laffboy
New Member
Hi all,
Firstly I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the people who answered my first post about Medusa and let you know that we have taken all your advice on board and at the moment we aren't trying to handle or feed her until she gets used to her new home and owners.
Just a couple of further queries though...
1: The guy I got Medusa from is a very experienced snake handler, he has a huge collection of both snakes (venomous and non, and yes, he's licensed for both) and other assorted reptiles. When I spoke to him about Medusa's vomiting of her mouse, he said that when temperatures drop, snakes won't eat because they need heat to digest the food, and if they've eaten something and then the temperature drops, they will regurgitate it to stop it going rotten inside them (makes sense to me). He also said though, that she may not eat again until spring, and that some snakes can go up to a year without eating. Having said that, all of his snakes are kept outside.
Everyone I've spoken to has said that we shouldn't handle her until she is eating regularly.
Does this mean that we will have to wait up to 9 months to handle her?
Will this be negative in her being handled eventually? (She doesn't hurt much when she bites now, but if she gets much bigger it's really going to.)
2: She is very active at night. During the day she sleeps up in a high perch (hidden from us), but at night she loves to come out and explore, and actually spends a lot of time looking at us through the glass and she actually seems to enjoy being down the end of her enclosure where she can see us (but this is maybe wishful thinking on my behalf, that she is hanging out with us).
Should I feed her at night when she is awake rather than trying to wake her up during the day to feed?
And if so, considering the earlier point I made about temperature and feeding, should I get a heat mat for her to digest the food? Her tank is not heated, I have a 40 watt ReptiLight sun globe which I put on during the day, but she has a large tank (133cm long x 50cm deep x 100cm high). I have lined it with recycled newspaper pellets and was considering putting a heat mat under the pellets and putting her artificial rock "cave" hide over it.
I've tried to research this on the net, but I keep getting conflicting answers. I'm sorry to be such a n00b, but I'm just trying to do whats best for my girl.
Thanks again,
Steve.
Firstly I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the people who answered my first post about Medusa and let you know that we have taken all your advice on board and at the moment we aren't trying to handle or feed her until she gets used to her new home and owners.
Just a couple of further queries though...
1: The guy I got Medusa from is a very experienced snake handler, he has a huge collection of both snakes (venomous and non, and yes, he's licensed for both) and other assorted reptiles. When I spoke to him about Medusa's vomiting of her mouse, he said that when temperatures drop, snakes won't eat because they need heat to digest the food, and if they've eaten something and then the temperature drops, they will regurgitate it to stop it going rotten inside them (makes sense to me). He also said though, that she may not eat again until spring, and that some snakes can go up to a year without eating. Having said that, all of his snakes are kept outside.
Everyone I've spoken to has said that we shouldn't handle her until she is eating regularly.
Does this mean that we will have to wait up to 9 months to handle her?
Will this be negative in her being handled eventually? (She doesn't hurt much when she bites now, but if she gets much bigger it's really going to.)
2: She is very active at night. During the day she sleeps up in a high perch (hidden from us), but at night she loves to come out and explore, and actually spends a lot of time looking at us through the glass and she actually seems to enjoy being down the end of her enclosure where she can see us (but this is maybe wishful thinking on my behalf, that she is hanging out with us).
Should I feed her at night when she is awake rather than trying to wake her up during the day to feed?
And if so, considering the earlier point I made about temperature and feeding, should I get a heat mat for her to digest the food? Her tank is not heated, I have a 40 watt ReptiLight sun globe which I put on during the day, but she has a large tank (133cm long x 50cm deep x 100cm high). I have lined it with recycled newspaper pellets and was considering putting a heat mat under the pellets and putting her artificial rock "cave" hide over it.
I've tried to research this on the net, but I keep getting conflicting answers. I'm sorry to be such a n00b, but I'm just trying to do whats best for my girl.
Thanks again,
Steve.