Pic of Slither, with a question...

[cordell]

OK, heres Slither, come friday we will have had her 1 week. She weighed 61 grams when we got her. I observed her on the hunt the first 2 nights we had her so I fed her a mouse on sunday. I had heard you need to wait 2 days until you can hold them after they eat. So I held her today, she seemed different. Sort of alert to everything. When I moved her in my hand she turned her head to maintain her eyes on my face. Then I moved my face without moving my hand and she drew back! She has not defecated, should I wait for her to do this before I hold her? She did not strike, though when she drew back I figured it was coming, I just held her until she eased forward a bit then put her away. I swear she has grown too, lol. How fast do they grow? And my whole enclosure is warm now, 85 to 90 degrees, humidity at 55%.


thanks

[SpartaDog]

She's probably just a little nervous, since she's still new. Give her a bit of time. I've had mine for almost a year and he still follows me with his eyes.

Also, your parameters seem a bit off. I think the temp should be closer to 75 - 85. And I had shed problems when my humidity was at 60%. Also, you don't want your entire enclosure to be the same temperature. You want a warm spot and a cooler spot. They grow kinda fast, but at a year mine's no where near full grown.

[cordell]

So I dont need to wait for her to defecate to hold her? I did wait 2 days, also a hatchlings eats 5 or 7 days, every?

thanks!

[SpartaDog]

Well you might get pooped on, but...

I feed my guy every 7 days and leave him alone for the rest of the night, the following day, and the morning after that. He usually seems fine and pretty happy-go-lucky.

Hatchlings eat every 5 days. I think you can switch them to 7 once they're 6 months old, but don't quote me on that.

[Kyle@theHeathertoft]

My snakes sometimes take weeks to poop...in my Mojave male's case, he tends to cook it for a month before turning his tub into a swamp. No need to wait for pooping before handling...and thus far none of my pythons has ever pooped on me. Now the Milk Snake...she's another story altogether.

I like it when my snakes track me with their eyes...my Cinny and my Dumeril Boa do it the best, but the new Pastel I have zeros in on my face whenever I open his tub (I'm not handling him much since he's still acclimating to his new home) so I bet he'll be like that, too. So long as they aren't prepping to strike, I find it adorable.

Congrats on your baby, btw! Slither is very cute.

[xxxLIGERxxx]

i handle mine 2 days after feeding. at times she gets startled and poised to strike but just giving her a few moments to ease i pick her up.

dont wait for your bp to defecate before you could handle her. just give at least 2-3days that'll be enough.

[SpartaDog]

And I had shed problems when my humidity was at 60%.

Just learned that you're only supposed to up the humidity during shed. So as long as she's not shedding, 55% is perfect.

[cordell]

Just learned that you're only supposed to up the humidity during shed. So as long as she's not shedding, 55% is perfect.

if 55% humidity is perfect what is considered to low, 40%?

[DJ_Bizarre]

First of all i dont think ur parameters as far as temp are off, i think they are near perfect. Humidity can drop at times but you will knowwhen its too low, try not to go under 45 in my opinion. You also dont have to wait for her to poop, wait a day or two to digest so she doesnt regurgitate then feel free to handle her