Concerns - Page 2

KORBIN5895 · 07-26-13, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrCaveman

Ya dude treat her with PAM if you havent already. Also, if the water in the water bowl gets cold, you may want to put it slightly over the heat mat because they often soak themselves in water to relieve themselve from the mites. This can be harmful to them if the water is cold because they could easily develop an RI overnight (this has happened to me and I had to deal with mites and RI at once; but I won that battle

. Just make sure that the water isnt too hot, just room temp. I also took out most of the water; enough for him to still drink but not enough for him to soak in if he chose to; that way it was harder for him to immerse himself just in case the water wasnt the right temperature where it could harm him.

Just to clarify you treat the cage with Pam not the snake. Also you remove the water for 24 hours after treating the cage.

Terranaut · 07-27-13, 04:42 AM

I also agree feeding in a seperate enclosure is a waste of time.
Snakes do not drag their food out of the forest to find a nice wood chip free area to eat. My snakes have eaten aspen...big deal. They digest sharp bones and claws so how would a little flake of aspen kill them? Substrate impaction is as rare as a 2 headed snake. The snake will be more comforatable eating in it's enclosure 100% of the time.

And so continues the debate

smy_749 · 07-27-13, 10:44 AM

My perth pythons spazz out if I don't dry off the mice before I feed and they get aspen bedding on them. I have the shredded aspen that is much smaller chips, but even they are big compaired to the perths heads. When they finish eating they really spazz out with all the chips in their mouths and it looks really bothersome....but they always get rid of them and are fine afterwards. I have started drying the mice better, I don't want something to actually get stuck and cause a serious issue

ErikBush97 · 07-27-13, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

Never thought of it that way, I'll see how she does tomorrow (That's when I'm going to try feeding again). Hopefully she eats!

And snakes are pretty smart. They don't have the best sight, so they rely on smell, as one of their main ways of sensing things/getting a feel for their environment. So they should be smart enough to tell the difference between owner & food. Unless you smell like a rodent for some reason. Plus, snakes are stressed easily. Moving a snake every week - every two weeks, feeding it, moving it back, is probably pretty stressful. Also, you're not really supposed to handle them for a couple days after feeding. If you feed them in a separate enclosure, you've got to move them back after feeding, right? There's a lot of reasons not to feed in a separate enclosure. And as stated by Mikoh, If you're worried about them ingesting bedding, put it on paper or something. I actually used to have a "food bowl" for my snakes.

Mikoh4792 · 07-27-13, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErikBush97

And snakes are pretty smart. They don't have the best sight, so they rely on smell.

It depends on the species. Garters rely more on sight when it comes to food, and I don't know if the same holds true for king cobras but they have good vision.

Cmwells90 · 07-27-13, 02:52 PM

Thanks for all the advice, she didn't take the food today at all, not even remotely interested. But I think it's because she just started shedding. Also what is a good shedding humidity, I put a damp town on the top of the cage to help raise it, but I don't want it to be too high and her get an RI.

Mikoh4792 · 07-27-13, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

Thanks for all the advice, she didn't take the food today at all, not even remotely interested. But I think it's because she just started shedding. Also what is a good shedding humidity, I put a damp town on the top of the cage to help raise it, but I don't want it to be too high and her get an RI.

Bump it up to about 75%. If your enclosure is clean then high humidity for a little while is okay.

Cmwells90 · 07-27-13, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikoh4792

Bump it up to about 75%. If your enclosure is clean then high humidity for a little while is okay.

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

Ddub · 07-27-13, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

Could be. I have some that won't eat during a shed and some that will. I don't normally feed during a shed because many times it will be refused but sometimes they are a couple days in and I don't notice.

Mikoh4792 · 07-27-13, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmwells90

Perfect, that's what it's at now. I've just never had a Boa so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing everything right. I've had BP's and Corn snakes. But this is a first with her not wanting to eat, and she's been shedding for a couple days but it's not really going anywhere. Also she still hasn't pooped from her last feeding, which I know should come along with the shedding. Do you think that's why she's not eating, cause she still hasn't finished digesting the last one?

It's possible. I would say leave it alone until it sheds and try then.

KORBIN5895 · 07-27-13, 09:26 PM

Pooping is not connected to shedding in any measurable way.

MrCaveman · 07-27-13, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Just to clarify you treat the cage with Pam not the snake. Also you remove the water for 24 hours after treating the cage.

yes, thanks for the correction, Pam's used in the cage with the water taken out; not for topical use on the snake.

Ddub · 07-28-13, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Pooping is not connected to shedding in any measurable way.

I have no evidence for this but I feel there is a connection in that its the movement from shedding that gets things going. Same with taking them out to clean a cage only to put them back and find it soiled by the end of the day. Many times if I have one that looks like its near the point of dropping a load I can bring them outside to crawl around and that seems to get them to evacuate. Just a theory though.

Cmwells90 · 07-29-13, 01:36 PM

So just an update, she still refused to eat this weekend. She showed some interest in the rat but didn't attempt to eat it. Currently her humidity is at 65% with a cool side of 80 and her warm hide it set to 90. She's not very active lately. We're not handling her until she starts to eat regularly, so I don't think it's stress related. She has two hides, one on each side and a set of bushes in the middle to hide in. She spends most of her time burrowed though and not really using the hides. Should I be worried? This is going on 3 weeks without eating, to my understanding she should be eating weekly because she's only a couple months old.

Also the pet store said they had her on F/T already, but I'm starting to think that she's only been eating live. She ate F/T last time but it was about 2 weeks in to having her and she attacked it right away, like she was really hungry. Any advice on switching to F/T? Or should I try live and see if she goes for it. (I hate the idea but if it'll get her to eat I'll try it.)

Mikoh4792 · 07-29-13, 01:44 PM

Where is the thermostat probe placed exactly? What are you using as a heat source?

Are the walls of the enclosure clear or opaque? Does the snake still have mites?

If husbandry is correct just leave the snake alone. Try feeding every week, not every day or every few days. I had a similar issue with my jungle carpet and after trying once a week it started feeding. It hasn't skipped a meal since.

Edit: what makes you believe they were lying? Your snake took f/t before did it not?