Arun not drinking/possibly dehydrated?

[Arun]

not sure if he cant find the water dish or not, but everytime i put him in his little swim container, he drinks like a madman. just gulps it down, sometimes for a minute straight...the water dish in his tank is quite large, and is level with the ground substrate.

any suggestions or thoughts as to whats goin on?

he is also very shy, and burrows all the time.

oh and the substrate in his cage is 2 inches deep atleast in all areas... except for half the tank is 6-7 inches deep.

 

[Joni Garcia]

You may want to place the water dish so it touches a wall of his tank. Since they like to cruise around the edges, it's a good place for them to "find" it.

 

[galofgrace]

I'm wondering if your snake is a hatchling because when I first got mine, I had to put him almost in it every day. He would drink just about every time. This went on for 2 months and then two or three x's in a row he would'nt drink. Now I see him drink on his own all the time. I'm also curious if he has red eyes. I wonder if that might have anything to do with it since mine does. :wavey:

 

[Arun]

nope, no red eyes. also, he isnt a hatchling either, hes about 2 feet long, maybe slightly longer than that.

you know, i think the pet store i got him from were mis-treating him. all he was being fed were 4 pinkies a week!

i feed him 2 fuzzies a week now...but one week i tried 3 and he at them all up no problem!

what do you guys think? also, i'll move the water dish to touch a side of the tank, because your right to assume its not at the moment.

oh and im new to the forums, wish i would have named myself something else, but oh well.

 

[zwyatt]

I think if he can handle three fuzzies at one time he should definitely be at least on good-sized hoppers.

 

[PtDnsr]

I think if he can handle three fuzzies at one time he should definitely be at least on good-sized hoppers.

I second that.

~Katie

 

[kimbyra]

Welcome Arun!
One of my babies needed a little assistance with finding his water. It happens. Since he's bigger, and new, he might be still in hiding mode until he gets used to the place. Since you got him from a doubtful pet store, he may not have been socialized either. Moving the dish to a corner is a good idea, and also make sure he is gently handled now and again.
Cheers!

 

[Arun]

I think if he can handle three fuzzies at one time he should definitely be at least on good-sized hoppers.

you think? his head isnt that large though, i mean i'll get a pic up tommorow so you guys can see him for yourself.

also, he doesent mind being taken out, he likes it. only, when i put him in his cage, he just goes right back to his hid box...so i dunno. lol

 

[zwyatt]

The head size really doesn't matter much. Off the two girls that I have on hoppers their heads are very small compared to the mice they eat. Their jaws can expand like you wouldn't believe and their necks right behind their head are also very flexible/expandable. I definitely wouldn't worry about that. As long as a hopper doesn't look much bigger than about 1.5 times the size of the body of the snake. But, if I had a snake eating three fuzzies I wouldn't bat an eye to move up to hoppers.

As far as the water dish goes, I've never had any problems with snakes finding their water dish, and I've never made an effort to keep the dish close to the edge of the the viv. I have heard that it can help them and that some of them do have trouble locating it, but I have yet to experience it myself.


EDIT: As a reference I just used a measuring program and this snakes head is about one inch from nose to neck and .57" from side to side. The hoppers she eats are much large than that, and she currently eats two like they're nothing. I'm just waiting for my new shipment of rodents to come in to move her up a size.

 

[Arun]

hmm....i might just be able to feed him hoppers afterall. i'll measure his head as soon as i get home!