Marnie's Snakes

[RedSidedSPR]

Also logical.

[EasternGirl]

Well...I don't know what her problem is. She never used to bite me. She would occasionally false strike at me if she was scared. Now she does it all the time. Now...usually what happens is, I will put my hand in to reach for her and she will start striking....she will get a bite in when I go to pick her up...and then I will say "Alright, that's enough of that crap! No bites!"...and just go ahead and grab her and she will stop. Once I'm holding her...she doesn't try it anymore. Sadie used to do the exact same thing. She would bite at my fingers as my hand reached for her...but once I was holding her...she would stop. Now she really doesn't try it anymore...except for times when she can smell food...and usually if I say "no bites!" and just grab her quickly...she will knock it off too. Silly snakes!

[EasternGirl]

I just spent the last hour trying to perform an emergency shedectomy on little baby Athena. I realized that she had a badly retained shed...and that is why she has been having trouble moving, gasping for air, and refusing food the last couple of feedings. Looking at her...I'm not sure if she ever shed since she was born. I had her in a shed box yesterday...but it didn't work. So this morning...I had to manually start peeling the shed off her very tiny body. I had to take a pin to get the shed started...the poor thing was biting me, doing death rolls...gasping. I managed to get most of it off...I got off both eye caps and I think I got the majority off around her neck and face...I hope she can breathe better now. She is so tiny...I just hope I didn't hurt her by squishing her while I was trying to remove the shed...but it had to be done. Now I just wait and see if she survives. Poor little girl.

[EasternGirl]

I think she may have eaten a bite or two of worm pieces. Everyone send positive thoughts my way that this little girl makes it...she has really stolen my heart with her big eyes. On a another note, the yearlings are not eating yet. They seem happy enough...they are very skiddish still, but love to curl up together under one hide they have, and they love to poke their heads out and stretch out their necks and look at me. I just need to get them to eat.

[RedSidedSPR]

Nice, I'm sure she's fine. Good luck with 'em

[EasternGirl]

Thanks. Well, she did eat a few bites of worm...so that is a good sign. But I know I didn't get all of the shed off...it is really hard to see where to get a hold of it...where the actual shed is...she is so tiny and thin that her body is wrinkly in itself...I will give her another warm bath later tonight. I'm going to leave her alone for a bit because I know it was a lot of stress on her.

[RedSidedSPR]

Hold her in a warm damp cloth and let her slither through it, worked for me.

Make sure the tip of the tail is off too, only other part that's actually threatening.

[Light of Dae]

Agree'd on letting her slither through warm wet towel. I used paper towel cause then you can see the shed pieces on it better. Also if you can't get it... put her in a sealed clear container with warm wet paper towels n leave her half way on a heat mat for over night. then in the morning rub her with a paper towel and it'll come off very well.

[EasternGirl]

I have tried and tried to get it all of you guys...she is so tiny and fragile. Everytime I put her in the shed box, she starts gasping for air. I managed to get more off the tail tonight...she is a mess. You can barely see where the shed is and it doesn't seem to want to peel off. I'm just hoping I got the majority of it off. I will keep giving her soaks but I have to give her breaks because she is getting really stressed. I don't think I can leave her in the box because of her trouble breathing.

On another note...we did say that it is safe for albinos to be under a regular bulb as long as it isn't UV right? I'm concerned about Little Joe. He is in with the other babies and I wonder if the light is bad for him...I use a 40 watt regular household bulb.

[guidofatherof5]

It happens every once in a great while when a young snake will cross my path and it seems the deck is stacked against the little scrub.
Eating problems, shedding problems, etc. I will fight hard for the little one and sometimes I loose them in the end.
Hang in there Marnie.
All this experience your getting will help in the future and pay dividends.