My baby is UGLY...

And has pretty (ugly) blue eyes! YAAAAAAY! Okay, so I'm aware that this process takes a few days (he ate on sat and I've done the usual "check to make sure she's there" every day but haven't "inspected" him until just now so I'm unsure of when exactly the process started...

But my questions are as follows:

1: The tank is dry. I mean like zero humidity, other than the water bowl. Yesterday though, because I was anticipating a shed, I put in a humid hide, but I think I put too much water in the substrate (no problem as I can add more try if need be - how wet is too wet?). Problem though, is I haven't seen him use it.

Question: Should I do something else (like dump the damp substrate over the area where the heat mat is to increase the overall humidity in the tank) or leave it as is? His last shed was at the pet store, and was incomplete (lower half did not shed)...

2: Question: Since he ate on sat, and I haven't handled him since, should I just leave him alone until he sheds his skin, or is it safe to handle him now? He's not agressive in the slightest, but oh my goodness, he is one UGLY snake. lol! I don't want to cause more stress than he's already experiencing from the discomfort of shedding (if any).

3: Question: Since today is monday (2 days after a feeding), should I feed immediately after he sheds, or wait until this coming saturday (7 days since his last feed) and feed on schedule (I assume he'll be hungry immediately after, but he just ate 2 small pinkies)?

Okay. I think that's it. Thanks all. *HIGH FIVE!* lol

Actually, I have another question. Is there a trick to photographing these guys? Holy he**, I took like 10 pics and this was the only one that was even remotely viewable... AND I had to keep it small because blown up it looks atrocious. :laugh:

Okay... back to the thread. Wheeee!

1: It's hard to say what will work for increasing his humidity~ most of mine love a humid hide (moss from Walmart plant dept~ soaked in water and squeezed out~ they love it!) A few do fine with no humid hide~ and some need to be misted with water. Some it makes no difference~ you'll wind up having to soak them for 3 or 4 sheds~ and then they straighten out to nice clean donut sheds. Try the humid hide this time. (You want the humid substrate damp, not soaking wet) Try misting next time. Soak him or wrap him up in a wet pillow case if the shed is in peices.


2: He's more likely o bite you right now~ he can't see too well and his skin doesn't fit right. If your not afraid of possibly taking a bite (doesn't hurt much, don't worry) I wouldn't worry about not handling him.

3: I offer all of mine feed on the same schedule wether they are in shed or not. Offer the feed when your ready~ he'll take it or he won't. Some will feed in shed, some won't.

Good luck!

Trick to pics~

I'm sure everyone has their own "tricks~

I use a cup or dish slightly larger than the snake~ works best if the dish is opaque and does not let light in. Invert the dish over the snake and leave it alone (Hold the dish down until well after the snake stops trying to escape and just curls up in there. Get your camera ready~ lift the dish and take several pics as fast as I can~ usually I get at least one usuable pic before the snake dashes off camera! LOL!

1. If it appears his shed is not going as it should, I will dump the contents of the humid hide into the tank (I used the same substrate as in the tank) and hope that helps (assuming he won't use the hide, that is).

2. He seems perfectly comfortable being handled, but to prevent any further stress, I will keep this to a minimum. I don't fear being bit at all... just don't want to cause any stress.

3. I will wait and see if he "looks for food" once he's done.

And thank you!

LOL @ the picture trick!! I wanted to get some good pics of what he looks like now, but I don't want to bother him... I'll feel out his mood and maybe try again.

This is so exciting. lol

Question #4: I just gently moved him over to the hide (he went in, sniffed around, came back out and back to the dy hide so I let him be), but as he was moving, I finally know what someone else meant when they posted here about weird shaking. My snake was vibrating. It was pretty constant, but he'd stop for a second here and there. You couldn't see him shake, but I can still feel the vibrations on my fingertips, it was that strong.

What is that? Anyone know?

Where in the tank is the humid hide? I usually put mine near the warm end, but not right over the heat mat.

Re: vibrations
Do you mean twitching? Some of my snakes do this when I either hold them a little tighter than usual (like when I'm examining them) or when they otherwise feel restricted (like when my one crawls up my sleeve and gets upset that it's hard for him to move easily) or when they are around other snakes (as in mating behavior).

I know exactly this "twitching" you're talking about and no, it's not twitching at all. Think if he were making a buzzing sound (like something wtih a motor). I was inspecting him when I first felt him do this and he kept vibrating after I put him in the tank. I put my hand flat on the substrate and he slithered over it and was still vibrating. He's done it everytime I've checked him (yesterday was the first time I noticed it).

The only way I can think to explain it is if you were to touch the top of a clothes dryer while it's running.. or the base of a blender. VIBRATING. Literally. Same feeling.

I know this sounds weird, but I don't know how else to explain it. It's most definitely not twitching, and it's not related to being handled tightly or incorrectly (as stated above by the flat hand on the substrate).

I know about the vibrating thing. My 04 hatchlings have done that. I think that it is a precursor to hissing. One of the hatchlings started doing that, and then started to hiss at me...a couple of second later, she struck at me. I put her down, and let her be for about an hour and when I picked her back up, she did the same thing. Don't really know how else to explain it.

As for the humid hide or creating more humidity in your tank. the humid hide is good. I have never had the need to use one, but I know their benifits. To increase the relitive humidity in the viv, you could try putting a second water dish on the warm side of the viv...just under your heat lamp, and then place plastic over half of the vents. The plastic will help keep the humidity in the tank, and the water in the dish under the lamp will evaporate and add moisture to the air.

I dumped a bunch of damp substrate under the heat lamp and around the humid hide (oops, yes, it's over the UTH, but I built the substrate up underneath), but it's dry already. I'll do the second water bowl thing if I feel neccessary. Right now I'm just trying to let nature do it's thing.

I assumed the vibrating thing was a warning of some kind, but he seemed PERFECTLY calm. Not at all agressive. Regardless though, I decided not to push the limits and set him back in the tank. The vibrating stopped after a few seconds, but man... was that ever STRONG. :eek1:

yea, it is kind of interesting. I havne't noticed any of my adults doing it, but I could just imagine what that would feel like.

:-offtopic Spirit, I have my digital camera back now, so I will be taking photos this week and will get them up here for people to see. Will let you know when I do.

Right on! Thanks, Paul!

(we need a "back on topic" emoticon)

I've noticed a kind of short "click" feeling on the underside of baby corns when handling them, but it wasn't a steady vibration or anything. Anyone else noticed something like this?