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Morzan and Homura - BRBs
So my two new BRBs arrived in the mail yesterday! I paid them off in January or February, but the weather hasn't been warm enough to ship them until now. The hypo is Homura, a female born on June 20, 2015, and the male is Morzan, a Picasso stripe born on July 20, 2015. The male is much smaller than the female, and I've been told he's sensitive about prey size so to keep the prey size small, so he'll be on mouse fuzzies for awhile. He's 70 grams, even lighter than Sanji was at that age, and the female is nearly Sanji's size at 124 grams. These were all taken in the bag, so they could be a few grams lighter.
The male came out snapping, and has proven to be the shyest rainbow I've received from Dave thus far, and only came out when every light was turned off. He's been hiding the entire rest of the time. lol
Here he is eyeballing my wrist with the probable intent to bite it.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psusk9oglg.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pssxcvt3cq.jpg
The female on the other hand, had no such wish to bite or strike, and instead decided she was a carpet python or something and was reaching out at everything to try to grab. She's very very strong, to so it was hard to hold her in one hand so that I could get all of her in one photo. Very wriggly girl, but maybe she'll calm down once she settles in.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psm5y4fv30.jpg
In her tub, before I remembered to add some moss to keep the humidity up, pure paper towels just dry out too quickly.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psvy6de9oy.jpg
And some photos from later that day when I got back from school.
She could fit her whole body in that bowl (without being able to move, and overflowing with water at that height), but all she wanted to do was soak her neck. lol
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8kas1tzl.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psja0wbkeb.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psltkgkapk.jpg
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Beautiful
Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk
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Yesterday was supposed to be feeding day for these two, but one is blue and the other is possibly in shed as well. Homura ended up eating anyways, since I didn't notice she could be in shed until she'd already taken her mouse. That means River, Nymeria, and Morzan are definitely in shed, and Homura and Draco may be in shed.
I'm not yet familiar with what hypos look like in shed, so I could be wrong about her being in shed.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psd0h19uya.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psyavr2omb.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psaomqht0d.jpg
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Gorgeous animals GTB!
I love that picture of Homura looking at the mouse while holding it. :)
Congrats on your new beauties.
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Thanks Reinz! They really are beautiful! I'm so glad to finally have a camera that can accurately display my snakes' colors, so I could show off their true colors when they arrived. :P I didn't realize just how much my phone camera's quality affected the frequency of my photo-taking until my mom got her Nikon. My phone camera is decent and has taken a few photos you would think were DSLR without the information but it's still just...off, and I wanted to show them all as they were.
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I get disappointed with the color being off a bit with my iPhone/iPad pics as well.
Your pictures came out very nice.
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Here are some photos of Homura deep in blue! So looks like I was right. :P
https://36.media.tumblr.com/c0980313...tato1_1280.jpg
https://36.media.tumblr.com/cc742d82...tato2_1280.jpg
Morzan shed and ate yesterday, he got the smallest mouse from the hopper bag, barely bigger than a pinkie. If all goes well, he'll get a regular-sized fuzzy mouse next.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psdk8y0ute.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pspi0tm74k.jpg
Here he is stretching out after his meal. I'll give him another meal before I begin handling. Homura will also be getting another meal before I start handling her, since by the time she sheds she'll be ready to eat again.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6q2guddu.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pswxntfrfv.jpg
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Homura shed today! I took some outdoor photos to capture her colors better, and then offered her a mouse. I gave her one of the mice I raised myself, forgetting that I'd grown them to small adult mouse size before culling them...but, she's got more girth than Sanji, so the bulge wasn't all that bad despite her being smaller than him. I also think they're a bit smaller in size than the small adult mice I have from Big Cheese despite being the same weight....Next time she'll get a hopper.
I also changed out Morzan and Homura's bedding completely, so I snapped a few photos of my other ball python. :P I've got two ball pythons that aren't even ball pythons!
I found her like this when I went in to change her bedding...I was looking around and didn't see her body peeking out from the moss and I was like "Oh no she's gotten out where is she...wait...what's that weird blob in the corner of my vision? Oh my gosh, not again."
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pshjf5uemy.jpg
I love the weird Roman-nosed dog-faces hypos have, I wish she'd sit still long enough for me to get a good close up. lol She's a lot more active than Sanji or Morzan, and hasn't balled up on me yet.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psihor5uri.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psuo7z2wmo.jpg
Grabbing the mouse. She got it down really quickly, so it definitely wasn't a chore. By the time I sat down, transferred the photos off the card, and went and checked up on her, she'd already finished the mouse and was crawling off. Couldn't have been more than 2-3 minutes.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psfjrqfhar.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psp67esrwi.jpg
And Morzan balling up defensively when I took him out. Sorry little buddy, but you have to come out if I'm going to give you new bedding! I've decided to go full moss, because the paper towel gets gross quickly and molds.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psdx4olocz.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psg1zkxnlp.jpg
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Gorgeous rainbows!
A week or so ago, I was down in Reno... stopped at Petco to see what they had for rodent food, and they had two little baby BRB's in a cage. On wood chip bedding, otherwise completely bare - they didn't even have a water dish, let alone humidity, nor a single hide. I wasn't going to support them by buying... but I did chew out some employees. Poor things had buried themselves in the bedding, and when the fellow started misting the cage, they both came flying out to soak in the mist, faces up and mouths open. I just hope the employee kept it up. I felt pretty bad about leaving them there, but a BRB is a future goal for me... I'm not set up for one now at all. Nor would I buy from Petco.
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
If they were gaping it's possible it was a defensive reaction, but yeah, I saw some BRBs at a local Petco and they were similarly kept. Poor thing looked withered. The BRBs at the small time pet store a county over were in better shape, and so absolutely teeny.
It's better not to buy animals from there even though it's sad. :( They'll just replace it with two more.
Hopefully you'll have the means soon! I've had great luck with humidity by just giving them dampened moss.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Not gaping - they were trying to drink the mist, they were so thirsty. Mouths open a little bit, then closing to try and swallow, and opening again. Made me pretty angry to see them like that, but at least one of the employees was pretty furious when I pointed it out, as well - they'd just come in that day, and the guy who stuck them in there put a heat lamp on them... with no source of any water or cover. Lady was planning on chewing him out, too. I hate to see any animal kept in bad conditions - even if it's just food, it deserves quality of life while life lasts.
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Morzan seems to be settling in nicely, no regurges so far, and he's eaten two meals with me. His last meal was a full-sized fuzzy mouse and his next feeding is later today. He's gotten over his snappiness, but still gives me the stink eye the entire time I have him out. haha
From his last feeding.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6otkpl3s.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0rh4cqvb.jpg
And some photos from his first real handling session!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1689/2...bd6b39ce_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1658/2...134fb31b_b.jpg
This photo was taken 3 days after he ate, of the bulge from his fuzzy. It was barely noticeable in photos.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1617/2...e9fa6ab3_b.jpg
And I've finally got that Canon Rebel I was talking about getting! haha So here's some photos of Morzan that I took with the "new" Canon.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psy6cso0ne.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2qg7hpty.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pskwxklxxm.jpg
It's hard to believe he's almost a month older than Homura!
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psikkcch01.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psleymkkqw.jpg
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I went to get Homura out, and she snapped at me! I must have really surprised her, because that's the first time she's done this. She didn't connect, and once I got her belly on a finger she was back to normal.
I've had to put her back on paper towels for the time being, with just a bit of moss bunched up under one hide. I'm going to drill a few more holes down near the bottom to aid in air flow, because I went to get her out this weekend and her moss was covered in white! I had taken her out the day before without a sign of mold anywhere...picking up the moss sent a thick cloud of spores everywhere....
SOOO yeah, I'm hoping adding air flow near the level of the moss will keep that from happening again. She's had two bedding changes since I got her, but I've never seen her's mold like this....All the water from the moss seemed to just gather in a pool on the bottom of the tub instead of evaporating. Very strange, the same problems aren't happening in Sanji's or Morzan's tub, and they've got about the same amount of ventilation.
I don't spray their bedding, I drop the moss in a bucket of water, pick it up and squeeze it until no more water comes out, and put it back in. I've found the color drains away and the moss goes brown if I just spray it.
She's a chubby girl, easily has the biggest girth out of the three of them. Hasn't turned down a meal yet, and I was told she's a pig. You can certainly tell!
She's also very strange to handle. She doesn't really grab onto me like the other two rainbows and my boa constrictors, and when she does grip, her grip is weak. Not sure if that's because she doesn't feel the need to, or because of her chubbiness, or just because she still needs to get the hang of holding on. I'm always feeling like she's gonna fall, and she just lets her body loosely hang off my hands and doesn't always try to grab anything when she does start to fall, that's all on me.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psmsku5ove.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psaeqo68ts.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psijpiqvzd.jpg
And these are the photos I took yesterday.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3i4j49nj.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psroad0z1g.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psoylw8d0e.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pssdpdhjv4.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...pscjikr2t7.jpg
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I really like how much lighter Homura is compared to Morzan! Both are very pretty, though. :) And congrats on the new camera! I need to get my snakes outside more this year and get some pictures of them with the good camera...
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratchet
I really like how much lighter Homura is compared to Morzan! Both are very pretty, though. :) And congrats on the new camera! I need to get my snakes outside more this year and get some pictures of them with the good camera...
Thanks! Homura's my lightest rainbow, and Sanji is my darkest. Haha Morzan sits in the middle.
All the warm days are on my work days (go figure), but I didn't have to go in until late in the day, so I managed a few snaps yesterday. I'm hoping today and Thursday are warm, too, so I can get some more outdoor shots before I leave for the Atlanta Repticon.
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I've made a few changes to their bedding since my last post. First I tried pure cypress mulch, now I've got roughly 1/3 cypress mulch and 2/3 EcoEarth and I'm a lot happier with it. No mold and it holds humidity better than cypress by itself. Looks nicer, too. haha
Here's Morzan threatening to bite on his pure cypress mulch (with a padding of moss in the corner which molded quickly so I had to throw it away).
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psxqi9xm4f.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psrqbrxenl.jpg
He's a little dramatic sometimes. This was after I changed his bedding and placed him back in his tub.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psujct3juf.jpg
Ever since that handling session, he's been a doll! He's still nervous, and almost never comes out of his ball, but he's getting better. I can even gently brush bedding off his head now without him freaking out. :)
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psff7kpsga.jpg
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/...psmh12ozhl.jpg
And Homura looks prettier and prettier every shed.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1676/2...31655cc0_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1596/2...754463d5_h.jpg
Her white walls have been way more impressive than I thought they were going to be! Everyone has always said they don't stand out so much with hypos because of their light color, but her white walls just glow!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1581/2...13bad26d_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1598/2...cc3cb333_h.jpg
He's still on small meals.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1492/2...667094c0_h.jpg
The bulge after 2 days.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1596/2...70d5c453_h.jpg
First sign of shed in Homura.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1474/2...fa7135b4_h.jpg
I fed her anyway, because at the time I wasn't certain she was actually going into shed. Her behavior made me think she was. She's a lot less enthusiastic about food when she sheds, but she still eagerly takes her food. Here, she didn't strike, just gently took the mouse and set her belly on top of it instead of wrapping.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1720/2...af317825_h.jpg
Homura about a week later.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1561/2...5a7e40a0_h.jpg
And the following day.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1482/2...14b15e7f_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1518/2...5b7e3800_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1603/2...02684cc7_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1696/2...b50cf7ac_h.jpg
They look like they're in the middle of mitosis.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1630/2...123867c4_h.jpg
Reeaaaaach. One of the few times he felt adventurous enough to explore.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1571/2...8880b5e3_h.jpg
I was checking up to see if Morzan was going into shed because everyone else was, and at the time he didn't seem like it. He also didn't appreciate me rubbing his tail. Earlier this week, he looked bluish though so he's getting there!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7434/2...5aca5a9b_b.jpg
Post shed Homura. :) She was very pink, but looks orange in these photos.
https://67.media.tumblr.com/5e0cf6f9...tato6_1280.jpg
You can see it a bit better here.
https://67.media.tumblr.com/cfbe770e...tato1_1280.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/19cc1957...tato2_1280.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/494113f1...tato5_1280.jpg
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It doesn't look like I updated on Morzan here, so the short story is:
Morzan has always been thin, and he's undersized due to his stomach condition. He hasn't gained a single gram since I got him, so I wanted to try to increase his prey size so that he was getting more food and put on some weight. Unfortunately, I probably didn't take it slow enough, because 3 feedings in, he regurged. He wasn't even up to hoppers yet, the mouse I gave him may have been a 5-6 gram fuzzy. He was 55 grams when he arrived, and at that size Sanji was being moved up to hopper mice no problem. Morzan can barely take fuzzies.
So right now, the plan is give him pinkies for 3-4 feedings with NutriBAC, then give him the smallest fuzzies I have and slowly move him up in 1 gram intervals until he's taking 4 gram fuzzies. Each time I move up a gram, I give him that first mouse with NutriBAC. I am hoping he can at least take 4 gram fuzzies at his max, he really needs to start gaining weight if he's going to move up a size. I'm worried about him slowly starving to death over the course of the next couple of years. :(
As far as the regurge therapy goes, everything is going well with Morzan, and judging by this photo he may be going into shed. He's taken 3 pinkies in a row so far, and I plan on giving him 1-2 more feedings at this size before stepping him up.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7577/2...a9a016f2_b.jpg
Last time I fed Homura, I thought she was going into shed because she wasn't as enthusiastic about food as usual, which is a sure sign she's shedding based of previous shed cycles. But, I never saw her go blue so I thought I was wrong. Nope! Right after feeding her today (yesterday), she left me a nice gnarly rainbow poop, and a shed right next to it, that I found when I got off work. :)
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7628/2...00e2c662_b.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7628/2...6f2c6624_b.jpg
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Here's Morzan just coming out of his blue phase, he shed last week and took another pinky. I plan on making his next meal a 3 gram fuzzy mouse since he hasn't had another regurge. He also continues to be active, actually crawling in my hands rather than just sitting there.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/5439925e...tato4_1280.jpg
Here's Homura a few days after a meal.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8288/2...1045e5fb_b.jpg
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Very very nice, congrats.
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I am continuing to slowly up the size of Morzan's meals, but I'm getting worried as he's losing weight. He arrived at 55 grams but now sits at 50 grams, there's been no regurges, but he's not getting a whole lot of food from 2 and 3 gram fuzzies.
These pictures illustrate why I'm so worried about upping his food intake, he's looked like this since getting him, as his whole life he's had to eat such tiny meals, he's quite underweight. I'm really hoping going as slow as I am will work to getting him eating more food and initiate some weight gain. He seems to have gotten bigger since getting him, but he's lighter.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8831/2...3c399a2b_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8613/2...9e40cab5_b.jpg
Homura continues to grow and was 175 grams last I weighed her.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8868/2...dcd34fa5_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8193/2...cc451840_b.jpg
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Hi there,
Maybe a slight dehydration issue is keeping his weight from ticking upwards? As you know, BRB's need a high-humidity setup to keep them healthy. I see that you have moss in there, which looks nice, and definitely helps with humidity, but creates mold and a mess in the tank. A couple of suggestions I made to another poster last week can be found here:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...15#post2457415
Until I changed over to this method many years ago, it was hard to keep my BRB's and CRB's happy and healthy. I never once saw, or had a mold issue when using this method and it stays moist for many days. I would literally soak the moss, throw it in there, add some more water every few days. A $4 piece of Tupperware makes all the difference. Hoping for a healthier RB when you next post an update. Peace.
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
I am not sure how far you read into the thread, but he no longer has any moss in his tub. He's definitely not dehydrated, his body and excrements show no sign of dehydration, and he sheds quite well.
He's on a mixture of EcoEarth and mulch right now, and I just dump a small amount of water and mix it up. I feel the humidity is high enough in the tub he probably doesn't need a humid hide, but I can try it later. I have had mold issues with humid hides before, or they dried out within a day or two, so I try to keep the whole enclosure at a nice level instead.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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As an update, I attempted to feed Morzan at the beginning of a shed cycle, as I was worried 2+ weeks without food would be too long with the weight he's losing. Unfortunately, it looks like he wasn't able to maintain both a shed cycle and digestion, and regurged a few hours later. I waited to feed him a 3 gram fuzzy until after he shed, and he's kept it down, and it's been almost a week now. So, no more feeding while in shed however much I'm worried. I haven't weighed him again yet, either, to give him time after the most recent regurge.
I may be seeing things, but I swear he's grown some in length since getting him, too. Could just be the angles but he looks slightly bigger. Dave told me just to go slow with his feedings and feed him what he can get down, and once he puts some size on he may improve. So for now I'll feed him 3 gram fuzzies to help with the regurge and move him up slowly to see what size is the biggest he'll reliably keep down. He says he believes he should still get about adult size, maybe on the small end, but we'll see. It will take a lot longer than usual of course, and I will definitely not ever be breeding him if I ever consider breeding rainbows.
https://67.media.tumblr.com/177d9cf1...tato1_1280.jpg
Homura continues to do well, and she's due for another weighing soon. She should be getting ready to move up to medium adult mice soon, just need to get my latest litter up to size (I missexed a few mice and had a surprise litter).
https://66.media.tumblr.com/5bcb7eee...tato1_1280.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/7db698d3...tato2_1280.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7510/2...0113865c_b.jpg
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First, the good news. Homura is growing nicely, and her last weight came in at 189 grams vs her 123 grams back when I got her in March. I've also moved her up to small medium adult mice (in the 18-20 gram range), and I've decided to extend her feedings to every 10-12 days now instead of waiting for her to be put on jumbos. She's growing extremely fast and remains a nice girth, so I doubt she'll be hurt by the extra time.
These photos were taken about half a week ago, the last photo was the same month I got her.
http://67.media.tumblr.com/838606790...tato5_1280.jpg
http://67.media.tumblr.com/0a45a7eaf...tato4_1280.jpg
http://67.media.tumblr.com/ae7966146...tato3_1280.jpg
http://66.media.tumblr.com/ae9e6f1c1...tato2_1280.jpg
http://67.media.tumblr.com/4b3611376...tato4_1280.jpg
Now onto the bad news...
Morzan has been appearing to go downhill for a couple months now. He started out not regurging at all until I tried to move him up to hoppers too quickly. From there, I started him on 2 gram fuzzies for about 4-5 feedings, and moved him onto 3 gram fuzzies for abut 6-7 feedings. Then he regurged again on a shed cycle, and kept the next several meals down (3 gram fuzzies). I gave him a 4 gram fuzzy right after he kept 2 or 3 fuzzies down, thinking that maybe he's regurging in shed now because he doesn't have the energy to doth both in an attempt to get some more food in him. That ended up being right before his next shed cycle and he regurged again, 6-7 days after eating his 4 gram fuzzy. I offered him a 3 gram fuzzy once he shed and he regurged, too. So now we're at present day, where I'm waiting until the 21st to give him another 3 gram fuzzy mouse and see if he starts keeping meals down again. Once he sheds again, I will be offering another 4 gram fuzzy, assuming he keeps his meals down. I have also bumped his heat tape from 80F to 85F to see if maybe he's too cold, I've been told some individuals regurge if kept at normal temps. So, for now it's a waiting game to see if he recovers.
He also had a weird scale issue that cleared up once he shed, at the time it was hard to tell if it was a fungal infection or dehydration, or something else. I still have no clue what happened, he appeared (and still does) fully hydrated both physically and when he pooped. It did clear up after he shed so I'm hoping it was just a fluke. His scales looked like normal scales, just without the pigment. Only a couple at the far right of the affected area were a bit messed up and slightly discolored.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8138/2...c7edd152_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8545/2...22d0590c_b.jpg
(Normal poop with normal urates - if not a large urate.)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8449/2...52a79cec_b.jpg
Some better photos with a fluorescent light to help sharpen the image vs just using flash.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8307/2...16deb308_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8070/2...27e5f671_h.jpg
He still comes out to explore at night and is still alive so I'm hoping for the best. When he last regurged, I was really worried because I picked him up and flipped him over to test his activity level and responsiveness, and it took several long moments to lift and turn his head to look at me. He never flipped over onto his belly. It really freaked me out, but since he's acting mostly normal since, I'm hoping once/if I start getting some food in him he'll perk back up. I'm unsure if I should attempt 5 gram fuzzies once/if he's keeping 4 grams down or remain with the 4 grams...I'll have to play it by ear. If he starts gaining back some weight, or even exceeding his original weight, I'll probably keep him on 4 grams, but I'm definitely not going to 6 grams for a long time. He came to me at 55 grams and is holding at about 50-51 grams.
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
I love how orange Homura is, i just love the colorations on brbs. Thats really distressing about Morzan, i was reading back in your thread and it said the breeder you got him from mentioned he had a feeding issue? But since you've had him for several months he has not gained any weight but may have lost a few grams?
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Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Yeah when I was making payments on him the breeder told me about the regurge issues. I probably should have asked for a different snake but I really like the look of Picassos and didn't realize the severity of the issues at the time. I was also heartbroken over the death of his sister and wanted a sibling to replace her. I thought he'd be a little behind in growth and I'd just have to go slow with him. He was nearly half the size of Homura and required even smaller males than I thought.
I've had him over half a year now, and he was maintaining weight the first half or so of the time I've had him, up until I was worried about him not gaining even a gram in weight over several months. I tried to move him to hoppers but went too fast and he regurged, since then he's been getting miniscule meals of 2 and 3 gram fuzzy mice and with a life of eating small meals it seems to be weakening him. The next two meals he regurged were when he went into shed so I thought just don't feed him in shed and he'd be fine but then he regurged again.
Over 3-4 months of eating 2 and 3 gram fuzzies he lost 4-5 grams but is currently holding steady. I'm hoping if he starts holding meals down again and gets onto 4 gram fuzzies he will at least go back up to regular weight. Then I'll be giving him a looong time before I attempt 5 gram fuzzies. I don't think he'll be able to take 6 gram fuzzies for awhile.
I've had several people now tell me they've had issues with their Picassos too so I'm probably going to avoid the morph altogether in the future.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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As an update on Morzan, I waited the 2 weeks to feed him a 3 gram fuzzy, and he kept it down and pooped it out. Unfortunately, he's lost even more weight. Just over the 2 week period, he went from 51 grams to 44 grams. :( I've given him another fuzzy mouse and he's kept it down thus far. He should poop it out any time now, and then go into shed soon after if he's still going to be shedding once a month. For now, it's still just a waiting game and hopefully once he's on 4 gram fuzzies reliably he'll start improving rather than maintaining or declining.
Homura, on the other hand, continues to do well and weighed in at 193 grams last week. Her feeding day is a few days late as I've been sick over the weekend, but I plan on feeding her tonight.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5702/3...7aeab077_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5511/3...01487208_h.jpg
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Homura looks great, she is really gorgeous, I love brb but tbh had always been a bit leery because I'd heard they were sort of touchy with feeding and humidity when they are young. I do hope Morzan turns around for you, crossing my fingers! Don't know anything about the morphs or issues with them but it does seem like this snake could have underlying issues causing a failure to thrive. I'm sure he is causing you a lot of worry, I would be a wreck in this situation. I have a hognose who was picky about eating when tiny and it caused me a lot of stress. She's a huge food pounding monster now though.
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
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Originally Posted by GoingPostal
Homura looks great, she is really gorgeous, I love brb but tbh had always been a bit leery because I'd heard they were sort of touchy with feeding and humidity when they are young. I do hope Morzan turns around for you, crossing my fingers! Don't know anything about the morphs or issues with them but it does seem like this snake could have underlying issues causing a failure to thrive. I'm sure he is causing you a lot of worry, I would be a wreck in this situation. I have a hognose who was picky about eating when tiny and it caused me a lot of stress. She's a huge food pounding monster now though.
Yeah I had two people tell me they had problems with their Picasso stripe and a third person they knew did as well. I'm really starting to think it's just a problem with the morph. Whether it's inherent like a spider wobble or an inbreeding issue idk. For now I'm just going to avoid them in the future.
He seems to be the most extreme case I've ever seen. He's roughly 1.5 years old and currently about 1/4 the weight of Homura, who is only a month older at most. I'm hoping if he made it this far he has a chance to get better but it's really hard to tell. He definitely has me way worried than my ball python ever has.
The others aren't really all that bad. If you have experience maintaining high humidity (60-70%) it's just a small step up from that to get BRBs right. Feeding generally isn't more of a problem than any other snake, get their husbandry right and they feed rather reliably. None of my rainbows have ever refused food.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Some more of Homura, no recent measurements, but she gets bigger by the day. Still in her gangly teenager phase, but once she's on jumbo mice/weaned rats she should put on girth if Sanji is anything to go off of.
I've been trying to get some sunlight shots by the windows, but the sky is always so dark from all the smoke lately all I have are these crummy flash photos, and they do not compliment her in the slightest. Just look at the flash vs sunlight photos throughout the thread. Gonna have to wait until spring. *sigh* In the meantime, we're all going to have to wish for rain because these fires are just ridiculous. They'd be easier to contain if everything wasn't so dry.
Some photos with light vs dark background to try to pinpoint her colors to no avail. At least in the second one you can still somewhat tell she's a nice vibrant hypo. lol
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5836/3...ec71a182_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5503/3...9ad12ab4_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5652/3...c992c3cd_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5510/3...4418ee06_h.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5832/3...d2987594_h.jpg
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Homura is yet another snake to go into shed.
http://i.imgur.com/oocHf10.jpg
In this photo you can actually see the milkiness, she's starting to go out of blue which is why the camera is having a hard time picking it up.
http://i.imgur.com/RdCnK8a.jpg
Now onto the special needs boy....
I fed him awhile ago and he actually pooped this time, he's holding his weight steady and gaining more strength. I took him out yesterday and flipped him over and he was able to roll into a tight ball where before the most he'd do is roll over.
He never did shed, which is unusual. In the entire time I've had him he pretty much shed every month on the dot. I never did see him go fully blue, but he was slightly milky for a few days. He looks like normal right now.
He continues to be docile, but aware of his surroundings. He's acting more like when I first got him, where he'd do nothing but ball up when I picked him up. He's still active at night, though, saw him crawling around last night when I came in to check on the temps in the snake room. My new space heater is heating the room really well, even at 18F it was a cozy 80-85F with no cold drafts going through the snake tubs.
Here are recent photos of him, he's looking so bad, it's hard to believe he's maintaining weight now looking at these pictures.
http://i.imgur.com/YQzwNOV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5GPwh3O.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rscBZmf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Os2INYx.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SGV7LWz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u2KS9Qk.jpg
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I have no clue what the heck is going on with the pictures in my most recent reply, the first two are only showing the top sliver and the rest are blank. :/ They WERE working. Are they looking weird to anyone else??? I've been noticing in all my threads photos keep randomly disappearing even though I'm not doing anything to change the sources I linked from, but I can't fix any of them since we can't go back and edit.
Anyways, here's some recent photos.
https://68.media.tumblr.com/16aa4512...tato1_1280.jpg
Apparently having just her food bulge laying above ground is the most comfortable position for her.
https://68.media.tumblr.com/67d2c071...tato1_1280.jpg
https://68.media.tumblr.com/9aee36a5...tato4_1280.jpg
https://68.media.tumblr.com/e40b0935...tato3_1280.jpg
https://68.media.tumblr.com/37dee98b...tato2_1280.jpg
Some more of Homura. If she looks this good indoors I cannot wait to get her out in the sun again. I woke up today to a summer sunlight and was thrown completely off. It's still not above 60 today, but it looks like it should be! Hopefully by end of next month we'll be warm enough I can take some snakes out.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/322/32...da1564a4_h.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/640/32...e3ded022_h.jpg
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I can see all of your photos fine--the ones that you just posted and all of your past photos as well. Maybe clear your cache and cookies and see if that helps?
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
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Originally Posted by mlededee
I can see all of your photos fine--the ones that you just posted and all of your past photos as well. Maybe clear your cache and cookies and see if that helps?
Thanks! That helped with the partial image problems in this thread. I regularly clear my information, but apparently I somehow missed the cached pictures last time I cleared everything out.
It didn't help with the 404 images in my other threads (which again, I did not mess with the source images so not sure why they're missing).
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Can you send me some links to specific threads where you see missing photos so I can check them out?
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlededee
Can you send me some links to specific threads where you see missing photos so I can check them out?
Sure! Here's a few. The photos are still showing up just fine in my threads on sSNAKESs, but do not show up in my threads here.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...poss-het-anery
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...Riverrun/page2
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...57-New-Arrival
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Okay, I see what you are talking about now. It looks like all of those photos were uploaded via Tapatalk. I am going to be doing a Tapatalk update in the next few days, so let's see if that fixes it. If not I should be able to manually fix them.
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Re: Morzan and Homura - BRBs
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlededee
Okay, I see what you are talking about now. It looks like all of those photos were uploaded via Tapatalk. I am going to be doing a Tapatalk update in the next few days, so let's see if that fixes it. If not I should be able to manually fix them.
It might fix some of them, but not all were uploaded with Tapatalk. Most of them appear to be, but the ones on page 1 of Sanji's thread were taken with my Canon PowerShot and probably linked via Photobucket. Regardless, thanks for your help, and the update may help with most of the photos at least, the rest of the photos on the pages I linked were through Tapatalk. :)
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As an update, Morzan has lost another 4 grams and I think it may be time to euthanize him.
I've been hoping he'll rebound, but no matter what size mouse I feed him he just doesn't seem to gain anything, and even a single gram heavier than what I feed him and he regurges it half the time.I'm going to try the vet one more time, and then I'm probably going to go ahead and have him euthanized. He's clearly not going to rebound, at least not without serious vet intervention, and he can't keep losing weight.
If I do have him euthanized, I'll have a necropsy done, and maybe that will give me more of an insight into why his condition is so bad.I'm just baffled he gained so much weight from birth with his breeder, he went from 30-something to 55 grams when I got him at 6-8 months old and his current weight is 40 grams. I'm thinking maybe the shipping was just too much for him to handle and made his condition worse, it's the only thing I can think of.
Here are the photos I took of him last night, I want to make sure I have as recent of photos as possible before he passes.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...tato3_1280.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...tato1_1280.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...tato2_1280.jpg
His spine is now clearly prominent, with the skin folding around it. I seriously think is is probably the last we'll see of him.
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What a shame. Beautiful animal. Some things are just not meant to be I guess.
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Really sorry to hear this. It's never easy.
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