Banana/Coral Glow Emperor Pin Progression

Wow, been a while since I updated this- life's been keeping me pretty busy.

Horatio is doing very well, and growing like a weed! He now weighs 380 grams, despite not eating for two weeks in April (being wide enough to eat a large jumbo mouse does not mean he thinks he's ready to, apparently, or that he will stop pooping every two or three weeks). Last week he got a nice clean tub, and he and I are both getting a bit more comfortable with handling.

He has extremely lovely denim blue eyes. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...509668c450.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2885bead91.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...beea0e8e09.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...da80c6d7be.jpg

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Very gorgeous animal you have there! Congratulations and again, awesome critter.

Horatio shed tonight! It seems like I've been waiting for forever for him to shed again, since he last shed in March, but he'd been hiding in his warm hide for over a week, so I was hoping he was brewing a new skin. It's all in one piece save for the top of his head, which seems to be a consistent thing with him.

Contemplating attempting to feed him a rat pup instead of a mouse, since he should be nice and hungry, either tomorrow or Friday. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bee0086104.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...547e96d901.jpg

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Not only did Horatio eat for me after shedding, but I believe he also ate for me tonight as well! (I really doubt he dragged the mouse back into his hide and dropped it, but I don't like saying something for sure until I know for sure he did eat it.)

Switching to rat pups waa a no-go a couple weeks ago. I may try again in the future, but since he didn't eat for a month, my main prority is just getting him consistently feeding again. Offered him a jumbo mouse on the 15th, which he made quite a mess with- it didn't burst, but somehow he got blood all over himself and his warm hide, the dork. It was the biggest meal he'd ever had, so I waited 10 days instead of the usual 7. Let this one do some thawing on his tub beforehand, and he was locked, loaded, and ready to fire! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...20267af599.jpg

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Ohhhhhh my gosh...

1 week of no food to let him get nice and hungry for his transition to rats turned into 2 weeks of no food because he was un shed, which then became 3 weeks of no food because he shed, but eh, wasn't actually hungry. Gave him 9 days, and tried again tonight.

Woof! Not only did he strike his rat, but he didn't even bother to drag it inside one of his hides. I've never seen him eat before, so I'm super excited, but he has some, um, peculiar contortions to try to suck his rat down ASAP. I guess no one told him about the helpfullness of gravity...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ac00ac7d61.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a8727b4cdc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...65c0b7a631.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...db00f72276.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...91c824b97d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7a8f587586.jpg

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He's GORGEOUS!! Congrats on your new scaly family member!! :D

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Originally Posted by Gemini Pythons

He's GORGEOUS!! Congrats on your new scaly family member!! :D

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Thank you! It's been an exciting, and at times anxiety-ridden experience. If only the rest of my family were as low-maintenance. :rolleye2:

Oy.

Tonight was an ordeal. Still learning how to feed big, floppy rats with gargantuan floppy heads, so I had to do a lot of reheating and re-offering. Fortunately, Horatio seemed quite hungry, and waited calmly and patiently for me to get my crap together.

Also, the rats are getting manicures from now on. One of the rear claws snagged on his bottom jaw on the way down, which was disconcerting for all involved. Luckily he seems to have gotten it resolved, much to his relief as well I'm sure.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2a281a9e84.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6d470a554c.jpg

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Originally Posted by Pengil

Oy.

Tonight was an ordeal. Still learning how to feed big, floppy rats with gargantuan floppy heads, so I had to do a lot of reheating and re-offering. Fortunately, Horatio seemed quite hungry, and waited calmly and patiently for me to get my crap together.

Also, the rats are getting manicures from now on. One of the rear claws snagged on his bottom jaw on the way down, which was disconcerting for all involved. Luckily he seems to have gotten it resolved, much to his relief as well I'm sure.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2a281a9e84.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6d470a554c.jpg

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Try waiting until the snake is settled under a hide then dangle the warm rat over the entrance.. some will only strike from within their hides .

Guess you can snip the feet off to make things easier ..

Years ago I had adopted a Royal who'd only eat thawed chicks but they were soooooo cute that I had to snip off their heads and feet so I was just having to feed balls of yellow fluff each time ( 3 at each meal) ..


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Try waiting until the snake is settled under a hide then dangle the warm rat over the entrance.. some will only strike from within their hides .

Guess you can snip the feet off to make things easier ..

Years ago I had adopted a Royal who'd only eat thawed chicks but they were soooooo cute that I had to snip off their heads and feet so I was just having to feed balls of yellow fluff each time ( 3 at each meal) ..


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He was actually under his hide the whole time, but he came out after he ate for a brief while. He's a pretty jumpy snake, so I'm working on learning how to puppet the rat in a way that prevents the head from flopping in apparently terrifying ways. This was also only his 3rd rat ever, so I feel that could be a factor as well. I'm experimenting with making the rat damp as well, since he's responded very well to damp or wet rats (although corolation does not equal causation).

It's funny how removing something as seemingly insignificant as the feet can change how we feel about feeding an animal. [emoji23] I may try de-footing the rats if it seems like more than a one-off.

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