| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 12:53:35
we will have had zac for 2 weeks this coming friday . when we first had him he would come out for a nosey around at nite when we turned the lights out . we decided to change his bedding from kitchen roll to aspen as everythin kept slipping round in the viv etc and lifting up etc , my other half held him while i quickly did the viv change (removed a rather large poo too ! ) over the past few days we havent seen him at all even late at night early in the morning , is this normal ? i gently lifted the hide yesterday to check he was ok (im a born worrier) and he is fine , think he even hissed a little , could he be in shed? i cant see his eyes to check this .
He has refused 2 feeds which i kno is normal as he is settling in , but he fed regularly at the shop . he was in a large-ish plastic tank and we have got him back and put him into a 30 x 18 x 15 viv pact out with a large cork back three hides plants and a large waterbowl , and he seemed more active wen we first got him . we have left a mouse in over nite , one time trying in a seperate tub (pointless as i think it stressed him so we arent trying that again ) and the first time leaving it in over nite . we are planning to try again tonite and heat the mouse with a hair dryer and leave it in there wen we go to bed .
is this all normal for royals? how long should we got before we think about moving him into somethin smaller ? if we even need to at all ? hes a june cb10 , weighs 208 grams and is prolly a foot and a half if not abit longer (we havent measured him ) any tips would ease me worrying lol  thanks x |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Laws |
Posted - 19/04/2011 : 12:15:04
hes missed two feeds with us and has been relly quiet the past week or so , think he could be in shed , so we are holding off feeding for a few more days as the bin is enjoying the mice more than he is. we will def give that a go and block the lights and drop temps , thanks :) |
| markmifsud |
Posted - 19/04/2011 : 08:54:54
How did you get on with feeding him? My grandson had a problem with his young ball not eating. We took the snake to a newish reptile shop in Dagenham (daves dagenham reptiles) which incidentally is where I bought my pastals. Anyway, Dave suggested to cover out the light and drop the temp a bit a few hours before feeding, they tried this and the first time, wham, the baby ball struck, and he has been put through this ritual ever since |
| Laws |
Posted - 18/04/2011 : 23:51:15
think the boy is def in shed , shined a light (not bright ) by his hide and his skin looks abit dusty is the best was to describe him , still havent seen the grumpy so and so yet and dont wanna disturb him , so we will wait and see. have dropped his feeding to every 10 days as he hasnt eaten the last couple , hopefully if he shed he may feel peckish and will then go back to every 7 x |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 23:59:26
LOL lotabob u make me laugh :) i feel like we havent got a python atm , just a nice looking empty viv ! |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 23:35:44
LOL, these royals are so funny. We buy them, put money into their setup and they reward us by doing absolutley nothing in front of us and destroying their setup every night. Its like having a poltasnake you don't see them but the signs are there. |
| stumpy |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 17:49:47
Having same problem with Zuri all i have seen is his head, other half sees him out every morning at 5.00 so know he still alive, have just bought him a rat fluff to try tomorrow, so good luck |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:49:48
i will pick a few up and try , theres lots of things yet so im not so worried , how long should i wait before thinking of moving him into a smaller enclosure ? as i say he was in somethin similar to a large faun , and is now in a 30 x 18 x 15 , hes fairly long and doesnt look lost in there , but wondered if that plays apart ? or should we just leave it another few weeks incase it creates more stress? |
| karl |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:35:08
quote:
Originally posted by Tawfik47
Blitz didn't poo since i bought him in 28/03/2011, what did this mean ?!
Means he doesn't need a poo yet........
Depending on how much they eat will make a huge difference on the amount they poo. It is not uncommon for a royal to go two months without defacating |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:34:34
Can't hurt doing that :) |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:33:47
yeah its got a good guard , trouble is he likes the rock hide rite under his light and stuff ? he is supposed to be a strike feeder so hopefully when we do get him in the swing of feeding he will move from by the light ? should i try a smaller mouse ? he has only had a one medium mouse on his sheet that was the 25/ 03 he hasnt fed since the , but his records show he was on small before that , is it worth gettin a few to try ? then move him back up to medium after a few successful feeds? |
| Tawfik47 |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:30:35
Blitz didn't poo since i bought him in 28/03/2011, what did this mean ?! |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:23:06
Oh my mistake, yeah make sure it's got a guard on it or try to lure her to the cold end before doing it, my first feeds in my new viv stacks I was waiting for my light guards to arrive and completely forgot about the lights heat, I tried feeding her right under the light she missed the mouse then kept striking at the light I was sure she was going to hit it and smash the thing so quickly grabbed her and pulled her away :P |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:17:58
we always make sure its defrosted fully first , but we will make sure we blast it with the hairdryer tonite and give it a go and wiggle away , we wil then just leave it in over nite to see if he will have it wen we are in bed . we use an infra red bulb too :) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:15:25
Oh yeah it absolutely should be warmed, if not just to intice a strike then for the safety of the snake, I know you don't use a lightbulb but if mine have rat smell in their vivs and the rat isn't warm they try to eat the heat bulb :P stupid things... But yeah it helps them aim their strike and it can put them off if they strike and miss a few times. |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:13:55
haha yes i did think he was dead , so thats why i had a little peek in his hide , im sure he hissed at me the little grump ! he just seemed more active the first week , and now we havent seen him for four days or so at all . i wondered if he was due to shed , cant see his cute face tho . |
| Laws |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:07:02
wen we dangled it last time he moved forward but then backed off , and wen we tried in the tub he also showed signs before turning away . so maybe if we warm it and give it a wiggle he may go for it . he was last fed the 25/03 , so not too long especially with a new home . in his records he was being fed a small mouse and on the 25 he had a medium one , do u think its a good idea to get a few small to try him on? im just more worried that he was more active when we first had him and now we havent seen him for three days . wen my OH held him while i changed the substrate it was for only 5 mins , i worried that thats upset him , but i held him in the shop etc . i wish i was telepathic so i could kno what he wants or needs lol! |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 13:05:40
It's normal.
First they explore their new territory and then they choose a favourite place and roost in it for days ...and you think they've died. IMO it's a sign they've settled, in the wild they'd find a burrow they liked and stay in it until hungry.
And as Kelfezond has said, a couple of feeds refused at first is normal too. lovely if they do feed first time, but so many royals take longer than that.
All the best. |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 13/04/2011 : 12:59:52
Wouldn't worry if you've only had him 2 weeks, 2 weeks off food is like us missing our morning tea for royals, and as he had a poop we know he did have some food recently which is good so we know it's only been a max of 3 weeks without food, I'd just keep trying him every 7 days or so, instead of just leaving the mouse in there though try giving it a wiggle infront of his nose, some snakes respond better to something they see moving around :) |
