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New Member, New Snake, Need Some Advise Please

BigByrd47119

BigByrd47119

New member
Hello,

Well we will cut to the chase here I suppose. I just recently (two days ago) purchased a Pueblan Milk Snake which is about a year and six months old. The store I bought it from hadn't fed the him in about 12 days, so today would make 14 days without a meal. Keeping in mind they need time to adjust to their new environments I haven't attempted feeding him yet.

As if all of this doesn't bite enough, hes in the midst of a bad shed. So my game plan is to first off attempt to give him some help with the shed this morning. From there I am a little lost. Should I try to feed him some time tonight after dinner so that he will at least have some time to recoup? Or should I wait another day or two bearing in mind that then we could be talking about 16 days without a meal.

As always any help is much appreciated and after spending much time browsing this forum and drawing from the wealth of knowledge stored here, I value and trust everyone's opinions.

Thanks,
~BigByrd47119
 
First of all, welcome to your new addiction! And second of all:

The shedding issue, how do you plan on helping him? I would suggest letting him soak in a warm bath, then let him slither through a warm soaked wash cloth, to help pull the loose skin off.

As for the feeding I would wait a few days after he is done shedding. Snakes are fine without having been fed for a while, so health wise it shouldn't hurt. He could be pretty stressed out still, and if you try to feed him now he could either refuse, therein wasting a mouse, or eat it, then still be stressed out and puke it back up later....which is a big nono in the snake world.

After he sheds and you wait a few days, try feeding him, and if he doesn't take the mouse right away, put him over some heat, and maybe cover the feeding bin up with something so he has no distractions. Sometimes when my Carpet is feeling rather picky, he demands a heat pad and darkness before he'll eat. :) Pythons. lol

Good luck and I'm sure there are tons of more experienced people than myself that are willing to help you out!

:D
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

Being new to all of this you pretty much spelled out what I was expecting to hear and what I anticipated doing. As for helping him with the shed, I read a sticky thread on here somewhere that suggests the use of a feeding bin (or something similar) with a appropriate sized washcloth in the bottom. Fill with water so that it reaches a level half the snakes diameter over the washcloth.

Sound good?
 
Yep! Sounds perfect. If the shed is being stubborn and stuck on there pretty good, you might have to let him soak for a bit.

I forgot to welcome you to the forum! So.....welcome! I'm glad you are doing your research and I can vouch for this being a very good way to learn. I learned all I know from this forum! :) There are great people on here as well.
 
Quick Update!

So I get home at 7:30 this morning and low and behold he shed himself! Two large pieces with perhaps half a dozen smaller pieces. I guess this means we will try a meal tomorrow.

As a side note, I just want to voice my irritation at this snake for being so nocturnal! As a 3rd shifter my fiancée is the only one home at night and apparently he can be rather noisy. I'm still happy that hes at least happy and healthy.

At any rate I appreciate the help!
 
Another question.

I get temps (measured with digital thermometer) of 83-81 on the warm side and 72-74 on the cool side. I know its a bit low but I have a dilemma.

I'm not using a uth, rather I'm using a bulb (one for day and a red bulb for night). I could go from 50w bulbs to 75 and get a dimmer, but first I want an explanation for my uth confusion.

How is it that a uth that measures at 110 degrees on bare glass doesn't put the temp above 80 on top of 1 and a half to 2 inches of substrate? Not only that, but I had a hard time getting it to warm the other side of the tank at all. It does in fact cover EXACTLY 1/3rd of the bottom of the tank.

20g high tank & Fluckers uth as well as lamp.

I'm fairly sure Marley is ok for the time being but even at these low temps he sure does enjoy burying himself on the cool side.

As always I thank anyone for their help. Despite all of the research I have done I see I have much much more to learn than I could have imagined!
 
You need to adjust the UTH so it's at the right temperature AT THE GLASS ( on the snake's side of the glass. Snakes will burrow under the substrate and can get too hot. The UTH is not supposed to heat the other 2/3 of the tank. You have a warm side and a cool side so the snake can thermoregulate in the temperature zone it chooses.
 
mjdglobal said:
You need to adjust the UTH so it's at the right temperature AT THE GLASS ( on the snake's side of the glass. Snakes will burrow under the substrate and can get too hot. The UTH is not supposed to heat the other 2/3 of the tank. You have a warm side and a cool side so the snake can thermoregulate in the temperature zone it chooses.
Click to expand...

Correct, however if I do nothing with the cool side of the tank it will rarely, if ever, reach 70. This was my biggest concern.
 
Turn up the heat in your house LOL. Just kidding. Well what temps are we talking about? A degree or two cooler probably won't be too much of an issue as long as it can get to proper heat when it needs.
 
mjdglobal said:
Turn up the heat in your house LOL. Just kidding. Well what temps are we talking about? A degree or two cooler probably won't be too much of an issue as long as it can get to proper heat when it needs.
Click to expand...

Ambient temp in the room is 70-72 at this very moment. The heat just shut off so thats pretty much as warm as itll get in that room. Unfortunantly the snake is kept in the finished basement which doubles as out entertainment room. Its usually a little nippy there and due to certain members of the household, moving Marley to another room is simply not an option...
 
Seems good then. One sure way to know is to let the snake tell you. Here's what I mean by that: If you are set up right, you have a hide on each side of the tank. If the snake is ALWAYS in the warm side then it's a no-brainer....it's too cold. Keep in mind that they may prefer a certain hide design over another so this might not be helpful if you have two different styles of hides in the tank.
 
mjdglobal said:
Seems good then. One sure way to know is to let the snake tell you. Here's what I mean by that: If you are set up right, you have a hide on each side of the tank. If the snake is ALWAYS in the warm side then it's a no-brainer....it's too cold. Keep in mind that they may prefer a certain hide design over another so this might not be helpful if you have two different styles of hides in the tank.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for all the advice. I get the feeling we will be dialed in this time. I have wondered if the difference in hides might explain his preference for the cool side but I switched the location of the hides this morning and still he insists on being on the cool side. More thoughts on this by chance?
 
Seems like his cool side is good then. Might want to check the warm side temps again. I keep my snakes in the basement too. You said it's in the entertainment room so I assumed you keep it comfortable there. Double check that the warm side is not too hot. I think you'll be fine. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Mitch
 
Another Update,

Went out and got the Zilla Temperature Controller (500 watt) for about $40 after tax at Petland.

Temps on the warm side, on the glass, now bounce between 84 and 88 which I'm comfortable with. Apparently Marley is too as this is the first time in 3 days he has chosen to hide out on the warm side. He moved there at PM and hasn't came out yet!

Once again, many thanks!
 
SteelJawEmily said:
Glad everything is turning out ok! Have you fed him yet?

And when are we gonna get pics? :grin01:
Click to expand...

We had our first meal at home tonight as a matter of fact! Right around 8pm. He didn't want to take it from me right away, only expressed some interest. So I placed it in his feeding container and left him to his own devises for 15 minutes. When I can back, the little fuzzy was no more!

Pics are soon to come. To be honest I hadn't considered posting pics of him because he isn't a corn, he isn't a "rare" or fantastical color like some corns are on here, and pretty much just figured he would be too mundane to make it worth most folks time. I'm sure on the other hand that there are probably members here who simply seem to love all snakes and enjoy any pictures of any snakes. Per the request I shall post some pics as soon as its convenient, likely in two days!
 
Well, Marley ate a fuzzy last night around 8, and I think he may be ready to step it up to hoppers, but that is neither here nor there for this particular post.

My question is this. With proper temps and a "full" stomach, is there any reason for why he may choose to sit on the side of the tank thats closer to 68-72 degrees? I wonder if it isn't simply what he prefers. I know he isnt showing a preference for that particular hide as it has been switched from side to side in an attempt to discover why it is he always prefers the cool side of his tank. Warm side measured at 87-88 on the glass on the warm side of the tank with most areas on the warm side being more like 85.
 
;) I have a certain young man who loves to sometimes do the very same thing. Considering he has correct temps in either place, I figure he knows what he's doing.
J/K Sometimes I consider showing him the books! :rofl:
And I'm looking forward to the pics as well. I adore my corns, but love to see any snakes.
 
Thats pretty much what I figured everyone would say. Its just a little concerning when you browse around here and see everyone talking about typical after dinner activities only to watch your own darling do something completely different!
 
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