Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I had to leave maximus for a week(went to New Hampshire to put a down payment on my new house).What i did is left strict instructions with a friend of mine, who assured me they would follow them to the letter. I hated to leave seeing that max was coming into his first shed dince i have owned him..but I had to.I left instructions on humidity and lighting (feeding was not an issue wghere I fed him two small mice before I left).
all that was required was to turn the light off every night, as well as turn it on every morning.the only other task was to check to make sure there was a fresh bowl of water and spray once a day to keep humidity at 70 % for the shed. Well I checked in periodically over the week and was assured everything was good. I returned today to find a bone dry water bowl, and humidity at a meager 10%.Max was well into his shed and looking very dry! I immediately sprayed the tank filled the water and soaked him for twenty minutes in luke warm water. he looks 110% better now.
When I saw all this I was also concerned because I had decided that today was the day to switch to fresh killed rats. I was really nervous that with the shed difficulties and low humidity that max might not eat... but way 2 go max grabbed right on and coiled twice. ten minutes later he was doing his head shake and climbing onto my hand(he seems to enjoy being handled after eating, is that unusual?)well I have brought humidity up to almost 90 for the night to help with dry shed and will check him in AM.but I am sure he will be fine. He has no caps and his head is completely shed with larger sections of the body coming clear as we speak.
So I think we are just fine.
my friend on the other hand will never be so much as allowed to hold max again!!

my album

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I am a true herper at heart
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus
0.1 golden retriever Amber
0.1 dalmation/lab mix nikita
0.2 bettas

may regurgitate.

when they shed, they don't see good because of their skin on the eyes!that is why they are bit more alert and nervous!
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1.0.0 Ball python (Oz)
0.0.1 Hardwicki Uro (Amon)
0.1.0 Black cat (Tomika)

once again people stop actually reading when they see certain things, instead of waiting until done to form opinions.
first of all, am I supposed to leave my snake in the bath tub for two days until digested? noooo. he comes right to my hand as soon as he is done and then goes right into his tank.
Secondly as far as the shedding..normally I would not handle but for the fact that as earlier stated,the head was fully shed it was the body that was in need of help.and all that was done was a good soaking.Also... checked on him this morning and he is fully shed.. see all he needed was humidity....so phhhhht!
one thing certain people do in this forum, is try to chastize people when they write about their questions and concerns...not cool. my last thought about the handling after eating... typically 24 hours for me, but the reaSON they may regurgitate would be to nervousness and stress, which I have never had an issue with.So please in the future read a little more carefully, and try to give reasons behind your advice because there will be some new people who will get confused and not know why you said certain things.

P.S. Snakes are as diverse in behaviors as they are in color.A lot of the rules given about them are generalizad, and may vary from snake to snake. think of them like human infants, how many of them like to be treated the exact same way? Should we refer to doctor spock in the same way as Kaplan's care sheets? I think not. We simply use them as a general guideline, and then tailor everything else to their particular behaviors and pleasures.How would the world be if every aspect of every day was exactly the same for evryone?Pretty boring don't you think?
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I am a true herper at heart
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus
0.1 golden retriever Amber
0.1 dalmation/lab mix nikita
0.2 bettas

Lately, there have been too many people eager to find fault with almost every statement or question made...probably because they think doing so shows off how "knowledgable" they are.

It sounds to me like you take excellent care of your animals! Too bad your friend didn't!

Take care...
Judy
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1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

If you want something done right.... well, you know the rest.