Marnie's Snakes

[EasternGirl]

Steve...I have a plastic storage container from the dollar store that I use for my shed box. How can I get air holes in it for the babies without a soldering iron? I have tried making holes in plastic containers like that before with a sharp object only to have the plastic crack on me. I was going to just clean out one of my 20 gallon tanks that has a lock lid on it and put paper towels down and a small water dish and I told my mother to put gloves on (so Cee Cee won't bite her) and just move the babies into that tank if Cee Cee should have them while I'm gone. There is no way the babies can escape from the tank because the lid is very secure...would that work?

[guidofatherof5]

A pair of pliers, a nail and a stove or heat source and you should be able to burn some holes through the plastic.
The 20 should work as long as the babies can't get out.

[mikem]

yep, i've used a small nail heated to make holes. right now i'm using a drill bit because i've lost my little soldering iron. i need to pick up another one soon. the last one i got was about $10 at walmart. that was about 5 years ago and i haven't priced them since. they're very handy to have around when you need some quick holes.

is your mom comfortable moving the babies if she has them? make sure she's not using really thick gloves as it can make grabbing them a pain and there's a risk of dropping and losing one or two in the house because it'll be hard to actually feel the grip you have. depending on how long you're going to be out of commission, perhaps she can just mist the enclosure really well until you can get in there.

whichever option you go with, i'm sure everything will be fine.

[EasternGirl]

Well....I will only be in the hospital overnight as long as everything goes as planned. I will be gone all day Wednesday and I will be home by midday Thursday. I should actually be fine to take care of the snakes once I get home...I just can't lift anything heavy or drive. Is my mom comfortable moving the babies? No. My mother is not comfortable with snakes...and the problem is that Cee Cee will try to bite anyone that sticks their hand in that enclosure other than me...heck, she still false strikes at me if I stick my hand in there too quickly. But my mother will do whatever I need her to do...she does actually care about the snakes. I told her to wear gloves because Cee Cee is going to bite her when she reaches in there. I would be much more comfortable if she could get the babies out of there...but I do worry about that...Cee Cee's enclosure is not easy to get in and out of. Perhaps I should move Cee Cee into the tank with the slide lock lid and put her on paper towels....set thing up for her to have the babies...and then if she has them the babies could just stay in there with her? Would they be okay with her? But then, see, I worry that will stress Cee Cee if I move her out of her normal surroudings that she is comfortable in now. Ugh! Help! Suggestions! I'm going to start a thread I think...

[EasternGirl]

I'm worried about Seeley. I have been concerned about him for a while now...there was the whole going off of food for two months thing during the winter...and he has never been a hearty eater to begin with. He seems to be less active...and more docile...I thought maybe he was just getting used to me...but I'm thinking he has just gotten too calm...he doesn't flee like he used to...he just sits there when I approach him and he doesn't struggle like he used to when I hold him...he justs seems too calm. I have also noticed that his skin feels rough and a bit hard to me...and it sounds crackly when I hold him near my ear...like I can hear his scales or almost as if I can hear his bones...it's very hard to explain. It isn't a retained shed. He just shed a perfect shed and he has no signs of any retained skin. Has anyone ever observed this with one of their snakes? Like a crackly popping sound when the snake moves and the skin feeling kind of harder than it should? I also weighed him and he only weighs 30 grams.

[kibakiba]

Sometimes when I hold my snakes a few days after eating, they make a pop sound when I hold them. It's just the food contents in their stomach sloshing around I think.

I think he might just be maturing. When snakey turned 4 his scales got really rough and he got a lot more docile. The roughness is just his keeled scales.

[EasternGirl]

Well...he hasn't eaten. I'm trying to get him to eat now. He won't eat before a shed...so he skipped his last feeding. I put some pinky in his enclosure a little while ago...I moved him into his own enclosure to eat because Cee Cee will steal his food...but he's not eating. I don't know...Cee Cee doesn't feel rough like he does...it almost reminds me of the crackly way that snake Sammy that I found skin was...the snake that died. It's like his skin is rough and he feels crackly on the inside...it's so hard to explain. It doesn't look like anything is wrong with his skin though. He seems kind of lethargic to me. Something just doesn't seem right. I've started moving him out of Cee Cee's enclosure at night because I think that it is too warm in there for him...since I keep it warm for her because of her breathing problems at night. I will just keep an eye on him and if I can observe anything else I will let you guys know...thanks.

[EasternGirl]

Updates on the snakes: I decided to go and buy some reptibark yesterday and switch the tanks over. I was just thinking that the aspen I had was too splintery...I really did not care for it...and it was not controlling odor at all. Cee Cee can be kind of a stinky snake sometimes and her enclosure was really beginning to smell! Poor stinky Ceecers. Lol. Anyway...funniest thing...after I switched the substrate over in the tanks...apparently Possum and Hermes really loved the new reptibark...and I also put a new plant in their enclosure. They were out...which you all know is unusual for my hermit albinos...and exploring the enclosure and playing all night! Seriously...from the time I changed the substrate around 9pm last night until about 2am when I went to bed...they were out playing around having a blast. I was so happy to see them out and active.

On the Cee Cee front...there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that she is gravid. I picked her up to move her to change her substrate yesterday. I had not handled her in a while because I haven't wanted to stress her. She is huge...definitely gravid looking not fat. And heavy. I see bumps. Whether or not she will have live young still remains to be seen...after all of the stillborns last year. Could be jellies or stillborns...I don't know. Hoping for healthy babies...whatever the case, I'm thinking something will happen soon. Let's just wait two days Cee Cee....let me get my surgery over with...please. If she does have healthy babies...I will be looking for homes for the little scrubs when they are old enough to go...so if anyone is looking for easterns....

Seeley seems okay for now...I am going to try to feed everyone today...hoping he will eat. He still has not eaten since before his shed. He seems very protective of Cee Cee right now....he was giving her a lot of space for the last couple of weeks and now over the past couple of days he has been lying on top of her...not getting fresh or anything....just acting very protective. I will move him out of the enclosure tomorrow morning before I go to the hospital and take Cee Cee's water dish out and put a shallow dish in just in case. I should be home tomorrow night....Thursday morning at the latest. I will come on and let everyone know when I am home.

[Light of Dae]

Good to hear everyone is doing good As well that they are enjoying the Reptile bark... I've been considering switching to it as George still won't eat when I'm watching n I worry that he doesn't stay off the aspen with the food... I mean its small enough bites that he should travel with it but... never know.

[EasternGirl]

I still move all of mine out and into a feed tank with carefresh in it and a dish towel down on top of that for feeding. Except for Cee Cee...because she eats from hemostats and sticks her head out of her tank. All of the snakes have their particular feeding ritual....Hermes still has to have his dish put under a hide and then I have to stick him in the hide. Seeley has his dish on top of paper towels or a dish towel and then I cover the tank with a towel so he can have privacy. Possum will just eat from a dish on top of the dish towel...and Cee Cee likes to be fed from the hemostats.