Corn snake *tank upgrade plans 4/23/15*

[happycrabbymama]

I have been following this thread since the beginning... and I hope you don't mind Calla... but I have read this thread to my husband because he is a snake guy. He said in his opinion feeding Sylvie 2 adult mice every 10 days is overfeeding. Like I said... that is his opinion. Have you gotten her to eat anything yet?

[CallaLily]

Nope, not yet. That's what the previous owner says he was feeding her. The plan is to get her to eat one and judge from there if I need to move up to a slightly larger feeder or stay with the adult mouse. Every 10 days sounded about right with everything I've been reading. Once we get to know her better, we'll adjust if necessary.

[CallaLily]

She's still not eating but today I noticed her eyes look bluish and hazy so I guess she's going to shed soon?

[wodesorel]

Yep! Their sheds are a little weird, at least to a crab keeper. They get blue and cloudy for a few days, and then will look normal again for a few days, and then they shed. It'll probably be about a week or so before you find her skin, and it should take less than an hour for her to get it off completely when it's ready to go. Many snakes will refuse food around this time, but as soon as they shed they're usually ready for dinner.

[CallaLily]

Thanks! I'm hoping that's why she hasn't been eating.

[CallaLily]

She shed this afternoon and is very active in her tank right now.

[FloridaSun]

Great job - I have been following the thread. How long after she sheds will you try to feed?

Hopefully you don't fall in love with every mice you bring home for dinner. Just don't look them in the eye :headshake:

[CallaLily]

Great job - I have been following the thread. How long after she sheds will you try to feed?

I let my husband know she shed and will hopefully eat now. We have some frozen mice in the freezer that we can hopefully get her to eat tonight!

Hopefully you don't fall in love with every mice you bring home for dinner. Just don't look them in the eye :headshake:

Hopefully we'll get her taking the frozen/thawed ones so there'll be no risk! If not, I'll make sure to not even look at them.

[wodesorel]

Wow, that was quick! Congrats!

[CallaLily]

Wow, that was quick! Congrats!

I was surprised too! I'm not sure if it didn't come off in one piece or if she just ripped it up by slithering all around. She won't sit still for very long, so getting pics is challenging. Maybe I should add a humid hide? I thought it was humid enough in my room but I could be wrong. I'll check on that now.





Edit:
A couple more. I can't get a good whole pic because of the light from the window...you just end up seeing a reflection of my messy room.


If you can see , it goes from the water dish over into the log hide and out the other side. It's ripped here and there and there's a few stray bits but I don't know if that's how it came off or if she just wrecked it afterwards. I do know it wasn't in the water dish at all at first so she's definitely moved it around with all her activity.

[CallaLily]

And she pooped! but also eeeewww.

Humidity seems to be 65% but I'll keep the acurite there longer to be sure. Is that acceptable?

[wodesorel]

Had to search on the humidity - for corns it seems that 30% to 60% is good for them. If they're kept too humid or too dry I think they can develop respiratory issues, so the humidity boosts should only be for when they shed. Once it's off they're fine, and she looks in the photos like she's clean. If you do think she has some stuck on her, fill a locking tub with enough warm (75-80 degrees) water to come up about 2/3s of her body height and leave her soak for an hour or two. You can also toss an old washrag or towel in the bottom to give her something to rub against, although usually just rubbing against their own body is enough. That's what I did for Stan with his first molt because he had started shedding from the middle (he had wings!), and within 20 minutes he had gotten it all off cleanly.

It's also a good idea to try to piece together the shed to make sure it's all there. Look for the head piece especially and make sure the eyes shed - that part can stick and it can cause serious health issues if it builds up over multiple sheds. I've watched my pet store lady soak and peel old shed layers off of eyes before and it's not fun. Watching her do that was actually my first up-close experience with a snake, and I think it's what got me hooked because I had never thought about their care or medical needs before.

Personally, I think that's a nice looking shed, but that's only because Stan poops so much that he always blows his shed from the tail end before he gets the whole thing off. Three times and still no picture-perfect one!

[wodesorel]

Also - had she not been pooping? I had read that most snakes will want to eat after they eliminate. I have a poop machine upstairs who has slowed done from multiple times a day to multiple times a week, but I'm pretty sure he's incredibly abnormal. I read these amazing stories online about magical snakes who only poop once per meal and wonder how I can get one of those.

[CallaLily]

This was the first she's pooped for us. Still no interest in a f/t mouse though. Should we have waited longer to try to feed her after her shed? I think she got all the shed off but I will check over the pieces just in case. This morning the acurite is reading 58%. High is 62%, low is 57%.

[Axiluvia]

This was the first she's pooped for us. Still no interest in a f/t mouse though. Should we have waited longer to try to feed her after her shed? I think she got all the shed off but I will check over the pieces just in case. This morning the acurite is reading 58%. High is 62%, low is 57%.

I'm thinking about getting a ball python soon, and the breeder I'm getting it from only does live feeds... I want to transfer it to f/t myself, so knowing how the process goes would be really helpful! For the... freshly killed stage, do you do it yourself, or can you have the pet store do it, or what?