ive had my baby red tail for a month now...he acts very healthy...but lately hes been hiding a lot..and not acting as active as he was before. This has been going on for about 3 days now. the temps are fine, 93 on hot side, 80ish on the colder side...temps go down at night about 5-8 degrees...is he going into shed? his eyes havent turned blue or anything, but im guessing that'll happen soon. His feeding day is today, but i skipped because i dont want him to have any digestive problems if he is in shed....thanks so much for your help!!!!
2007-12-26 13:43:00 · 6 answers · asked by viki t 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
You do need to adjust your heat a little. You should have it 85-90 on the hot side, and room temp (75ish) on the cool end. You should provide him with a water dish that he can completely submerge in. This will help to ensure a clean shed. You may notice that he'll spend a great deal of time lounging in his water even when he's not in a shed. My red tail spends most of her time in her water dish. She likes to "hide" under the water and wait for an ususpecting frozen/thawed mouse to come traipsing along.
As for feeding him during a shed, he can't come to any physical harm from eating before, during, or after a shed. Some snakes will refuse to eat, but others will accept a meal no matter what. My red tail eats during her sheds. Always offer a meal when he's supposed to have one. You can always throw the mouse back in the freezer if he doesn't want it.
If you want to know if he's getting ready to shed, look at his belly scales. About a week before the "blue stage," the belly will turn pink. You'll also notice that his overall color has darkened up considerably. As long as you're providing him with adequate moisture, then he'll have a clean shed, and you'll have nothing to worry about. If you do notice him having difficulty shedding (i.e., broken and flaky sheding instead of one solid piece, or taking more than an hour), take him into the bathtub or sink, and run warm water over him. Rub his body with your finger tips to loosen the old skin. This should help him out. Make sure you check the shed skin for "eye caps" to make sure that your snake doesn't retain them. Eye caps can build up shed after shed and blind your snake.
As for his activity level, boas are typically pretty lazy animals. If he was really active before, it may have just taken him a long time to adjust to the new home. Make sure he has a good place to hide so that he feels secure. As I said before, my red tail spends most of her time "hiding" in the water, but when she's not in her water dish, she's in her hide box. So don't worry about any inactivity. It's actually normal.
Good luck with your snake, and good choice!
2007-12-26 18:46:56 · answer #1 · answered by Angel 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Temps are pretty good I would cool it down to 90 onthe hot side but you sound good on the rest. It takes about 10 -14 days for a complete shed cycle, they start to look a little dull not quite as colorful for a couple days before they go into complete "blue" at which time they are blind and cannot see so are normally a little more aggressive acting ( hissing, open mouth) and they will stay that way a few days and the clear up and that last about 2 days and then it will shed. But as long as it will eat you can feed it, it knows what it can handle, and will not eat it if its to uncomfortable, so dont worry about that. With the temps you have going, it will have no problem digesting.
2007-12-26 14:14:46 · answer #2 · answered by rstymtlhd 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
red tail boa shedding
2016-02-03 05:56:49 · answer #3 · answered by Vilhelm 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, drop your heat a bit--high 80's for warm and high70's for cool. Humidity 55-60% is good. I always feed on the day they are due to be fed whether they are shedding or not...at least offer--many will still eat just fine. It's pretty normal for snakes to hide most of the time. Here's a good site with lots of info:
http://redtailboafaq.com/housing.php#q7
2007-12-26 15:11:43 · answer #4 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
JUST SOAK YOU BOA IN LOUCK WORM WHATAER I HAVE DID THIS WITH MY RED TAIL BOA FOR YEARS NOW SHE HAS HAD NO PRODS SHEDDING TURN THE HET DOWN THEY ARE FINE 75 TO 85
2007-12-26 14:45:51 · answer #5 · answered by god of death / reptile god 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
dude ,,,,,back off on the temp, they can go weeks without food he prob is blue., mist him down now so he has a good shed........
2007-12-26 13:54:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋