Dash... a good story on how he got his name

Ok, so I met with my breeder the night we picked up my spider and one of my larger female normals. I asked the breeder to bring along the mojave male/female pair he had because we were considering picking up a male (and possibly another female if we really liked her) so anyway long story short the breeders wife was holding the bin that had the mojos in it while we looked at the two snakes we were already getting for sure. She had set the bin down on the floor board of their SUV without the lid secured and one of the mojos got out, they spent the next several hours trying to get it out of the dash board. So we told the breeder we had to think about whether or not we wanted the mojo male right now (not knowing it was the male that got trapped in the dashboard) So several nights ago we ask the breeder to take another look at the male and sure enough it was the male that was trapped in the dashboard. He was in shed but had some obvious damage to his scales, hoping it would look better after the shed we took him home for QT and crossed our fingers he would be ok with minimal to no damage..

Sadly, tonight we see him post shed and it looks as though he lost a few scales after his fight with the dashboard.. were hoping it isnt too obvious as he grows but we know chances are its going to stay the way it is now... We chose to keep him anyway and the breeder made right by refunding some of our money, we had the option to get a complete return on him but we chose not to....

So without further adieu... Here is our male mojo who will hopefully make us babies in new year, Dash, as in dashboard... aka Thursday ;)

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and the damage eekk... you can see it in the first picture also of his body shot.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2383/...13e3713d4c.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2162/...b23d20e445.jpg
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Hes very jumpy/nervous... when I was done with the pics he was tucked away in his enclosure to be left well enough alone for awhile.. im hoping with time he can trust the Godzilla like people who pulled him from the SUV dashboard... wish us luck with him.

He's handsome! I think it will go away with time. I've got some Sterilite tubs that have a bit that hangs down from the lid, and when the snakes try to crawl between where the lid clamps and that plastic piece, they get what I call "tub rub" and it gets white where it's rubbed against that hanging down part (I don't know what to call it, I guess I'll get pictures of it). After a few sheds - it goes away.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

He's handsome! I think it will go away with time. I've got some Sterilite tubs that have a bit that hangs down from the lid, and when the snakes try to crawl between where the lid clamps and that plastic piece, they get what I call "tub rub" and it gets white where it's rubbed against that hanging down part (I don't know what to call it, I guess I'll get pictures of it). After a few sheds - it goes away.

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wow, thank you robin.. that certainly is reassuring. That would be amazing if it went away...

he sure is spunky... do you think he will calm down? Hes more strikey/nervous than any of my other snakes (jaxson the baby boa included) im thinking its because of the trauma/stress he was under.. im hoping some time will calm him down. :gj:

thank you for commenting.. i was starting to wonder if the title said "dont respond" lol

Yah, I know how that is - I sometimes feel that way too. :P

Give him some time to get settled - how long have you had him? I find with age, even my most flighty ones mellow. I seriously doubt he was too traumatized - most likely his personality was like that before the dashboard incident - afterall - he was the one to "dash" away.

hehehe... dash, it couldnt be more fitting i swear! my husband came up with it, i wanted to call him trouble lol. I have had him since Thursday here and the "incident" happened about two weeks ago, give or take a day. I know I havnt had him long.. i was just concerned with him being strikey. I think hes hungry too, i offered him a mouse and he wouldnt strike/constrict he would just lunge at it and bash his face into the bin lol.. a bit amusing if you ask me.

He's probably just overwhelmed right now. I'm sure once he's had time to settle in and learn your routines he'll be just fine! :D

One other suggestion - if he seems like he's just completely stressed out and constantly striking - try putting some crumpled up newpaper in his enclosure - fill it up. That will give him a feeling of security and he'll feel something touching him from all sides and should help to settle him. You can start weaning him off of the paper once he's settled by removing a piece every few days.

I even would drop a small mouse in on feeding day (with the newspaper) and check back and mouse would be gone.

What a DOLLLLL!!!!!! Love the name.... lol He's got crazy-good eyes! :)

great to finally see him Ashley, hes awesome!!! :D:gj:

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Originally Posted by rabernet

One other suggestion - if he seems like he's just completely stressed out and constantly striking - try putting some crumpled up newpaper in his enclosure - fill it up. That will give him a feeling of security and he'll feel something touching him from all sides and should help to settle him. You can start weaning him off of the paper once he's settled by removing a piece every few days.

I even would drop a small mouse in on feeding day (with the newspaper) and check back and mouse would be gone.

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thats a great idea, thank you!!

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Originally Posted by Laooda

What a DOLLLLL!!!!!! Love the name.... lol He's got crazy-good eyes! :)

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:) thanks!

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Originally Posted by FL0OD

great to finally see him Ashley, hes awesome!!! :D:gj:

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:) I figured you would see it and it would save ya a PM thank you