Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have several bairds, and have noticed that for a snake from an arid habitat, they sure love to soak in their water bowls. I thought this was odd, and when you add to it the fact that they always have trouble sheding, it seems even stranger. Has anyone else had similar situations with their bairdi?

Of my 3 bairdi, 1 uses its waterbowl irregularly, 1 not at all, and 1 a whole lot.
No trouble shedding at all ever for mine (so far), but definite eating probs as youngsters.
Maybe I have the pickiest bairdi around, since no one else has commented on this.

>>I have several bairds, and have noticed that for a snake from an arid habitat, they sure love to soak in their water bowls. I thought this was odd, and when you add to it the fact that they always have trouble sheding, it seems even stranger. Has anyone else had similar situations with their bairdi?
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

>>Of my 3 bairdi, 1 uses its waterbowl irregularly, 1 not at all, and 1 a whole lot.
>>No trouble shedding at all ever for mine (so far), but definite eating probs as youngsters.
>>Maybe I have the pickiest bairdi around, since no one else has commented on this.

Hey Shaky,
Must be yours. My two bairdis ate two days after I got them and only the female has ever refused a meal. She was in full "blue" so I wasn't worried. She ate on her next scheduled feeding after her shed. The male actually waited almost a full minute, once, before eating though....LOL
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Jimmy (draybar)

doing Shaky? Haven't heard anything since the cool down and then raise the temp procedure you did. I have 2 pairs of Mexican Bairds and a pair and trio of Texas Bairds. I haven't seen anything regarding shedding problems or soaking in their water. I do live in Bakersfield, CA. It was 96 degrees today and low humidity. I cool them every year. I don't breed until the third year (that's just me and each to their own), but I cool them the winter after I get all my snakes. They must have to do in the wild as hatchlings so I do it captive. I haven't lost any, but if I do I figure it's nature's way of thinning out the weaker ones in the wild. The hatchlings just get a 30 to 45 day cool down and not a shutdown brumation.

Both of my original pair are now eating well. Seems the brumation period really changed his mind about being finicky. He still wont eat while I watch, but yesterday he ate while blue, so I need not worry about him anymore.
My young female, however, is still a pain in the butt, as she wont take anything with hair.
I've tried and tried, and have tricked her into eating hoppers twice.
I guess its finally time to try a live one.

Last thing I wanted to do, but she needs to get some mass on her.
BTW, my big pair, '01s, are breedable in size, but are not gong to be introduced until next year. The female is close to, if not already, 4 feet.
-Jack
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

>>I have several bairds, and have noticed that for a snake from an arid habitat, they sure love to soak in their water bowls. I thought this was odd, and when you add to it the fact that they always have trouble sheding, it seems even stranger. Has anyone else had similar situations with their bairdi?

I haven't had any trouble with my two bairds sheds. They have always had pretty good sheds.
I have had trouble with one of my cornsnakes, though.
I bring this up because I think there is a reason.
He is the only snake I have that is in a 55 gallon tank.
Although there is a large water bowl and I have part of the screen top covered it is harder to keep a good humidity level in a larger tank like that.
In my smaller tanks, and my RubberMade boxes, all my snakes have full one piece sheds.
So, although your snake soaks a lot, it could still be that the constant humidity level is a little low. Just a thought.
Good luck
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Jimmy (draybar)

The humidity thought has crossed my min (I live in Houston, TX, and humidity is a daily matter about 10 months out of the year - LOL). However, I try to keep them dry to provide a more realistic atmosphere - I know with my subocs, high humidity can kill them FAST! I also thought that they may need a rock/stick/something rough to rub on, since they are rock dwellers. Has anyone tried this, and if so, what was the result?

Thanks for the info!

Josh

>>The humidity thought has crossed my min (I live in Houston, TX, and humidity is a daily matter about 10 months out of the year - LOL). However, I try to keep them dry to provide a more realistic atmosphere - I know with my subocs, high humidity can kill them FAST! I also thought that they may need a rock/stick/something rough to rub on, since they are rock dwellers. Has anyone tried this, and if so, what was the result?
>>
>>Thanks for the info!
>>
>>Josh

Hey Josh,
With the snakes I keep in RubberMade boxes I will put a fist sized rock in their habitat when they go into the "blue".
The skin is almost always around the rock.
With the natural setups there are rocks and limbs so they have their choice.
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Jimmy (draybar)

thanks for the input, it's nice to have some frendly people out there. By the way, I'm heading to south Texas this weekend - hope for some emory's and mexican hogs; I'd love to see a bull snake, too - they're lots of fun. I'll let you'all know how I do, so wish me luck!

Joshthe

>>thanks for the input, it's nice to have some frendly people out there. By the way, I'm heading to south Texas this weekend - hope for some emory's and mexican hogs; I'd love to see a bull snake, too - they're lots of fun. I'll let you'all know how I do, so wish me luck!
>>
>>Joshthe

Good Luck....
make sure to update us when you get back.
and TAKE A CAMERA..........lol
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Jimmy (draybar)

I think some snakes are just genetically bad shedders.
Take any other snake and put it in that 55 gallon you mentioned, and all will be fine.
I had a milksnake like that.
When he was a day or 2 from shedding, I had to soak him. In the 2 years I kept him, even with the soaks, the snake had maybe 2 good, complete sheds.
Never had a problem with any of the ratsnakes.
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

>>I think some snakes are just genetically bad shedders.
>>Take any other snake and put it in that 55 gallon you mentioned, and all will be fine.
>>I had a milksnake like that.
>>When he was a day or 2 from shedding, I had to soak him. In the 2 years I kept him, even with the soaks, the snake had maybe 2 good, complete sheds.
>>Never had a problem with any of the ratsnakes.

You may be right. I adopted him as an adult and he had signs of previous bad sheds ( end of tail gone )so it may very well be him. This last time he went "blue" I put him in a humid box for a couple of days to see if that would help.
Although he still didn't shed completely it was much easier for me to remove the remaining skin.
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Jimmy (draybar)