Diary of a snake (and her girl)...

[kibakiba]

Is there any fluid coming out of her nose, or any little bubbles? If she were sneezing, you'd see some stuff on the side of the tank, too. Sometimes Snap will breathe more heavily when I'm looking at her and stop once she either realizes that she isn't scaring me, or that she realizes it's just the thing that makes the yummy food appear.

[EasternGirl]

No...other than the weird sneeze looking thing, which may not even be a sneeze, and the breathing thing...she seems perfectly healthy.

[kibakiba]

It might just be her trying really hard to conceal herself or make herself look more puffed up.

[EasternGirl]

It's hard to explain...she just starts breathing heavy when I look at her. I can see her sides expanding and contracting. She breathes heavy and fast. And the mouth thing...it's like this little twitch of her head and her mouth opens and shuts on one side real fast...but just a little...it's like a little tic.

[kibakiba]

That seems like what mama did when she hissed at me. Do you hear a hissing sound? It can be really faint sometimes. Maybe next time it happens really try to listen and see if you hear any sort of hissing sound. I've had both Snap and Mama hiss at me, Snap sounded more like a common hiss sound that you'd expect from a snake, and Mama made 2 different sounds. One sounded almost like... I want to say a long duck quack, if that makes sense and the other was a hiss with a quick ending. Like "sssk"

[EasternGirl]

Update on Selena...

I am starting to see a pattern...If I go into Selena's enclosure to find her (since she spends most of her time hiding) and I look around for her and then when I find her...pet her, but do not pick her up, and then put the lid back on her tank...it is guaranteed that a few minutes later, she will come out and stick her head up very close to the glass as if she is looking for me. She will then become active for a while. If I go into her enclosure and pick her up...she will immediately go into hiding for quite a while after I hold her. If I leave her completely alone, she will spend most of her time hiding buried under her substrate. She seems to like some attention, but not too much.


Here are some blurry pics of Selena...I got a new camera and for some reason, when I take pics through her tank...they're blurry...hopefully someday soon I can take pics of her outside the enclosure...

[kibakiba]

She looks good! She's probably so happy she has you, even if she doesn't show it all the time

[ConcinusMan]

You probably have everything set to automatic on your camera don't you? It's focusing on the glass. I get around that by using a manual focus option.

[EasternGirl]

Ahh...Richard...that might be the problem...I'll check the settings on the camera, thanks. Chantel, I was wondering if she could be trying to do some sort of hiss or something to show me who's boss...it does sound like a little..."hsk"...it's so small and barely detectable, and her head twitches ever so slightly. Oh, that's cute if she's trying to hiss at me! I won't tell her that she isn't even slightly scary...lol.

Questions: How often do you guys clean your enclosures and what do you use to clean them? Do you clean all the plants as well?

I'm still uncertain as to how much I should be feeding Selena at a given feeding. I was giving her a half a worm everyday and a pinkie every couple of days. Does that sound good?

[gregmonsta]

Questions: How often do you guys clean your enclosures and what do you use to clean them? Do you clean all the plants as well?

I'm still uncertain as to how much I should be feeding Selena at a given feeding. I was giving her a half a worm everyday and a pinkie every couple of days. Does that sound good?

I spot clean the substrate on a regular basis and clean the whole enclosure + all furnishings approx once a month. I use Beaphar deep clean as a disinfectant.

The amount of feeding depends on the snake. I only offer food every four days. Usually 1 pink or fluff and 2-4 pieces of Salmon (about the same size as the offered rodent. You'll find everyone has their own feeding regime. Earthworms have quite a low nutritional value so you can feed these more often