Riverrun (Poss Temp Name) - Page 4

dave himself · 06-24-15, 02:22 PM

She's a beautiful retic, and from the pics I'd say she could take weaners no problem

bigsnakegirl785 · 06-26-15, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave himself

She's a beautiful retic, and from the pics I'd say she could take weaners no problem

I'd already made the shipment when I made that post. Maybe I can call them and ask them to change the rat pups out for weaned rats? The bigger weaned rats 40+ grams would be too big, but if at least half of them were smaller, she should grow into them by the time I have to order my next shipment.

bigsnakegirl785 · 08-16-15, 09:22 PM

Well she now weighs 293 grams and I was able to make the switch to weaned rats. I'm guessing she's closing in on 4' by now but I'm not able to measure her so not 100% sure.

No pictures right now as my laptop screen was shattered, but I'll post some when it's fixed.

bigsnakegirl785 · 08-21-15, 11:49 AM

River on top of her humid hide, I couldn't find anything smaller once she outgrew her old humid hide, but she should be able to use this for a few months before she outgrows it, too.

Here's a visual of her growth since I got her in April.

The day I got her April 4.

From Sunday the 16th.

I didn't mention in this thread, but last month she rubbed her head after a feeding. I didn't latch her tub as I was going to do something in her tub (don't remember what) and didn't want to have to unlatch her tub again after just a few hours since it's hard to open. Well, she managed to get up under the lid and pop her head out. I pushed her back in and latched the tub, deciding to save it for another day. Unfortunately, her near escape got her hopeful and she pushed on her tub and injured a few of her head scales. No skin came off and there were no scabs at the time, just a few scales that were raised but unbroken.

Well, over the past few days the thin covering on her scales has been flaking off and there's a part where some of the scale is missing and it's got a small scab. It doesn't look like she's been rubbing any more, it just looks like maybe it's further into a healing process, if that makes any sense? I'm just wondering if anyone thinks maybe her scales will heal up after a few sheds, or if she's going to be scarred, just from these pictures? The swelling or whatever has gone down by a lot, there's no puss or anything like that so generally it looks better, it's just the fact that now a small piece of her scales are missing and there's that scab there that has me wondering.

She shed last month before this incident, so she hasn't shed since rubbing her head, so I'm not sure how it's going to look when she does, but she's just about due for one so shouldn't be long. As said earlier, she doesn't appear to have rubbed at all since that incident so I think it was just the glance at freedom that caused it, although I do plan on getting her new enclosure in a few months just in case she has been rubbing still as she's getting pretty big for her tub. I'll buy the enclosure in a few weeks, but I hear it takes a month or two for AP to ship out their enclosures, so it will be 2-3 months or so before she gets her upgrade. That will be just temporary as I've got a 6'x2' to put her in, but I wanted to have her in a 4'x2' for a bit before moving her into it. Then her 4'x2' will go to Sanji.

Here are the photos of her rub.

dave himself · 08-21-15, 05:13 PM

That little scab on her head will be fine I had a male a few years ago with the same mark and within two sheds it was completely gone here's a pic I just found of him

bigsnakegirl785 · 08-22-15, 07:46 AM

That's good to hear, it's going to be a long wait to wait for her next sheds. haha

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-05-15, 12:56 PM

Riverrun is also in shed! That makes 3 so far! Now all that lacks is finding out the garters are in shed. haha They're all due for sheds, so won't surprise me if they end up shedding soon, too.

The beginning of her shed cycle is most obvious around her rub wound, where it's turning cloudy. It's looking really good, so I have high hopes for her next few sheds.

She's also really dark, showing very little of the orange that usually shows up in pictures.

Unfortunately, her belly doesn't give off that tell-tale pinkish hue because it's off-white. -.- It looks pinkish in low-light but not in the sunlight.

dave himself · 09-05-15, 01:16 PM

She's a beautiful girl even in shed

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-06-15, 01:11 AM

Hmmm, so I'm starting to think that River is younger than the people I bought her from thought. When I bought her, they seemed to think her breeder hatched her out October 2014, making her about 11 months old now, but she's rather small for a nearly yearling retic, being around 4' in length.

She's been growing extremely rapidly in my care, but I don't think she'll reach the expected 5'-6' range within the next month.

But it's also possible she could have been stunted. When I asked how they fed her, they said a fuzzy or hopper mouse every 2 weeks. So, if that feeding schedule was accurate, she was way underfed. She should have been eating rat pups at the time. Currently, she's eating weaned rats every 10-14 days, but she is already just about ready to move up to small rats, I'm sure she'll be big enough within the next month. Right now, large weaned rats are still 15% of her weight, so she'll be kept on them for awhile longer.

Is it possible that that feeding schedule could have put her 1'-2' under average yearling size? She's growing more and more rapidly as time goes on, so I think she'll reach 5'-6' not long after she turns a year, but she won't reach it within her first year if her hatch date was indeed last October.

prairiepanda · 09-06-15, 08:43 AM

Yep, feeding is a major determining factor in a snake's growth rate. If they were feeding her tiny mice every 2 weeks, then she would definitely be much smaller than the "expected" size for a retic of her age. I'd say the age they gave you is accurate, and she's just fallen behind because of their feeding habits. To illustrate, my two pinesnakes are the same age. When I got them, the snow pine was quite a bit bigger than the black, but the black pine has been a better eater for me and within just a few months has outgrown the snow. The general expected sizes people tell you are based on ideal feeding conditions, so more or less food will change those numbers.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-07-15, 12:15 AM

I just didn't expect her to be behind 1'-2' with how fast she's been growing in the ~5 months I've had her. But with the way she's growing I'm sure she'll catch up in no time! She'll probably be able to almost reach 5' with the way she's growing by her 1st birthday, but I'd like to get her up against a wall to get an accurate measurement here soon, as she could be a bit bigger or smaller than I'm guessing her to be.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-16-15, 09:03 PM

She now weighs 355 grams, and her nose rub looks a lot better, just gotta wait for the discoloration to go away.

No pictures because it didn't get warm enough today. I'm hoping it will be warm enough this weekend, because I work all day tomorrow and I'm going to an all-day event on Friday. But the forecast isn't looking promising.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-20-15, 03:59 PM

I measured her with SerpWidgets at 4'1", so she's about what I thought she was. She's just about ready to move up to small rats, but the larger weaned rats are still about 15% of her weight so I think she'll be fine on them for a little while longer. But I'm betting by the end of October she'll need to move up.

Her rub looking way better.

bigsnakegirl785 · 09-28-15, 04:44 PM

River now barely fits in the tub I brought her home in, and I can barely snap it shut with her in it. She weighs 378 grams, and seems to be slightly picking up growth, at least in the weight department.

She was looking extra pretty that day, but then I accidentally startled her. lol I left her alone to sniff the air for too long, and when I walked over to her my "sudden appearance" put her straight into defense mode. I managed to not get bit, and gave her time to cool off before picking her up. So I think I'll be starting to bring her hook outside with me as well, so I can give her a poke/rub if I'm not bothering her much.

She was like a little angry ratsnake, head flattened in a triangle and all puffed up. She didn't poop on me or hiss or anything, but the poor girl was just so completely scared for a few seconds. If she's moving around outside, she doesn't have any problems with me just walking up and scooping her up, it's when she's intent on something and is left alone for an extended period of time she gets jumpy.

I've also finally moved into my new place, so she now actually has floor space to crawl around on if I can't take her outside. I've also officially placed my order for 2 T12's and they should arrive sometime over the next couple of months.

dave himself · 09-29-15, 10:01 AM

She's a beautiful girl and I never let Jenny go into those little trance like modes for to long before I give her a little poke with my foot

. I hope your move went smoothly and you get settled in quick