Lots of questions

[ConcinusMan]

I buy night crawlers regularly and the "dirt" pretty much just falls off them. Besides that, the worms are filled with the stuff. If you're just buying bait night crawlers, there's no need to wash them. A little dirt never hurt anyone.

[guidofatherof5]

I buy night crawlers regularly and the "dirt" pretty much just falls off them. Besides that, the worms are filled with the stuff. If you're just buying bait night crawlers, there's no need to wash them. A little dirt never hurt anyone.

Some study find that if the soil the worms live in is rich in calcium it becomes a benefit to the snakes that eat them.
This also lends the idea of gut loading the worms we feed them. In my case it wouldn't work to well as they aren't here long enough to get a meal
I looked for the study but can't find it at this time. I'll keep looking and post a link.

[Selkielass]

I was questioning the nutritional value of bait shop worms a while ago, and after some online research and input her I decided to stick with worms from my own pesticide free back yard as much as possible, and to gut- load worms kept in a worm box with calcium rich worm food. I still alternate with fish and pinky mice just to be safe.

If the worms from your local store aren't fat, active and lively, they may be short on nutrition, and possibly starving themselves. Check the 'freshness date' on worms wherever you purchase them- try to get worms fresh from the worm farm, so they haven't been sitting in the store refrigerator for weeks starving and losing nutritional value.

A little dirt isn't going to hurt anything, but if it bugs you then swish the worms gently in lukewarm water to clean them up a little. My backyard soil is really clay-heavy and it sticks *hard* to worms.- I drop them in a shallow dish of water and my snakes gobble them up as they crawl out nearly clean.

[guidofatherof5]

I was questioning the nutritional value of bait shop worms a while ago, and after some online research and input her I decided to stick with worms from my own pesticide free back yard as much as possible, and to gut- load worms kept in a worm box with calcium rich worm food. I still alternate with fish and pinky mice just to be safe.

If the worms from your local store aren't fat, active and lively, they may be short on nutrition, and possibly starving themselves. Check the 'freshness date' on worms wherever you purchase them- try to get worms fresh from the worm farm, so they haven't been sitting in the store refrigerator for weeks starving and losing nutritional value.

A little dirt isn't going to hurt anything, but if it bugs you then swish the worms gently in lukewarm water to clean them up a little. My backyard soil is really clay-heavy and it sticks *hard* to worms.- I drop them in a shallow dish of water and my snakes gobble them up as they crawl out nearly clean.

Sounds like you've got things handled.

[New Mutant]

Gotta love Kansas. I'm currently the "safe room" in my basement with my human family (the cats would get into too much trouble, so they're in the basement bathroom) because of a tornado warning. Percy, however, is still in my bedroom (in the basement) in his cage. My mom says that the cage will keep him safe, though. And I was just preparing for his move to the new tank!

[guidofatherof5]

Keep safe.

[New Mutant]

No tornadoes came, but there was some massive hail! I finished setting up Percy's new tank, and it looks swell. Here is a picture of it, and his shed skin. Is there anything I should do to make it safer or better in any way (besides mounting his lamp on something rather than setting it on the top)?
I gave him 2 chopped up nightcrawlers, but he has only eaten the pieces that were still moving, so far.

[guidofatherof5]

Is that sand substrate?

From the forum care sheet:
Substrate

Substrate is the material that is used to cover the floor of your cage. There are a wide variety of substrates to choose from, but some are better than others and some should be avoided at all costs. Your substrate, whatever the choice, should be kept dry. Prolonged exposure to a moist substrate will surely cause blisters on your snake, making him sick and even possibly killing him.
Substrates to avoid:
Sand of any kind - it irritates the snake's scales, eyes, sticks to food, and if ingested in can readily cause impaction.
clay cat litter of any kind- for the same reasons as sand, not to mention its extremely dusty and would irritate their respiratory tract
Cedar shavings, pine shavings, sawdust -both cedar and pine are very bad for a snake's respiratory tract
Gravel - Gravel is non-absorbent and is a very bad choice for snakes. It traps urine and feces, and does not soak them up and will breed heavy amounts of bacteria, causing your cage to turn into a cesspool.
Corn Cob -it's easily accidentally swallowed during feeding, and will not soften or break down. Baby snakes are especially at risk and are practically guaranteed death if they ingest even a single piece of corn cob.

[New Mutant]

No, it's paper towels. The camera doesn't always get good detail. Thanks for the advice, though.

[guidofatherof5]

No, it's paper towels. The camera doesn't always get good detail. Thanks for the advice, though.

Good deal.