Joules's Shedding Problem

This is the husband. Thanks for all the good advice.

I think the advice on the digital thermometers will probably help quite a bit...I've been concerned about the tempature a lot lately too...We've been having a very cold last couple of weeks here. This is our first one..so I'm sure we'll be back for more advice.

Again, thanks for the advice. :)

Well we had a sauna last night and we're feeling better. He's managed to get about 1/2 of the skin off of his body (lower portion). Trying again in a few days.

I did have another question though: feeding. Even through all this Joules just keeps on eating, that's not the problem. Even though he ate 2 days ago, I'm wanting to make sure I'm feeding him the right size of mouse/rat...there are SO many choices. Also with that choice, can you recommend time between feeds?

I've read the forums and some have said the head of the mouse should be as big around as his head or his belly. He digs the f/t so I'm just going to keep it that way.

Joules vs. The Nickel
http://www.geocities.com/xsorcererx1/joulesbelly.jpg http://www.geocities.com/xsorcererx1/jouleshead.jpg

Everyone has been great, thank you so much for the helpful information!

>^.^<

Can anyone help me out?

Hi there,


Well I'm foreign so I don't really know what size a nickel is. :)

But yes largest part of prey should be the same or smaller than the thickest part of the snake when they are sub adult - but a lot of people on here suggest making a small rat the maximum size you ever feed no matter how much larger the snake gets to prevent it getting over fed and going on a hunger strike. You could also use 2 full grown mice as a substitute for the small rat when he gets big enough if he is reluctant to switch prey (some ball pythons can be really fussy about switching others don't seem to care).

I agree on keeping him on f/t - nothing can be more convenient than having a freeezer full of snake food you can defrost at a couple of hours notice.

Feeding schedule most recomended is one appropriately sized prey item every 5-7 days as this gives his digestive system time to recover between meals. When he is reaching the stage where he is almost ready for a larger meal you can try offering him 2 prey items one straight after the other. Also as he gets older move to a 7-10 day cycle of feeding. I stick to every 7 days and it's worth noting the snakes seem to get used to a regular schedule and know when they feeding day is coming around I think. :D

This schedule also has the advantage of having 3-4 days or so you can handle him or try and remove that shed as it's considered good practice not to handle or disturb the snakes for at least 48 hours after they have eaten to allow them to digest their meal in peace. You can still spot clean the cage etc as necessary though - just keep it to a minimum of disturbance if possible. :)


Basically find what the snake prefers as they are all slighly different in funny ways - if you havent already have a good read of the caresheet section of this site as it covers a lot of this ground in a slightly better writing style than I can muster.:P

(I'm still seeking help for my smiley addiction)



dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I'm wondering if the nightly baths are part of the problem. I'd do the soaking as suggested every other day or so. Sometimes overdoing it with soaking/bathing a snake can cause the reverse of what you want. It can leech out the needed layer of liquid between the old and new skin and create more problems than it fixes.

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I've had good luck with daily soaks, around the time the eyes clear (3 or so days prior to shedding). I have heard that short soaks can cause problems by actually dehydrating the snake further. I try to make my soaks an hour or two. Just food for thought.

As for size of prey - I would imagine he could easily handle small/medium mice. I'd start off with one every 7 days for a few feedings, then if he does well with that, you could then start offering two each week (on the same feeding day).


Regardless of age or prey size, I feed all of mine once every 7 days, although there are some that feed babies every 5 days. I've not had any problems with good growth on every 7 days myself.