Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so Draco and I have been happily getting along and it's almost been a month now, I was wondering how often should he shed. He's about 2 1/2 feet long and he weighs more than when I first got him I've been feeding him weekly and he's been doing great with it catching and eating. So how often should he shed? I wasn't told when I got him the last time he did shed was unfortunately or how often he would shed. Also there's only been two times where he "gave up" on dinner I know he's been accustomed to live food and so I've been staying with that for the time being. But sometimes we get an extra jumpy mouse and he's got some issues on catching him and he will try for about 10 mins but if the mouse keeps getting away he starts getting frustrated I guess and gives up. If I feed him in his normal cage he will hide under bedding or in a corner if I feed him in a box or a carrying cage I got for him he hides in a corner and freaks out trying to get out. So I'll take them away from eachother and try again later the first time I feel asleep waiting. I'd prefer to be there incase mouse gets angry and tries to strike back and I feel bad but I don't want Draco to get hurt and I wish it to be quick for the mouse. Is it just that he's not hungry? (he is striking and coiling mouse just escapes) should I try getting a smaller meal and feed him two? I just want what's best for them both. I was going to switch to frozen thawed after he sheds. Sorry for long winded post ^.^ just in need of some help

OK the frequency of sheds depends a lot on his age and the amount of food intake. Baby snakes shed more often maybe 6 or 8 weeks. More mature snakes shed less odten so it may be 3 or 4 months. I have so many snakes I don't really keep track of shed so these are just approximations. My kings eat every time I offer food except when they are about to go in shed. What I do is take the mouse by the tail and slam it against the edge of a desk or cage. If you hit him on the back of the head near the neck, it will almost always result in a quick death, at the very least it will be knocked out. I place the mouse and the snake in a brown paper lunch bag, then fold the top a few times and maybe place a paper clip on it. Then place the bag with contents back in his cage and leave it alone for a couple hours. Come back and check it and release the snake. If he did not eat the mouse, I feed it to another snake. If you don't have another snake, you can put it in a zip lock bag nd wait till it sheds, then try again. Feeding him stunned/killed mice will help him to readily accept frozen thwed when you make the switch.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

I am not sure what your exact situation is with feeding based on your post. You stated he eats well, maybe only skipping meals one or two time since you had him, then go into a long discussion of how he freaks out when fed. If he is consistently skipping meals, then he just may not be hungry. Maybe his temps are too cool or he is going into shed. He may have had a bad experience recently with a live mouse and is now afraid of them. I suggest trying frozen thawed mice or fresh killed. As Jorge replied, you can always freeze the fresh killed for later if he doesnt eat. His strikes and wild behaviour indicate he is not hungry or afraid of the live mouse.

The way I understood her discription of the snake "freaking out" is simply from the live mouse jumping and bouncing all over the place, and landing all over the snake, and the snake continually trying to catch it and failing, etc... Even scooping up some substrate in the mouth(if she uses it) while in hunt mode. I have seen countless snakes quickly become baffled and not know what the hell to do after only a very few missed attempts at a live rodent.

I would definitely quickly kill or stun the prey as you and Jorge have mentioned. But even better yet, get it on F/T mice as soon as possible as you guys also suggested.

later man, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

If the mouse is big enough to hop around and be jumpy, it is big enough to bite your snake. Pre-kill the mouse. My method is to put the mouse on a towel so it has something to hang onto, grasp it by the tail, and with my other hand put a pencil over its' neck, then tug on the tail to dislocate the cervical vertebrae.

As the others said, if it is not eaten you can freeze it for later.
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Bob/Chris
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire

it sounds like you might be feeding too much, too often.

if you've had it four weeks, and the two times it refused food are a minority, as you seem to be describing the situation, then I figure there have been six or eight feedings? That's pretty much, unless you're feeding moderate to small meals at that frequency.

also, a "mouse" might be a big meal for a 30 inch snake (compounded by the frequency).

So it would be helpful if you'd offer more info. But regardless, it sounds like you'd benefit (the snake would benefit) from cutting back to smaller, less frequent, and--as pointed out by the others here--frozen/thawed or fresh killed food items. I can only imagine the risks if a stunned mouse regains its vigor and it's contained in a bag with the snake. Not good.

Lastly, I kept records of every shed for my animals for almost a decade. Juveniles being fed agrgressively (small to moderate size but frequently) would shed every 30 days; ditto for adult females being fed aggressively to bring them into breeding condition.

Good luck!