| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Unamed |
Posted - 14/06/2012 : 10:07:20
Picked him up for 30 quid yesterday. still quite small. fits in the palm of my hand when curled up. love him to pieces in all honesty.
cant wait to move him on to a bigger enclosure.
hes had two feeds since hatching.
here are the pics:
 |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Unamed |
Posted - 13/07/2012 : 22:42:18
When can I begin to handle him more? I don't want to set him back so I've only held him briefly since the feed (72hrs after eating |
| boomslang |
Posted - 09/07/2012 : 20:30:12
Hehe thats good news  |
| Unamed |
Posted - 09/07/2012 : 20:20:41
Ok I got too tempted today. Thawed a fuzzy, left it on part of his heatmatt outside his rub for 15 mins to warm to 31c. Brained it, picked it up with tweezers and moved it about a bit just in the entrance to his hide. Before I knew what hit me(or more like the mouse) my snake absolutely nailed the fuzzy. He curled round him until he was "dead" then ate him up.
To say I'm happy, proud and relieved is an understatement. Thanks again for all the help guys.
I will now leave him for a few days to digest and carry on settling in. |
| Unamed |
Posted - 09/07/2012 : 08:55:00
He was trying to come out all evening so I slowly opened the lid and he came straight out to my hands.
I only held him for a short while maybe two mins max then put him back (after removing shed) he wanted to come out again but one thing I noticed from my leopard geckos is its good to keep them wanting more. Hopefully he will be more relaxed from now on and let me know when he's ready. I will attempt to feed him on wednesday so ill leave him alone for now. |
| boomslang |
Posted - 09/07/2012 : 05:21:46
Yeah as above  and congrats on the new royal he's lovely. |
| HaydenK |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 23:17:06
yeah that will be fine, sometimes they shed overnight and will be in there with the shed for a while ;) |
| Unamed |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 21:41:09
My guy has just shed and is now wondering round his enclosure. Will it be ok to leave his shed in until the morning as I don't want to scare him or disturb him |
| IncurableFlirt |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 19:13:33
Hello and welcome to Royal python keeping. :) Sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble getting your new little one to settle in. Wild caught specimens can be extremely difficult to switch to a life of domesticity, even if the wc was hatched in captivity. Where your new one is so small, I would suggest trying to feed it at least once every week. However, if it were up to me, I would get rid of the assist feeding altogether until it is absolutely, positively the last option available to save your baby's life. Assist feeding is one of the hardest things on a snake and by doing so, you are only stressing your new little one out even further than it already is.
As with any new pet, a transition time is required to allow the animal to learn that it is safe and need no longer worry about being eaten or killed. Believe it or not, your Royal can go for a reeeeally long time before not eating will negatively effect it. In fact, if it is not losing any weight at all, it can probably go for a month or two before you notice any change. Keep in mind that your Royal is a baby and the only thing on its mind right now is to find someplace safe. Providing it with multiple hides can be quite helpful, but also, I would suggest covering 3 of the 4 sides of your viv/enclosure with something dark (like aluminum foil or thick card stock paper) so that the animal feels comfortable enough to explore without worrying about danger coming from all sides.
Please note....these snakes are not normally comfortable with lots of exposure. They spend the majority of their lives in hiding and come out to eat and explore only when they feel safe and comfortable. My express advice is to leave your baby alone! It needs a lot of time to figure out what's going on. By handling it, you are stressing it out and making it feel that it isn't safe, even in its current home (not if you can come get it any time you want).
As to the feeding, I would suggest getting a small paper bag. Place the frozen/thawed appropriately sized food item in the bag, then place your baby into it and roll the bag closed at the top (keeping the bag on its side). Then place the bag in the enclosure and leave it. No matter how much you want to check on it to see if it has eaten, LEAVE IT ALONE! :) It is best if you try this in the evening hours and go to sleep so you aren't tempted to check. In the morning, check on your baby and let it out of the bag. If it hasn't eaten...no worries. Try again in the following week.
I definitely wish you the best of luck with your Royal and I hope you can get it to where it is eating on its own very soon. |
| Unamed |
Posted - 04/07/2012 : 07:50:10
Yes I'm going to try next Wednesday. That would be 14 days since last attempt. Thanks for your imput |
| matthewsaint |
Posted - 04/07/2012 : 01:04:00
they like it to be well packed inside their viv/rub they naturally hide away any way so I think that would make him much more secure.
I wouldn't try to assist feed again, just keep trying to feed every 7 days, he will eventually eat when he wants to eat and feels comfortable enough |
| Unamed |
Posted - 03/07/2012 : 19:51:48
ive left my guy well alone the past few days. i noticed him wondering around his tub today. as soon as he noticed me he slithered back into his hide.
ive ordered him another hide for his cool end im hoping it will help him settle in even more.
i thought hed be ok originaly with one hide as the hide was half on and half off the heat mat and also i thought the tub was too small for two hides. it will look a lil crammed but im sure it will be for the best to give him the option. |
| Unamed |
Posted - 28/06/2012 : 08:30:53
I left a fuzzy in his enclosure over night which he didn't eat. I got worried so tried to assist feed which he wouldn't do. I stopped trying because I didn't want to stress him. Now he doesn't trust me again. Really worried now. I'm concerned to leave him like recommended as I don't want him to go hungry or get sick.
Btw do royals have a slit under their chins? Never noticed it before |
| Unamed |
Posted - 27/06/2012 : 13:14:47
so what should i do about it? lol
when can i start to get him out and handle him freely?
when should i next offer him food? he ate last wednesday (assisted) |
| HaydenK |
Posted - 27/06/2012 : 13:09:09
quote:
Originally posted by Unamed
Im new to royals so generally quite concerned/worried.
my guy literally only comes out on the odd occassion at night. what should i do to help him settle in? his temps are spot on humidity is fine. handling has been left to a minimum.
im tempted to just get him out and start handling him to get him used to me like i do/did for my lizards (leopard geckos, crested geckos etc etc). at first they were neverous, then got used to me and started coming out of their hides more.
will this just set him back? should i really lay off feeding him? i assist fed him last wednesday. he took to it really quite well. he weighs 60grams empty. i think he is this years hatchling. im monitering his weight but also i cant keep disturbing him if i'm meant to be settling him in. i keep lifting his hide to check on him as im worried.
when i lift his hide he curls straight into a ball. i stroke him a bit then pick him up and he starts to relax and get used to me. his tongue starts flickering and he gets curious.
im sure everything will work out and be fine but is this typical royal behaviour? ive had him for 2 weeks now.
Yeah, this is typical royal behaviour :) |
| Unamed |
Posted - 27/06/2012 : 11:58:34
Im new to royals so generally quite concerned/worried.
my guy literally only comes out on the odd occassion at night. what should i do to help him settle in? his temps are spot on humidity is fine. handling has been left to a minimum.
im tempted to just get him out and start handling him to get him used to me like i do/did for my lizards (leopard geckos, crested geckos etc etc). at first they were neverous, then got used to me and started coming out of their hides more.
will this just set him back? should i really lay off feeding him? i assist fed him last wednesday. he took to it really quite well. he weighs 60grams empty. i think he is this years hatchling. im monitering his weight but also i cant keep disturbing him if i'm meant to be settling him in. i keep lifting his hide to check on him as im worried.
when i lift his hide he curls straight into a ball. i stroke him a bit then pick him up and he starts to relax and get used to me. his tongue starts flickering and he gets curious.
im sure everything will work out and be fine but is this typical royal behaviour? ive had him for 2 weeks now. |
| Unamed |
Posted - 25/06/2012 : 17:11:26
He weighs 60gs I weighed him today. is he underweight? |
| Unamed |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 21:05:48
Ok. I've been told definately this years hatchling but not sure when. So not sure how that's worked out.
I've ordered a scales online as I can't get out into town at the moment. Ill have a look next week at the weight and the chart. Thanks again |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 19:44:03
Most probably a wf2011 as a shop would probably not have wf in stock longer than that and the wf2012's probably haven't hatched or sold yet.
That's 100 % guess work as for a month hatching I believe can be almost all year round so well be neigh impossible to guess maybe if you check his weight on our weight to age graph and base it on the lower percentile you can get a good guess |
| Unamed |
Posted - 22/06/2012 : 19:05:31
Would anyone be able to hazard a guess on his age? The seller couldn't tell me unfortunately. He said he's unsure as they are wf. Bit disappointed with this as I mentioned.
The main reason I'd like to know is so I can monitor his weight as accurately as possible. |
| Unamed |
Posted - 18/06/2012 : 22:34:35
he was hatched in captivity so has spent no time in the wild. However, being WF his "mother" would have been taken from the wild (at least temporarily) until she laid the eggs then released again.
or in some way the eggs where taken from the wild, hatched and then shipped over.
this is what im told any way. I would also like to add i'm really not happy about this practise. I wish I investigate more but he's here now and I want to make the best of it. |
