kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
yes. he was out of blue this afternoon when i checked him. i'm very stressed that he can't breathe well.
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baby nicaraguan boa
- Thread starter kalismom3
- Start date
Pasodama
New member
It is likely that you may have to soak him/her.
Doing this by placing the snake in a covered plastic tub that is 1/3, to half, filled with warm water (warm, not hot nor hot-warm ... maybe something akin to a little above lukewarm) and also has plenty of wads of plain (non-patterned) paper towels in it.
Along with the water, humidity will also build up in the air portion of the tub.
- Leave the snake, in the tub, for 20-30 min, so that his/her skin (that should have shed) will become moist & loosen up.
- If tub has no small holes, allow some air in, by quickly lifting lid part way (and then closing, of course), every 10 min. or so.
- If water starts to get cold, empty some of it and replace with warm water (circulate water, with your hand, so that all water becomes warm and there are no cool spots).
- If the snake defecates, in the tub, change out the water and paper towels.
- Check on snake (while it is in tub), periodically & without lifting the lid, to ensure that the snake is doing well.
- Once 20-30 min. have gone by, manually check the snake (if he/she has not shed, already, on his/her own) to see if the skin is loose enough for manual removal. If not, close the tub lid and leave the snake, in there, for awhile longer.
It should get to a point where the skin does become moist/loose enough for manual removal. Do this (removing the skin) with wet paper towel/s (mostly from front to back).
Take extra care with the eyes. If eye caps do not come right off, just gently rub over the eye, with the wet paper towel over, and over again, until the cap/s does comes off. Start from just outside the eye and go over the entire eye to the other side of it.
Since he/she has just gotten out of the blue phase, you may want to wait, to do this (if it is even needed), until your snake has shed or attempted to shed.
Doing this by placing the snake in a covered plastic tub that is 1/3, to half, filled with warm water (warm, not hot nor hot-warm ... maybe something akin to a little above lukewarm) and also has plenty of wads of plain (non-patterned) paper towels in it.
Along with the water, humidity will also build up in the air portion of the tub.
- Leave the snake, in the tub, for 20-30 min, so that his/her skin (that should have shed) will become moist & loosen up.
- If tub has no small holes, allow some air in, by quickly lifting lid part way (and then closing, of course), every 10 min. or so.
- If water starts to get cold, empty some of it and replace with warm water (circulate water, with your hand, so that all water becomes warm and there are no cool spots).
- If the snake defecates, in the tub, change out the water and paper towels.
- Check on snake (while it is in tub), periodically & without lifting the lid, to ensure that the snake is doing well.
- Once 20-30 min. have gone by, manually check the snake (if he/she has not shed, already, on his/her own) to see if the skin is loose enough for manual removal. If not, close the tub lid and leave the snake, in there, for awhile longer.
It should get to a point where the skin does become moist/loose enough for manual removal. Do this (removing the skin) with wet paper towel/s (mostly from front to back).
Take extra care with the eyes. If eye caps do not come right off, just gently rub over the eye, with the wet paper towel over, and over again, until the cap/s does comes off. Start from just outside the eye and go over the entire eye to the other side of it.
Since he/she has just gotten out of the blue phase, you may want to wait, to do this (if it is even needed), until your snake has shed or attempted to shed.
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
Thank you! i will start that process on the 30th. that will be 4 days clear from being in blue. he should be ready to shed. (i do that with my ratsnake because he refuses to shed ) i just really hope the old nose shed comes off. this poor young snake did not know how to rub his nose to start shedding. my husband taught him, with what we call a piece of sticky mat. i will work with gratch today and let you know thank you 
Please don't soak him until he starts to pop the shed himself. Soaking him before he pops it can actually strip oils from his skin and make it harder for him. Just keep his humidity up and leave him alone.Thank you! i will start that process on the 30th. that will be 4 days clear from being in blue. he should be ready to shed. (i do that with my ratsnake because he refuses to shed ) i just really hope the old nose shed comes off. this poor young snake did not know how to rub his nose to start shedding. my husband taught him, with what we call a piece of sticky mat. i will work with gratch today and let you know thank you
Once he starts to shed, if it's coming off in pieces, then you can soak him.
Helenthereef
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I think you have been given good advice here, and hope that soaking in a few days will do the trick. I find that running them through a normal towel after the soak allows them to rub their head against something rough enough to snag the nose skin. Just wrap him gently in the towel after he comes out of the bath, and he will probably start his shed as he noses around the folds trying to find his way out.
Re frequency of handling: I think of snakes as living on a slower time scale than us mammals - roughly one of our weeks = one snake day. So they eat and probably only really want to be handled about once a snake day (one mammalian week). Picking him up multiple times a mammalian day may feel like it's happening every half hour to him, and might be a bit much in his new strange surroundings.
It's just my fancy, but I find it helps me to try and think of things from their perspective.
All the best for his improving health soon
Re frequency of handling: I think of snakes as living on a slower time scale than us mammals - roughly one of our weeks = one snake day. So they eat and probably only really want to be handled about once a snake day (one mammalian week). Picking him up multiple times a mammalian day may feel like it's happening every half hour to him, and might be a bit much in his new strange surroundings.
It's just my fancy, but I find it helps me to try and think of things from their perspective.
All the best for his improving health soon
Pasodama
New member
Agreed. Please do not do the soak until after the shedding process takes place and find that the soak is, then, needed... be it that the shed only came off in pieces, or that the shed cannot come off at all (giving the snake a "skin shriveled" appearance), etc.
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
well, i checked Gratch yesterday afternoon and he had shed by himself! and he pulled a really long piece of shed out of his nasal cavity! his breathing is better. he ate 2 15 day old mice. i have his humidity at 70%.
Pasodama
New member
It's great news that your boa shed on its own and did well with it! Also great that he is eating.
You may have already done it but, if not, do check that he has, entirely, shed his skin and, especially, his eye caps and tip of tail. This can be done by looking at his shed skin or, of course, the snake itself.
Drop the humidity, a bit, (if you are certain that it is, currently, at 70%) and keep it somewhere from 50% to 60%. Making sure, of course, that water is available 24/7. You can raise the humidity, back up, (if needed) for the duration of your boa's next blue phase & shed.
You may have already done it but, if not, do check that he has, entirely, shed his skin and, especially, his eye caps and tip of tail. This can be done by looking at his shed skin or, of course, the snake itself.
Drop the humidity, a bit, (if you are certain that it is, currently, at 70%) and keep it somewhere from 50% to 60%. Making sure, of course, that water is available 24/7. You can raise the humidity, back up, (if needed) for the duration of your boa's next blue phase & shed.
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
I will definitely do that! i will keep you posted. he's still a touch dehydrated but he's getting fiesty a very good sign. I thank ALL of you for your help! you guys are awesome
a very good sign. I thank ALL of you for your help! you guys are awesome 
Snakesitter
New member
Congrats -- that's great news!!!
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
JCCS
Well-known member
Honestly, looks like a Nicaraguan crossed with a Colombian. Could be wrong as there is a lot of variance
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
Dbz4246
Jessie's BALListic Morphs
Good to see he is doing well a year later!
JCCS
Well-known member
Glad to see the snake is healthy. Couple of questions, though. Why are you feeding it live and why are you feeding it outside of it's enclosure?
Dbz4246
Jessie's BALListic Morphs
To each their own.
JCCS
Well-known member
That's a cop out. Feeding live can seriously screw up a snake and feeding outside of enclosure is just dumb. Both are purely for the satisfaction of the owner with no consideration for the animal.
kalismom3
snake whisperer :)
seriously? your seriously going to say i don't care for my snake??? really? that's totally cold hearted! i feed outside the enclosure because i don't want a nippy snake, i CARE about him and watch him closely while he feeds and who says i didn't pre kill the mouse! i love my animals! i take excellent CARE of them! they don't live in a plastic drawer you know!!!!
Feeding inside of the enclosure does not cause aggression; that is a myth. In fact, feeding outside of the enclosure is one way to guarantee that your snake will eventually bite you, especially with a boa as they usually have a strong feeding response and can stay "foody" for more than 24 hours after they eat, until they finally settle down to digest their meal.
Another problem is that handling your snake, even just a quick trip from the feeding tub back to its home, right after it eats increases the risk of having it regurgitate its last meal.
Finally...
Do people who keep reticulated or burmese pythons feed outside of the enclosure? No, because moving a 12-20 foot foody snake means risking a trip to the ER.
Do people who keep venomous snakes feed outside of the enclosure? No, because moving a venomous foody snake means risking a trip to the morgue.
So, why would you move your boa to feed it?
JCCS
Well-known member
I say you didn't prekill the mouse because I can see it still alive in the picture. I've fed more mice than I'd ever care to count. I'm not stupid and I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. It was cold and heartless, it was to the point and blunt. We're all big boys and girls here, I'm sure you can handle it. Feeding live puts the animals at risk. Even if it wasn't purposeful, you should have read enough to know this. Would you like me to find pictures of some of the bites that rodents can leave on snakes?