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The Life & Times of Alaula, The Sunglow Motley

Hearts-a-Glow

Hearts-a-Glow

New member
I wanted to share a record of my little girl as she adjusted to her new home. Once she's had her first meal (and poop!) I'll actually pick her up and take her to the window so I can get some better shots of her pattern in the sunlight (so I can stop using flash: I don't want to disturb her any more than absolutely necessary).

I bought this little darling from Don at SMR, and I'm incredibly excited to see her grow!

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Thanks. Her vivarium has 2 "hanging" (suction-cup) plants in opposite corners; I liked them because it gave her better ground coverage and a place to climb. She utilized them most the first day: I found her up on one investigating the screen to escape, and then the other, 15 minutes later, and then back to the first the next time. I popped in!

Aside from the panic I had making sure she was even still in there after the first night (she is, and she's burrowed in that spot again today, so I know where to look first this time of day) I've only opened her tank to change the water. Both times she shoots straight up into the plants, not down into her burrows like I was expecting.
 
Better picture of her pattern

I took this picture the same night as that one; because I'm now worried about the flash I waited for her to be moving away. Back where she's heading she's got a rock cave full of damp moss; she hasn't yet felt confident enough to utilize it, but it's there if she needs it. It has a removable lid so I don't have to coax (or --Heaven forbid-- shake her out) her out. This is the opposite corner of the vivarium from the other hanging plant, where I've set up a jungle with driftwood, vines and fake plants set in wooden bases (which... you can't see any of, this being the underside of all that heavy coverage).

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Tonight is the night I try feeding Alaula for the first time since she arrived. I've waited 5 days and only tried to pick her up once (she was very flighty: I've since gotten advice to wait until she's settled before trying to move her). Other than that she's been left to her own devices. Every time I go into my room I catch her in some state of motion (climbing, exploring). She'll immediately freeze, and after a minute or two of me moving around she'll either continue what she was doing or retreat to her hide (very unhurriedly: more like, "Yeeeeah... not yet, human."). I don't think she's going to be any more ready to eat than she is now, and I've already done my homework on what to do if she doesn't eat first thing. My only concern now is size: I have 2 boxes of Artic Mice frozen pinkies, and I'm going to start with the smallest first.

This being her first feeding, I'm not so keen on taking her out of an environment she's JUST gotten comfortable in to feed her, but I don't want her swallowing substrate ( aspen) or associating her vivarium with food, either. From the first I've intended to feed her in the same critter carrier I do the adults (only washed of their scent) so she'll come to associate being put in there with, "Dinner!" but maybe I'll wait on that.
 
I would wait if you want to feed her outside of her enclosure. Personally, I've always fed in the enclosure and have only been nipped once - and that was -on- feeding day, with the mouse in my hand. (Calypso struck at my hand instead of the mouse...which was my fault, but in case you are wondering, no it doesn't hurt - I was more concerned that she was ok - she's fine) The least amount you can move the little one before attempting to feed the better IMO. Once they are established, you can switch to a separate feeding tub if you want...
 
Oh, also, if you dry off the mouse it would be less likely to accidentally ingest the substrate. A small tiny bit of aspen shouldn't hurt her...Drying off also has the bonus of heating up the food item, which seems to help the feeding response as well...
 
I find that my babies eat better in a separate container because otherwise they don't always find the mouse in their large enclosure. And I don't want to worry about them ingesting substrate, even if it is just a small amount.
 
Baby had no trouble finding it!

I have 2 sets of light in my room: the one under my loft bed for desk work (very bright) and the dim overhead lights. I had those on come dusk and thawed the smallest frozen pinky I had to 85 degrees (I have an infrared temperature gun). I snuck open her tank while she was cruising and dangled it near where she was. She turned to it but wouldn't come any closer, so I set it down on some fake leaves I have in there. Alaula honed in on it and went straight to town without any hesitation! I watched her the whole time because I was super freaked out about choking my new baby... but she got it down like a champ! Immediately after she tried burrowing in a few places, and I'll check in on her in an hour or two to see where she might have gotten off to (I think we'll just end up going back to her warm hide, or her favorite burrowing spot).

The frozen pinkie packs (bought 2 so I'd have more variety) have slightly larger likes than I'd like, but there are a few itty-bitties in there.
 
Morning came, and no snake, but I can see all her tunnels under the glass from where she's been burrowing. I have the vivarium on a metal kitchen rack below Ryu's, and when I lay on the floor I can see under it to where she is (I imagine that'll help me disturb her as little as possible: I'll always know where to go). But I think she's in her cork round, because all the bedding in there is wadded up to one side and it's above the heat pad (it's also been her favorite hiding spot).
 
No new pictures yet (it's night and I want some by daylight) but an update. Alaula has started utilizing her moist hide: she hadn't yet, so I thought she was having trouble finding it (it's a hollow stone with a removable lid and a hole hardly big enough for my thumb to fit), but it turns out she just needed a reason! I fed her this past Sunday for the first time, and though I don't yet know if she's pooped (I don't see it, so I imagine it's time to get my gloves on and root around), she must be done digesting because there's hardly a lump at all.

I freaked out at first because I didn't know she was in the cool hide: I looked for her in her usual warm spots before checking, but I have so much moss in the moist hide that when I didn't see her on top I forgot to check if she'd burrowed. Five minutes of panic later and I tried again, and I actually found her nestled under four inches of cool, damp (but not dripping) terrarium moss.

As an added bonus, I happened to remember someone's advice on here that if I wanted to hold my new baby without stressing her I should try when she's calm and quiet, and it totally worked! She curled up in my palm for about 2 minutes before trying to leave: I let her go, and she moved off at a lazy pace, seemingly at ease. Hooray for first contact!
 
Sounds like it was a good first handling experience! Her poop will be really tiny, so you might have a hard time finding it.
 
So my last post was the first night she'd gone into seclusion: since then, if she's left the moist hide I haven't seen it. But this evening I carried it out into the dining room and took a pair of pictures of her in there.

Comparing them to the ones on the first page, I think I'm getting ready to see her first shed! I'm concerned about her not eating right now, but I imagine she'll be back for round two immediately after!

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I also got my scales in today, but I want to wait until she's done shedding before I take her first weight. I want to do it in the morning before she eats, so that by evening time she's ready to go.
 
Coming Out of Her Shell... Well, Cave.

As much as I want to pick her up and hold her (she just ate yesterday: no way Jose), the timing is never right for Alaula and I. She spent the past 2-3 weeks gearing up to shed, and the morning after she shed I fed her, so it will still be a few days. But I think she's getting used to me anyway, and the bright side of not handling her is that she seems to be getting used to me just being a fixture outside her tank, albeit one that moves and talks to her. As I write this I'm sitting on the floor of my bedroom near her tank (it's low to the ground) and she's got the upper half of her body out of her favorite cave, just watching me. I went to take a picture but she decided to be camera shy and slipped back into her cave. But it's neat: every time I come down off my bed (I have a loft bed) or enter the room, she's curious.

After she poops I'll see if she'll let me hold her a few minutes.
 
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