Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I received my new Spilotes last week Thursday. She was blue, so I snapped a few pictures and then put her in a 15 gallon with plenty of space for crawling around in branches, and hides as well. She crawled up into the branches and curled herself up there. Finally her eyes cleared but no sign of a shed. I figured she would be shedding soon. Had to do some reorganizing of her cage, so hubby held her while the cage was redone. She lay calmly on his lap, her head sideways (like a human being might lie on a soft pillow) on his lap. She tensed up with every sound in the house, but was otherwise passive. We put her back and she went into one of her hides and hasn't been seen since. Should I be worried? My husband seemed a bit concerned too because her shape is more like an inverted V than an inverted U (slender snake, seems emaciated, but I'm only familiar with kingsnakes really). Are Spilotes normally more like a V than a kingsnake (who would be an inverted U). Or should they be fairly fleshy like a kingsnake, just a bit more slender per length, as they seem to be loooooong snakes.

From opaque to shed how long would be a normal period of time? I put some tiny hoppers in the cage to see if they would be interesting to her, but even though they sauntered into the hide where she was hiding, nothing happened to them. (I removed them and gave them to the Jungle Carpet Python I got in the same shipment.. the python was supposed to be a non-feeder, and she gobbled them down)

Anyway, I'm so new to the entire species of snake, that I don't know what is right and what is wrong. I feel dumb asking, but I don't think that any amount of discussing her would have prepared me for just how different she is from a King or Corn snake.

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~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

she'll shed in a day or so and will most likely eat anything that moves after that. i usually wait to feed all my snakes until the day after they shed......this insures a better response, esp. w/ a new animal. also, you might want to mist her enclosure lightly tomorrow morning to aid her in her shed. keep us posted.......

None of your concerns seem like anything to worry about.

Spilotes (especially younsters) are very nervous snakes. They are going to be insecure when being held, and very often tend to be "bitey" when young.

It's totally normal for them to spend the vast majority of their time hiding, and ALL of it hiding when in shed. Don't expect it to eat until it sheds. You can get them onto f/t mice, but, especially when young, they are attracted to movement, so live is going to be easier to get them started on...and crawlers work even better than pinks. The more movement, the better.

Then eventually you can wean them onto f/t by gently waving it in front of them with forceps.

As for the body weight, your snake looks normal. They are not built like a kingsnake, or even a corn snake. Their normal body shape is very slender, and "V" shaped.

Good Luck!

Thank you BOTH for the information. I've been lightly misting her cage since I got her since I understand she prefers a humid enclosure to a dry one. I just hate to think that I might do one of my snakes wrong, and since she had a deformity when I got her, I figure it's better to mention anything odd in case it's REALLY odd, or luckily, in this case, it's just normal behaviour.

I'll post pics of her once she's shed, eaten, and digested. I keep hoping to take a full body pic next to an object for measuring so I can see exactly how long she is.

Any idea how long she'll be able to live in a 15 gallon? Hubby is thinking of purchasing a fairly HUGE octagonal cage for her. I don't know the exact dimensions (60 gallons? 100 gallons? not sure) We want to make sure we do her right. Next summer i'll be trying my hand at learning to build my own racks, and display enclosures.
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~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

My captive born has just started to feed frozen/thawed. Up till now I had to feed live rat pinks, then pups. For me, it has been easier to keep high huimidity by limiting ventilation than spraying every day. Building an enclosure is a good way to go, but takes more planning and experience than you might think initially. I've been frustrated by the effort many times, and you'd think it would be simple.

I thought there was a longer than typical (for a colubrid) time between blue-ing and shedding for my spilotes. A damp to wet environment will help. Keep in mind that these snakes can reach 12 foot, so don't bother with an intermediate sized enclosure that you'll have to replace again later.

Joe