Corn in shed, ate last week but won't go into hot hide.

Hey all

So I'm leaving on a trip abroad on Monday and my boy, Koka ate last Saturday, he's currently deep in blue and has been only spending time in both his cold and humid hides. He hasn't even given a thought to his hot one and I haven't seen any signs of him moving there whilst im not looking either. (Disturbed substrate/decor, etc)

His hot hide stays around 28 - 29, and his cool hide is about 20 - 23 degrees celsius and his humid hide im guessing will be colder due to the wet moss in there. Obviously I don't want to pick him up and move him as he's in shed, I checked yesterday and I think I saw a bump but not a hundred percent sure due to the angle he was in and being curled on himself, again, I don't want to stress him by moving him about. It's one of those hides that opens on the top so I just managed to have a peek in.

The fact i'm leaving him for a week whilst he's in shed and possibly not digesting is setting off my stress. My parents will be checking in on him but only for things like water changes and poop cleaning. If an emergency arises I don't think they'd know what to do or how to even identify it.

Just worrying he's choosing the extra humidity for his shed over digesting for his meal, I've heard if left for too long the mouse can rot on the inside and possibly kill them? Unsure if that's truly the case.

Will he be alright? Is 20 - 23C an okay temperature to digest at?

Sorry for being a worry wart. Just need some reassurance my boy will be alright while i'm gone so I can enjoy my holiday without stressing about him.
You guys have helped ease my fears many times in the past, thanks in advance.

He should be just fine. If he needs more heat, he'll move. But seeing as he ate 5 days ago, he should be completely finished digesting at this point, although he might not poop until after his shed.

If he does ever have trouble with digesting his meal, the mouse will get regurgitated before it has a chance to kill him. Regurges do require specific care to treat, but they aren't the end of the world as long as the snake gets 2 weeks to recover and then small meals for a little while. So if it does happen while you're gone, there's nothing you should be doing within 2 weeks of a regurge anyway, so it would be fine.

Also, it's completely fine to handle your corn in blue. Some get a little cranky, presumably because they can't see very well and feel vulnerable, but it doesn't hurt them in any way. If you want to check him over once before you leave to help ease your fears, then go for it.

Thank you! I've always heard to never handle them in blue, he's always been an extremely docile snake even when he's in blue so I doubt he'll make a huge fuss if I give him a little gentle look-over.

And it's a relief to hear he'll regurge if he can't digest, thanks for the info as well on how to handle a regurge, he's never had one before and hopefully this won't be the first.

Once I get home I'll give him a closer look, might've just been the position I saw him in yesterday that made it look like he still had a bump, was hard to tell, feel like it would've been very obvious if he did have a bump as he's on ex-breeder mice now.

Thanks again!

So I checked him over and didn't see anything obvious, but turns out that was the best thing to do as it must've got his bowels moving, by the time I left and came back from a shower he had pooped!

So he's definitely digested his mouse, he never poops during his shed, must've been like "ugh, here you go, now leave me alone!" lol

Thanks again for the reassurance!

Ha, yup, sometimes a little exercise gets the bowels moving! Glad he's fine!