| T O P I C R E V I E W |
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Posted - 11/02/2011 : 22:31:28
Hi there, I'm new to the forum and fairly new to keeping snakes (i've had a small milky before but this is my first corn). I have an adult female who shed around 3 weeks ago. She seemed to be having a pretty bad shed so I spoke to the stafff at the pet shop where I bought her who advised that if I thought she may be constipated to put her in the bath (which shouls also help for a particularly bad shed.
I put her in the bath that night and it turned out she had been constipated ... she perked up for a few hours but then went really quiet again ... she shed a few days later.
The problem is that she's now looking/behaving as though she's goign to shed again. Is it a little soon for her to shed again?
I put her in the bath again tonight and she'd obviously been constipated again.
I wanted to ask, how can I tell if she's constipated witout it getting to the stage where she's erally uncomfortable? Is it just a case of getting to know her?
Also, why is she getting constipated? is she unlikely to want to "go" in her viv/bedding?
Woudl it be worth giving her smaller feeds twice weekly rather than one large feed?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks  |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 16/02/2011 : 17:13:08
Yeah, its a trick that has been known to work. There are many such tricks that are handy to know! |
| n/a |
Posted - 15/02/2011 : 19:57:38
Made it difficult to interest her in her mouse. I tried the technique of 'braining' discussed on the forum.
Cut the mouse and left it just by the mouth of the hide on top of a log, she took it and ate within a few mins. So that's a trick I'll keep up my sleeve in the future. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 23:17:44
yeah, same as mine really, its not a bad thing though. |
| n/a |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 21:46:21
Makes sense that Mike, she had just moved Vivarium when the problem started.
She's much more settled now, though since I put hides in the Viv I see much less of her, normally just a head peeping out of the hide in the warm end!!
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| mikerichards |
Posted - 14/02/2011 : 19:15:04
quote:
Originally posted by lotabob
To me, a mere and humble relatively new snake owner, it sounds like a case of not going to the toilet rather than not been able to go, Spot saves his up during the shedding process ready for what I will term the 'superdump' after a shed. And its not unusual to hold onto a shed after the eyes return clear. There is a place for a slight increase in humidity but only in a very dry house, most cornsnakes will shed all on their own, in their own time. Misting & bathing, for both the not pooing and the not shedding was unnecessary and an over-reaction to a normal process.
There is no over reaction at all, if a snake is impacted the a bath is the first thing to do.
Misting usually isn't required, but sometimes it is.
Tim, I must have missconstrued your post, sorry.
The normal process for shedding is to go blue, then clear then shed, the snake shouldn't shed whilst blue. Sometimes, the process can be so quick that you don't notice the clear stage, other times it can be days.
My big boa was clear for a week before shedding.
if your girl went blue, didn't shed then went blue again and did shed then it likely she retained the entire skin, in which case, its entirely possible it could have impeded the progression of digestion, what's more likely in that situation is that she was irritated and stressed by not shedding and that caused the problem. |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 21:17:15
quote:
Originally posted by lotabob
quote:
Originally posted by TimClynes
Lolatob,
HAHA. WHO?
I suck at the internet, the question still stands though, if you have some insight? |
| lotabob |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 20:39:15
quote:
Originally posted by TimClynes
Lolatob,
HAHA. WHO? |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 20:03:38
Lolatob,
I may not have explained properly, but I have owned my big girl for over 8 years now, I know when she is holding on and when she is struggling.
I'd be interested to know, and maybe Mike can help, if failed shed's can build up to the point where the snake going for a poo becomes impossible for the snake until the old skin is removed.
And in these circumstances how the animal can be assisted?
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| lotabob |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 18:59:47
To me, a mere and humble relatively new snake owner, it sounds like a case of not going to the toilet rather than not been able to go, Spot saves his up during the shedding process ready for what I will term the 'superdump' after a shed. And its not unusual to hold onto a shed after the eyes return clear. There is a place for a slight increase in humidity but only in a very dry house, most cornsnakes will shed all on their own, in their own time. Misting & bathing, for both the not pooing and the not shedding was unnecessary and an over-reaction to a normal process.
As for shops and their advice, SO MANY times they give the wrong advice, they may have experience but it is limited to just things they have encountered, the good thing about this forum is its a collective, of owners, collectors & breeders and from it a pretty good way of doing things emerges as ideas and techniques are exchanged tried and tested, in the same way stuff that doesn't work or is unnecessary is unearthed, myths busted if you wish. I'll take advice off of this site over anything the shops will say, I made the mistake of listening to a shop once. NEVER AGAIN. |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 18:19:26
I wasn't disagreeing with you Mike, far from it, I'm merely pointing out that the advice I receive seems to differ from place to place, and for someone who is inexperience, as I am, it can be confusing. That's why I suggested it was a topic for conversation.
My girl went into blue and out the otherside without shedding at all.
She didn't poo for 6 weeks, wouldn't feed, and I was seriously worried about her.
I bathed her every couple of days after reading that that helped, and it assisted the constipation.
When she next went into blue I misted every couple of days and was greatly releived when she shed.
The shed itself was perculiar, rather than coming off as one continuous old skin, it was like one rolled up condom stuck to the log I put in the viv for her to rub on.
She's fine now and eating, but I have no idea which piece of advice, if any, assited her.
Tim |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 18:10:45
sorry, i am confusing your thread with this one. the shop is wrong, and if its wrong advice, then its bad advice. For a start, how does not shedding lead to an impaction?? it doesnt, unless the skin has been left on there for so long that its actually restricting the flow of food, and in that case, its most likely restricting the blood flow too.
If you look at the anatomy of a snake, you will see that there are very very very few things that can cause an impaction, the most common reasons are its eaten something it shouldnt have, or its severely dehydrated. A snakes intestine is straight, there are no bends, kinks or hairpin corners, there physically is nothing to stop the food passing through.
Tim, the fact that your girl is back to normal now does not prove that they should be misted when they go into shed, it just proved that your girl struggled that time. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 18:00:39
quote:
Originally posted by TimClynes
Mike,
Interesting diffrence of opinion here which is possibly worth discussing.
I took advice from several sources why my girl had failed to shed having gone into blue and back out again, and was not managing to go to the toilet.
The advice from Reptile Centre, Vet and indeed here, was to let her soak for 30 mins every couple of days (which assisted with her constipation admirably)
And to mist the vivarium every couple of days as she went into blue and got ready to shed.
I followed this advice and my big girl shed and is now back to normal, so it isn't neccessarliy bad advice.
I didnt actually say it was bad advice, however, its not the best.
Over the last 20 years i have had near on 200 corns, none of them at all had ever needed to be sprayed for them to shed.
I have one boa that gets sprayed to help, and thats purely because she will make a hash of it otherwise, but she does not 'need' to be sprayed. the main difference there is that she is tropical, and needs higher humidity as a rule than corns, which are sub tropical and not from a humid environment.
Out of interest, from your post, what i understand is that your corn had shed, or partly shed, and then stopped, and it was a period of time before she was assisted, i apologise if that is wrong.
As you may notice, shed skin is not elastic at all, so cannot stretch, this can cause the passage of food to be restricted.
this was proved by my russian ratsnake who shed as he was eating, or at least very soon after (the rat wasnt even to the stomach), as he shed he was unable to get the shed skin over the lump of the rat, i had to tear it so he could finish.
Other than that, i dont see a difference in opinion really. |
| n/a |
Posted - 13/02/2011 : 17:09:56
Mike,
Interesting diffrence of opinion here which is possibly worth discussing.
I took advice from several sources why my girl had failed to shed having gone into blue and back out again, and was not managing to go to the toilet.
The advice from Reptile Centre, Vet and indeed here, was to let her soak for 30 mins every couple of days (which assisted with her constipation admirably)
And to mist the vivarium every couple of days as she went into blue and got ready to shed.
I followed this advice and my big girl shed and is now back to normal, so it isn't neccessarliy bad advice. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 12/02/2011 : 00:23:08
there are a few things you really need to do. Firstly, ignore the shop, they are wrong on just about everything. infact, from what you have said here, they are wrong on everything.
your heatmat needs to go inside the viv, mainly because if its under the viv, its not going to be able to transmit enough heat through the wood, secondly, it could transmit too much heat, cause the wood to ignite and burn lots of things to pieces, including your house. although rare, that has happened on a few occasions. the heatmat will generally only do that if it shorts out.
the thermostat will stop that happening, and will also save you money on your electricity bill as the mat isnt on all the time.
As for the Constipation, thats not really whats going on, if you put most snakes into warm water then will crap, its just something they do, the warm water and the movements they make help the other movements!!!
That is normal. there is no link that i can think of between a bad shed and the snake being constipated, or impacted which is the correct term, quite where the shop go that is a mystery, and one which is probably best left alone.
Corns which are stressed, or not entirely happy can have trouble shedding, there is no need to go misting the viv loads, they simply dont need it, and you are more likely to cause a problem such as scale rot or a respiritory infection. By all means give them a bath if they are struggling, but as a rule you dont need to mist for them all the time during a shed.
How big is she and how big is the new viv, that might be the cause of her stress problems, certainly initially anyway. |
| Mort13 |
Posted - 12/02/2011 : 00:19:14
Yep,typical pet shop info I'm afraid. I myself didn't receive a thermostat and thermometer when I bought my starter kit. Luckily I'd had reps before so knew I needed them.
Its them that are at fault for misinforming you so don't feel bad for it.
Theres a site called Blue Lizard Reptiles,they have matstats for a really good price.  |
| n/a |
Posted - 11/02/2011 : 23:48:12
quote:
Originally posted by TimClynes
quote:
Originally posted by Mort13
The normal heatmat placement with a viv is inside. Heatmats are laminated so there should be no problem moisture wise and as long as you've got the heatmat statted at the right temp theres no worry of burns. I'd recommend a digital thermometer to keep track of temps and a thermostat if you haven't already got them.
My snakes tend to go longer poop wise when shedding.
I'm sure that someone made a post on constipation on here a bit ago,might be worth doing a search.
Good luck and welcome by the way.
Heatmat only sits under the vivarium if it's glass, yours should be in the vivarium, with a thermostatic control set to around 84 to 88 degrees. And yes, you should check that with a thermometer.
My big girl had an issue with shedding and constipation after I moved her to a larger tank, which she finally got over last week.
My experience tells me to check your temperature, and get your viv set up correctly with that mat inside with a temperature control.
Bathe regularly (every couple of days) until she goes into 'blue'
Humidify your tank every 48 hours with a spray or provide a hide with a moisture retaining bedding to assit the shedding process
Thanks for the advice.
The heatmat I have (which was sold to me with the snake) isn't thermastatically controlled. They just told me to leave the mat on at all times and that it would be ok as long as only one side of the viv was heated.
I'm slowly learnign that perhaps pet shop owners who don't specialise in snakes/reptiles might not be the best at giving advice!  |
| n/a |
Posted - 11/02/2011 : 23:43:51
quote:
Originally posted by Mort13
The normal heatmat placement with a viv is inside. Heatmats are laminated so there should be no problem moisture wise and as long as you've got the heatmat statted at the right temp theres no worry of burns. I'd recommend a digital thermometer to keep track of temps and a thermostat if you haven't already got them.
My snakes tend to go longer poop wise when shedding.
I'm sure that someone made a post on constipation on here a bit ago,might be worth doing a search.
Good luck and welcome by the way.
Heatmat only sits under the vivarium if it's glass, yours should be in the vivarium, with a thermostatic control set to around 84 to 88 degrees. And yes, you should check that with a thermometer.
My big girl had an issue with shedding and constipation after I moved her to a larger tank, which she finally got over last week.
My experience tells me to check your temperature, and get your viv set up correctly with that mat inside with a temperature control.
Bathe regularly (every couple of days) until she goes into 'blue'
Humidify your tank every 48 hours with a spray or provide a hide with a moisture retaining bedding to assit the shedding process |
| Mort13 |
Posted - 11/02/2011 : 23:36:06
The normal heatmat placement with a viv is inside. Heatmats are laminated so there should be no problem moisture wise and as long as you've got the heatmat statted at the right temp theres no worry of burns. I'd recommend a digital thermometer to keep track of temps and a thermostat if you haven't already got them.
My snakes tend to go longer poop wise when shedding.
I'm sure that someone made a post on constipation on here a bit ago,might be worth doing a search.
Good luck and welcome by the way. |
| n/a |
Posted - 11/02/2011 : 23:21:20
quote:
Originally posted by TimClynes
You intimated the heat mat was 'under' the vivarium. Is this correct, or is it inside the vivarium?
Yes it's under the viv. I did have it inside at first but the pet shop owner suggested it should be outside because of the risk from there being water inside. She's said that enough heat should travel through the wood to make that warm enough. |
| n/a |
Posted - 11/02/2011 : 23:17:42
You intimated the heat mat was 'under' the vivarium. Is this correct, or is it inside the vivarium? |
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