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Feeding prompts a shed?

Bobo's Mama

Bobo's Mama

proud corn mommy!
Has anyone noticed that when they feed their corn between blue and shed, that it seems to MAKE them shed? Apparently, my Opal went blue a few days ago and I missed it...AGAIN...:angry01: , and then she cleared up by the time it was time to feed her. I fed her on Thursday night. Last night she started to shed, but it got stuck on the pinky lump. So I had to help her at the risk of a regurge. But if I didn't help her, it would have certainly caused one anyway because of the lack of circulation. I was just wondering if anyone else had noticed this.
 
Hi Becky. I don't think that the feeding really speeds up the process. I'd chalk it up to coincidence/timing. I think the blue/shed process, once initiated, follows a certain timetable regardless of feeding. I also don't know if the assist was necessary. I feed all of mine on a certain schedule, without regard to shed cycle, and I never assist. I've had snakes shed in the feeding tub after eating, or in their enclosure after the feeding, or the next day after feeding.

I thought your question was going to be about a feeding throwing them into a shed cycle. I've seen this, particularly after a prey-size bump. :)
 
Hm, that would be disconcerting. My hatchling was hiding all the time when he went into blue - I'd only had him a couple of weeks - so I had no idea. He refused the third pinky I offered him, and I was all worried I'd stressed him out somehow, but then he shed the next day and I am now counting myself lucky that he'll make sure I don't feed him at the wrong time. Assuming this is the case.

-Sean
 
In my non-scientific experience, there are no problems with feeding a snake that is 50g or more a reasonably-sized prey item at any point in the shed cycle. For snakes that are under 50g, I've noticed that there is an increased chance of regurge if the snake is fed just before, or during the blue/opaque phase. The time between the clearing of the blue and the actual shed has been safe. :shrugs:

Still, the vast majority of <50g I've had did not regurge after a "blue" meal. I also have snakes of varying weights (12g - 300g) that refuse before or during the blue phase. Most of these will accept after the snake clears up from blue, even before the actual shed.
 
Thanks for your advice and comments Dean. She's my little trooper, that's for sure. I guess for me, the toughest part about having an Opal, is determining when she is in blue. The difference between not blue and blue is so slight, its really tough to tell. As far as snakes eating in blue: Bobo will eat in blue, Skizzard will eat in blue, Doug won't eat in blue, and Rosy will eat too. I just thought there might be some connection between feeding and shedding because the last two times she's shed, it was exactly 1 day after she was fed. I was thinking that maybe the food stretched her skin so much so that it brought on the shed itself. I know that changing the food size to a bigger mouse will increase shed frequency. Rosy herself is a perfect example. She shed 19 days after her last shed. I've been slowly increasing the size of her pinkies.

One more question for you Dean. How long before the newness of snakes wears off? Sometimes I feel like for me it never will! I've had them since April 05, and yet I'm still fascinated everyday by something they do. I always enjoy interacting with them, and handling them. Bobo has just recently started "greeting" me when I open his screen lid. He literally comes out and says Hi! I know not to anthropomorphize them, but its still fun to pretend he's "happy" to see me :rolleyes: .
 
Bobo's Mama said:
One more question for you Dean. How long before the newness of snakes wears off? QUOTE]

Not Dean, hope you don't mind my input. I've had corns now since March of 04 and purposely feed on alternating days so I can interact with at least one of them everyday if I want to. Newness still there!:cool:
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dwyn127 said:
Not Dean, hope you don't mind my input. I've had corns now since March of 04 and purposely feed on alternating days so I can interact with at least one of them everyday if I want to. Newness still there!:cool:
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Wheww! Glad its not just me! Great to hear. :)
 
Bobo's Mama said:
One more question for you Dean. How long before the newness of snakes wears off? Sometimes I feel like for me it never will! I've had them since April 05, and yet I'm still fascinated everyday by something they do. I always enjoy interacting with them, and handling them. Bobo has just recently started "greeting" me when I open his screen lid. He literally comes out and says Hi! I know not to anthropomorphize them, but its still fun to pretend he's "happy" to see me :rolleyes: .
Click to expand...
For me, the novelty has worn off, but my passion for the hobby has increased. I would guess that you and I have different goals as hobbyists. You seem like a devoted pet keeper, and I feel more like a snake rancher. :grin01: For example, when I got back into corns, I couldn't keep my hands off the first two I bought. And when I got my first FedEx order of 8 hatchlings from Serpenco, it was like Christmas as a kid times ten. But after many, many orders and acquisitions, I'm usually more excited about the breeding possibilities now than about interaction with the individual snakes. I actually don't like handling hatchlings all that much. And I also have to admit that after the excitement of a new acquisition wears off, I usually start grumbling to myself about another mouth to feed...

There are exceptions. When my Bairdi pair came from Carol about a month ago, I was very excited to get my hands on something that I had never even seen in person. Same goes for the house snakes from Trevor.

But at least twice a week, I still find myself contemplating the purchase of something I see for sale somewhere. Some weeks I give in. ;)
 
I totally agree with you Dean. I can just see your future business name "Munson's Snake Ranch"! For me, breeding is the least of my thoughts about them. Its sort of like, yeah, maybe I'll do it some day, just to see what its like. Or just for the experience of seeing eggs laid, and pippies. But its definitely not important to me to breed. To put in really simple terms: I just want pretty snakes to look at and play with! I hope that doesn't make me less of a keeper. You'd think there would be at least a few keepers out there that just keep them to admire them.
 
Bobo's Mama said:
To put in really simple terms: I just want pretty snakes to look at and play with! I hope that doesn't make me less of a keeper. You'd think there would be at least a few keepers out there that just keep them to admire them.
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I don't think that makes you any less of a keeper or enthusiast at all. Sometimes when I'm on my fourth hour of snake chores on a given day, I wish that I'd kept to that path myself. ;) Who knows, maybe I won't want to produce hundreds of snakes per year? I could be happy just collecting cool snakes. :cool:
 
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