Posted by:
rtdunham
at Sat Jun 14 16:00:37 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by rtdunham ]
if you have a tank that stays at low to mid 80s WITHOUT heat, you don't need a thermostat, and you don't need artificial heat. you just need to make sure the tank doesn't get any warmer than low to mid 80s in the future. imho, low 80s is better than mid, though others might disagree.
At 90, you may have simply overheated the animal. Depending on where your thermometer is, it may have been much hotter than that at the bottom of the enclosure, where the snake lives. You may find that you need to turn off the light on the cage, as well as removing the under-cage heat, to keep the temps down to reasonable levels. Some lights generate a lot of heat.
Second, the snake may be going into a shed. That would account for changes in the eyes and belly color and behavior change. That's enough of a cluster of coincidences to at least warrant considering the possibility. Their eyes usually change for several days again and then clear up, which also coincides with your description.
Lastly, the fluid he expelled on you is musk, it's a defense mechanism when they're scared. Any new snake that's not been handled a lot (and this may be especially true of kings and milks) will exhibit that behavior when they're young. Along with this, they'll push their cloaca or vent out, so you might watch to determine whether it's just "inflamed and open" when you're holding him, or even when he's calm and just sitting relaxed. If it's all the time, there may be a problem; if it's when you're holding him and he's excited, it may just be normal behavior.
So that we can all learn together, will you let us know later how things progress? Thanks.
Terry
third, the advice about putting it on paper is good. Please don't put that new container on a heat source!
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RE: sick albino florida king - rtdunham, Sat Jun 14 16:00:37 2003