• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Blue every month...??

Popeye

Popeye

New member
My snake had two small rats, and two pinkies on March 27. since then he has been in his viv in the cool side, with a temp of about 74 F. I left him alone for about 5 days figuring he was digesting. I then lifted his hide to check him out, and saw he was in Blue again. Jake has been going into Blue once a month ever since I got him at the end of January, and he went from Jan 28 to march 27 without food. I think he was luv searching.

My questions are:

1. When they eat, do they usually go into their hide on the cool side? I thought they digested in the warm side??

2. Is it normal for him to shed once a month? Vet said he does not have scale rot, but his under side seems very rough. His substarte is tropical soil, the type you buy in a brick. (I have heard that aspin is best, but everyone here in my area tells me that soil is fine, as did the vet.)

3. Now that he is in blue, when should I feed him next?

(He had his first pooh today since he eat, it looked like yellow stones, with some yellow gup, and black solide pieces about the size of kidney beans??) Is this normal??

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
 
My first question would be why are you feeding an adult snake small rats and pinkies? If this is because you can't find appropriate size (adult mice) where your located then that is an issue.
Regardless...

1. About the cool side thing. Our snakes know what temp. is best for them, they have instincts lol Mine all have their warm spots but they don't always go to them after feeding.

2. I don't believe most adults shed that often but then again none of mine are over 200g so I can't tell you for sure. I know that younger corns shed more often because they are growing at a faster pace than adults usually. So perhaps yours is just going through a growth spurt.

3. You can offer him food while he is in blue, he might not accept it. I had one in blue that ate then regurged so now I usually wait to feed mine till they have shed.

Sounds like typical poop description to me ;) as for using soil to aspen, I like aspen because it's lightweight, easy to clean and my snakes can burrow in it to hide themselves if they want, I wouldn't use anything else :)
 
Thanks for the tip....as for the meal size, I gave him two small rats, and two pinkies, because I had been trying every week for him to feed with negative results so I thought trying a smaller meal to see if he took, and he did. I will try a larger rat next time. This time when I fed him, he took immediately after opening his viv. I tried in past to feed him in a container outside the viv, but found that putting him in their was stressing him out, and showed absolutely no interest in eating.

Cheers and thanks
 
1. They go wherever is best. If you're corn always is under a hide on the cool side, move it to the middle of the cage. If the corn is always under that hide when it's in the middle, take that hide out and put a different one in. I had a problem where my corn would stay under one hide only.

2. That compressed coconut husk is fine. I actually have my corn on it right now (slightly moist, though since she is about to shed) and she is fine. Aspen is preferred, but there's no reason you can't use the bricks.

3. Wait until after he sheds.
 
1. Mine always seem to go on there cool side with no problems. They just go where they like to be.

2. Mine sub-adult sheds every month right on schedule to lol. I can usually time his shed exactly. But I do believe from what I have read that adults will shed less often cause they are not growing as fast as they were when they were youngsters. I use aspen for all three of my snakes. I like it cause it is easier to clean and easier for me to tell where one of my snakes has defecated at.

3. some snakes are picky and will go off food no matter what. my boy caedan however will take food no matter what. He has taken it in the morning and then shed that night. It really depends on the snake. You can offer food and if he doesn't take it then you well know to wait after his shed to try and feed him.

Yep that sounds like normal pooh. The white/yellow part is the urate and the black solid pieces are the solids :)
 
If he's adult, then mine shed about four times a year. I'd be concerned by one shed a month as it suggests some sort of skin irritation. I had one with scale rot and she showed increased shedding for a couple of months before her scales actually started to be visibly affected (belly scales went light brown and cracked/ragged along the edges).

Perhaps you could swap to plain newspaper for a few weeks and see if his shed cycle slows up? Perhaps he's just having some unexpected off-the-wall reaction to the soil. It won't be particularly decorative to look at but it might help pin down what's going on.
 
Thank you all for your advise and input. I will try changing up the hide and see what happens. As for the substrate, he is on the same substrate as the previous owners had him on, tropical soil, which come is brick form.

The humidity in the tank is between 35 and 45 %, maybe this is why he sheds more??

Again thank you all.
 
If it's overly humid then that will increase the risk of fungus or mold that would cause irritation and shedding. Is there any way that you could dry the soil before using it, and see if limited use of a humid hide helps? At least that way he could choose between humid and dry conditions.
 
Humidity in my vivs runs about 30% average. My 05 amel is about 4 foot 2 inches and around 490 grams he gets one adult mouse every two weeks. He has shed two times since I got him I think 2 months ago. I figured they shed like that in the spring. :shrugs: Rats have a higher fat content so be careful feeding them to corns ok? Don't want the issues of a chubby critter. I personally would not use the soil, it is better for high humidity animals like some lizards, and I think boas.
My 08s still shed about every 5 weeks, so I suppose it depends on the age, size and how often your snake is fed. Also if there are mites or any illnesses they will shed a bit more especially if their condition is skin/scale related.
 
Small rats usually are: 26 to 32 days old, 4.5 to 6.0 inches long, and weight in at 45 to 85 grams.

Pinky rats: Well they are: 1 to 4 days old, 1.5 to 2.0 inches long, 3 to 8 grams.

Adult mouse: 30 to 40 days old, 2.5 to 3.0 inches long, 20 to 29 grams.

Mouse pinkies: 1 to 4 days old, .5 to 1.0 inches long, 1.3 to 3 grams.

Are we to believe that your 3ft long corn snake is eating TWO small rats every week? If so, that is one reason why the guy is shedding every month, you are pretty much power feeding him!

As for your bedding, corns do not do well if the humidity is too high. Living in "soil" for a while now may be a problem. You should do the paper towels or newspaper for a month or so and adjust his food size and amount.

You still may be in need of a vet. But you didnt show us any pictures of the snake or his viv. I do believe a few of us are concerned about the "2 small rats" you said you are feeding him.

Good Luck
 
Thanks for the tips, I did not know that about Rats being high in fat. As for humidity, I will keep watching it, i ususually wait a couple of days before introducing it to the viv, so some moisture gets out of it. Cheers and thanks.
 
Ah, if you're actually misting the tank every few days, then that could well be the issue. You don't need to do that for Corns.

Let it dry out completely and leave it like that for a few weeks - see what happens. I've never misted mine and they're fine (I live in a centrally-heated flat in the UK, so ambient humidity is low).
 
My snake is 6 feet long. Measured at the vet, and he is a male. I fed him the two small rats, they were about were about 4 inches long, and two pinkies as I did not know if or what he would eat. I had tried for over two months to feed him and he never took. After eating the small rat, I placed the others in a dish, and he just kept eating. The snake is not fat, but guess after being off feed for so long his apetite is back. The previous owners (Little rays reptile zoo) would feed him a rat once every 2-3 weeks, so i guess for his size its ok...??? I will give him a small rat next feed after he sheds and see what happens.

Cheers & Thanks
 
Snakes don't stop eating unless you stop offering them food. ONE small/medium rat every 2 weeks is probably going to be enough for your guy. There's nothing wrong with feeding rats if you feed them correctly.
 
bitsy said:
Ah, if you're actually misting the tank every few days, then that could well be the issue. You don't need to do that for Corns.

Let it dry out completely and leave it like that for a few weeks - see what happens. I've never misted mine and they're fine (I live in a centrally-heated flat in the UK, so ambient humidity is low).
Click to expand...

Ditto, the only snake of mine who gets misted is the Indigo, my corn has never been misted.
 
Ok, a 6ft corn eating one to two small rats every 2 to 3 weeks sounds fine. We have an old guy that is 6ft long and he eats small rats too. You should not be offering that big guy two small rats every week, that is just too much. If you keep him on the same feed schedule that the "zoo" had him on, he will be fine.

As for the shedding so much, I would try putting him on paper towels or newspaper for a few months and see how that works out. The soil you are talking about in the brick form holds moisture very well. He might be too wet and that is the cause of your problem. Just give it a try, if it doesnt change, no harm done.

Our big guy only sheds about 3 times a year now. He is about 15 yrs old.

Good Luck!
 
Hi PCJ reptiles,

thanks for the tips. i was offering to feed him every week (Once a week) but he never took. He last ate a couple of weeks ago, then went into blue. His colour is now back, and I am just waiting for the shed. I will try feeding again once his shed is complete.

As for the soil, I think your right, it does hold moisture, but with the light I have in the warm, it quickly drys. i also have a small UTH in place.

His next feed will be a rat, so stay tuned and thank you.

Glad to see I am not the only one with a 6 foot + corn. Some people dont believe me unless they see it...LOL!
 
As for him not eating the past few months might have been because he knew it was that time of year. Was he a proven breeder?

Keep us posted.



Here is my daughter with her 6ft guy, Zuko and a fellow cs.com member, Vinman, with his 6ft guy.
 

Attachments

  • Zuko_Ash.jpg
    Zuko_Ash.jpg
    96.9 KB · Views: 22
  • vinny.jpg
    vinny.jpg
    9.5 KB · Views: 22
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top