• 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.

Help! Cloudy eyes and time to feed.

Me-and-Salazar

Me-and-Salazar

New member
I'e been away for a couple of days and when I came home I noticed Salazar's eyes have clouded. But its also his feeding day. Is it too late for me to give him his pinky? Or should I wait until after the shed?

This is my first snake and his first shed. I am unfamiliar with the process and what happens to feeding at this time. How often do they shed ? How long will it take my hatchling? What signs should I watch out for ? What can I do to help? Is there any thing else I need to know?
 
It really doesn't matter. Try to feed him if you want. If he doesn't eat, wait until he sheds and feed him then. Or if you just want to wait until he sheds, do that. If he's blue now, it'll take 2-5 days or so. He'll get un-blue for a bit before he sheds.

How often they shed depends on how fast they're growing. Maybe every three weeks, maybe every 4 or 5.

If you want to make sure he has a good shed you could offer him a humid hide. This is a hide filled with something damp. When I make a humid hide, I use crumpled up paper towels because they can be re-wet when dry and don't mold easily. Or, you could see how he sheds this time and go from there. My snakes almost never need humid hides for a good shed.
 
For whatever reason, Frank had a regurgitation issue, and then refused to eat for 5 weeks. I was just beginning at that time and still didn't have it all down. I talked to a couple of experts that told me that a well eating snake can easily go a couple of months without eating. It's not so good for them, but if they have the fat reserve, it's not bad for them. I used to feed frank as soon as his eyes cleared up if he was due to eat. Now I just wait until he is done. I don't think it matters all that much.
 
Yeah I don't feed when they're in shed. You know corns can go over a month without food and still be healthy, most of the time, right? So it's no big deal to wait a few days. :)
 
Healthy adult Corns can certainly go for weeks/months without eating and not take harm from it, but we're talking about a hatchling here. A month without eating would be a concern.

Having said that, I don't think it matters either way in this situation. Personally, I always offer food if they happen to be blue on feeding day. Most will eat and a couple occasionally refuse. If you offer and it refuses then all you've done is waste one pinkie.

Oh and beware those puppydog eyes - they always "look hungry". That's how nature programs them! Doesn't mean they actually need food rightnowthisminute.
 
It can be ok to feed, but there can occur problems also. Shedding requires quite an amount of fluid for the shedding secretion, so in this time the fluid balance of the snakes body is out of balance.
Digestion also needs much fluid for the digestion secretion (hope that is the right term).
If fed while they are shedding, neither shed nor digestion get enough fluid (this CAN cause shedding problems or digestion problems). I also read that an already dried old skin can rupture during the swallowing process (I never saw this, though).

So many experts and many books suggest to wait until 1-3 days after shed before feeding again, to give fluid balance a chance to adjust again. Many snakes wont take offered food in their blue phase anyway.

I know that many snake owners have never had any problems with feeding in this time, but why taking the risk? Snakes usually curl up in a humid hide during shed, so they wont eat in the wild either.

My opinion.
Greetings,
marike
 
I've never noticed a problem either way. Mine eat the same day they shed, they eat blue or not... and I feed youngsters no less often than every 5th day, adults no less often than a week. They're far from starving but still eat, and still shed clean. Your reality may vary.
 
Yoshi gobbles down his pinks if he is in blue, in the middle of a shed, or hanging upside down from a trapeeze! (ok...maybe a bit of an exaggeration)
I have heard stories of complications, but not very many. Its up to your snake really. Dont be concerned if his nose turns up, dont be concerned if he eats it like he's starving. Either way, its all good. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top