First time snake parent here.

Bloedig · 02-26-13, 10:15 AM

Hello from Utah.

Set up my 40 gal Tetra Fauna Viquarium last night in prep for my first snake I am picking up this afternoon. He is a Tangerine Honduran Milksnake. His name is Javi (named after the great Javier Morales). Javi is I guess what you would refer to as a sub adult (6 months or so) and looks to be in great health and a good eater according to the petstore owner. Store owner is very knowledgeable and has been in the reptile world for years. Javi is currently on fuzzies every 7 days (live). I actually hope to be able to move him to frozen/thawed if he takes to it.

Any advise / hints / etc is very welcome.

Thanks for the cool forums.

infernalis · 02-26-13, 10:41 AM

sSnakeSs.com - Rules

Lankyrob · 02-26-13, 10:45 AM

Welcome to the asylum, look forwardto some pics

ilovemypets1988 · 02-26-13, 10:46 AM

moving a snake from live to F/T is a long and hard process if im honest but as long as you stick with it, you should be successful.
a few tips would be:
let him settle in for a week before handling.
dont handle 24=48 hours after feeding.
milk snakes can be snappy but after a while, they do calm down.

but overall, stay calm and coll and welcome to this amazing hobbies

oh and 1 last thing, like all reptiles, snakes dont have feeling or emotions

Bloedig · 02-26-13, 11:31 AM

Picture of Javi attached from yesterday when I bought him. I was able to handle him for about 5-10 minutes and he was as calm as could be. The owner even sexed him and said "if I am going to get a bit out of him it will be now", but he didn't bit and only seems somewhat agitated.

I am going to be using the exact same feeding method as the store has been using all along and that is to put him in a rubbermaid with damp papertowels and the mouse. I think I will just pick up 4-6 frozens and see if I have luck. If not I am not stuck with a big online bulk buy of mice.

Also the owner did say to stay hands off for the first week and then obviously a day or two after feeding. He also mentioned them sometimes being snappy during shedding (makes since).

Donnie · 02-26-13, 01:52 PM

hello and welcome

Bloedig · 02-26-13, 03:19 PM

Small update to my hello thread here:

Got Javi home and couldn't ask for better first feeding! I am feeding in a separate container (just a locking lid rubbermaid with holes drilled for air). I got him to eat 2 pinkies in less than 1/2 hour. First took him a while and I actually didn't see him take it (left him for a few minutes to take care of the dogs). The second was fast. I am using tongues to feed so that he starts to get use to associate tongues and feed time so I can move him over to frozen/thawed mice at some point. He is actually up to small fuzzies now, but the store was out of them (yet another reason I would like to move to frozen/thaw).

After eating he went right into his enclosure and happily curled up in his little log hide. I have the temps and humidity pretty well right on target now too. So far so good on this first day!

Lankyrob · 02-26-13, 04:54 PM

One issue with feeding on papertowels, thetowel can get stuck to the mouse and the snake ends upeating the paper as well. When i used to feed in a tub i just used a tub, no substrate or towels or anything else

Bloedig · 02-26-13, 05:04 PM

Ah, interesting info, thanks Lankyrob!

I did have the paper towels nice and moist as I have been advised to do. I wonder if this helps with that issue?

Lankyrob · 02-26-13, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloedig

Ah, interesting info, thanks Lankyrob!

I did have the paper towels nice and moist as I have been advised to do. I wonder if this helps with that issue?

No idea, but personally not something i would risk

Chu'Wuti · 02-27-13, 11:24 AM

One thing that has worked very well for me when switching a snake from live to F/T is to get some of the bedding from live mice or rats, with poop. Put the F/T mouse on mouse bedding with poop, F/T rat on rat bedding/poop; let the prey item sit on that for half an hour to absorb some of the aroma. You can even roll it around on the bedding/poop. Then place in a plastic bag & warm it up pretty good.

All my snakes eat F/T, and several were initially fed live. I have some that I was told "won't eat anything but live!" I had no trouble switching them to F/T. The most challenging one was a BP that took three months to make the switch, and I tried all kinds of suggestions; the poop did the trick.

I feed all my Hondurans on dry paper towels and have never had an issue with prey sticking to the towels, not even with pinkies for the hatchlings. I do always monitor to ensure everything goes well, but I've never even seen a hint of sticking over about 10 years of feedings. However, if someone has had an issue, I'm wondering whether the quality or kind of the paper toweling might make a difference? I buy Bounty in big batches from Sam's Club, and the Bounty towels are fairly thick & stiff compared to some brands I've seen.

Good luck switching yours!

Bloedig · 02-27-13, 03:57 PM

Good suggestions Chu'Wuti, thanks!

One other quick question that has come up. Do I need to mist the habitat on a daily basis or just if I need to raise up the humidity (which right now is in the 55-60% range).

marvelfreak · 02-27-13, 04:10 PM

thbaby.jpg and images2.jpg

Chu'Wuti · 02-27-13, 08:12 PM

While some people recommend that Hondurans be maintained at 50% humidity, my Hondurans have been in the 30-40% range and do very well, e.g., have complete sheds. I have been keeping Hondurans for about 10 years and have never had a problem with this humidity level.

I don't mist them, but when I see them soaking in their water bowls, I put damp toweling in if our ambient humidity is especially dry. I live in central Oklahoma where "dry" can mean less than 10% humidity. However, the average humidity here is 30%, and the snakes seem to do just fine with it. They are not as sensitive as my ball pythons, which I have to ensure stay at higher humidity.

KBHicks2012 · 02-27-13, 08:24 PM

Welcome, she is absolutely beautiful