our first day together

Haha, I make that mistake all the time. Everytime I go to type out snack, I end up typing snake right away as a habit, and have to backspace and correct it. And yes, just now I typed out snake when I tried to type snack in this post. :) Bah, did it that time too. There's something wrong with me. :)

hahahaha oops

it was a mouse and dexter happily ate it. he hasn't shed his skin yet... and i've been really sick (still am) with two very sick kids as well... so when i can stand up without passing out... i'll give dexter some more attention. we did manage to get his water changed today, which i thought was a huge achievement.

Haha, I'm perfectly healthy and I find the water changing to be a challenge. :P And that's with just two snakes...I dunno what I'll do if I start breeding and have a bunch of them to feed, clean, and give water to. :oops:

well i checked on him this morning and he's shedding... not in one piece but he's almost done. still some on his tail.

boy did he ever mess up his enclosure though LOL rubbing up against everything i guess... the aspen was all moved around - i think he was very happy to see me, putting everything back the way he likes it.

;)

Oh Aleesha, you poor thing and your poor kids! I know Christie (tigerlily) and her 2 little ones have been ill too. Sends you all get well vibes and crossing all my crossable bits that my own family doesn't get this rotten bug going around.


Lots of fluids people....hydration is our friend! :)



~~Jo~~

i know this sounds horrid but... i'm actually very thankful my kids have been sick with me this week. although i wasn't able to nap at all, cause i needed to care for them, it was nice to have the house quiet. the pressure in my head was so much, my hearing was very sensitive. had to mute the commercials on tv cause they were too loud (why do they do that? make them so loud aarrgghh) today is the first day i am able to talk on the phone without it causing me pain.

still can't walk around yet, but the kids are better and man are they ever noisey!!! if they had been healthy this week... i think my head may have exploded!

now, getting back to snakes LOL - just checked on dexter and he's partially shed... his humidity is very high, i have a piece of rough driftwood in there for him... so i guess all i can do is wait for him to shed the rest. i realize this thread is getting long, but i figure it's better to ask my questions in one thread rather than filling up the forum with my queries... this way, all the info regarding how novice i am is all here LOL

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. We've had 3 stomach bugs, 2 intestinal viruses and an ear infection w/croup. (please set that to the 12 days of Christmas music ;) ) Anyway, top it off with my son having two teeth capped and a baby tooth pulled and I've been swamped for the last two weeks!! :tears: Now if only the daughter would sleep at night, instead of barking like a seal. :slamhead:

Anyway, if you're feeling up to it I would just soak Daxter for a bit tomorrow if he's still not got it all off. No big deal. Rubbermaid like tub with an inch or two of water. Add one snake close it all up and stick it back into their enclosure. Instant sauna. Wait one hour and then the shed should just slide off. :D :thumbsup:

oh christie, that's horrible! i hope everyone is better soon in your home. my kids are bouncing off the walls, feeling sooo much better since they got to nap all week, meanwhile since i got no naps... i'm not quite as 'bouncy' as they are.

i'll do that for dexter tomorrow. ;)

aleesha

Isn't that always how it ends up? They suck our energy out, then they use it against us! It's so not fair, but such is life. ;)

Let us know how it goes..... :D

Don't worry too much either Aleesha that this first shed didn't come off complete or anything. That soaking Christie explained will sort him out. Some of our snakes came in with tons of retained shed or just a history of less than ideal husbandry that their first sheds with us were horrendous. With good husbandry practises it sorts itself out quite nicely and they can slip their skin with no assistance other than a temporary raise in humidity.


~~Jo~~

so i soaked dexter yesterday while i cleaned his viv... today when i brought him out to spend some time with us there was one little tiny patch still attached on him...

other than that, he's looking gorgeous!!! i can't believe how fat he is :w00t: he sheds his skin and all of a sudden he's waaaaaaaaaay bigger around. he's bigger around than an adult mouse... so do i have to increase his food cause i prefer to feed live and don't have anywhere to buy live rat babies from... so can he stay on mice? and how big till i have to change to rats?

Sounds like he's doing lovely!

You don't actually have to switch him to rats. Adam's said time and again that he has some lovely adult ball pythons that always take mice and they are just as healthy as the rat eaters so I'll go by his wisdom on this.

Most of ours eat rats simply because I can breed rats (and hate mice in the house) as well as it's just more efficient to feed a bunch of them a single larger rat than a few mice. However, having said that Rionach was raised on mice and switched to rats just awhile back. She's did just as well on multiple mice than she's doing on rats really...I can't see a significant difference in weight gain or feeding response from live mice to live rats.

He may well need to go up to multiple mice at some point but he'll likely do just fine on mice if that's what is easiest for you to acquire consistently for him. Just offer him a second one after he's got the first one well down and see how he does with it.

Again, going by the information I learned here you don't have to feed a prey item that's large enough to leave a big lump or anything. My Brannagh just barely looks a bit thicker after she eats but she's just hit 2,000 grams empty so I can't argue with the feeding advice that produces those results LOL.


~~Jo~~

whew... that's good to hear since we can get a constant supply of mice here but not live rats. and even feeding him multiple mice will be cheaper than feeding him rats since rats go for around $7 and mice $2.

thanks jo!