This may sound stupid but....????

I just got a BP (actually got it for my hubby for father's day) he is beautiful and very friendly. He is about 27". We let him acclimate to his new home for a couple days and then fed him a fresh stunned mouse. He did great (he waited until it started to come around and then went for the kill). That was two weeks ago, now he started his shed cycle this past Monday. He didn't shed in one piece and still has a lot of skin stuck to him. We have been having a problem keeping the humidity up, we put a pice of plexi galss over 3/4 of the screen top, sprayed, filled a large water dish, we even gave him a bath for a few minutes. He has a big branch to climb on and rub against. I know there are posts on the questions I'm about to ask but there are conflicting answers everywhere so I figured I'd ask.
1. How long should I wait to let him shed on his own before helping him. (his eyecaps came off but the latter part of his top is not coming off too easy)
2. What size mouse ( or rat ) should we be feeding him
3. If he is constipated will his tail look stiff (I know how that sounds but his tail looks like it is stuffed it doesn't trail him like it did before)

I have some advice about the shedding. What you could do, is soak him for about 1/2 hour-45 minutes in a shallow Rubbermaid container with a secure lid. Here's a pic of one of the snakes I soaked:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ive/soakin.jpg

If you do this, the skin should come off easily in your hands. some snakes do not really like being soaked, so a good fitting lid is essential; I put the bottle of laundry soap on top of the Rmaid (seen in the pic) for this reason. I kept an eye on it too! (Don't worry, I did not add soap to his water, lol.)
During shed cycles, I pretty much cover the whole screen-lid with saran wrap. It seems to cling on better than the plexiglass. I do leave some room for air to get in. I mist the cage down really well in the morning and at night, and humidity stays high. When the snake sheds, I take the wrap off and let the humidity drop.

Thanks, I'll have to try that. We put him in the sink for a few minutes but he kept trying to wrap around the faucet, I think the rubbermaid (with the cover) will work much better.

another thing you can do is hold your snake with a damp towel and gently rub off pieces that are stuck.

about the size of the food my baby ball around 17" is eating adult mice so u should up the size for ur snake

This is to get your snake ready for a shed or for a snake with to low of humidity in the cage: This works great if you use sphragam moss in your cage set-up. After you notice the eyes cloud over, put hot water (you need to see steam) in your snake's water bowl. then cover using a blanket(blamkets still allow for moderate air circulation). You will know if it is working when the glass in the cage fogs up. After the water cools you will be left with a mist on your glass. As long as you leave the blanket on top of the cage the mist will stay in the cage. Your snake will be moisturized, and ready to get the "old" skin off. One thing to keep in mind is you don't want mildew to build up so I really don't recommend leaving your cage misted for more than 12 hours (do it before you go to bed and remove when you wake up). Most snakes are very clever, and can tell the difference between hot and cold so don't worry about your snake trying to take a plunge in the hot water (it also cools very quickly). also within a hour or so after removing the blanket the mist on the cage will evaporate so there is no clean up. One more thing, this is a trick I also use to get my snake to get that shiny complexion if they are looking a little dull after a shed. Hope this helps

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Originally Posted by Forrest

One more thing, this is a trick I also use to get my snake to get that shiny complexion if they are looking a little dull after a shed.

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Shiny complextion? ... "Maybe it's Maybelline!" ;)

-adam

Sorry I didn't answer your 3 question did I? Here's my answers: Snakes instinctively know how to shed let them do it on their own, but if you really need to help when the skin is peeling off you can help using a damp warm washcloth gentle stroking from the head to the tail (with the grain of the scales). Qusetion #2 answer: Only feed your snake food that is the same girth or less as the thickest part of the snake and 3x the size of the snakes head in length, just a guideline not a rule. Question#3 answer: I have no idea what you mean without seeing your BP in person but this should help your snake poop. Place your snake in warm water and let soak (your choice of container tub/sink/bin, ect.ect..) this should allow for your snake to have a "movement". Good luck with your new BP hope my information helps.

Hey guys, some of you know that i found a bull snake and im intending to keep it (the little hatchling) and if any of you have seen or felt a bull snake or gopher snake you know that thier scales are very rough.

No matter how long i soak him/her i cant get the stuck shed off of the snake !

Should i just wait till the next shed ? or is there any other tricks i havent heard of ?

There is always snake oil. You can purchase it at most stores that sell reptiles. Just aplly a small amount to a rag and gently rub on the (rough spot). It does sound like your snake may have a scar on its head, if that is the case only time and plenty of sheds can help, but with scars there is no gurantee that it will ever improve....

you know snakes with all their beauty secrets...who can keep up...

Don't feed it mice....offer it rat pups. Rats are much better for your snake than mice. :)

Thanks,

Boids

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Originally Posted by BoidsUnlimited

Rats are much better for your snake than mice.

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Based on what evidence? Or is that just your opinion?

-adam

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Originally Posted by BoidsUnlimited

Don't feed it mice....offer it rat pups. Rats are much better for your snake than mice. :)

Thanks,

Boids

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There is nothing wrong with feeding mice. Mice and rats have very similar nutritional value the difference is very little and depends on the diet of the rodent. Unless you raise you own rodents, how do you know what they have been consuming? I suggest you read this article before makeing comments about how 'rats are MUCH better for your snake than mice'. There are slight differences but nothing too outstanding to rule out mice as a GOOD source of food.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=38
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/Who...nal02May29.pdf

Simply...What you feed is your preference, what I feed my snakes is my preference. Feed what is best and easiest for you and your snakes :D

Well again not to start the old mice vs rat debate but our 5 month old bp has always taken adult mice since we got her at about 17" long and approximately 2.5 months of age. She's now taking either 1 or 2 adult mice per week and has grown amazingly well.

My thoughts are simple....feed what your snake will eat willingly and you can get a consistent, good supply of....from what lots of experienced folks tell me there's not much difference over the life of a ball python whether it eats rats or mice....it's more about a regular feeding of a good prey source that results in a happy, healthy, athletic (not fat) snake with a strong feeding response.

I buy our feeder mice a few days in advance, offer them lots of good water and food then feed them p/k to our ball. Seems to be working fine in our case.


~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

Mice and rats have very similar nutritional value the difference is very little and depends on the diet of the rodent.

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I don't even think it's that Daniel. Lots of people like to wave around the "whole prey" study as evidence that rats have more "nutritional value" than mice ... higher calcium, potassium, magnesium, blah blah blah .... but without a corresponding study of the nutritional requirements of a ball python, what does it prove?

More is not always better! ... Any nutritionist will tell you that consuming too much of any nutrient or substance will just cause that nutrient or substance to be passed. Your body (and a snakes body) will only use what it needs. If you want to get technical, consuming more than what the body needs causes the organs responsible for filtering out excess as waste (liver, pancreas, kidneys, etc) to work much harder than they were originally designed to. You could actually postulate that feeding rats may be worse for your snakes long term health if rats contain more of anything than a ball pythons body can actually use.

From practical experience I can tell you that I produced 2 hypo females in 2003. They are sisters and they both eat on the same schedule. One is a mouser and the other is a rat eater .... The mouser is 1245 grams and the rat eater is 1240 grams .... This is just one of many examples that I have .... As far as rats being "better"??? I'm not buying it!

Feed what your snake will eat, feed what is most cost effective and convenient for you as a keeper!

:D:D:D:D:D:D

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

... but without a corresponding study of the nutritional requirements of a ball python, what does it prove?

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ha ha....it does not prove anything. I figured there is enough room for error in those tests anyways. As long as the snake grows healthy, what does it matter :) Thanks for the example.

ha ha...speaking of food nutrition....have you seen the 'snake sausages' yet? I seen them in some magazine when I was picking up my mouse supplies from the pet store. I guess it is like ground meat or something in a sausage casing that is to be heated and fed to snakes....ha ha...I had never seen that before and just thought it was funny.

Snake sausages? Ok, now that's just weird. I guess that could work but .... I'm sure they cost an arm and a leg too. Do you remember the price? It's gotta be cheaper just to buy the rodents.

I am trying to find them on the net now.

EDIT: that was not hard to find, check it out:

http://www.t-rexproducts.com/Dynamic...70201&series=1

That stuff is hysterical. You can even purchase Mouse Maker, which are drops to make it smell like a mouse!! :lmao: Ohmigosh!!! :giggle: Wow, I didn't know they made that stuff.

Did you read the comment:

"With Snake Steak, "power feeding" is possible by offering several sausages linked together. Once the snake takes one sausage, it then must take the others."

What will they come up with next?

Oh yeah - there's a glowing endorsement for a product. :rolleyes: I pretty much lost interest at the product name. It's cheaper to just buy my frozen rodents and snake sausage is way creepier than an ole dead mouse!!! :D