Food refusal with tank cruising and lid pushing

If you imagine a cross section of your snake, it should look like a slice of bread. If she's very round at the top, or if down several inches before her vent she has fatty bulges out to the sides, then she is overweight.

How often are you feeding her? I feed most of my adult females every ten days. If you decide she's overweight, then every 14 days would be appropriate.

A few good ways to exercise her are stair-climbing, swimming, just general exploring- crawling through grass, or running her through your hand in a figure eight.

Any hardwood tree is fine for climbing branches. Pine, cedar, things like that have a lot of volatile chemicals (that give them the great scent) that are bad for snakes. I think how long you bake a piece of wood depends on the size. Soak in tap water first though, because otherwise the wood will ~scorch~ (take it from me, I've done it).

Originally Posted by Nanci

If you PM me your address I will send your snake a care package.

Wow, Nanci, everyone is right! You really ARE That Awesome! That's really sweet!

Originally Posted by Nanci

If you imagine a cross section of your snake, it should look like a slice of bread. If she's very round at the top, or if down several inches before her vent she has fatty bulges out to the sides, then she is overweight.

How often are you feeding her? I feed most of my adult females every ten days. If you decide she's overweight, then every 14 days would be appropriate.

A few good ways to exercise her are stair-climbing, swimming, just general exploring- crawling through grass, or running her through your hand in a figure eight.

She doesn't really have either. She's not overly rough and when she flexes I can see the muscles. The only bulges she has is down right by her vent. Otherwise, she's slick. When I press on her there's some squish, but I can really feel her muscles when she's slithering around in my hands. She also has a great grip.

I feed her once a week. She gets one adult or young adult mouse. They probably average about 30 grams maybe 40 if they hang around long enough from a large litter.

Exercising her would pose a problem. One story house with no stairs, no bathtub for swimming (have a very large sink but I doubt mom would approve). I'm hesitant on taking her outside for a variety of reasons. Ticks, overly curious goats, and dogs who might decide to have a snake snack.

Originally Posted by wstphal

Any hardwood tree is fine for climbing branches. Pine, cedar, things like that have a lot of volatile chemicals (that give them the great scent) that are bad for snakes. I think how long you bake a piece of wood depends on the size. Soak in tap water first though, because otherwise the wood will ~scorch~ (take it from me, I've done it).

Yep. I knew about the pine/cedar. I'll probably go with the maple. Plenty of limbs laying around from recent storms.

As an afterthought, if you can really point out what and where I should be feeling for both an overweight snake and a gravid one, I'll pull Morana out tonight and feel of her after I finsih helping with goats.

You can also wrap three sides of the tank for her. Seeing all around her and not being able to get there, can drive her nuts.

She needs a place or two to hide or at least aspen deep enough to bury in. She wants something, that's for sure. Any other kind of snake breedings going on in the room? A kingsnake around?

Giving her a lay box wouldnt hurt for a little while to be safe.

I would say hold your snake at about her neck and let her hang there. You might need to caress her to help her calm down enough to just hang there from your hand. Look at her sidewards. If she is gravid, you should see bumps from about her tummy and maybe all the way close to her vent if she is close to laying. If you let your thumb gently caress down her belly, you should be able to feel the bumps as you pass by them. Like a "string of pearls". You can also let her crawl over you hand on the floor, bed, counter as if you were dragging a string of pearls over your hand and you should be able to feel them that way too.

Good luck and keep us posted.

She's the only snake I own. The only breeding that goes on is the mice and that's only when I run low. Will check for the egg using your method of having her crawl over my hand.

No egg lumps. She seems fairly squishy near her vent and on her lower end I can't ffeel her spine. So, I'm thinking it's diet time.

Originally Posted by Nanci

A few good ways to exercise her are stair-climbing, swimming, just general exploring- crawling through grass, or running her through your hand in a figure eight.

Originally Posted by Raptor

Exercising her would pose a problem. One story house with no stairs, no bathtub for swimming (have a very large sink but I doubt mom would approve). I'm hesitant on taking her outside for a variety of reasons. Ticks, overly curious goats, and dogs who might decide to have a snake snack.

Really? You don't have the time to handle her? Well then, in that case the tank cruising and lid pushing can be considered good exercise for her.

Considering I have to help run a ranch with 130 goats (this includes medicating, trimming hooves, removing heads caught in fences, moving goats, milking, bottlefeeding, fixing fencing, taking pictures for the website), taking a summer class (three hours twice a week meaning we'll be covering a week of material per day), and I help my mother take care of my terminally ill grandmother. Oh yeah. Come fall semester I'm taking five classes for a total of 15 credit hours.

So. Yeah. I'm a wee bit short on time.