Skyler update [Archive] - sSNAKESs : Reptile Forum

CDN_Blood

03-13-12, 05:30 AM

This one hasn't been out much lately because she hasn't eaten for me since December, so I figured I'd share these shots from last night because she may not be back out for any length of time until she starts eating again.

Skyler (4 1/2-year-old Epicrates cenchria crassus) goes off food here and there throughout the year yet still throws a skin every 6 weeks like clock-work. She certainly doest suffer for her lack of intake, as you can see by how robust she is. She just keeps getting longer and heavier - a very efficient use of food indeed :cool:

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-25.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-26.jpg

Norm66

03-13-12, 05:43 AM

Wow, she is beautiful. I love her colors. :)

Trent

03-13-12, 09:31 AM

Very nice looking!!

CK SandBoas

03-13-12, 09:35 AM

What a beauty!!!!

Caylan

03-13-12, 04:24 PM

I'll say it again and publicly, she has way nicer colour then any brazilian rainbow boa I've ever seen. Skyler is my kind of iainbow boa!

alessia55

03-13-12, 04:55 PM

Yup, I would've never know she wasn't a great eater!! she's nice and chunky :D Beautiful!

marvelfreak

03-13-12, 05:11 PM

She looks as amazing as ever. Very plump and health look girl you have there Todd.

CDN_Blood

03-13-12, 08:28 PM

I'll say it again and publicly, she has way nicer colour then any brazilian rainbow boa I've ever seen. Skyler is my kind of iainbow boa!
Hah! Is your Inbox full of hate mail yet, Caylan? <snickers>

Snakesitter

03-14-12, 03:08 PM

^^ I'm working on it. ^^

;-)

Her colors are great, Todd!

Caylan

03-14-12, 05:42 PM

Hah! Is your Inbox full of hate mail yet, Caylan? <snickers>

Nope, they all secretly agree with me because they can't find a Skyler anywhere;)

marvelfreak

03-14-12, 06:53 PM

Nope, they all secretly agree with me because they can't find a Skyler anywhere;)
Not true. My best friend owns a really nice looking three year old CRB.

CDN_Blood

03-14-12, 08:29 PM

Not true. My best friend owns a really nice looking three year old CRB.

Yeah, what he said! lol. I got my own little Columbian brewing, too, so wait 'til she achieves her adult colouration and then we'll have a Skyler/Tagz rally to see who has the nicest colours then :D

Caylan

03-15-12, 02:07 AM

If Skyler were a CRB, then I wouldn't have said anything... But it's the little things that count. :D

CDN_Blood

04-30-12, 02:05 PM

Some fresh Skyler for ya..

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-27.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-28.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-29.jpg

KORBIN5895

04-30-12, 02:34 PM

Has she been eating again?

CDN_Blood

04-30-12, 02:43 PM

Has she been eating again?

Nope, still only eaten once since November. I'm hoping some exposure to the Sun today will kick her back into wanting to eat...

alessia55

04-30-12, 02:46 PM

I loooove Skyler. Probably one of my favorite snakes in your care :yes:

Snakesitter

04-30-12, 03:23 PM

She's looking good for someone playing supermodel diet. ;-) Hopefully the sun helps!

CDN_Blood

04-30-12, 07:20 PM

She's looking good for someone playing supermodel diet. ;-) Hopefully the sun helps!

Supermodel, lol. I'm just about ready to offer her a live mouse if a couple of days of sun doesn't do the trick. Thankfully she came to me with quite a bit of extra weight, so she's had lots to ride on since, but she's starting to look a little thin for my liking...just a tad, so it's time to pull some tricks out of my bag of goodies :)

Snakesitter

05-03-12, 02:15 PM

I say go for it. Even one small live might reawaken her feeding instincts. Please keep us posted!

CDN_Blood

05-08-12, 02:18 PM

A couple from today...

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-31.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-32.jpg

Hurrok

05-08-12, 02:21 PM

Gorgeous! Hopefully she goes back on feeding soon, I'm sure the sun will help too. Although she does look pretty nice!

Snakesitter

05-09-12, 05:45 PM

I think we need a daily pict from now on. ;-) (Kidding!!!)

Caylan

05-09-12, 07:09 PM

If we didn;t see how big she was last year, you'd swear she was still eating really well this whole time lol. I still think her colour beats that of any rainbow boa out there!

millertime89

05-10-12, 09:54 PM

If we didn;t see how big she was last year, you'd swear she was still eating really well this whole time lol. I still think her colour beats that of any rainbow boa out there!

not a chance, but she is very pretty.

CDN_Blood

05-11-12, 04:37 AM

If we didn;t see how big she was last year, you'd swear she was still eating really well this whole time lol. I still think her colour beats that of any rainbow boa out there!

She's eaten maybe 4 times in the past year, and very little each time. There are a few factors at play here - she was overfed before I was asked to take her, she'd gone off food just a few weeks before coming to me *and* she had just turned 3 1/2 years old at that point.

I think she's just taken all the extra mass she had acquired, hit sexual maturity and turned all that into length rather than bulk so she could really be all she could be in preparation for breeding. It's the only thing that explains how little her girth has changed with such little food intake.

As for her colour, it's great and I like it, but she's still not as deeply coloured as my original male Columbian Rainbow of years ago (http://cdnblood.clanteam.com/CDN_Blood/Old_Friends.html#19), but she's close :)

Tekpc007

05-17-12, 11:41 AM

i bet if you offered the right sized brained rat she would eat it right up , but mine will not eat sometimes unless its night time and the room is dark and he is in his viv.

CDN_Blood

05-17-12, 11:46 AM

i bet if you offered the right sized brained rat she would eat it right up , but mine will not eat sometimes unless its night time and the room is dark and he is in his viv.

I've never done that in 25 years and I never will. It's wholly unnatural and 99% of the time unnecessary.

My snakes get the same 2 options as my dinner guests: take it or leave it. Here you either adapt or you perish. She knows what she's doing and she'll eat when she's good and ready, trust me :cool:

CDN_Blood

05-18-12, 01:19 PM

Well, she did it again...here's another fresh paint job from the past hour.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-33.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-34.jpg

So, that makes her slough history since her last meal (early December) as follows:
2011.12.15
2012.01.25
2012.03.06
2012.04.08
2012.05.18

For a snake that hasn't been eating, she's pretty regular with her sloughing at 30-40 day intervals. She was acting a little hungry last night, so I'll try her again tonight...

Snakesitter

05-18-12, 02:37 PM

I was about to make the same surprised comment: she sheds a lot for no food! Maybe she's ordering takeout on the sly? ;-)

Caylan

05-19-12, 02:10 AM

I seriously love both of those pictures, I sure wish I had a Skyler!

CDN_Blood

06-28-12, 07:48 PM

A bit of size reference - I'm 5'11 and the skin was touching the floor. Of course, it does stretch as it's being sloughed, but it still gives you a good idea :)

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-36.jpg

Snakesitter

07-03-12, 05:53 PM

Big, healthy snake that made that shed!

CDN_Blood

07-20-12, 08:59 AM

UPDATE: After many months, Skyler finally decided to eat 3 days ago <wipes brow> and is plumping back-up nicely as she continues to digest.

3 weeks ago...
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-38.jpg

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-39.jpg

Today...
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb347/CDN_Blood/Rainbows/Skyler/file-40.jpg

Wildside

07-20-12, 09:05 AM

CDN_Blood

07-20-12, 09:14 AM

Do you have any idea what the food strike was all about? Pretending to be a ball python maybe?

It's all in the thread...
She's eaten maybe 4 times in the past year, and very little each time. There are a few factors at play here - she was overfed before I was asked to take her, she'd gone off food just a few weeks before coming to me *and* she had just turned 3 1/2 years old at that point.

I think she's just taken all the extra mass she had acquired, hit sexual maturity and turned all that into length rather than bulk so she could really be all she could be in preparation for breeding. It's the only thing that explains how little her girth has changed with such little food intake.

Wildside

07-20-12, 09:18 AM

It's all in the thread...

That makes sense to me. Glad she's eating for you now!

CDN_Blood

07-20-12, 09:31 AM

That makes sense to me. Glad she's eating for you now!

I'm glad she's eaten too :)

I think what we were seeing there was the direct result of a regular feeding schedule without enough exercise, and there was such an excess of weight that she knew what she needed to do to get healthy. Of course, all my snakes get regular exercise (and many hours of it each week), but I just do use any sort of feeding schedule. I've always more closely mimicked how they would eat in the wild, and that makes a big difference and stuff like that wouldn't happen, lol.

Anyhow, I just hope she's back on-track now 'cause it was mildly worrying even though I trusted that she knew what she was doing. Hopefully she's balanced herself-out and won't be a worry anymore :)

Wildside

07-20-12, 09:35 AM

I'm glad she's eaten too :)

I think what we were seeing there was the direct result of a regular feeding schedule without enough exercise, and there was such an excess of weight that she knew what she needed to do to get healthy. Of course, all my snakes get regular exercise (and many hours of it each week), but I just do use any sort of feeding schedule. I've always more closely mimicked how they would eat in the wild, and that makes a big difference and stuff like that wouldn't happen, lol.

Anyhow, I just hope she's back on-track now 'cause it was mildly worrying even though I trusted that she knew what she was doing. Hopefully she's balanced herself-out and won't be a worry anymore :)

That gets me wondering if my big BCC is not doing something similar. Mine are fed a regular feeding schedule, but through the winter months aren't getting that much exercise. She has recently begun to refuse f/t but will eat live. However, she's only eating 1 xlg rat when she could easily take down 3 jumbos.