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Why ello everyone!

Urg, sorry for another post, gotta ask though, how old do you think Dobby is judged by the size of the pictures? The store gave me paperwork from 11/04/11 so is there a chance that was when he was born and is almost 2 months old? I have no clue what sizes they should be. Then pinkies for instance. Paying 10$ for 6 is crazy when going online I can get 100 for 16, but depending on how fast they grow, would that be a waste of like..80? Should I just wait until he's big enough for fuzzy's then just buy 100 fuzzy's and feed him those till he's good for hoppers? How fast DO they grow and about how long/big should they be 4 months in, 6, 9, a year, etc.?
 
Feeding outside of the viv is best, since there is no chance to swallow pieces of bedding there. And it does not work the other way around I think: if your snake does not associate his viv with being fed, but is taken out either to be fed or to be held, he does not know but he won't ever associate your hands coming in with food, he is too 'dumb' to think you might put him in his feeding tub, but he might learn to associate his feeding tub with being fed. If you feed him in is viv, he might associate your hands coming in with a chance of being fed, hence he might take a bite.

I would not three prey items by the way, that is too much, even if the snakes looks like it wants more.. they always want more, they are opportunistic feeders cause they don't know when they are gonna get food again. 1 item is best but before switchign to a larger size it is commonly done to feed two items of the size that is getting too small for a couple of times first.
 
ibetheelmo said:
So he lets me hold him now, and honestly, I'm hardly afraid of him biting me. I put him in a smaller cage (a cricket holder I got that had been cleaned) and put a pinky in with him. Instead of striking and constricting it, he just... slithered on over to it, opened his mouth, and started swallowing it. He's lazy I guess. lol He finished the first quite quickly and reading the feeding chart the store gave me, said he didn't want to eat last time so I figured Id give him a second. Possibly a third if he still looks around for food. If I thaw a third, and he doesn't eat it, can I re-freeze it for next time?
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z181/ibetheelmo/IMG_01161.jpg
Click to expand...

That's exactly how my hatchling "Zeus" took his first pinky last week! Quite a contrast to how 4-year old "Therese" took hers- striking and constricting the dead mouse! Very impressive.
I think that must be how all hatchlings operate, I'm just guessing the striking and constricting come later.
I am feeding them in seperate enclosures. I just think it sounds like the best idea all around.
I swear Zeus "knows" me already, he seems more relaxed when I'm the one handling him, which is cool because he's my snake! My Christmas persent. :)
Love the photo!
 
Update! So, after having eatin' 3 mice roughly 40 hours ago, my snake still looks fat; so next time he only gets one or two. Secondly, I now I have a new setup complete with aspen bedding (which he never seems to leave. >.<) a new hide and giant waterbowl. Now most importantly I got a digital thermometer! So I had the Zilla under the tank heater and put the thermometer probe under the aspen where essentially it went 'heatpad/glass/probe/aspen' in order from bottom to top. Here is where I found the probe going up to 100 Fahrenheit after a day! Am I supposed to have the probe on top of the aspen (Since it would be considerably lower if that was the case) or directly on top of the glass above the pad, but under the aspen? (since Dobby tends to spend time under the aspen) With the heatpad off, I get roughly 73 degrees on the cool side during the day, and 77+ on the warm side (just the light above and that 77+ is coming from the recorded probe on the bottom of the aspen.
Also, Dobby appears to still be quite skittish. I figure I'll give him another day to finish digesting before trying to hold him again for a prolonged period, but he just seems so...jumpy. Should I just give him a few days alone and THEN try holding him a bit on the 4th before feeding him? (his feeding day)
 
ibetheelmo
 
ohhhh.... Also, how much bedding should be under there? I got about 1.5-2 inches but with less he would spend more time OUT of the stuff right?
 
Yes, but you better think about what the snake likes instead of what you like :) The snakes likes much bedding!
 
Don't feed him more food items if one leaves a lump in his belly, over feeding can cause regurgitations and then that's a whole different mess, which is NOT fun to deal with. You only want to give one prey item the same width around as the snake at the widest point. I know most people take their snakes out to feed, but I feed mine in their cages and I've only been bitten once. If you open their cage to clean, handle, etc, then there is hardly a chance that they'll associate you opening the cage with just feeding time. But for corns it really doesn't matter if you feed in the viv or not, big snakes like boas and burms should be fed in the viv 100% of the time. I've noticed no difference between my first corns that were fed out of viv and those that I feed in the viv.
The amount of bedding you have in there is perfect. Yes, with less he'd spend more time out of it, but why remove it if that is where he feels comfortable? I have found that none of my snakes burrow down under it for long, they'll wedge out a little spot and sit in it (usually under a hide). He may be a burrower, but he also may just enjoy making the tunnels! (I find tunnels in my aspen, so I know they're burrowing, but I never see it, everytime I look for mine they're under a hide.)
Anyway, you have a gorgeous and healthy looking amel! I'm so sorry your first one didn't make it, but I am glad that your petsmart actually keeps records of what happens with individual snakes. I have a little baby from petco, and the only reason I have any background on her is because my friend cares for them at the store. He also warned me about the mites! Which also were not fun, and then she began regurging once I got rid of the mites.
If I were you I would get a few more cage clips, I've had bad experiences with babies getting out of aquariums with screen tops before. You can also load the top down with books, or 12 packs of soda.

Good luck and congrats! :)
 
Why do big snakes have to fed in their vivs? I feed my boa's in a tub so they won't think I feed them when I just want to take them out.... both are so keen on their prey I think they are more risky to feed in their viv. I would not want to feed a big one in its viv; if it gets you it can pull you in (partly)and you are helpless. If it gets you when you are feeding it in a tub, you have plenty more room to find a way to get out of that situation.
 
ibetheelmo said:
Urg, sorry for another post, gotta ask though, how old do you think Dobby is judged by the size of the pictures? The store gave me paperwork from 11/04/11 so is there a chance that was when he was born and is almost 2 months old? I have no clue what sizes they should be. Then pinkies for instance. Paying 10$ for 6 is crazy when going online I can get 100 for 16, but depending on how fast they grow, would that be a waste of like..80? Should I just wait until he's big enough for fuzzy's then just buy 100 fuzzy's and feed him those till he's good for hoppers? How fast DO they grow and about how long/big should they be 4 months in, 6, 9, a year, etc.?
Click to expand...

How many inches long is Dobby? He looks very similar to my Zeus, who hatched in October. He's about 12 inches long.
I offered him a second pinky this past week at his normal feeding as he was looking a bit too thin to me; a little caved in at the sides for lack of a better description? Anyhow, he took them both quickly, and there was no vivible buldge there in just a couple of hours, so I think I'll get the next size up pinky for my next order of frozen mice!
 
He is around 14-16 or so inches. I have paperwork from petsmart since November so I'm guessing that's when he hatched.
 
I think that sounds right. I was looking at Zeus last night, I'm thinking he's maybe 14 inches long now at least!
 
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