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In blue again!! Normal?

beaniebopps

beaniebopps

Beanie
When I purchased Jake he had been fed a weaner rat or 2 adult mice every week to ten days apparently, and had been kept in a tiny 2 foot tank. (Jake is over 5 feet and about 4 years old)

I started to feed him one weaner rat every 10 - 12 days and as soon as I got him moved him into a huge 4 X 2 X 2 foot tank.

The thing is that he has shed twice (3rd August and 28th August) and now he is in blue again since yesterday! (5th October) Isn't this more often than you would expect from a fully grown snake? I've asked this before but not really got any answer - but is it possible he is growing a bit more because his tank is so much bigger?
 
It does seem that Jake is shedding more often than normal. If I had to guess, it is probably not from being in a bigger viv, but because you are taking better care of him. If the previous owner kept him in such a small viv, there is a chance Jake was not being fed regularly either.
 
I looked in my Kathy Love book and it said that snakes will shed more often if they have an injury to the skin. You may want to look closely to make sure there are no unseen skin irritations. If not, I wouldn't worry as long as the snake is eating well and shows no signs of illness. :shrugs:
 
Rich in KY said:
It does seem that Jake is shedding more often than normal. If I had to guess, it is probably not from being in a bigger viv, but because you are taking better care of him. If the previous owner kept him in such a small viv, there is a chance Jake was not being fed regularly either.
Click to expand...

I agree with this too.
 
There's also a possibility that with the larger cage, he's moving around more frequently and therefore, wearing the scales more frequently. My male is going thru a second shed now after only a little over a month. Don't know what that's all about, but there you go!
 
Ok everyone thanks for the help, thankfully I'm fairly sure its not a skin irritation as I've examined him closely and all looks normal, plus he seems really happy.

I dont want to sound too big-headed, but I guess he is getting better care now from me! :sidestep: As his old tiny viv was also only heated by one bulb in the middle (no temp gradient) only had one hide, and the substrate was hay.

:-offtopic I'm getting his girlfriend tomorrow!! Hope to breed them next spring!
 
beaniebopps said:
When I purchased Jake he had been fed a weaner rat or 2 adult mice every week to ten days apparently, and had been kept in a tiny 2 foot tank. (Jake is over 5 feet and about 4 years old)

I started to feed him one weaner rat every 10 - 12 days and as soon as I got him moved him into a huge 4 X 2 X 2 foot tank.

The thing is that he has shed twice (3rd August and 28th August) and now he is in blue again since yesterday! (5th October) Isn't this more often than you would expect from a fully grown snake? I've asked this before but not really got any answer - but is it possible he is growing a bit more because his tank is so much bigger?
Click to expand...

Snakes do not grow faster or slower depending on tank size. A few reason for faster shed:

Injuries (Already mentioned)
Mites if there really irritating the snake (I assume you checked this)
Food. Rats are fatier then mice. I noticed in all my snakes feeding rats of each size encourages growth. 2 adult mice are to much (Unless we are talking sick or female getting ready for breeding season) so your doing great moving to 1 prey item. Though 1 adult mouse every 7-10 days has my preverence since there less fat and more nutricient.
I also notice stress seems to have an influence. Not a sientific fact but something i've noticed personally. Such as moving to a new enviroment seems to speed up things.

Anyway unless this keeps continuing i wouldn't worry about things.
 
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