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So after changing a few factors I think Roy seems much happier and active. I took him off heat and letting the cage above him heat up his cage and light above gives off some heat. His temps are around 78-80 hot side and 74 cold side. He really perked up when he got the coco husk with the increased humidity. He ate two small rats the other day with a much more aggressive feeding response. The cage is too small but his new cage should be on its way soon!
So as I was feeding him I went 'Oh it probably would have been smart to feed him in another container now with those chunks of coco husk'. Next time since I wasn't interrupting him after he darted out for the rat! I watched him eat both and no chunks but definitely safer not to feed in there from now on.
I think I'm going to setup the calico with something similar even though hers has pretty good humidity. I'll probably move her cage up a size too for more room to move around since she has been more active recently.
Don't bother feeding in a separate container. Snakes can swallow and pass coco husk without issues. They don't like to do it and they look uncomfortable trying to expel any large pieces but it doesn't harm them. Also, mine tend to allow me to use feeding tongs to gently remove pieces (just grip the piece and allow the snake to slowly back away).
Thanks! He's colors seem brighter the more time that goes by for some reason. I hadn't seen him attack a meal before the last one. He came out of the hide the second he smelled the rat and had it coiled. He didn't regurge the two rats so these temps are working for him and he still spends a large portion of time on the colder end. These temps are colder than what I had read they should be kept on but he definitely seems much happier and comfortable!
The pieces just seem large but if I don't have to drag him out to eat I'm good with that....less work!
To minimize ingestion of substrate, I lay a sheet of newspaper down in the enclosure and put the rat on top of that. Some of the snakes drag the rat all around the enclosure anyway, but for the ones that don't the paper eliminates any risk of swallowing clumps of substrate. It's a simple precaution you can try if you're worried, though not strictly necessary.
Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is he? He's beautiful.
He is an albino chinese beauty snake. I really like my two beauty snakes and wouldn't mind another at some point!
Quote:
Originally Posted by prairiepanda
To minimize ingestion of substrate, I lay a sheet of newspaper down in the enclosure and put the rat on top of that. Some of the snakes drag the rat all around the enclosure anyway, but for the ones that don't the paper eliminates any risk of swallowing clumps of substrate. It's a simple precaution you can try if you're worried, though not strictly necessary.
I do put paper towels down for everyone but Roy dragged his all around this time which was the reason I was a little more worried with the new substrate having large pieces.
Picked up a log from the local petstore on the way home from work so he could get off the ground if he wanted. About 2 minutes in he was all over it and is now sitting inside. Can't wait for his new cage to come in so he has more room to move and climb.
Drying the mouse or rat after thawing will help prevent pieces of husk from sticking to it. I also will put the mouse on the wood for my snakes so they swallow it. If they pull it off then its their fault.