Crazy snake

[BMoore]

Okay,

We all know I am the wuss ever since I was tagged but I am holding my snakes MUCH better......
Jezebel has not been held as much, and therefore is acting a lot different. When we take her out, she whips her body around frantically. I have never seen any of my snakes do this. After a while she will calm down. I almost feel like I will drop her because she's flailing like a maniac. Any suggestions on how to calm her down until she's used to getting held again. I don't want to restrain her to avoid a tag..............

**Beth**

[Red]

Re:Crazy snake

I have herd that if you hold a snake while it is in a bag it is perty much just like holding it with out to the snake...
So try putting it in a bag and then hold it for awhile and put it away...
This should help... After a couple weeks of that it probley will settle down...
Eric aka...red

[sclark]

Re:Crazy snake

Hey Beth,

Don't worry much. I have had a few boas that if a week or two pass they get very insucure when you first hold them. they would wrap tighter then normal, and twist alot. Just make sure you find atleast 10 mins a few times a week. You will notice your baby getting back to normal..

Steve

[Doug]

Re:Crazy snake

Hi,
I ve seen this in my BCC guyana they have a fear of falling, so I try and hold them with two hands allowing them to coil around my forearm before lifting out of the cage, as soon as they have a grip on me they chil out. once out they are aok. all my larger adult snakes do this
Doug

[WeLsH]

Re:Crazy snake

Same here, My Boa makes sure she has a strong grip on my arm, before calming down. The first two minutes she moves around and lot and gets into a comfortable postion, then she calms down and just sits there.

[BMoore]

Re:Crazy snake

Jezebel is doing a lot better. She is a lot more calmer the last week. She has retained shed on her head and neck still. Do you guys think that this bugs her? Is that why she can be so on the edge? ??? I looked for some "shed ease" or something at the petstore. All they has was "stress ease" and "vita spray". I almost got the vita spray but wasn't sure if that was the right stuff. I ended up picking out this stuff called "snake oil". Anyone hear of it? It's for injury's, bite's, scratches, mite's, burn's, ect....... It doesn't say anything about shedding though. It's made with safflower oil, sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil, avacado oil, tea tree oil, and neem oil............. What do you guy's think? I just noticed it also say's for "skin problems" I havn't used it yet. It smells good though........... ;D Let me know...............

**Beth**

[Red]

Re:Crazy snake

Ahh I would not use it for a retained shed...

And yes I think that just might be the reason your snake is being mean...
So here is my suggestion to you...
Put the snake in a bag with a wet towl in it with the snake... The bigger the snake the bigger the towll..
leave the snake in the bag in the snakes cage about the middle... where the temps are not too warm or too cold...
Leave the snake in the bag for about 12 hours then take it out for like 4-8 hours... this will let the snake dry a bit if the shed is not off at this point repeat the steps above... You don't want the part of the snake that did shed to get to wet and cause somthing like belly rot...
This has always worked for me... and quit a few people ont his sight too... I hope it helps you as well...
Eric aka....Red

[BMoore]

Re:Crazy snake

So do you mean, take the snake out of her enclosure for 4-8 hour's or the towel?? I will try it tonight then. The last time I soaked her was last weekend....... It looks a lot better than it did. Before it did not look like it was ready to come off at all. Now it's looking crusty. It's frustrating. This is the first time I have ever had a problem.

**Beth**

[___LEE___]

Re:Crazy snake

don't worry beth in time it will come off if u are soaking and doing what the others suggested..

LEE

[Red]

Re:Crazy snake

Take her out of the bag and put her back in the encloser....
Sorry I was not clear on that...
Good luck...
Eric aka...Red

[BMoore]

Re:Crazy snake

Okay I will give it a try and let everyone know how it goes............ Thanks again!

**Beth**

[Doug]

Re:Crazy snake

HI,
I have found that my snakes don't have retained shed if I keep the cage at the reccomended humidity, this can be very difficult in some cages and with certian heat sources, Could you describe your cage and also list heat sources and what the temp gradients warm side cool .
Many of us tend to go over board about this detail but Its the most important thing to a boa's health. :P
Doug
finally if the temps and humidity are perfect something else may be causing the shed problems there are many from mites to over all health problems parasite loads and such. sheding is a complex procedure for the snake . They actually manage to increase the fluid level between the layers of skin and excrete a lubricant in that fluid that helps seperate the old from the new. any kind of problems will disrupt this function. I ve seen BP"S where their skin came off like confetti all over the cage because they were dehydrated from being kept in a cage with a light heat source screen top humidity in a room was about 50 %humidity the light lowered the humidity in the cage to about 30% the snakes looked like prunes..most external heat creates a chimmney like effect and causes an updraft in the cage that can actually dry the air more. :

doug
be careful removing any retained shed, I like the damp towel in the ice chest for an hour and then I try and gently rub the skin of with my finger tips very gently..
if there's retained shed is on the tip of the tail I have seen the tip of the tail fall off and eye caps can cause vision problems. thats why fixing the cage will make your snake shed in one piece it looks like a tube sock on the floor of the cage I always check the shed for tail pieces and eye caps.

If your at your wits end a change in cage's may be the fix, The boapile cages are perfect for humidity and I use mostly melanine/wood cages my self.

[tatdaddy]

Re:Crazy snake

Any luck with that shed yet?


TAT

[BMoore]

Re:Crazy snake

Thanks Doug.....
Hey Tat........ Well I soaked her last night and got a little more off of the neck. I noticed today at lunch that the skin on her head is letting up a bit. I will pull the "wet-towel-in-a-pillow-case" trick tonight. She has been acting a lot better though...... very active.

**Beth**

[tatdaddy]

Re:Crazy snake

You live over near barstow right?