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Nefertari thank you's

Posted by Stef at 5/27/2010 10:42:52 AM

Thanks to everyone who commented and helped out with my boa, Nefertari. She has been doing great :D I've recently bought a pair of leather gardening gloves, and I've been picking her up with those. After she calms down I put my hand out and she goes right to it and just hangs out ! Yesterday when I went to get her out of her tank she didn't snap at me at all!! That is soo awesome.. Now I just have to figure out how to get her to eat. I am pretty sure I'm just going to switch to a bedding that wont hurt her when ingested in small amounts. I don't really like the cypress, it looks and feels a bit dangerous..

Anywho, thank you to everyone who helped out, hopefully she will only get better :D

Comments:

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Lillie ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 10:48:20 AM
	Aspen bedding will be fine. If you're worried about ingestion just make sure to dry the mouse/rat off really well with a paper towel before giving it to her. Sounds like she's calming right down with regular handling, hopefully you won't be needing those gloves soon. Good luck!

Dawn Switzer,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:02:23 AM
	You could always use newspaper its great cheap and Lot easier when cleaning the cage:)

Mystic Oasis Magick and Exotics ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:04:59 AM
	I've used Cypress mulch for two years, and a breeder friend of mine uses it for all of her snakes for the past 4 years. It's completely safe and good for humidity, aspen is not since it's mainly for dry snakes. Both are the only substrates I use when not using paper towels/news paper, since I trust them both to get the job done whether it's for a dry loving snake or a humdiity loving one. No matter the substraight though, if you're feeding on it you will need to place a paper towel plate down. Ingesting any substraight is risking it, since you don't know if she's passes any from the previous meals (Unless you see it) and it's just best to feed on a flat surface. It's great that she's calming down for you! Just continue to try and feed her when it's a couple days after you handle her, just so that she calms down. She'll also be less aggressive when she's being fed good as well, so if you have to sacrifice two days of handling to get a prey item in her, then it's best to do so until she's eating frequently. All my snakes can be handled the same day before they're fed, because I clean then feed, and pretty soon so will she!

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:05:59 AM
	I would do that but nefertari likes to burrow in bedding, and apsen shavings are easier to clean in my opinion, just take some out, put some in, repeat.

Candace ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:13:21 AM
	I took some of the repti carpet, about enough to cover a 12inch by 12 inch.. and I place that in on top of the aspen when I feed and put the mice there. Just a thought.

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:17:34 AM
	that is smart, i will try both of these, I tried to feed her last week but she wasn't having it because we put her in a bin, she refused a live and frozen mouse.

Kate Graves ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:24:50 AM
	Dums tend to be shy eatters she could have possibly not have eatten because you were standing there.

Kate Graves ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:37:13 AM
	When my friend kyle had his dum it wouldn't eat unless you left the room.

Sonja K. ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:42:59 AM
	I'm sure some may have success feeding in another enclosure, but I would highly recommend you feed her in her enclosure. Just brush an area of aspen away or use the carpet as previously suggested. Dums are ambush hunters and by removing her from her cage, chances are she felt like her cover was blown and didn't eat as a result.

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 11:45:50 AM
	thats what i figured, she was not having that.

John ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 1:11:06 PM
	I agree on the newspaper. Works great for me. I've had many snakes on newspaper for many years. Never a problem.

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 1:28:30 PM
	we are trying something new every few days, for the first week i didn't want to try anything new, we tried one thing, and we will try some others soon. The only problem with newspaper is that I dont have any :/ I don't really like to pay for the news, however I could just steal some from the family :D wouldn't the ink run?

Kate Graves ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 1:41:41 PM
	I have a whole tub of newsprint from when I kept snakes if you guys wanna come get it. The ink kinda runs in higher humidity but I've never need it run onto the snakes.

Lillie ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 5:08:48 PM
	If feeding continues to be a problem for you, you can try dipping the prey item in some chicken broth before feeding to scent it.. I'd do it as a last resort since you want to encourage her to eat unscented prey.

Taylor ,	Posted At: 5/27/2010 5:56:10 PM
	"we are trying something new every few days" -- Do you mean feeding-wise, or substrate-wise? If the latter, pick something and stick to it, at least until she's established... Changing the enclosure (and, for that matter, handling) too much can cause stress and make her refuse prey. Glad to hear she's taming down, though you should probably just leave her alone for a week or so--no handling, no getting in the cage other than water changes/spot cleaning--before offering food again. On the substrate thing, I say stick with what you have and just put down a paper plate or something if you're really worried about substrate ingestion... Just my $.02, of course. Good luck getting her to eat. =)

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/28/2010 7:21:45 AM
	I've had her for two weeks or so, I've never changed the substrate, and I left her alone for a few days, and now she has tamed down a lot, We've tried two feeding methods that involve tubs but they don't seem to work.

Kate Graves ,	Posted At: 5/28/2010 8:16:52 AM
	In your iherp answers it says you changed the bedding from paper towel to cypress and then anouther comment insinuates that the cypress is gone. Theres been atleast one change from paper towel to cypress and thats more than enough to cause unneeded stress to the animal. Just because shes not makeing a fuss any more dosen't mean shes not stressed. I know your excited about the new snake but you really need to pick something and stick with it so she can settal in.

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/28/2010 10:00:15 AM
	KK?!!! that was woody allen, he didn't seem to like the cypress. Nefertari has been on cypress the entire time. she was never on paper towel. woody could care less about the change, he's a big fat fatty snake and loves to eat whenever food is put in front of him, an earthquake makes him hungrayy.... like a hippo.

Kate Graves ,	Posted At: 5/28/2010 10:41:21 AM
	Why didn't you specify wood allen then when we were all talking about the dum in your help post? You kinda got a few of us confused. Anyways It seems like your messing with the snake way too much. She really needs to just be left alown, no handleling no nothing for a week or more and then try feeding her.

Stef ,	Posted At: 5/30/2010 9:07:32 AM
	Okay, It was only the ball pythons that I had changed, sorry I did not make that clear, and when I say, "thanks that's a great idea, I mean thank you I will take that into consideration", not, "Oh im going to do that right now." we try to feed her every few days, until we find what she likes.

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