Morzan and Homura - Page 4

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-07-16, 09:35 PM

Well, I've decided to try cypress mulch instead of gambling on the added air holes being enough for the sphagnum moss. If this bedding works out better, I'll look into finding an equivalent bedding without the environmental impacts, and use that while they are in their tub set ups.

Morzan is still in a snappy mood. The food bulge is much smaller now, but still present, and he was slightly less inclined to bite. I was able to take him out of his tub without protest, but when I removed him from his holding container to put him in his tub, he nailed me right on the thumb. lol He wouldn't let me pick him up, and I didn't want to irritate and stress him by chasing his coils around the Tupperware, so I just dumped him gently onto his bed of moss. He landed on his back, but quickly flipped over to posture at me in a striking position. He wouldn't strike with the camera aimed at him, but he put in a few more swings when I put the camera away to replace the tub's top.

Homura also took another swing at me today, this time it's because she fell off her favorite perch when I lifted up the top of the tub. She fell on her back, and she was clenching her stomach muscles so tightly it looked like a lung had imploded. >.> I reach for her and she snapped at me, but didn't land, and after that she calmed down and I picked her up. After she relaxed, her stomach went to normal. Poor girl was very startled, though. I did the same thing to Nymeria earlier this week, too, but she didn't strike, just wrinkled the back of her head and sat there with dilated pupils.

So it looks like Morzan is living up to the nippy reputation of baby rainbows, and although Homura is a bit more inclined to strike out than Sanji ever was, I don't really feel she's all that snappy.

Snakesitter · 04-08-16, 02:09 PM

LOL! Babies can be little brats at times. ;-) The good news is that they calm down fast with regular, gentle handling, plus the passage of time. Well-acclimated adults rarely bite unless in feeding mode or startled.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-08-16, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

LOL! Babies can be little brats at times. ;-) The good news is that they calm down fast with regular, gentle handling, plus the passage of time. Well-acclimated adults rarely bite unless in feeding mode or startled.

lol Yes they can be. I'll be taking it slow with him to avoid regurges and over-stressing him, but I'm sure he'll outgrow it with time. If he doesn't, rainbows don't get big and he's probably going to be tiny for quite awhile, so I'll just have to deal. :P

dannybgoode · 04-09-16, 12:11 AM

Love that last photo. Great shot. They're coming on nicely BSG - going to be stunning adults...

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-15-16, 06:23 PM

So after several handling sessions of being bitey, I was able to take him out AND put him back in his tub without getting bit or snapped at. :P He didn't move around much, and was still on the defensive, though. With regular handling, he should become more comfortable.

He continues to digest and poop just fine, and no regurges yet!

He's covered in bits of cypress mulch and moss, and I didn't want to brush it off since he's still a bit nervous.

He spent the last few minutes I had him out with his nose pushed into my palm like he was warning me he'd bite. lol But he was fairly calm compared to earlier handling sessions and didn't take much coaxing to get off my fingers when I put him up.

savannahs · 04-15-16, 11:44 PM

I really love these snakes. I've always thought that the rainbow sheen is quite amazing. Do they typically have "bitey" personalities or is that more typical of the younger ones? That's good that yours is starting to get better with being handled.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-16-16, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by savannahs

I really love these snakes. I've always thought that the rainbow sheen is quite amazing. Do they typically have "bitey" personalities or is that more typical of the younger ones? That's good that yours is starting to get better with being handled.

Generally, it's the babies that are bitey. 2/3 of my current rainbows are docile, and my late rainbow never bit me but she was always on the defensive when I had her out.

I'm not sure he's getting better with being handled, because I hadn't handled him in about a week, between going to the Atlanta Repticon and letting him digest two meals, I think he just had a good day. lol We'll see how he behaves next time I take him out.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-19-16, 07:31 PM

I took Homura out yesterday, and the lighting was perfect to really bring out her colors true to life.

Lefitte · 04-19-16, 11:19 PM

I loove her dark eyes in that bright head. So pretty! I bet she's spectacular in person.

As for bitey, that's their reputation but after being in groups for snakes I have to say that I see a whole lot more talk about kings biting and doing damage than I do BRBs [especially when you're talking adults, seems like all baby snakes are bitey haha]. I've had my BRB for around 9 months and today was only the third time he's tried to strike me and he's only tagged me once [which was so small that I could barely find the holes and wasn't entirely sure what even happened at first]. First time was during the first two weeks and he was very hungry, he went for my face. Not fun. Both the second and third time involved him being released and 'recaptured' which seems to be a pretty common time for BRB bites. Apparently his father is still the same way when it comes to being recaptured haha. Otherwise, my boy is sweet as a puppy. I can boop his nose, pet the top of his head, underside of his chin, walk around and gesture in conversation with him wrapped around my arm. I've taken him out in public and allowed people to touch him [mostly coworkers and snake-loving people] and he was cool with that too. I think it depends a lot on their attitudes and how much they're worked with. I was looking for a more docile baby in the hopes that with regular gentle handling that he would stay like that and it's worked out so far.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-20-16, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefitte

I loove her dark eyes in that bright head. So pretty! I bet she's spectacular in person.

As for bitey, that's their reputation but after being in groups for snakes I have to say that I see a whole lot more talk about kings biting and doing damage than I do BRBs [especially when you're talking adults, seems like all baby snakes are bitey haha]. I've had my BRB for around 9 months and today was only the third time he's tried to strike me and he's only tagged me once [which was so small that I could barely find the holes and wasn't entirely sure what even happened at first]. First time was during the first two weeks and he was very hungry, he went for my face. Not fun. Both the second and third time involved him being released and 'recaptured' which seems to be a pretty common time for BRB bites. Apparently his father is still the same way when it comes to being recaptured haha. Otherwise, my boy is sweet as a puppy. I can boop his nose, pet the top of his head, underside of his chin, walk around and gesture in conversation with him wrapped around my arm. I've taken him out in public and allowed people to touch him [mostly coworkers and snake-loving people] and he was cool with that too. I think it depends a lot on their attitudes and how much they're worked with. I was looking for a more docile baby in the hopes that with regular gentle handling that he would stay like that and it's worked out so far.

She is! The lighting was quite good for her colors that day, so these are almost identical to her real-life appearance.

Yeah, my oldest BRB (who will be 2 in August), has never been bitey. He's only bitten me once, when I unboxed him. Maybe twice, but I'm not sure the second time was a bite. I had his head to check his mouth a few weeks after my heater failed and the room was 54F for a good 8 hours, to check for signs of RI, and he started whipping around and turned his head and scraped his teeth against my finger. It didn't seem like a bite, but maybe it was just a really clumsy bite.

Homura has yet to bite me, but she's struck out in surprise twice. She's very docile, but has a really really sensitive head. Even just crawling over my hand and accidentally brushing her own head against one of my fingers causes her to violently recoil multiple times.

I've yet to be bitten by Homura or Nymeria, but Nymeria is the only one who hasn't so much as struck at me. All the others have bitten me at least once. haha (Draco I'm not too sure about, I don't remember him biting me but he probably has.)

Morzan is the only snake I've had that strikes out in defense rather than just utter surprise or irritation. I try to handle him less than the others because of his sensitive stomach, but I'm hoping to take him out again soon to work with him. The last handling session went quite well, so we'll see how it goes next time.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-23-16, 03:22 PM

These two ate two days ago, so today I took them out so I could mix some EcoEarth in with the cypress mulch. It's such a pain to use the spray pump, and Homura's bedding dries out so quickly, I figured adding some EE to it will allow it to stay damp longer and the cypress mulch will hopefully allow the bedding to dry out before mold sets in. I can also pour a cup or two of water into the bedding rather than spraying one spot for 5 seconds and moving and inch to left to spray there for 5 seconds etc etc around the whole cage.

Here he is from the last handling session.

A photo of him before offering him his mouse.

And some of him eating.

This handling session went well with Morzan, he didn't strike or bite me, although he was stiff as a board when I first brought him out. After about a minute, he relaxed and set his head to rest on my fingers.

These photos are from today, after I mixed his bedding and put him back up. That's what his bulge looks like after 2 days. Noticeable even in pictures, but barely, and almost gone. By tomorrow night, it should be hard to see in photos and barely noticeable in person.

Homura also appears to be going into shed again! Her belly is looking flushed and her white walls are looking brown rather than white. Her oranges haven't washed out yet except in flash photos, so I'll keep an eye on her.

She also was a bit less enthusiastic about taking her food than last time, and she behaved the same way last time I fed her and she was in shed. She gently took the mouse from the tongs and set a coil on top of it.

bigsnakegirl785 · 04-28-16, 06:41 PM

Well so far, every other handling session with Morzan has gone well. I think for some reason he was just in a bad mood on those days.

One of his stripey parts.

Funky crescents.

And after awhile, he actually began to explore rather than just sitting on my hand.

Homura has also gone blue! So, my hunch was right, and she went in blue in time for her next scheduled meal, so I'll be holding off on feeding her for now. If she's in blue right now, she should shed by next weekend.

This was taken just the other night, but she didn't turn blue until this afternoon.

bigsnakegirl785 · 05-01-16, 07:02 PM

Well Homura went blue the very next day! And right as I'm saying "at least all my snakes aren't going into shed together for once" Cloud, Bud, and Demigod all go blue on the same day. River recently shed and Homura is in shed.

bigsnakegirl785 · 05-03-16, 10:03 PM

Last time I checked on Homura, to dampen her bedding, she had cleared up, so hopefully I'll be seeing a piece of skin in there later today or in the next few days!

In the meantime, I've been carefully checking up on Morzan to see if he's going into shed since his feeding day is tomorrow (Thursday since it's midnight now here).

He didn't appreciate me accidentally brushing his tail. I just see this white belly come up out of the bedding because he's contorting weirdly at my "disgusting" fingers touching him, and then his head pops up and he settled into position to watch me.

bigsnakegirl785 · 05-12-16, 05:27 PM

Here's some post-shed photos of Homura (like 2-3 days after she shed but you know what I mean)! In person, she was looking very very pink! She's a lot more orange here than she was that day. The shade pics are closer to the colors she was showing, but I still couldn't capture much of her pink.

Morzan looks like he's gone into shed, which means Sanji and Draco are the only ones I haven't seen signs of shed in yet.