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will you be eating here or to go?

Missymonkey
05-07-2002, 12:00 PM
i know that if you house two corns together that you are suppost to feed them separate from each other. However I also know that you are not suppost to handle a snake for 24 hoursafter it's been fed. So if I take one snake out and place him in a sterilite shoe box feed him,... then what?
is it ok to handle him if I am just plopping him back in his original tank or would it be better to keep the two snakes separate for 24 hours? if so do I need to heat him (I know that snakes need a slightly higher temp for good digestion)?

any sugguestions....

thanks

Simon
05-07-2002, 12:42 PM
First of all I would recommand 48 hours of not handling instead of 24 hours.....24 hours is a little too short for them to digest the food and not regurgitate.........

secondly, when you feed them separately and then try to put them back in the tank you could always put the container in the tank and leave the container open until it comes out of the container itself. This one no stress would be added to your snake when it crawls back out to it's original tank.

Just a little note.....don't put the snakes back together right away as after eating, they will have 'mouse mouth' and will smell like a mouse........and if one of them is hungry enough, it will eat the other......so I would say that you should leave them separate for at least 1 hour before putting them back or in another case.....putting the container back.

Actually holding them and just ploping them back isn't much of a problem at all......but some would get really stressed but it really depends on the characteristic of the corn snake.

Good Luck and Happy Herping!

Iris
05-07-2002, 03:50 PM
I just wait for the mouse lump to move down to Xavier's stomach, give him an extra minute or two and then pick up the whole paper towel and kind of double it or fold it and then tip it over. He slides right into the tank, no stress for him or me. (I get stressed that I might stress him)
Oh my gosh that "mouse breath" thing reminds me, I once fed Romeo (that's my teacher's male amel) 2 f/t pinks to see if he would eat f/t and he wasn't really paying attention so I touched him on the back a few times with the wet pinkie and he smelled the mouse juice on himself and opened his mouth to start trying to eat what he thought was a mouse when it was himself. Then he realized his mistake and finally went for the real mouse.
I just remembered that and thought I'd share...:)
About the 48 hour rule..I've broken it a bunch of times and he hasn't regurged yet. I mean it's not like intentional but for one reason or another I've had to disturb him while he was digesting and I haven't had any problems. Don't know what the point of me sharing this is but I don't know...figured I'd just say that.

Warren
05-08-2002, 04:00 AM
I think the rule about not handeling your snake for 48 hours after feeding is mainly for those that don't know any better and might hold their snakes for more than 5 minutes at a time after feeding. Normally, just transfering the snake back and forth,(like when you take the snake out for cleaning) is not a problem. Course, there are always exceptions but, this usually includes a snake that might be a little nervous or high strung to begin with.
My advice, IMHO, is if you have to move your snake just after feeding do it for just a very brief time. No rough handeling and things should be okay.

L8r.
wc

LizS
05-08-2002, 10:39 AM
I keep several corns together, and pull them out at feeding time into individual containers. When they've all eaten I pick them up one at a time to return them to their tank. It's no big deal, and it has the added advantage that it distracts them from whatever remaining feeding mode they were in, so they don't eat each other when they're together again. Once they are all back in and hiding I lift the hide a bit to check that they are all OK, and then leave them alone for 24 hrs. Then I just check on them but don't pick them up. At 48 hrs I pick them up to see how well they're digesting and give them a bath in the bathtub so they can swim and poop. By the 3rd day there's no sign left of their meal. On the 4th day I let them swim again. I feed them again between the 4th and 6th days.
When I'm ready to feed them, I make sure that all the snakes in the tank are ready to feed. I won't feed some and not others because I fear the risk of cannibalism would increase. If some are in shed I either wait for them to shed to feed all, or transfer the ones not in shed into another cage set up just the same, and increase the humidity in the shed cage.
I move my snakes around, I house more than one together, and to me it seems that they've adapted just fine, they don't seem stressed (they're calm, eat well, have good condition and muscle tone, digest well, are curious about their surroundings, etc.) The only time I've had regurgitations is when I've fed too big a meal, or let snakes eat when they're in shed (they'll eat anytime if I let them!).
I do things not quite by the book and they are just fine. If snakes weren't adaptable and resilient they wouldn't be such a successful group in nature, and nature is a harsh place.

Missymonkey
05-08-2002, 07:54 PM
wow holy great advice batman!
i really appreciate all your advice and stories you've shared! I am much less worried now about how to handle feeding my snakes. If anybody else has any advice... do post! Thanks again for the advice. :)