For about a week now, my California Kingsnake has appeared to be going into a shed. His belly became yellowed and dull. Later, his upper side became dull. As of Friday, his eyes clouded to the point of opacity. He was very nervous if I had to open the cage for any reason. He always spends most of his time under his water dish at all times, but I haven't seen any evidence that he's been out from under the dish in days.



Today, I lifted the water dish to check on him, and he's changed but doesn't appear to have shed. His upper side and belly both appear dull, but his belly is much less yellow than it had been previously. His eyes look pretty much normal. He doesn't have the beautiful look of a freshly-shed snake, but he doesn't look as bad as he's looked for the past four to five days. I held him for fifteen minutes or so, and he seemed more lethargic than he usually is. I've had him almost a month, so if he's shedding, it will be the first time that he's shed for me. I can't find a shed skin anywhere.



Friday was his normal feeding day, but I didn't feed him because I thought I should wait until after he shed. Last Friday (11/4), he took a mouse fuzzy and three mouse pinkies. He's an aggressive eater and took the fuzzy backwards. He's 38 inches long, and everyone tells me that I should move him up to full-sized mice. I haven't because he doesn't seem big enough in diameter, but I bought a full-sized frozen mouse a few days ago and planned to try him on it after he finished shedding.



His other behavior that has me puzzled is that he only goes to the bathroom when I soak him. I bought him on October 15 and fed him on October 18. He had eaten at the pet shop a few days before I bought him. By October 24, he hadn't defecated, so at the advice of another (and more experienced with reptiles) pet shop, I soaked him in slightly warm water. After about 20 minutes, he went to the bathroom. He ate again on October 28 and on November 4, but again hadn't gone to the bathroom by November 7. I soaked him again, and again he eliminated after about 20 minutes.



His cage temperatures are strange. I have UTH under about 2/3 of the floor. The "hot end" of the cage is maintaining about 80 to 82 degrees F. The middle of the cage is maintaining about 84 to 86 degrees F. The cool end is maintaining about 76 to 80 degrees F. I don't know why the "hot" end stays cooler than the middle of the cage. The water bowl that he hides under is in the middle of the cage. He has hides on both the "hot" and cool sides, but he never uses them. Humidity is in the 35 to 60% range with 40 to 45% being the usual number.



I rub him with Vita-Spray two or three times a week.



My questions are:



1. Is there a problem with him appearing ready to shed and then appearing as if he's not ready to shed? Should I do anythimg more for him besides maintain humidity and temperatures where they are?



2. Does his only defecating when I soak him every two weeks suggest that he has a constipation problem? (If it happens again, I'm going to start to think that he's been potty trained.) Should I soak him every week just to give him an extra chance to eliminate?



3. Should I feed him the full-grown mouse now or give him a few more days to shed?



4. Is his only problem that he has ONO? That's an Obsessive Newbie Owner.



Thanks,





Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

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