Loopy's Thread

HaHa! I don't think it's a used condom. Why? Because it was rolled up too well! Loopy has to learn to 'unroll' it for me! I'll take him out tomorrow maybe and see just how shiny he is ... I'm sure he feels better after his eating/shedding night!

Seriously though, I used to have a Boa and her sheds were like that all the time. She would always soak in her water bowl a day or 2 before her shed and they came off all rolled up like that. They were also very damp. Perhaps Loopy had a good soak before his shed? Did it feel sort of wet?

Karl ... I was wondering about that! Yes, it did feel damp which kind of surprised me too. Strange thing is, I've never seen Loopy in his water dish except to drink. Doesn't mean he didn't do it, cause he probably did being his shed was damp. Good call!

After Loopy's shed a couple days ago I bothered him for a couple photos! He wasn't all that happy about it, but as usual he was a trooper and put up with it!

Loopy looks very happy in his tree. Great pictures, Ken.

I agree, he looks very happy. In fact I see a distinct smile in that 2nd picture.

Today was chow day! Also vitals were taken.
He's 3 ft 2 in! And his weight ... well, gee whiz ... after several feedings he's gained one gram. Now 269 g. What's that all about? Maybe a glitch in the scale or scale user?
Maybe it's a correct weight and he really did just 'maintain' his weight?
He's not skinny and he hasn't LOST weight. I've been feeding him 'small' mice and the next size up will be adult mice. But I have a bunch of these and don't want to pitch them. It seems like feeding him two of these would be too much.
I'll have to weigh them I guess. Also ... major clean up day! I tossed in a flannel shirt of mine and put the lid on his feeding bin. While he ate I cleaned up!

Probably not a glitch. They definitely "Slow Down" in their growing process as they get older. Rufus has weighed pretty much the same now for the past 3 or 4 months. And I have fed him probably 10 or 12 times and he has shed twice, yet he still weighs about the same. (He actually lost a few grams last shed because he didn't eat.)

We get used to them growing fast as babies. I suspect Rufus is about as big as he will get. Having said that, maybe 10 years from now he will be a foot longer and 200 grams heavier, but that's hardly even noticeable in a month to month basis.

Loopy looks wonderful! I love his “boomerangs” so much. His color is outstanding.

I agree two are too much. How often are you feeding? Unless you are already feeding every 7 days you can drop down to that if you like, and he wants to eat that often

Cleo lost with her last shed, too. She was 277 and went back down to 272. She’s eating a 15 gram mouse every 8 days. She didn’t seem to be getting enough at every 10 or 12 days.

Mandy eats one of those same size mice every 10 to 12 days to maintain her weight of 550 to 575. Each snake is different.

Karl and Gail ... thanks!
I was kinda concerned, but now a bit more at ease. He eats about every 8 or 9 days and once in a while when I'm not watching the calendar close enough maybe 10 days. I figure since snakes can go a month or two a missed day here or there won't hurt too much, as in the wild food doesn't just appear every 7 days! I just checked on him and he's under his log(s) on the warm side all curled up. I used to only have one cork round (split) in his viv but after cleaning today used the other half to make a long hide. I think that was a Karl idea!