Juliea201
01-16-2013, 03:46 PM
Hello all!
One week ago (as of Thursday tomorrow), my boyfriend discovered a very small snake by the house. We had a spell of about 3 freakishly warm days, but this was on the upswing of that, and in the evening so of course he was cold and moving verrry slowly. Not knowing what he was except that he was not poisonous, and thinking he was an off-season hatchling in trouble… into a Tupperware box he went with a bottle cap water dish! :) I TRIED to set him free the next day or so while it was still warm BUT… He was so cute and personable, plus he reminded me of a miniature version of the Corn Snake I kept for 10 yrs as a teen. Add to that, on Sunday began a deluge of record rain and steadily plummeting temps that is still going (from 70 degrees to floods to SNOW tomorrow … in one week… I tell you, the Mayans are behind this). Had I realized he was an adult sooner, I'd have sucked it up and set him free, best of luck, but as it stands now it'd be more like subjecting him to the fate of the Unicorns when the ark took off early… LOL.
SO, a pet store trip later, and he's now in a 10 gal tank with "Forest" bedding (not bark but more like a mulch), water dish and branches. After doing some research here, I'm 98% sure we have a Dekay's Brown snake (you tell me from photos though!). Which is GREAT because his staying small will hopefully mean his current setup is adequate. Some questions I do have to keep him as happy and healthy as possible:
*He's pretty active so far; spent a lot of time racing the perimeter of the tank the first night in it (Sun). Since then he has gone totally arboreal and hangs in the branches changing position/location every few hours. We're guessing this is good, though I thought these guys were more ground dwellers?
*He DID seem to have a swollen spot at his anus when we found him. He hasn't had a full movement that I've noticed, but I did find a yellow brown spot on the paper towels while he was in the first Tupperware Palace and it appears less swollen. I recall my Corn Snake getting constipated and warm baths helping. Should I try that here?
*Not knowing enough yet, we bought 3 mini-crickets with his tank, and of course, at least 1-2 are still running around (for all we know, #3 is probably in witness protection, not his stomach). I did find a tiny earthworm amongst the monsters that have been everywhere with the rain, but he didn't seem at all interested (I did leave it in there and I suspect it escaped the lid I set it on.. If it's alive, then he has a snack for later maybe). When and what should we attempt to feed him? And when to worry if he doesn't seem to eat? We get worms and snails aplenty, but generally the bigger kind.
*I was going to get a heat pad or rock, and the tank kit came with both a day and night warming light. Which do these guys prefer? And what temps?
*Anything else to keep him happy or add to the tank?
We really want to do the right things by this little guy since he's our responsibility now. Not sure how old he is though I doubt he's over 9-10 inches. Thanks in advance for any help!
799179927993
One week ago (as of Thursday tomorrow), my boyfriend discovered a very small snake by the house. We had a spell of about 3 freakishly warm days, but this was on the upswing of that, and in the evening so of course he was cold and moving verrry slowly. Not knowing what he was except that he was not poisonous, and thinking he was an off-season hatchling in trouble… into a Tupperware box he went with a bottle cap water dish! :) I TRIED to set him free the next day or so while it was still warm BUT… He was so cute and personable, plus he reminded me of a miniature version of the Corn Snake I kept for 10 yrs as a teen. Add to that, on Sunday began a deluge of record rain and steadily plummeting temps that is still going (from 70 degrees to floods to SNOW tomorrow … in one week… I tell you, the Mayans are behind this). Had I realized he was an adult sooner, I'd have sucked it up and set him free, best of luck, but as it stands now it'd be more like subjecting him to the fate of the Unicorns when the ark took off early… LOL.
SO, a pet store trip later, and he's now in a 10 gal tank with "Forest" bedding (not bark but more like a mulch), water dish and branches. After doing some research here, I'm 98% sure we have a Dekay's Brown snake (you tell me from photos though!). Which is GREAT because his staying small will hopefully mean his current setup is adequate. Some questions I do have to keep him as happy and healthy as possible:
*He's pretty active so far; spent a lot of time racing the perimeter of the tank the first night in it (Sun). Since then he has gone totally arboreal and hangs in the branches changing position/location every few hours. We're guessing this is good, though I thought these guys were more ground dwellers?
*He DID seem to have a swollen spot at his anus when we found him. He hasn't had a full movement that I've noticed, but I did find a yellow brown spot on the paper towels while he was in the first Tupperware Palace and it appears less swollen. I recall my Corn Snake getting constipated and warm baths helping. Should I try that here?
*Not knowing enough yet, we bought 3 mini-crickets with his tank, and of course, at least 1-2 are still running around (for all we know, #3 is probably in witness protection, not his stomach). I did find a tiny earthworm amongst the monsters that have been everywhere with the rain, but he didn't seem at all interested (I did leave it in there and I suspect it escaped the lid I set it on.. If it's alive, then he has a snack for later maybe). When and what should we attempt to feed him? And when to worry if he doesn't seem to eat? We get worms and snails aplenty, but generally the bigger kind.
*I was going to get a heat pad or rock, and the tank kit came with both a day and night warming light. Which do these guys prefer? And what temps?
*Anything else to keep him happy or add to the tank?
We really want to do the right things by this little guy since he's our responsibility now. Not sure how old he is though I doubt he's over 9-10 inches. Thanks in advance for any help!
799179927993