Marnie's Snakes

[EasternGirl]

Need some help here. Now this is not the best pic...and I am hoping you can see what I am talking about here. I have no idea how people put little arrows in on pictures. So, I will try to be specific. I have noticed dark spots on Cee Cee and Seeley's faces that were not there before. If you look in this picture...the darkening is above the 1st and 2nd supralabial scales on her face. It is on the same place on Seeley...but this is just a pic of Cee Cee.

006.jpg Sorry..I know it's a blurry pic...she was moving a lot..it's the best I could get. But you can see the dark spot that I am talking about. It is on both sides of her face. Same thing on Seeley. Is it something I should be concerned about?

[chris-uk]

Do the dark spots look like the normal pigmentation on other parts of the skin?
Would I be correct to say that as a snake matures the patterning changes? I know the colouration changes as they mature (with some colours intensifying, and in other cases the colours dull), but I'm not sure whether the pattern itself changes.

[EasternGirl]

Yes...it looks like the same coloring on her face...it looks as though the color on her face is spreading actually...spreading to more areas of her face. I noticed it on Seeley first actually...it was on both sides of his face, just like on Cee Cee...right under his eyes...reminds me of dark circles under the eyes. I thought maybe it was the way the light was hitting him and the way I was looking at him or something. But then I noticed it on Cee Cee too. The only thing that I have been doing different...is giving them calcium supplements in their water...but not even half of the recommended dose...Greg advised me on how to use them.

[EasternGirl]

Cee Cee just received her last antibiotic injection. Yipee! I know if she could, she would do a little snakie dance in celebration of this momentous occasion.

[gregmonsta]

I have to say those 'darkened' areas mentioned earlier look pretty normal to me

[guidofatherof5]

I have to say those 'darkened' areas mentioned earlier look pretty normal to me

I concur with Dr. Greg.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks...I looked back on some old pics and I could see them forming...I guess as Chris said, colors just change over time on garters. Also, I know colors change during different phases as shed time is nearing...slowly the snake's coloring gets darker and darker and then the shed process occurs and then the snake is very light again.

[EasternGirl]

Was time to feed the snakes again tonight...I had been thinking that maybe it was time to increase Hermes amount of food...I had been giving him a half a pinky's worth of food about every 3 days. He has grown so much though...I'd say he must be over a foot long now. I fed him on Thursday..half a pinky, and he was definitely still hungry...although he had a nice little bulge...so I didn't want to give him anymore right then. So, I made him a nice big dish of food tonight...half a pinky with some tilapia and some reptamin made into powder. He of course gobbled it up...I think he was so fat that he couldn't fit out of his hide tonight! I will increase his food to a little over a half a pinky's worth every three days. I made Seeley a dish of worms, tilapia, and a little reptamin powder...he ate a little, of course, not much...but some, at least. Interestingly, he ate more fish than worms this time. I gave Cee Cee two pinkies and two big pieces of tilapia...and then of course, she gave me "the look" and I gave her one more piece of fish. She has me wrapped around her...um tail?

[PINJOHN]

was time to feed the snakes again tonight...i had been thinking that maybe it was time to increase hermes amount of food...i had been giving him a half a pinky's worth of food about every 3 days. He has grown so much though...i'd say he must be over a foot long now. I fed him on thursday..half a pinky, and he was definitely still hungry...although he had a nice little bulge...so i didn't want to give him anymore right then. So, i made him a nice big dish of food tonight...half a pinky with some tilapia and some reptamin made into powder. He of course gobbled it up...i think he was so fat that he couldn't fit out of his hide tonight! I will increase his food to a little over a half a pinky's worth every three days. I made seeley a dish of worms, tilapia, and a little reptamin powder...he ate a little, of course, not much...but some, at least. Interestingly, he ate more fish than worms this time. I gave cee cee two pinkies and two big pieces of tilapia...and then of course, she gave me "the look" and i gave her one more piece of fish. She has me wrapped around her...um tail? :d

never been one to hold to a strict or scientific type regimen myself, i have always had a casual approach to my snakes feeding, meaning they don't get exactly the same weight of food nor are they fed on the same days continually, one of the blessings of keeping snakes is that when real life intrudes into the more important snake world then feeding them a couple of days late is no problem at all, and yes i would increase his food as he gets bigger

[EasternGirl]

Yes...thank the lord for that! I've been so busy lately...Cee Cee and Seeley were fed late this time...Cee Cee was letting me know it with her "I'm starving...can't you see I am a poor starving snake?" pathetic stares in my direction every time I walked by the tank...but at least I knew that in reality she would be okay given that my schedule was forcing me to delay her feeding a bit. The thing with Hermes is his growth keeps catching me off guard...I will look in on him from time to time and think...wow, he is really big! When did he get so big? I better feed him more!