kimmyhayward
Not so new Member
Hi everyone.
im pulling my hair out at the moment feeling like im not doing very well by my lovely little boy oscar. hes a coastal carpet python, about 2 and a half years old.
lately, everywhere i turn im getting different advice and its totally shifted my confidence on how i am supposed to look after him.
Ive had oscar since sept 2008 and have always (until now) thought i was doing pretty well by him.
I moved from far north queensland last year to vic, and then recently to melbourne, and am trying to make the weather change as smooth as possible for him.
ok soo a few things..
food:
He gets fed a rat a little bigger than his widest diameter once a week, and once every 2nd week in winter. is that ok?
I have only just stopped breeding rats as its doing my head in a little with guilt and same as i just said, all of a sudden certain people have made me feel like im not doing it right.
(with rats, what is the CORRECT and most humane way to off them for your snake as i will not feed live!!! i thought i was doing it right but am now not so sure..)
i feed him in a big deep box, so that he doesnt associate his cage with food. so far so good, is this an issue?
size:
ok so im not sure how big he should be by now. how much does enclosure size affect the growth rate of your snake?
as a 2 and a half year old coastal carpet python, he is about 6 foot 4 (i know cause he is my boyfriends height) but is still quite thin for what i assume a 2 year old python should be?
how old is a snake when it is fully grown?
his head is a little smaller than the size of a 50c piece (if that makes sense.. i dont know how to explain it) and his thickness is about 8-10 cm in diameter??
is that ok or is he small for his age?
scale lift:
Oscars belly scales lift a little. they flick if he moves the wrong way and it stretches all down his body.
a guy told me its cause of how i look after him and its some horrible condition called 'scale lift' which is completely caused by my lack of nurture. he said that it will only stop if i feed him once a month instead of once a week.
is once a month too little cause it seems awful to me and its the first ive heard of anything called 'scale lift' or of it being ok to feed that rarely. i tried looking the condition up and couldnt find anything.
he also said it can kill him..
is it my fault and can i fix it?
heating & lights/moving:
because i have just moved to the coldcold im freaking out that oscar isnt in hibernation.
i dont know how to put a snake into hibernation and i dont really want to find out through trial and error.
is it bad for him to be kept awake? it is very cold at the moment would he benefit from being put into hibernation next winter and if yes whats the best way?
at the moment he has a heat mat, a heat rock, a 250W ceramic heat emitter and has a 5.0 reptiglow uvb light to try and mimic his natural tropical forest environment.
what is ideal for a coastal carpet python?
housing/new cage:
im mid way through builing oscar a new cage so he can climb. he is a very aerial boy so ive been building a 2m tall cage so that he can climb to his hearts desire.
the reason i have so much heating is beacuse of the size of the cage and the awful weather in melbourne.
there are seperate hot and cold spots through the cage, up the top is the basking area and he has a warm spot down the bottom.
the cage has no humidifier. is there an alternative to providing humidity, as the cage is wood and the sides of the cage are louvered/flyscreen so there is heaps of fresh air and i dont think the humidity would stay in. how do humidifiers work? can you go without?
can you reccommend a good way to keep the heat in aswell?
is a wooden cage ok? any advice on correct housing would be great.
stress/handling:
my boy is normally the most chilled out animal i can ever imagine. he is clever, cheeky, inquisitive and social, but so docile and maliable that i would assume he was a plastic snake toy if he didnt come up and smooch you.
i handle him quite alot, every day if i can, but realistically every 2nd day for 15-20 mins unless he has eaten.
i leave him for 48 hours after he eats and keep it mimimal for the next 24 after that.
when the suns out he will cruise around outside for maybe a extra 30 mins when hes out, so conveniently he poos on the grass.
before now, he has never not eaten and never regurgitated anything.
when i first moved, he didnt eat for 4 or 5 weeks which freaked me out good and proper, but i blamed the change of weather as it was mid winter last year.
i got him eating again by giving him live pinkies (the mother rat escaped and i didnt know what to do with them)
since then, no troubles. he has had every feed offered.
a few days ago, he regurgitated for the first time ever.
im really worried. im guessing it was because the dogs were thundering up and down the halls that day and he got worried.
the temporary enclosure he is in now is on the floor and i think the vibrations carry quite alot. ill be finished his new cage in a week or so.. i cant put it up anywhere at the moment.
once his new enclosure is finished he will be able to climb so hopefully this wont be an issue??
any suggestions?
also this morning i woke up and he is sitting funny. it was not last night, but the night before that he regurgitated.
he is now sitting with his front half under his hide rock in the warm spot and his bum end out on top of the hide rock under the UV.
normally he is a very in or out kinda snake. never half way. i tickled him this morning and he reacted but didnt move.
ive been out for 4 hours or so and hes still in the same spot. i tickled him again and the same reaction.
normally if i tickle him he will move and go under his hide rock, or come out and say hello.
i dont want to move him incase hes really sick..
what do i do.
what are signs of excessive stress or sickness in snakes?
please help. sorry for so many questions.
people have been questioning my way of caring for him in the last few weeks and all of a sudden im not so sure.
I just want my boy to be happy.
Thanks xx
im pulling my hair out at the moment feeling like im not doing very well by my lovely little boy oscar. hes a coastal carpet python, about 2 and a half years old.
lately, everywhere i turn im getting different advice and its totally shifted my confidence on how i am supposed to look after him.
Ive had oscar since sept 2008 and have always (until now) thought i was doing pretty well by him.
I moved from far north queensland last year to vic, and then recently to melbourne, and am trying to make the weather change as smooth as possible for him.
ok soo a few things..
food:
He gets fed a rat a little bigger than his widest diameter once a week, and once every 2nd week in winter. is that ok?
I have only just stopped breeding rats as its doing my head in a little with guilt and same as i just said, all of a sudden certain people have made me feel like im not doing it right.
(with rats, what is the CORRECT and most humane way to off them for your snake as i will not feed live!!! i thought i was doing it right but am now not so sure..)
i feed him in a big deep box, so that he doesnt associate his cage with food. so far so good, is this an issue?
size:
ok so im not sure how big he should be by now. how much does enclosure size affect the growth rate of your snake?
as a 2 and a half year old coastal carpet python, he is about 6 foot 4 (i know cause he is my boyfriends height) but is still quite thin for what i assume a 2 year old python should be?
how old is a snake when it is fully grown?
his head is a little smaller than the size of a 50c piece (if that makes sense.. i dont know how to explain it) and his thickness is about 8-10 cm in diameter??
is that ok or is he small for his age?
scale lift:
Oscars belly scales lift a little. they flick if he moves the wrong way and it stretches all down his body.
a guy told me its cause of how i look after him and its some horrible condition called 'scale lift' which is completely caused by my lack of nurture. he said that it will only stop if i feed him once a month instead of once a week.
is once a month too little cause it seems awful to me and its the first ive heard of anything called 'scale lift' or of it being ok to feed that rarely. i tried looking the condition up and couldnt find anything.
he also said it can kill him..
is it my fault and can i fix it?
heating & lights/moving:
because i have just moved to the coldcold im freaking out that oscar isnt in hibernation.
i dont know how to put a snake into hibernation and i dont really want to find out through trial and error.
is it bad for him to be kept awake? it is very cold at the moment would he benefit from being put into hibernation next winter and if yes whats the best way?
at the moment he has a heat mat, a heat rock, a 250W ceramic heat emitter and has a 5.0 reptiglow uvb light to try and mimic his natural tropical forest environment.
what is ideal for a coastal carpet python?
housing/new cage:
im mid way through builing oscar a new cage so he can climb. he is a very aerial boy so ive been building a 2m tall cage so that he can climb to his hearts desire.
the reason i have so much heating is beacuse of the size of the cage and the awful weather in melbourne.
there are seperate hot and cold spots through the cage, up the top is the basking area and he has a warm spot down the bottom.
the cage has no humidifier. is there an alternative to providing humidity, as the cage is wood and the sides of the cage are louvered/flyscreen so there is heaps of fresh air and i dont think the humidity would stay in. how do humidifiers work? can you go without?
can you reccommend a good way to keep the heat in aswell?
is a wooden cage ok? any advice on correct housing would be great.
stress/handling:
my boy is normally the most chilled out animal i can ever imagine. he is clever, cheeky, inquisitive and social, but so docile and maliable that i would assume he was a plastic snake toy if he didnt come up and smooch you.
i handle him quite alot, every day if i can, but realistically every 2nd day for 15-20 mins unless he has eaten.
i leave him for 48 hours after he eats and keep it mimimal for the next 24 after that.
when the suns out he will cruise around outside for maybe a extra 30 mins when hes out, so conveniently he poos on the grass.
before now, he has never not eaten and never regurgitated anything.
when i first moved, he didnt eat for 4 or 5 weeks which freaked me out good and proper, but i blamed the change of weather as it was mid winter last year.
i got him eating again by giving him live pinkies (the mother rat escaped and i didnt know what to do with them)
since then, no troubles. he has had every feed offered.
a few days ago, he regurgitated for the first time ever.
im really worried. im guessing it was because the dogs were thundering up and down the halls that day and he got worried.
the temporary enclosure he is in now is on the floor and i think the vibrations carry quite alot. ill be finished his new cage in a week or so.. i cant put it up anywhere at the moment.
once his new enclosure is finished he will be able to climb so hopefully this wont be an issue??
any suggestions?
also this morning i woke up and he is sitting funny. it was not last night, but the night before that he regurgitated.
he is now sitting with his front half under his hide rock in the warm spot and his bum end out on top of the hide rock under the UV.
normally he is a very in or out kinda snake. never half way. i tickled him this morning and he reacted but didnt move.
ive been out for 4 hours or so and hes still in the same spot. i tickled him again and the same reaction.
normally if i tickle him he will move and go under his hide rock, or come out and say hello.
i dont want to move him incase hes really sick..
what do i do.
what are signs of excessive stress or sickness in snakes?
please help. sorry for so many questions.
people have been questioning my way of caring for him in the last few weeks and all of a sudden im not so sure.
I just want my boy to be happy.
Thanks xx
Try feeding him again in a week, and if no worries, then no worries!
