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Markni
Snake mite
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
 Posted - 26/07/2011 : 21:39:19
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So I have had my little BRB for a month or so now, she seems happy and mostly healthy. Just that I havent found a poo for about 3 weeks now. It is possible that I am missing these in my spot checks, and they are drying up and being dumped with substrate; i have felt down the length of her body and found no hard lumps. She does not seem swollen either. I am going to be feeding tomorrow, and will do more thorough spot checks for the next week before I begin to worry about warm water bathing etc.
Any thing else I should be doing?
* What follows is a long winded, and not very interesting overview of my setup. Please feel free to ignore it, I just thought it would save on some of the usual questions*
VIV: She is currently in a 2ft LX24 vivexotic viv, with a mixture of aspen and orchid bark as her substrate. But I have been looking into upgrading her to a plastic viv (Herptek or Pro-cage), because it will be easier to clean, maintain humidity, and will last her a long time.
HEATING: Running a 60W ceramic with guard, on a Habistat D/N Pulse stat. Up until recently I have been running daytime gradient of 85-78, and night time of 77-73. But I noticed she spent most of her days on the cool side, and nights on the warm side (after her usual few hours of exploring). So recently I have changed this to a gradient of 83-76, with no day/night cycle. She seems happier with this!
HUMIDITY: She has a large water dish which I change daily to soak in. I also have a reptifogger hooked up to a timer, and the hose (partially blocked to prevent her crawling down it) poked in through a hole in the back of the viv. This keeps the humidity between 80-90%.
HIDES ETC: I have 2 small 'cave' style hides, one at hot end, one at cool. There is a humid hide in the middle of the viv, filled with damp moss. There is also a few pieces of cork bark, and a vine in there for decor & to give her something to explore. (I did have a branch in there, but it was beginning to get a bit moss covered, even though I bleached & dried it weekly.
VIV MAINTENANCE: Other than daily water changes, I do spot checks every other day for poo or anything else that shouldnt be there! I fully clean out the viv using reptile safe disinfectant, and swap out the substrate weekly.
FEEDING: I feed a rat fuzzy (10-20g) every 6 days. Take her out of the viv & put in small rub. She strikes and as soon as she is finished swallowing, I place one of her hides into the rub, and put the whole thing into her viv, so I dont have to handle her at all after feeding.
HANDLING: Other than a 3 day period after eating, I generally handle her for about 10 minutes per day. She was a little nippy at first, but already becoming friendlier and easy to handle.
Other than that, I am keeping records of her sheds, weight, feeds.
23/03/2011 Hatched
10/04/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
10/04/2011 Shed
16/04/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
24/04/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
27/04/2011 Shed
30/04/2011 Measurments - 50g
06/05/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
20/05/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
26/05/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
03/06/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
03/06/2011 Shed
09/06/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
11/06/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
17/06/2011 Feed - Rat Pup
26/06/2011 Feed - Rat Fluff
01/07/2011 I purchased from breeder & took home.
05/07/2011 Feed - Rat Fluff
07/07/2011 Shed
10/07/2011 Feed - Rat Fluff
12/07/2011 Measurments - 69g
16/07/2011 Feed - Rat Fluff
21/07/2011 Feed - Rat Fluff
24/07/2011 Measurements - 82g
Have not yet started measuring length, as she is very active when handled. I estimate she is currently about 70cm. |
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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 26/07/2011 : 22:03:07
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| More info is always better than less. :-) However, I would not worry too much: the numbers of "movements" you see varies by animal. I have some that go every meal, and some that go every few meals. If you want to be absolutely sure, switch her to paper towel, feed her once more, and then wait intil see a confirmed "gift." Good luck! |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
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Markni
Snake mite
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - 26/07/2011 : 22:11:38
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See, now why could I not think of something that simple!
Thanks! I know your the expert on here, so do you think the setup etc is ok? |
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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2011 : 00:13:43
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| Sorry, was away for most of last week. I'm hardly an expert, just an experienced keeper. :-) Overall, your approach is excellent, but maybe a bit *too* thorough. Water can be done weekly unless messed, and substrate swaps/viv disinfecting monthly or even quarterly so long as you regularly spot-clean (as you seem to do -- though I'd move that to daily). Feeding can be decreased slightly (too much food shortens lifespan); for animals up to 12 months, I recommend weekly. Awesome recordkeeping, by the way. Good job! |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
Edited by - Snakesitter on 08/08/2011 20:51:23 |
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Markni
Snake mite
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2011 : 18:08:03
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| Thanks! Will try my best to stop being such a worrier! lol. |
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Markni
Snake mite
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2011 : 09:11:00
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| She shed last night, and released a nice big poo too! Very happy to see that sitting there! |
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Snakesitter
Rainbow Master
USA
2718 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2011 : 20:53:25
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Congrats on the shed!
quote:
Originally posted by Markni
....and released a nice big poo too! Very happy to see that sitting there!
I would like to nominate this as a finalist for "phrases least often said in the English language," please. ;-) |
Cliff Earle
Living Gems Reptiles
Premium Brazilian Rainbow Boas from a disease-tested facility
Website, Facebook |
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Markni
Snake mite
United Kingdom
27 Posts |
Posted - 08/08/2011 : 21:35:55
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| I think she gets prettier with each shed! Still only a little baby, so plenty more sheds to come! :D |
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No poo??? *Sorry for long post*
