New Arrival

[midgard]

Looking good. I really like rainbow boas. He is gorgeous and best of luck with him and your other snakes.

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[CloudtheBoa]

Here are some photos of Sanji with my mom's new Nikon.

I flipped him over and I think his brain short-circuited.



In his tub. He's grown so much he almost looks like what he did in his old tub when I first got him. He's still a thin string bean, though.



The white patches on his nose makes him look like he has angry eyebrows. lol



So apparently my local pet shop shut down, so the past few feedings I've just been giving him two hoppers, but I may have to break down and buy some mice from Petsmart because I'm just not having a day off where I can go to the pet store 40 mins away.

[Caspian]

I'd send you some of mine, if I could! I just got four rats to form a breeding colony - but I've got three female mice that gave birth, and between them there are 27 little crawlers and hoppers just getting their eyes open! And just when I get a good batch of mice, my BP's are getting so big they need rats already...

[CloudtheBoa]

I'd send you some of mine, if I could! I just got four rats to form a breeding colony - but I've got three female mice that gave birth, and between them there are 27 little crawlers and hoppers just getting their eyes open! And just when I get a good batch of mice, my BP's are getting so big they need rats already...

Yeah, I was just going to buy a few adult mice to hold him over and some mouse pinks to hold my eastern garter over, until I buy my next shipment the weekend after next. But then the pet store that's only a few minutes away turned out to be shut down! And the one 40 mins away closes at 7pm or 9pm I don't remember, and I normally work in the evenings so I don't get off on time. See, the good thing about the local pet store is it's close enough I can make a quick trip there before work, but I might be late if I try to go to the one out of town. There are closer pet stores, but they're mostly Petsmart/Petco/Pet Supermarket, so I try not to go there.

I am picking up 3 female mice tomorrow to breed with the male I have, so maybe here in the next couple of months I'll start breeding my own. But I'll still have to buy rats in the mean time, because I don't have room for a rat colony. Gotta find a way to modify the shed outside so that they won't overheat or get too cold, and then I'll get some rats set up out there.

[Caspian]

Unfortunately, I could only find one place in Reno that sold live rats. I got four, and ended up with three girls and a boy... and all of them thin, clearly unhandled, covered in filth, and they were snuffling and sneezing. I wouldn't feed those to any snake. I've got them isolated now, trying to get them healthy. Now they're clean, fattening up, and I've got the cages covered with heat pads underneath. Got a suggestion from a friend on how to help with the breathing - I took baby food jars, punched holes in the top, put a piece of sponge inside with Vicks on it, and put that in above where the heat pad is. They loved it. They would actually sleep with their heads on top of the jar, and now I've got three that aren't sniffling and sneezing any more. So here's hoping that I can still make a colony out of them. Hopefully, you'll have better luck with your attempt at a colony that I had!

[CloudtheBoa]

Sanji recently shed and currently weighs 161 grams. The rodent shipment should be arriving this week, so he should be started on adult mice with his next feeding.

Here are some photos of his feeding silliness.

First step A: Wrap



First step B: Do Yoga



Second step: Try Bending it for Ease of Swallowing



Which resulted in this lump.



Eating his second mouse.



Now for shed photos!

[CloudtheBoa]

Well, this was Sanji's second meal with an adult mouse, and the first one barely left a bulge, but this last one left a rather large bulge. So, I think I might stagger hopper mice in every other feeding as another keeper advised after all.





And the resulting bulge. It doesn't stand out from his body much, but it resembles the bulges I saw in my BCI when I was feeding him jumbo-sized rats when he should have been eating mediums, and you can kinda see how tall the bulge is where his sides are showing. That whole top coil is the bulge.



I will also be starting up his 14 day schedule again, considering the size of the meals and that he'll be 2 in August.

[CloudtheBoa]

I got outside a bit late in the day, so the lighting was terrible. Sanji's photos turned out much better than Nymeria's, though.





He's way overdue for a weighing, but I want to make sure he's empty after that big meal, so I'll probably give him a couple more days unless I find a turd somewhere.

[CloudtheBoa]

Sanji came in at 186 grams yesterday. At this rate, maybe he'll get over 200 grams by end of April or May. He put on 25 grams since I weighed him last month, so if he puts on another 25 grams by this time next month, then he'll be doing good.

I'll continue giving him adult mice every other feeding until the bulge becomes smaller. Once he stops getting bulges, or maybe even before then, I'll switch him to rat pups or weaned rats, which ever are closer to the small adult mice from Big Cheese. I'm thinking rat pups, though.

[CloudtheBoa]

Sanji looking miserable in shed. He was being especially moody this time, rearing up at me and sneezing/huffing to his heart's content.



But he was looking good once he shed!