How am i doing?

My new baby Lenny
So far everything has been going the only bad thing that happen kinda big is his temperature/humidity gage somehow got glued to the underside if his jaw he either claimed on it or it fell im not sure. He got it off i rushed him to the vet they said he would be fine just tore some skin and now he is having a bad shed im a currentley following the tuteral on putting him in the water and letting him soak. My temperature on the warm side is usually around 86 89and the humidity is around 60 sometimes higher its extremely humid were i live. He hasnt eaten in 2 and a half weeks im guessing because of the bad shed when i was going to feed him his eyes were gray so i decided to wait. Ive tried to feed him him fresh killed mice twice sense then he just look at them or curls around them he event laid his head on one. The first one looked to big so i went to a reptile store and got a smaller one he seamed more interested in it but didn't eat it. He has eaten for me before. He is looking a little skinny and i just want him to be ok he seams to love his enclosure doesn't mind being handled sometimes tries to climb back out when i put him back other times cant wait to be home runs around checks everything out the goes to a hide.

I would just like to know how you guys think im doing and what i can do for him/how long he can go without eating the vet says he is 5 to 6 months old (i don't know the sex just he but the name).
Also do you thing there is any way he hasn't eaten because his jaw is sore it was twisted all around and bent. than you i will really appreciate any advice or suggestions anything to help him be happy and healthy.






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what type of substrate are you using?

If your humidity is high why is it having a bad shed?

Often snakes won't eat around a shed.

I dont remember exactly i threw the bag away i think it was this one. but i got it at pet smart for like 13 bucks

http://www.thatpetplace.com/forest-floor-bedding-8qt

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The only reason i can think of that he would be having a bad shed is that some of the skin on his jaw and neck got ripped off when the gage got stuck to it and there was some blood.

Is that spot the only bad spot? That spot may take a few sheds to heal up all the way.

Hi! I know exactly why he's having a bad shed. You explained in your previous thread how you bathed your snake when it was in the blue. I explained in the same thread that bathing a snake before a shed will strip the natural essential oils of the snake needed to shed properly. And because you bathed him before, he's having a poor shed now. The lubrication to allow the skin to slide off has been washed away. Next time don't bathe your snake and let him do all the work. If theres any shed still stuck AFTER the beginning if the initial shed, you can assist him then. But before is a no no.

If you can't get the rest of his shed off now, just wait till the next shed cycle and get the humidity up. He should shed everything then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lenny's mom

But other then that he is doing great i noticed his eyes were gray the other day and he was he looking dry when i got home today i work night shift so i ran some warm bath water and sprayed shedding assistance stuff i got from the store in it put him in and he swam around not that it was really deep enough for him to do much swimming and tried to climb the sides after 10 15 min i took him out he ran around on my hands for a minute i misted his home with the same stuff. them 2 lol.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Also, giving a bath prior to shedding is actually bad. It strips the natural oils of the snake that assist shedding. So if your snake is shedding in many pieces rather than one whole piece, that's typically not normal. If a snake is having a bad shed, giving a bath then is more appropriate. But there are less stressful ways to assist a bad shed. For example, you can put him in a warm damp pillow case for an hour. The friction of moving around in the pillow case will rub the shed off.

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Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I didn't give him a bath when he was in blue it was over a week later. I apologize if i made you think otherwise all of his bottom shed is off and the tip of the tail and right behind his head is starting to come off. He was just crawling around on me and i was rubbing him a little and petting him. He seemed happy. Event laid his head on my hand and yawned i don't know if that is a good sign or not. I just put him back and he is trying to climb back out and following me around the room but im hoping he is going to start rubbing some more shed off it was starting to come up but im not going just peal it may hurt him so if all the shed isnt completely off he will be ok?

Oh and what do you think of his habitat?

Don't bath your snake. Not now, not ever. Just maintain the proper humidity instead.

Bathing snakes is silly and unnecessary.

So you are using an analog hygrometer? Those things are horribly inaccurate. Also, it doesn't matter how humid the ambient air is where you live. I see you're using a heat lamp. Those things will suck all the humidity out of your tank and I can tell from the pics that your substrate is very dry. This is probably why your snake is having a bad shed. Inaccurate hygrometer + heat lamp = humidity issues. Wal-Mart sells a digital thermomter/hygrometer by Accurite and they are worth their weight in gold.

As for the feeding, he is quite thin and looks dehydrated. You said you're feeding him mice and felt the one mouse was too big. To be honest, judging from the pics, he could (and should) be taking full grown mice or better yet, rat pups (3 week old unweaned rats).

x2 on what AK907 said.

I would also invest in two identical tight fitting hides.
I think you're using a pvc pipe type thing and a big log?
Baby balls tend to feel more secure if they can feel all sides of a hide. And maybe black out the sides and back of your tank to add more security.

I just got that after he got the other one stuck to his face im going to go to wall mart to get a better one tonight and something to block out the sides of the tank i have been putting a small blanket over half at night. I was going to try see if i could get a baby rat at the reptile store ive also heard that rats are more fating he was thin when i got him and hasn't eaten sense he has been shedding but im going to try again tonight. i have a heat pad should i just use that and not the heat light. But i heard to use those all the time to hook it to a thermostat and i need to get one perhaps at wall mart as well or one off of the internet. I'm also going to order a temperature gun. Ill take a look at new hides to i tried box shaped things he seams to prefer tubes.

Don't use your heat mat without a thermostat. When you use your heat meat, it should be on all the time, but it is dangerous to use without a thermostat and you have far too much substrate to use a heat mat. Your heat lamp should also be regulated somehow, even a simple dimmer switch is better than nothing. And keeping your humidity up is as simple as misting your substrate with a spray bottle. How much depends on a lot of factors. Usually once or twice a day.

For a cheap thermostat, this works: http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...arm+thermostat

But... If you can afford it, these are top notch: http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Im going to go to wall mart tonight and get a new thermometer/hygrometer the vet just told me to get strips when i took him. I also typical put a small blanket over half of his tank but i will find something to block out the side's perhaps aquarium backgrounds. I would really like to build him a better home but i had to get a car this week mine broke down so moneys tight. I'm planing to going to the reptile store in a little bit and see if they have baby rats i heard they are more fating and he has been skinny since the day i got him and hasn't been eating since he started shedding.Im hopping he will tonight. Oh and i have a heat pad but no thermostat i need to order one should i stop using the heat lamp?Also i will look in to hides but unfortunately that may have to wait a week.:(


What should i do if he wont eat? I read somewhere that if you take the pray and rub it on there nose there instincts will kick and they will eat but im not so sure of that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lenny's mom

Im going to go to wall mart tonight and get a new thermometer/hygrometer the vet just told me to get strips when i took him. I also typical put a small blanket over half of his tank but i will find something to block out the side's perhaps aquarium backgrounds. I would really like to build him a better home but i had to get a car this week mine broke down so moneys tight. I'm planing to going to the reptile store in a little bit and see if they have baby rats i heard they are more fating and he has been skinny since the day i got him and hasn't been eating since he started shedding.Im hopping he will tonight. Oh and i have a heat pad but no thermostat i need to order one should i stop using the heat lamp?Also i will look in to hides but unfortunately that may have to wait a week.:(


What should i do if he wont eat? I read somewhere that if you take the pray and rub it on there nose there instincts will kick and they will eat but im not so sure of that?

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Do you have a way of raising/lowering your heat lamp's height? That will probably suffice in the mean time as a crude way of regulating your temps. I've had to do this in a pinch before. Just keep an eye on it and you should be just fine.

Refusal to eat is generally a husbandry issue, which you're in the process of working on, so once your husbandry is spot on, he should eat. A skipped meal or two, even at his size, isn't the end of the world and no reason to panic just yet. You mentioned rubbing the prey's nose. I think you are thinking about how some folks "brain" their prey items, which is essentially opening up the skulls of the mouse/rat so that brains and blood leak out. This creates more smell and it can help trigger a stronger feeding response. This is definitely worth a try. Live feeding also helps a lot too. There are a million methods out there, but I would start simple and you're on the right track so far.

Hides don't have to be anything fancy. I'd be willing to bet you have great hides just laying around your house. They can be anything from empty tissue boxes to plastic ice cream tubs, flower pots or bowls with a hole cut out. As long as it is dark and tight, your ball will love it!

Aquarium background is perfect for blacking out the sides of your tank, but anything your snake can't see through would work just fine. Be creative.

He ate Friday live pray after following it around for a bit :P

X2

If I want to assist with a bad shed AFTER, I usually take a one of those snake bags (burlap, or something a bit rough to the touch), and run it under hot water as hot as I can stand.

I quickly wring it out just enough so that is doesn't drip much, and put the snake inside it soaking, and in it's tub. By the time crawls out, the remaining skin usually sloughs right off! Works for me whenever I have the problem, which is rare.

Don't worry about the temp of the water being too hot for your snake. The 10 secs it take you to wring the bag, and get the snake in it allows it to cool down to the point where it's safe for the animal.