Profile: Goldie (My First Snake)

[TeaNinja]

how often do you check on him and handle him every week? other then handling 2 or maybe 3 times a week i just mist the cage and never mess with my BP. ive noticed they are much more skittish and prone to stress then my boas.

[TalonNC]

He feeds on Saturdays... I leave him alone until he emerges from his rock cave on his own which is usually Wednesday or Thursday...So i might get to handle him thurs and/or fri....then Saturday is feeding again.....and the cycle repeats

so you can say i handle maybe twice a week not including me moving him to feeding bucket on Saturday...

[frost]

Originally Posted by TalonNC

Time for a little update:

Goldie seems to have finally settled down in his tank he nolonger frantically chhecking out every corner f the tank or trying to find a way out(climbing the top lip of tank).

He is finally using his hot hide(before he would curl up behind it or on-top of it).

Still having issues with humidity.....damn mesh top.....i have it covered with ugly foil on the heat side...and some plastic with with a towel cover the cool side the center mesh is still exposed for fresh air.

as you read above i fed live mouse(wth rat scent) two Saturdays ago. I (being new) felt this meal was too small as he killed and swallowed in under 5mins and his bulge was barely noticeable. this past Saturday i was caught out of town ad was not gonna be able to make it to my normal pet shop before it closed so i picked up what i thought was a small rat ...for the pet shop where i was...and took it home to feed...placed Goldie in his feeding bin...he seemed to recognize it and went into feed mode...either that or he smelled his rat....as i shook the the small rat into the bin i came to the realization that this small rat was NOT SO SMALL ....he was BIG compared to Goldie...but before i could react Goldie tackled the rat like a Baltimore Raven LB and used his entire body to wrap up...after 10ins Goldie unwrapped and began his 20min thinking session on how he was gonna consume this large meal. I felt it was to large for him....but was afraid to put my had in his bin during feedmode...so i let him figure it out...praying he would just say..No ad leave it..but to my surprise after 20mins of looking over it he swallowed it....leaving a NOTICEABLE bulge about the third of his body. i placed his fav hide(rock cave) into the feed bin ...so i wouldn't have to handle after feeding...he slinked inside and and i place his cave back in his tank....I didn't see him again for 5 days...scary times...HE WILL NOT GET A MEAL LIKE THAT FROM ME AGAIN until he gets bigger...strictly rat scented mice from here on out as i now know his limits. I video all feedings and posted this scarily large one on youtube....so tell me if you thought it was too large .... he emerged from his cave Thursday...and has been extremely calm and mellow ever since....i did not feed him this past Saturday as i felt that NOT SO small rat was a little to much....and will return to mice this weekend.

WARNING: If your against live food or overly sensitive please avoid the following links of Goldie taking on his large meal. And if you read you see I've realized my mistake and will try hard not to repeat.

Part 1

Ball Python(Goldie) tries a not so small rat Part 1 - YouTube


Part 2
Ball Python(Goldie) tries a not so small rat Part 2 - YouTube


Part 3
Ball Python(Goldie) tries a not so small rat Part 3 - YouTube

nice vid! isnt this way too big???

[TalonNC]

Yes it was way to big....

After showing the vid to my "Normal" pet store they said they gave me a medium rat instead of a small....and that the pet store i went to had a bad reputation...lesson learned

I skipped his feeding last week ad Goldie is showing what i think are signs of his first shed with me... How long does it normally take to go from foggy blue eyes to final stage of shed? hes been in what i think is shed mode for at least 5 days now...keeping humidity at around 70 via mister twice a day....

[Gungirl]

My Bp will takes 7 to go from cloudy eyes to actually shedding but my corn snake does it in 4 days and my GTP does it in about 9 days. It really depends on the snake but I think a week is average.

[TalonNC]

Its been 7 days since I noticed the cloudy blue fog eyes signifying what i think is Shed mode. It is also His feeding day since i did not feed him last week after the massive meal mistake 2 weeks ago.

I'm curious....He hasnt shed yet...and i've avoided touching him for 2 weeks...if he is not in his rock cave....he is sitting out on the edge of the UTH like this



Should I present him with a small meal to see if he will eat or should i continue to let him just sit.

note: i've been keeping the humidity at 70-80 via Mistings...

Also i would like some advise on shed baths...I would've likes to give him one... but as i'm new didn't want to do it wrong and was told not to handle during shed mode....

[Gungirl]

I wouldn't give him a "shed Bath" just let him do his thing. Shedding is very stressful and that won't help. Feeding during shed is kind of a personal preference some people do and some people don't. I have always fed my snakes during shed and never had an issue. On the other side some snakes will eat while in shed and others will refuse. Its all a matter of what works best for you and your snake. As far as him sitting out on the edge of the tank like that just double check your temps and make sure they are where they should be and let him be.

[Lankyrob]

Only ever use "shed baths" if he doesnt get it all off himself, if everything is ok with his hisbandry then it should be fine. With regard to feeding we always offer to our snakes, they will all take food during different parts of the shed process so we offer and if they aren't interested then someone else gets a treat.

However, i do believe you feed live? If that is the case i WOULD NOT offer during shed as their eyesight can be affected during the process and it is enough of a risk to feed live when they can see perfectly without adding an additional risk to the snake.

[TalonNC]

Well i just cleaned out his little rock cave...and guess what i found...

1 Full Shed nicely folded in the corner....
1 Bowl Movement (medium rat from vid)

I see i'm gonna have to investigate his rock cave more often....

[Kiljosh]

Haha you gotta love the little surprise left on the shed, I unwrapped my first shed a few weeks ago and found a big snake turd in it.