Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You might remember that I got Camoflage at the start of July, and at the time he was about 6.5'... He's shed three times in just over 3 months! It took him about 6 weeks before he shed the first time, but the last two times were only 3 weeks apart! We're not overfeeding, I don't think - one jumbo rat every 2 weeks (a nice, slight bulge), and he's out 2-3 days a week for 30 minutes or so. He's very curious and seems happy. My husband got a warning nip one day cuz he accidently dropped some cold water directly on him - three punctures, but it nearly encircled his rather large forearms! It was just a warning, but...

So what do you think about the quick shedding? He did have a slight case of mites around the second shed, but that was erradicated about 2 weeks after the first few were seen (we missed some I think that were outside the cage. luckily he's the only snake in the room!).

Thanks for any ideas you might have.

Oh, since we're just about to move, my husband put off the cage-building, so for now Camo is in a nice 75-gallon cage with heat pad and coco fiber substrate and a nice LARGE cooking glass (larger than the normal ones, and he can almost fit his whole body in - I forgot to water his substrate one week and he put himself in the waterdish at the start of the shed cycle three days later... lol!). But he's growing. It also kinda funny - he doesn't like being watched while he eats: when we feed him, if we're too close after he's let go from wrapping it up, he'll hiss non-stop until we leave! When he's done, he'll stick his head out of the bath tub (yes... bathtub) and Tony will use the hook to ease him up, grab his neck near the head JUST IN CASE, and take him quickly back to his home for warmth and rest...

This guy is just so pretty... I'll see if I can put some pics up tomorrow - my baby is sleeping right now tho... and Camo is in her room (tank locks, no chance for his escape, and I can hardley get them off myself!) He's just such a pretty light color... Nice golds, and golden browns... Yeah, he may just be a "normal", but he's GORGEOUS! animals are just so much fun...

~Krystie
critter list:
1:0 burmese pythons
1:1:1 ball pythons
1:1 nicaraguan boas
1:1:1 columbian boas (the ::1 being REALLY pink and light!)
1:1 dumerils boas (should be here in a week or so... paying off)
0:0:3 corn snakes
0:0:1 cali king snake
0:0:1 Nelson's milk snake
0:0:1 iguana
0:0:2 frilled dragons
0:0:1 bearded dragon
0:0:1 water dragon
1:1:1 leopard geckos
1:1 collared lizards
1:1 veiled chameleons
0:0:1 scorpion
36 various tarantulas (mostly babies)
2 hermit crabs
1:3 breeding feeder mice
1000 or so crickets...
1:1 bipedal homonids (one husband, one two year old. both make the most noise of all listed things....)

Cheers!

Sounds just like my story. I rescued 2 burmese pythons in the beginning of jult one 4ft albino female and the other an 8ft albino green male. I dont think your doing anything wrong if you have a female,then she going to get big in her first year. My big maloe has shed 3 times since i got him and hes eating and acting fine. Get some pics, and take care of her.

The shedding shouldn't be a problem. You said he had mites during his second shed, that probably explains the short time between sheds. In the wild, they will shed their skin to get rid of parasites as they can leave them behind with the shed.

A 75 gallon tank should be ok for a while. I'm not sure about the coconut fiber bedding as I have never had experience with it. It might cause impacting in the snake, but you would have to check with others that know more about it. We use newspaper or aspen bedding for all our snakes.

You might want to rethink feeding your burm in the bath tub. I know that some people say to feed your snake outside his cage to reduce the chances that he learns that the cage door opening means food. I feel that when you take him out to feed him, he is learning that being removed from the cage means he's going to eat. You also run the chance that he thinks your hand is a second food item when removing him from the tub. When we feed, we open the door just enough to get the prey item in the cage and close it back. When we are going to handle them, we fully open the door and use a snake hook to let them know we are there and it's not feeding time. Sometimes they still think it's dinner time, but with a little pushing and pulling with the hook they quickly realize it's not feeding time. There is no way I could pick up my big girls with the hook (they would probably bend or break it, Haha), but I can get their attention and maneuver them with it.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope this helps.

Talk to you later,
Randy
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

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