our first day together

[recycling goddess]

well we brought dexter home from the breeder on saturday and put him in his new viv and left him alone. so this afternoon i decided to see if he was in the mood to come out for a while. i don't want to stress him out.

so my son was holding him in his hand and he was a tight little ball... and within about 10 minutes he was relaxing and another 5 minutes and he was off exploring the couch. we have a 210 gallon fish tank behind the couch and when dexter discovered the tank... well let's just say he was in heaven

he stared at the tank for almost an hour LOL - the kids were thrilled cause they were holding him while he stared at the fish and he was so gentle with them... he didn't ball up again, even when my 6 yr old was holding him. he was still very relaxed.

what a great first day

[tigerlily]

Congrats on the new addition.

Ummm, not to be a killjoy but you really need to allow the snake a week of settling in and at least one meal (with the obligitory 48 hours no handling after). I know it really sucks, but it truely is better. Allow the snake the one week, then short handling sessions around 15 minutes. Too much handling and you may have a noneating snake.

[recycling goddess]

really? no handling at all, not even for short periods?

wow, this is gonna be tough...

[tigerlily]

Nope no handling. I just finished up a week of no handling with my 3 new babies. And even longer with one, since he didn't take his first meal. Picky little booger. It completely and totally sucks, but it's good for them to acclimate and get settled.

[recycling goddess]

*ties hands behind back*

okay, no more handling until he eats and then for another 48 hours. i promissssssssssssssse.

[frankykeno]

Hardest part of getting a new snake is leaving it be that first week other than a quick visual check, changing water or removing urates & feces but it truly is for the best.

The little snake may not show stress immediately from too much handling, too soon but it has been shown to sometimes cause feed refusals.

Especially with kids, it's hard to enforce the hands off rule but we just tell ours that the snake doesn't know us and even though we are nice people, we can scare it so it's best to just leave it be till it feels safer.

Best of luck with your lovely new snake!


~~Jo~~

[Stings]

my 1 week and 2 days is up today. fed her saturday afternoon so i had to wait 2 extra days. if i can hold out anyone can. mine tore into her mouse so quick i almost missed it when i blinked.

[frankykeno]

Isn't it amazing how fast and accurate they can be! One minute just still and then WHAMMO! Even little Malachi hits so hard the first time I fed him from tongs he slammed his dinner across the tub LOL.


~~Jo~~

[recycling goddess]

thanks for your support everyone... i told the kids it's for his health and they understood that

so they are now counting the days LOL

[recycling goddess]

i haven't held him... but i've been watching him in his viv. he's so cute. he stretches so tall and touches the lid, raises himself up his driftwood and slithers around... exploring every inch of his new home.

i looooooove my new baby!