Question about feeding

[acovert]

Still no luck with the worms. Actually, he's not taking fish, either, at this point.

[chris-uk]

Don't stress too much, he can go for a while without eating. Our 6 month old albino checkered has gone 2 weeks without eating and didn't have a big appetite for a week or two before that. We're starting to get concerned, but not too worried yet. And we have a normal checkered that is a worse feeder than that.
You will almost certainly find that he will be off his food after you move back from college on Thursday, moving them around unsettles them and they take a bit of time to settle. It's pretty normal, so as long as he isn't loosing lots of weight just keep an eye on him and wait for him to start feeding again.

[acovert]

He tends to do really well with moving, actually. For Thanksgiving break we made a two hour trip to another town. The house we were staying in was colder than my dorm (which is cold) and I had to wrap his tank in blankets to try to keep it at a reasonable temperature. The day after we got into town he took a fish. He took one a day or two after we got back, as well.

Usually he eats more often than this, which is why I'm a little worried. I'm sure he'll be fine. He went at least two weeks without eating when I first got him. Refused everything for a while. And I'm fairly certain he wasn't getting any nutrition from those crickets they were trying to feed him. I think I'm more concerned because we will be moving soon. I want him to be as healthy as possible for the ten to twelve hour car ride.

[EasternGirl]

My snakes have gone months without eating. They often go off food for weeks at a time for no particular reason. Seeley is going through one of his off phases right now and hasn't eaten in a couple of weeks. I know Cuddles is young..but like I said, Hermes is now almost five months and he went almost two weeks when I first got him before he would eat anything because of the stress of being in a new environment. Has Cuddles shed since you have had him?

[acovert]

No, he hasn't shed yet. It looks as though he's a little longer than he was when I got him, so he's grown a little, but no shedding.

[EasternGirl]

Do you know what to watch for? Cloudy eyes...skin looking dull...he may shed soon and he may go off food when he gets ready to shed. He also may not want to be held as much...may want to hide more. You will want to make sure he has water to soak in and maybe mist his enclosure so that he can get his shed off nicely and in one piece.

[acovert]

Yep. I had a lizard that shed it's skin quite a bit some years back. And I've actually watched snakes shed their skin before. There was one shedding at the pet store just the other day. No cloudy eyes or dull skin yet. He's been hiding less the last few days, though.

[EasternGirl]

Ashley...nice to know your name. Okay, well the thing you want to aim for is for him to shed it all off in one big piece when he does shed. You want his humidity and temps to be right in his enclosure too. Did anyone talk to you about your enclosure? What kind you have...substrate, lighting...hides...temps, humidity levels and so forth? Not trying to bombard you with stuff...I just know that you said you wanted to know all the right stuff to care for him .

[acovert]

Right now he's in a small container that I bought from Petco. It's ideal for traveling. I have a tank at home that I've used for reptiles before, but those reptiles (lizards) died from an unknown cause so I need to clean it thoroughly. It also needs a lid. But it will be big enough for him for a while. It was large enough to house three lizards when I last used it.

For bedding I am using Aspen right now. I'm going to look into switching when I get home as I don't like the look of it.

I have trouble controlling the humidity and temperature levels. Usually I can keep his tank at about 80 degrees during the day - considering the fact that it's regularly below 20 degrees here, I say that's accomplished. It would be warmer, but I have the coldest room in the apartment/dorm and my roommates won't let me turn the heat above the low 70s. Once they go to bed I usually turn it up to 76-78ish, which helps with the temp in my room at night. I have a heat/daylight lamp that helps a lot; it's on the side of the tank that doesn't have the water dish. When I'm in the room I keep the lid off because he can sun himself better that way. He doesn't try to escape, which surprises me.

I have trouble with humidity as well, but that's also because of where I live right now. When I get back to Portland I won't have any trouble keeping the humidity regulated. Right now it is difficult to get the humidity up to 50%. It usually sits at about 40% no matter what I do. He does have a large water dish, though.

I have a hide for him. It's a small artificial log that I bought at Petco. He loves it; sleeps in it or underneath it every night. Right now, though, I am actually using a paper/cardboard tube so that i can fit the small dish with the earthworms underneath it. He can also burrow into the aspen bedding (I'm careful to make sure he doesn't ingest any of that). I also design the other decorations so that they create smaller places where he can hide. I have a lot of climbing sticks and some cheap fake plants. I'll be getting different stuff once I have more options at home.

[chris-uk]

Sounds like you have all the bases covered there Ashley.