Congrats!

[millertime89]

Oh and that dudes nickname is probably Ped or Perv.

He's a good friend of mine

Cute little snake you got there.. You really should give him another hide so that he can hide on the hot and cold sides. On the name "Tube Steak" all I think of is Perv.... lol

getting one this afternoon actually.

[millertime89]

got the stuck eye cap off, nearly got all of the shed off, gonna try and get the rest off tomorrow and see if he'll feed. Temps are at 90 and humidity is down to 10% to see if the noise he was making was him just voicing his displeasure at what I was doing or if it was RI induced, hopefully it was just him making his opinion known.

[millertime89]

he ate for me tonight! 54g rat. That was expensive! PetCo charged 4.80 after tax for the thing! He wasn't coming out of his viv so I just dangled it in front and WHAM! Wasn't sure he was going to eat it at first as he just kinda left it alone wrapped in his coils, but eventually he snarfed it down. He's also getting a bit of the remaining shed off on his own. Gonna work on that in a few days once he's had a chance to digest his dinner.

[spots]

AWESOME :D Got to love when they eat!!

[snake man12]

He must be at least 6 months

[millertime89]

oh yeah, and I had a chance to measure him yesterday, he's about 3 ft long, give our take, he's got 2 spurs as well back by his vent, not sure how to sex a BP, my friend that I bought him from said he never actually knew.

[millertime89]

I'm tired of Tube Steak, it will still be his full name, but his nickname is now "Tubs." Pretty sure I got the rest of the stuck shed off. I think he knew, at least to some degree, what I was doing. He hissed at me a few times when I started, but then he was rubbing his sides against my fingers right where his previous shed was stuck. Temps have been dropped back to normal, 78 night, 83 day.

[Lankyrob]

Hot end temps should be 91f at the hottest point. :)

[shaunyboy]

How will you get that eye cap off? My 4 ft boa just had a terrible shed and his skin came off right at his eyes.

i use a product called viscotears its a human eye drop

works wonders on retained eye caps with no ill effects to the snake mate

cheers shaun

[millertime89]

Hot end temps should be 91f at the hottest point. :)

all right, I'll up it back up when I get done with class later this afternoon.

[millertime89]

listed him for sale. BPs aren't really my thing. I'm only going to sell him to someone who can take good care of him. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted him in the first place, but my buddy was leaving for basic and needed to get rid of him.

[Gungirl]

Hope you find a good buyer....

[millertime89]

me too, one friend wants him, we'll see what he says when I talk to him more about it.

[millertime89]

moved Tubs into his new tub, he looks quite a bit more comfortable in there, I'm better able to maintain heat and humidity and he's out of his hide more often. He took a rather large medium rat Wednesday night because I bought the wrong size, didn't seem to faze him one bit. Left a nice lump that I haven't been seeing with the small rats so I'll probably keep him on the mediums, but feed a little less often. Looks like he's starting to go into shed, first time with me. I've been wondering why I haven't had a shed yet so hopefully my efforts with him will have paid off.

[millertime89]

he finally shed, and left me a great big smelly present at the same time. I got home from work last night and he was out moving around his viv, something I don't see him do very often. Opened it up and was greeted by the fresh smell of BP poo, and a lot of it too. Got that cleaned up and took Tubs out for an inspection and it seems like after a bad shed previously, this one was perfect. I wasn't about to unroll his shed to inspect that.
Here's a quick phone pic, he looks so much better than when I got him.

http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq191/KKMpunkrock2011/2011-12-29_22-54-15_220.jpg?t=1325287628

He's still really skittish, I can now really start working with him since he's done shedding and I'm settled into the new appartment.

[lady_bug87]

yuck my BP poops and sheds at the same time its gross, then again my Boa (who was constipated) took SUCH a huge crap which was a relief to see but yikes

[millertime89]

Took his tub out and set it on my bed while I was watching Pawn Stars last night. He didn't seem to be to enthused about being picked up and hissed quite impressively at me when I touched his back. However once left to his own devices he started to explore around my bed. When it came time to put him away he seemed very relaxed so I placed my closed fist, back facing him in front of him so we could check me out and see that I'm not a threat. He went from no tongue flickering earlier to quite the inquisitive little BP, seems like progress is being made, gonna do the same thing again tonight since Nero is in shed and is being left alone. I've been taking some pictures that I need to get uploaded.

[millertime89]

om nom nom GULP
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_1095.sized.jpg

cruising around
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_1060.sized.jpg

he's a packers fan too! now where's my beer and brats!
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_1061.sized.jpg

he thinks he's a big bad rock python, this seems to be his favorite spot to sit lately
http://www.1320video.com/img/album342/IMG_1063.sized.jpg

[millertime89]

he's packing on the weight now, I weighed him tonight and he came in at a nice 677 grams. I spoke with a breeder who seems to think he's probably closer to 2 years old and was just undersized when I took him because he's able to take and keep down medium rats.

[alessia55]

He's so sweet :) 677 for a 2yr old though? My 2yr old male is ~1800 grams...
I like the picture of him on the rock :D

[Kiljosh]

Tubs looking good man.

On a side note, just weighed mine he's at around 600g and was thinking about making the step up from small to medium rats.

[millertime89]

I spoke with a breeder, she said that she think he's about 2 years old because of his affinity for medium rats, and that he was underfed for a while. He's somewhere between a year and 2 years old, not quite sure. She said some breeders never feed larger than small rats and their BPs do well on those, but he takes mediums like a champ.
He also poops like a champ, that is some nasty poo.

[millertime89]

om nom nom nom... buttz
http://www.1320video.com/img/album354/MG_8140.sized.jpg

the only one for now, I'm going to edit a few others.

[alessia55]

looks like one happy ball!! ;) :D