My baby red tail escaped at SOME point and I found him outside of his cage and not in the closet his cage is located, on Monday. He was in the process of shedding and SEVERELY dehydrated because I am a BAAAD owner and don't check on him every day like I should.

Anyways, I immediately found a deli cup, punched some holes in it and placed warm and wet paper towels on the bottom. I grabbed a heating pad and put them all together to make an emercency rehydrating cage/set up/thing.

He's still in there. Wednesday required me to pull off the shed skin that wouldn't come off after two days of intense hydro-therapy. While I did it, I noticed he was quite limp and not very snake-like with the need to investigate the immediate surroundings so I put him back in.

He's alert, tongue flicking and probably itching to get back into his normal cage but is there a limit to how long I should expose him to rehyrdation time? It doesn't really say anything about how long you should treat a snake in the 'What's wrong with my snake' book, just how you're supposed to treat him. Personally, my way is cheaper and just as effective.

And is there really such a thing as an 'escape-proof' cage for juveniles? This is the fifth time he's gotten out despite having a slid-n-lock lid, those stupid little clamp locks and duct tape securing the places where he could possibly sneak out. I don't know how he does it either....he's not natural.

And just because I have ZERO experience with male snakes, how do I know I'm feeding him enough? With my former juvenile boa, she packed away litters of 7-11 fresh pinks in a single sitting, while he only eats two. I read that females eat more but the lack of his...I guess, interest is just mind blowing. I've offered him seven pinks and he only took two. Should I pack him up and cart him off to my nearest vet to see if there's something wrong with him?

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