Meet Mr. Slithersworth

Or possibly Ms... hasn't been probed yet.

http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/slithersworth.jpg

He's the one in front of the two aliens.:O

I don't really have any questions, but here's a bunch of rambling to consider in case anybody has recommendations.

Had him for a week now. He's in a 20g glass tank which I set up with correct temperatures before getting him. Currently I'm at 83/92 on temps (using the digital thermometers) with an inside temperature of 84, which is pretty much also the temperature in the room right now. Humidity is a little bit of a struggle - he's going into shed and I think is near the end of the blue stage, so I've been trying to keep it in the 70-80% range. I have some moss in there now, but I think I'll go ahead and make the DIY humidifier tomorrow.

http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/viv.jpg

The sides of the cage are insulated with styrofoam sheets, and I put up a forest type background as the plain white was pretty boring. Temps are controlled by the ZooMed thermostat with the cool side on a dimmer which is controlled also by the thermometer. The heat lamp I haven't been using much as it's been pretty warm lately, so keeping the ambient cage temp up hasn't been a problem.

The top is screen, which is covered with two 11x14 sheets of plexiglass wich I found at Home Depot in the plexiglass section. Great stuff as I didn't have to cut it or anything. And I can easily slide them to adjust how much of an opening there is in the top.

There are currently four hides... originally I had two, which are the tree things near the front. I quickly realized those are waaay too large, so I added the two half logs near the back. He has since been moving between the two of those. He was burrowing beneath the water bowl, but I fixed that by removing the Repti Bark substrate from beneath the bowl so there is no place to burrow.

The day I got him, I left two F/T fuzzies in the cage overnight. The next day there was just one, which I threw away. I'll be putting in the other two I got tonight, and will then purchase the small mice as the fuzzies seem a bit small for him.

Right now I think I have pretty much everything I need with the exception of Provent-A-Mite and Chlorhexidine, both of which are on order from MG Reptiles. No signs of mites, but I'll give the cage a preventitive treatment to be sure. Also, I need a large bottle of hand sanitizer so I don't have to keep using up all my hand soap each time I do something in the cage.

He's only been handled three times - once at the store, and twice each time I found him under the water bowl. I plan to start handling sessions after he's finished with this shed he's building up to. So that should give him probably a good week and a half to have adjusted to this new environment.

No doo-doo or urates yet.

Any questions or suggestions?

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TraconSnake

There are currently four hides... originally I had two, which are the tree things near the front. I quickly realized those are waaay too large, so I added the two half logs near the back. He has since been moving between the two of those. He was burrowing beneath the water bowl, but I fixed that by removing the Repti Bark substrate from beneath the bowl so there is no place to burrow.

The day I got him, I left two F/T fuzzies in the cage overnight. The next day there was just one, which I threw away. I'll be putting in the other two I got tonight, and will then purchase the small mice as the fuzzies seem a bit small for him.

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it is my understanding that half logs are not good hides for balls as they like to hide... curled up in a little ball and feel really safe. so something they can get into which is a tighter squeeze seems to work better for them. that's probably why you found him/her under the water dish! that's a nice safe place.

when i feed f/t i find that once the prey item has cooled... they will no longer eat it. so i put one in at a time... allowing them to eat it while it's still nice and warm.

congrats on your new ball!!!

aleesha

just did a little search for ya... here's two examples of hides.

the first one... i use for my snakes. i get the size that's appropriate for them:
http://www.ptgeckos.com/main/hides.html

and this one i know is very popular:
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product...roducts_id=834

Wow, you have quite a set up there. Most of that is jsut for and gonna be aesthetics. BP's aren't really aboreal, so don't expect him to climb much. Seems like you fed him too soon, but at least one got eaten. Nice BP and congrats.

Impressive set-up it looks really lovely :) Cute little BP too - love the name ;)


~Sue

Love the name and the cage

Nice setup! Welcome!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

it is my understanding that half logs are not good hides for balls as they like to hide... curled up in a little ball and feel really safe. so something they can get into which is a tighter squeeze seems to work better for them. that's probably why you found him/her under the water dish! that's a nice safe place.

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These half logs are the smallest ones they sell, and he's all curled up and touching three sides. (the other end of the log is against the rear of the viv) I really think the water bowl would have been the best hide compared to pretty much any hide. One small entrance, and only as big as he makes it. The downside I saw was no chance for thermoregulation, and he seemed pretty cold, possibly due to the fact that the waterdish would be cooler due to evaporation.

Oh, and yeah, I know the whole forest motif is wrong for a BP, but that's what matched up well with the substrate. Perhaps a couple years down the road I may change to a desert motif to change things up... would that add undue stress, or should Mr. Slithersworth be able to 'get over it' without too much trouble?

Your setup is wonderful!


I am only guessing on this, but if you change the habitit completely...it might get confused..its hides are in different places, and so on. You might have to wait again for him to get settled.

Again, this is just a guess! Good luck with Mr. Slithersworth!

Love your snake's name - and he's a real beauty:D

My BPs shed in the humidity range of 55% - 60%. They have perfect sheds every time. I use a spray bottle with a fine mist several times a day. Works a treat.

They don't need a lot of humidity, and too much can lead to problems such as scale rot and respiratory diseases. As soon as they've shed, I let the humidity come back down to around 50%.

Mine have got little caves as hides. I also have one of those half logs...they use it for a toilet:rolleyes: so it's been named "The Log Bog":giggle:

Humid hide with my BP didn't work out either. He went in it and promptly decided it made a very good bathroom:rolleyes: LOL.

I've been trying to keep the humidity up at 70. It is usually in the low 50s by the time I wake up or get home, the times I normally check things out. I also check it before going to bed. Hopefully the humidifier will add more control to the humidity levels. Anybody tried adding a small valve to control how much air comes from the humidifier?

Thanks for all the comments! It's nice to be re-assured that I seem to have things right. Hopefully this evening Mr. Slithersworth is far enough along in the shedding process to take food. But I have a feeling I may be leaving a couple fuzzies overnight again. Hopefully next Monday he'll be comfortable enough to take food with somebody watching from a distance. (F/T, of course)

I'll have to check the hides today to see if there are any outhouses. Somebody needs to make an outhouse hide! There shouldn't be anything in there... at least, the cage still smells like repti-bark and moss.

Here's to hoping for a good shed... and hoping I actually catch him in the act! ... anybody ever thought of putting a motion sensor in the viv to alert them to activity? I'd hook it up to a remote light or something. Hmmmm...

he looks just like mine, so much like it :)

[QUOTE=Lady Python]
half logs...they use it for a toilet:rolleyes: so it's been named "The Log Bog":giggle:
QUOTE]

I love it "log bog"!!!

I do think your setup is really lovely and imaginative though (lots of snakey hiding places), I think snakey would prefer it to a desert look too.

~Sue

I know it's been said but... that is a really beautiful set up! :sweeet:

Wow, thanks for all the comments! When I get home today I'll get some more pictures and put them in the pictures section. Unfortunately, nothing of Mr Slithersworth for now When I checked up on him yesterday to see if I could feed him, his eyes were pretty cloudy, so he's in that stage of shed.


If your BP is cloudy when the regular feeding day comes around, do you still leave a fk/ft mouse, wait until next week, or feed him once he clears up?

every snake is different. some eat during shed (like mine) and others don't. i would attempt to feed and see what happens ;)

Nice setup! Looks familiar...;)

We tried the half log hides as well, but neither our bp nor bcc would use it. I like (as do our girls) ESU Rock hides. They're really easy to clean but have a nice natural look to them for display vivariums like yours. Our bp started off in a medium size and graduated to a large size at @350g. Our bcc even uses them (currently in medium size).

My BP has never refused a meal in shed, my boa was just starting to go blue yesterday morning when I saw her - I still offered her food and she took it yesterday evening. My hoggy, though, she won't eat during shed.

Thought I'd give you all an update.

Mr. Slithersworth is getting into the final stages of his shed - expecting to see one big long skin any morning now! Also, the past three days in a row I've handled him. Each time he does better. Today he finally let loose and started slithering all around. Not sure if it's because he's getting used to me or because his eyes are clearing up before the final shed.

He didn't eat a couple days ago when I left three fuzzies in his cage. He was very blue at the time, however. I'm going to get a small frozen mouse for next time, which will be Monday.

A few days ago I cleaned the stuff in the cage and applied Provent-A-Mite as per the label instructions. So things should be good there. All seems well.

And I got a wonderful treat yesterday! After handling him I lowered my hand into the cage by the "above ground pool". He sniffed the water a bit and I got to see him drink! Yup, those cheeks look cute puffing in and out as he drinks. Now if I can only get lucky enough to see him through his first shed...

I've once seen my Royal (BP) shed. It was quite uncanny really. I was standing by his viv and remarked to my husband that I wished I could see him shed when he popped out of his hide, started rubbing his nose then started going in and out of his coils, shedding as he went along:D If I didn't know different, I could have sworn he heard me LOL.


One thing I don't do though is handle any of my snakes when they're in shed. I leave them alone. The only time when they're in shed that I will handle them very briefly is if they've soiled the viv and the substrate (paper towel) needs changing - I won't let my snakes sit on soiled paper towel and I put them back immediately I'm done.

I still think 70% humidity is too high. As soon as Mr Slithersworth (love that name) has shed, I'd drop the humidity down to about 55%. Too high a humidity and your snake could end up with respiratory problems and scale-rot.

That's the humidity, 70% I keep my Brazilian Rainbow Boa at, plus my Rainbow has a humid hide made from sphagnum moss that he can go into - they need a high humidity, Royal Pythons don't. Perhaps Adam can advise better than I can as he is very experienced and gives excellent advice.

He shed a couple days ago, and since I've dropped the humidity down to about 60%. It looks like he shed while staying in his hide. And I was sitting a couple feet away and missed it (playing games online) It didn't all come off in one piece, or perhaps it just got tore up in the process. At least, Mr. Slithersworth himself had most of the skin off. Just a couple small bits here and there that I took off with a warm wet towel. Also, his tail didn't completely shed. I got as much off as I could, but there's still about two inches of unshed skin on his tail. I found the head in all the shed, and was able to confirm that he got rid of both eye caps, so that's good. I didn't realize that snakes had visible pupils! He has brown eyes.


I've had him out every day for about four or five days now and he's getting pretty good at being out and looking around. I'm going to give him a break today and see if he'll take a small mouse tomorrow.

It's neat how the new skin has a transluscent blue sheen to it!

How long have you had Mr Slitherworth now for? The reason I'm asking is because when I got my first Royal, I got very good advice from people on the forums. Part of that advice was not to handle your BP until he has eaten at least 4 meals. Gives him time to settle in and get used to his new surroundings. Very difficult to not handle them as that's all you really want to do, but it pays dividends to get them established into a good eating routine first. Snake won't eat, snake eventually dies.


You say Mr Slitherworth still has some shed stuck to his tail? That needs to come off. Use the damp towel to very gently remove the shed. You don't want to stress him out.

Yes snakes have visible pupils. You can see them more clearly on Boas. I was watching our baby Boa the other night - he was sitting in his hide with just his neck and head sticking out - we knew he was actually sleeping because the pupils were just tiny, narrow slits. When he woke up they expanded. If you watch carefully, you can see the snake's eyes moving the same as ours do, although not quite so pronounced.

It's good that Mr Slithersworth has got most of his shed off by himself. Mine tend to shed in their hides too. Just the once Byron obliged by coming out and letting me watch him. I always check the shed to make sure everything, especially eye-caps are there. Sometimes they do take the shed off in bits, sometimes it gets caught on the bark and rips. I've got a couple of complete sheds from my Boas which I've got hanging on the wall.

Snakes are both wonderful and fascinating animals and a joy to have as part of the family:D

Your set up looks great!
Welcome to the boards. Glad to hear things seem to be going well.
Hang out read threads ask questions and you won't go wrong here. There are some great people on here who will give you the best advice for you and your bp.

He has been handled a bit in the previous week - about every day, but short sessions probably 10-15 minutes. He seems to be doing pretty good with that, and is relaxing pretty quickly now.

Last night I offered a small F/T mouse. The last meal was a fuzzy two weeks ago (Refused fuzzies last week probably due to shedding) He took notice almost immediately and took it. Down the hatch all the way! So I won't be able to handle to get the rest of the shed off until Wednesday.

I think he's coming along pretty nicely. It seemed that the handling helped him to relax more and realize that we aren't trying to eat him. He's never struck (except at the mouse) or hissed, though he "yawns" from time to time during handling. And if I make too quick a mostion around him he'll snap into a defensive posture, but will only take a few seconds to resume exploring.

Today will be his second week in my care.