| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lurchy |
Posted - 20/04/2011 : 16:24:41
Hiya boys and girls! Iv had my snake only a couple of days i bought the snake 2nd hand and im not sure how old he or she is its about 3.5 feet long maybe a little more i don know if that gives an idea of age? Snake looks to be very healthy lovely shine to it etc. Iv put it in my viv which is 3 foot and from my readings online it seems to be that you take a few items from the last viv to the new and leave for a couple of days to settle in which has now been done. Came home from work today looking forward to handleing my snake properly but when i lifted its stone and went to pick him up he ran as soon as i touched him as i didnt want to stress him out iv left him now as maybe 2days wasnt enough? are there any tips any of you can give? He doesnt seem a very active chap either hiding most of the time but to look at id say he was in perfect health |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| kdlang |
Posted - 21/04/2011 : 22:38:07
I'd say at 3.5ft he only needs feeding every 7-10 days. Depending on how wide he is he could probably manage a medium mouse. Sometimes you have to ignore the puppy dog eyes. Snakes are opportunistic feeders so alot of the time, if you offer them food they will take it as in the wild they would never know when their next meal would come along. If you feed too often you will end up with a chubby snake that can lead to health problems. |
| lurchy |
Posted - 21/04/2011 : 20:53:10
I thought that would be the case to be honest. One more thing if i may total change of snake subject but id been told he'd been fed on the morning of the day i bought him this being 4 days ago probly i thought i would offer him a small mouse but didnt expect him to eat. Within a couple of wiggles of the mouse he was on it like a tramp on chips!! Pardon the pun! After eating the mouse he has come out of his hide which he hasnt done really before so do you think hes tellin me he wants another!? |
| kdlang |
Posted - 20/04/2011 : 22:23:13
It's really hard to tell the age from size alone. I have got a 4+year old thats smaller than my 3yr old. And one of my new additions is 18 months and bigger than the 3yr old. Alot can depend on past feeding, health, genetics etc. |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 20/04/2011 : 22:13:06
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4133 |
| lurchy |
Posted - 20/04/2011 : 21:37:49
Thanks for the advice mate much appreciated i dont spose you know if there is a way of working out the age of a snake do ya? i bought this little chap because i felt sorry for him in a tiny little viv with next to nothin inside it i had planned on buying a baby corn up until the point of feelin sorry for this one.... Would be nice to know how old he is! |
| kdlang |
Posted - 20/04/2011 : 17:19:10
Hiya and welcome. Congrats on your new addition.
It is usually advised to leave snakes alone for 7 days to allow them to settle in. Just go in and change his water every day or 2. I run some of the substrate through my hand while I am in there so that my smell is transfered to the viv. After the 7 days you can offer a feed then 48 hours after that you can begin handling. He probably will slither away as snakes don't usually like being picked up. To him you could be a big predator. I usually remove some of the viv decorations so I can catch mine without too much fuss. The idea is to be as confident as you can. Ignore any rattling striking or hissing as much as you can otherwise they can realise this will make you leave them alone. Start with short handling periods to start off with and build up to longer periods. I imagine he will soon calm down.
As for hiding away, this again is quite normal. He is still settling in and getting used to the strange smells, noises and vibrations. Plus some just don't like to be out and about. I have one that I rarely see out apart from during the breeding season. |
