5 mo. old ETB help

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 06:54 AM

I recently got a baby ETB and have had it about a month. It's CB and seems to be in pretty good health. It's eaten all 3 times I've fed it and is always in tight coils. I've noticed a few things though that concern me and am not sure if they are problems or just me worrying too much.
First off I've noticed it's skin kind of loose and wrinkly, I mist at least a couple times a day and it has a suspended water dish. The humidity stays in the 80s most of the day with a drop to 60 or so at night. Temperature is around 80-83 DTH and drops to about 73-75 at night It hasn't shed since I've gotten it, could that just be the old skin getting ready for shed?
Also, the third feeding was this past Saturday and I still haven't seen it defecate (althought there's a chance I missed it when cleaning his cage.
The other thing I've noticed that is concerning is that maybe once a week or so I'll find him cruising the floor of his cage at night. I was under the impression ETBs almost never go to ground. Is this something that I should be concerned about? I have experience with other species, but I am new to ETB's and just want to make sure I have it right. Any help or advice anyone can offer would be great!

Thanks!
Adrian

Concept9 · 05-30-13, 07:46 AM

Good morning and grats on the ETB. It one of the snake I wanna add to my collection, I think they are no less then AWESOME.

I have read a lot about them because I want one but am far from a expert.

Your Heat and humidity sound good. The only thing I noticed was your feeding. By the sounds of it you are feeding it every week ?

From what I read, due the slow metabolisms, ETB babies should only be feed every 10-14 days or so and adults approx., every 2-3 weeks and should go poo poo

every 2 feedings or so.

Hopefully one of the Boa guys will be on soon.

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 07:57 AM

Thanks! They're a handful but hopefully things settle down after the 'change' lol.

I am feeding every 10 days and charting it ( 5/5, 5/15 & 5/25) So hopefully that works. When I built her first tank I had tree fern/coco husk/ moss substrate, so there's a possibility it could have pooped and I missed it. For that reason I switched to paper towels until things get regular, lol. There are usually urates once or twice between feedings. So now I am hesitant to feed again until I see it.

smy_749 · 05-30-13, 10:18 AM

Its nothing to worry about if he cruises on the ground every once in a while, so long as your positive your husbandry parameters are correct. Wild ones go to the ground on occasion as well. 3 weeks without defecating is not that long, give it a bit longer and I'm sure you will find he went just fine. Eventually you will learn his patterns and not be so worrisome about it. Also if your humidity is good, and you mist him / provide him with drinking water than hes prob not dehydrated, so I'm guessing hes due for a shed. Just a guess, but I wouldn't worry just yet. Pics would be cool though, since we love ETB's.

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 12:40 PM

Here are some pics from this 1st month

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 12:49 PM

Hmm, not sure why those aren't showing up. They are all in my photo album if anyone is interested.

smy_749 · 05-30-13, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by continuum13

Hmm, not sure why those aren't showing up. They are all in my photo album if anyone is interested.

Use photobucket and paste the IMG ../IMG link and they should show up fine. Maybe you posted them before you had 5 posts or something...try it again

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 01:37 PM

Thanks, Here they are!

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smy_749 · 05-30-13, 01:50 PM

a.m.a.z.i.n.g

continuum13 · 05-30-13, 05:37 PM

Here are the wrinkles that concern me...

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marvelfreak · 05-30-13, 05:49 PM

His stunning and look very health.

Starbuck · 05-30-13, 07:19 PM

i agree, i think those wrinkles appear normal, not a sign of dehydration etc. dehydrated i would expect to see more by the head and neck, and to be thinner, i.e. to appear more as folds of paper rather than folds of 'skin'... not as meaty i guess?

As long as your gauges etc are working correctly, id say just keep doing what you are doing. He is a very handsome young fellow

Lankyrob · 05-31-13, 06:00 AM

My GTP had the same wrinkles and is as healthy as can be

continuum13 · 05-31-13, 09:24 AM

Thanks to everyone for the input, advice and kind words.. Hopefully I'll see a shed and some poop in the next couple weeks or so. I did a lot of research before I got it and most everything talked about how fragile these guys are as babies, thought it better to be too careful than not enough. I'll keep the pics coming, once he/she sheds maybe we'll see a little color change. (Although part of me hopes he/she stays tiny and red forever)

Oh, one last thing - When I used that tree fern substrate recommended to me by the local reptile store, a few days after I noticed a bug that looked kind of like a mite crawling on my ETB. I tried to grab it but it fell and I wasn't able to examine it. I've dealt with mites before and it was similar looking but not as shiny or reddish, more of a dull brown. I called the breeder/dealer from which I got the snake inquiring about possible mites to which he said there was no way it came from him. I waited a few days to see if it was a problem and found one more. I immediately cleaned everything in the cage (including the live spider plant) and actually ended up building a new one. I switched to paper towel substrate and I've checked the towels and water dish every day for about 2 weeks and haven't found anything. Ive checked his head and neck and can't find any spots or crawlies. I hear sometimes bugs will live in bags of bedding, is this the case or something else I should worry about, I just didn't want to expose it to mite killing chemicals if I don't have to. Thoughts???

smy_749 · 05-31-13, 09:29 AM

It was a wood mite most likely, from the substrate. Harmless to your reptile and you wasted your energy doing all that