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New member, new snake

M

meedo_74

New member
I got my first reptile ever, Fuzzy :rolleyes: two weeks ago, he already done a shedding yesterday and I offered him his first meal, 4 pinkies, last night...

The shed is done successfully as one piece with every detail, I was very careful with the humidity so he had no problem with that :rofl:

He also had the pinkies in no time which is a very good sign that I shouldn't have problems force feeding him, the shop recommended 3 but I gave him 4 as a trial and he didn't complain :roflmao: Should I keep it at 4? Or should I increase this next feed in one week?

The only problem I have so far, is that he refuses to be handled, I only handled him in the shop and when getting him out of the transfer box after the journey home, rather than this, he literally 'runs' around the terrarium when I try to handle him :crying: What should I do?

OK, thought about posting a picture of Fuzzy but it was too big, I will manage that soon...
 
Hi..... Welcome to cs.com..
I would up the food size if it's eating three at a time....
How big is this snake?
As for handling the snake, it thinks you are a predator so no wonder it runs...
Just gently get the snake out and gently handle it..... It will calm down in time, just don't handle it for 48hrs after feeding...
 
Agreed. Their instinct when you go to pick them up is to run away from the big scary monster that might want to eat them. You find that many will calm down once you have them in your hands.

He'll be especially nervous now as he's new. He'll take weeks or months to learn that you're not actually a monster and that you can be trusted not to hurt him. At the moment, you're up against the strongest instinct of all - survival - and this takes patience and gentleness to overcome.

When he runs away, just pick him up anyway - be gentle but insist. This is just the start of the process for both of you and an investment of your time now will pay dividends for years to come.

If he can eat 4 pinkies at a time then he's probably ready to go up to fuzzies. You just need to feed him slightly less often as the food size goes up (I feed pinkies once every 4 or 5 days, fuzzies every 5-7 days). Remember not to overfeed - a lean Corn will live longer than a tubby one and putting weight on them is really easy (as I know to my cost!).
 
Actually the shop recommended 3 but he got 4 very easily, within 5 minutes they were gone :rofl: So should I pump it to 5 next time or?
He is like 35-40 cm (15 inch) :cool:
When I was picking it at the shop, they had many specimens, they all sounded skeptical when I tried to handle them from the seller's hand, only Fuzzy actually jumped into my hand, kept playing for a while and then went into my sleeve, that's what made me get him, now he plays shy on me :headbang:
I understand the predator/prey behavior because of the size difference but still the sooner he gets used to handling the better, or should I cut him some slack being new to the terrarium and all?
 
There's no need to feed multiple pinks like that - just try going up to fuzzies and feed less often. 15 inches is certainly long enough for larger food items. You should feed something that's one and half times the girth of his body (not his head).

The idea is to feed your Corn slowly and steadily so that it grows slowly. Stuffing him with as much food as he'll take (and that can be very much more than is good for him) will make him overweight and liable to all sorts of health problems and a shorter life.

They're opportunistic feeders in the wild and will scoff anything you put in front of them - sometimes until they regurgitate. They don't know that in captivity you will guarantee they get fed regularly. They always act like they're about to starve to death when nothing could be further from the truth.

Regular gentle handling is absolutely fine but you must leave it for 48 hours after they've eaten to let them digest. If they're scared before they digest then they could regurgitate. That brings its own problems and potential health issues.
 
OK, what's fuzzies? I guess they have different naming convention here in Germany :rolleyes: They Baby/Speck/Springer/Normal/Pinkie :confused:
 
A fuzzy is basically a slightly older mouse. They are born without hair (pinkie) then as they grow they start to have hair (fuzzy).
 
What people are trying to say is that you should probably move onto the next size up from pinkies - not offer more! There is very little nutritional value in pinkies and you may risk a regurge by feeding too many in one go.

As long the mouse is no larger than 1.5x the snake's girth, you'll be ok. When feeding these slightly larger young mice, which we call fuzzies, you should wait longer between feeds (5-7 days).

Ideally you should let the snake settle in for 7-10 days after getting them home before attempting to handle or feed them, but I think you'll be ok if he has eaten already. Just remember no handling for a few days after feeding, while they are digesting.

Sounds like you're doing great so far :) welcome to the forum :)
 
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