New owner, Is it time to shed?

[badbunny42]

Hi all. We're new to snake ownership, Our little'un arrived on Christmas eve.
She is a 5 month old Checkered Garter.

Since her feed yesterday she has been spending nearly all her time in her waterbowl. Even though her eyes haven't gone opaque yet, we were wondering if this could indicate an impending shed.

Thanks for any advice.

Ben

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard.

[badbunny42]

Just given her a bath. The first she has had since she came to us from Chris-uk and Char. She seemed to enjoy it, though her definition of exercise seems to be 'just float about nonchalantly'.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum.
Is your Checkered a normal of albino?

[badbunny42]

She's normal, but big for her age. Goes by the name of Lightning

[EasternGirl]

She may just be soaking. What is the temp in your tank? Sometimes snakes do that to cool off or signal that they are not comfortable with the temp in their environment. If I notice my snake soaking a lot or staying on the cool side of the tank a lot, I may turn off her lamp or heat mat and let the warm side of the tank cool off a bit. Yes..we know Lightning! You may want to ask Chris and Char what temps she is used to...or if she tends to soak a lot. Welcome to the forum! We look forward to sharing your experiences with Lightning!

[badbunny42]

Thanks for the warm welcome.
Her cold side is 22.5'C, her warm side is currently 25'C, but despite a thermostat it varies between 25 and 29, usually sticking to about 27.5 (when there is less traffic going through the room).


On a side note. I just realised that I no longer notice that distinctive snake/viv aroma.

[chris-uk]

Welcome to the forum Ben.

I don't think she'd be due a shed yet, but given how Lightning eats and grows she may be. Look out for the opaque eyes., that's the dead giveaway.

Water-wise, she had gone off swimming for a, while before we handed her to you, but that could have been because she was getting too large for the bowls in her viv. The one you have is bigger so she may just have realised that she's got more room now. When she's in the bath swimming she usually needed a bit of encouragement to keep her swimming rather than just floating around.

If you're worried I can pop in tomorrow.

[badbunny42]

Hi Chris. We aren't worried, we were really just wondering about the shedding thing. Swimmingwise, despite the floating, she did do a fair bit of wriggling up the sides of the bath.

[chris-uk]

I think she's got her love of water back. In the first few months with us she was our water baby, much more so than Binky or Eskerina. She's only pipped to the water baby crown by the Mexicans.