Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm have a new baby bullsnake and am completely new to the behaviors and life cycles of snakes. My main issue right now is that my baby is cloudy eyed and really lethargic and has been for about two days. My initial thought was she must be getting ready for shed but I haven't seen anything on them getting lethargic before shedding and she is very lethargic. The two issues other than shedding I thought it may be are:
1) We've had her about 2 weeks, fed her twice, and as far as I can tell she hasn't deficated or urinated. (I must be wrong on the urination thing but I don't see or smell any signs in the Aspen substrate.)
2) The last feeding she ate the "fuzzy" live, squeaking and kicking all the way until the hind legs were fully into her mouth. Could she have sustained some internal damage by not killing her mouse before eating it?
I don't know if these are ignorant questions but I really am new to this and could use any good advice people may have.

Thanks,
Ron

Hey Ron!

Your snake of course is fixing to shed. Sometimes when they are making a new skin underneath..their old skin tends to get wrinkly and may sometimes look lethargic.

I have a Tx bull that does sometimes look like she is fat, but she doesn't eat enough to get fat and sometimes it is weeks before she defecates. I don't know why that is, but she seems to do that.

I wish I knew why some snakes don't defecate as much as others. My gray bands do it quickly, but I have found that a lot of my adult pits take longer. Maybe it has something to do with them being bigger than kings....?

Anyone else have any ideas?
Billy
-----
Genesis 1:1

Yes they do slow down a lot during a shed. Especially while the eyes are still clouded. They are vulnerable at this stage and prefer to remain hidden until its time to finish the shed.
-----
International Snakes Meetup
International Herpetology Meetup

I'm totally new at this too, and don't know enough to answer your questions...but I can assure you that this is a GREAT forum to come and ask. I've never once been made to feel stupid or ignorant for not knowing things (even really basic stuff) and asking LOTS of questions!

This is just a great group of folks!

Judy
1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)

It's unlikely she was injured, due to the small size of hte mouse (you said pinky or fuzzy right?).
And they can take a while to defecate; but when they do, ooooh boy! I think Danny (named it after my brother), poops every two-three weeks--and it's massive when he does. Always loooks thinner afterwards. They do tend towards lethargy during shed, at least in my experince.

Paul
-----
Cornsnakes and kingsnakes and gophers oh my!

Thanks for the input folks, it helped make a nervous papa feel a bit better. She has over the last several days regained color, moved a bit, deficated, and just about 20 min. ago put a show on for the family by shedding. I guess she'll be allright But thanks again everyone.

Ron