# first meal after shedding



## jsmith (May 17, 2016)

Hey guys.

my stimson python is still going through his first shed (since ive had him) he did shed in one piece and still has some skin just behind his head im assuming his enviroment was humid enough.

anyway i was just wondering how long it takes them to come around and eat again. its probably been just over 2 weeks since his last feed.

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk


----------



## Sam123 (May 17, 2016)

Hey there jsmith, I can only over limited information (as im pretty new to keeping reptiles myself).

My murray darling smashes her food in and out of shed, has your snakes behavior changed since his shed?


----------



## Burgo89 (May 17, 2016)

With my stimsons it doesn't matter, if they are due for a feed I will offer them one if they eat great if not I give it a week then try again. The last shed one of mine went through it just finished a meal and within a couple of minutes I came back to it starting a shed.


----------



## jsmith (May 17, 2016)

yeh a couple of days prior to shed. he didnt want to take his meal. i put this down to giving him hopper mice instead of pinkies the week before.
in terms of behaviour he has calmed down alot. so previously as soon as something entered his enclosure bang he struck now he really doesnt care.

temps seem to be fine. so might give him another week

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk


----------



## Sam123 (May 17, 2016)

Yeah thats probably the best thing to do.


----------



## jsmith (May 17, 2016)

one thing its good he has chilled out. but feeding him when he was a bit aggressive/scared was easy

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk


----------



## notechistiger (May 18, 2016)

Have you tried feeding him after he shed?


----------



## Ekans (May 18, 2016)

Edit - I just reread your post, thought you said you have tried feeding him since he shed. I would try feeding him as soon as you would normally ie if you feed him once a week every Friday try again on Friday. If he doesn't take it then you can start a process of elimination, the first thing being temperatures in the enclosure as heating plays an important role in digestion.

What are his temps like? As it gets colder you might need to up the heat output in your enclosure, if you are providing heat during winter, otherwise he may just be brumating and won't eat till it starts to heat up again during spring/summer.


----------



## jsmith (May 18, 2016)

Ekans said:


> Edit - I just reread your post, thought you said you have tried feeding him since he shed. I would try feeding him as soon as you would normally ie if you feed him once a week every Friday try again on Friday. If he doesn't take it then you can start a process of elimination, the first thing being temperatures in the enclosure as heating plays an important role in digestion.
> 
> What are his temps like? As it gets colder you might need to up the heat output in your enclosure, if you are providing heat during winter, otherwise he may just be brumating and won't eat till it starts to heat up again during spring/summer.


i fed him two weeks ago. last week i went to feed him and didnt want a bar i assumed it was because his food size went from pinkie to hopper mouse. i tried two days later and noticed he has been starting shed. i left him will till sunday when i would normally feed him and still no feed response. he still has a bit a old skin just behind head which i may have to help him out of.
i have a heat mate which produces inbetween 32 degrees and 35 degrees this is the floor temp just on the substrate. most of the time he is in his hide on the hot side which is where the prob is.

he is kept in a 30cm by 30cm enclosure which is glass with a mess roof. so even though the floor is warm could the surrounding air be an issue. i was going to get a dome to but a heating element in to get the surround air up to temp

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk


----------



## Ekans (May 18, 2016)

Yeah surrounding air temp could be a lot lower causing him to lose all the heat he is picking up off the mat, a lot of it will be lost through the glass and the mesh (especially the mesh). During winter you could try covering the top and placing some styrofoam around the tank to try and lock in the heat. Once you get the ambient temp up you could try feeding again or you could keep him cool and let him brumate. As long as he has been eating well during the warmer months and his body condition is good it's not an issue. I let my reptiles brumate as I don't really think it's necessary to keep them active through out the year, nor do I think it's a bad thing to keep them active it's really up to you.


----------



## jsmith (May 18, 2016)

Ekans said:


> Yeah surrounding air temp could be a lot lower causing him to lose all the heat he is picking up off the mat, a lot of it will be lost through the glass and the mesh (especially the mesh). During winter you could try covering the top and placing some styrofoam around the tank to try and lock in the heat. Once you get the ambient temp up you could try feeding again or you could keep him cool and let him brumate. As long as he has been eating well during the warmer months and his body condition is good it's not an issue. I let my reptiles brumate as I don't really think it's necessary to keep them active through out the year, nor do I think it's a bad thing to keep them active it's really up to you.


ahhh yep. i am going to purchase a che and a thermostat to keep the air at a min 20c.
as he is only a small little bloke i would prefer to keep him awake. my beardie has been lights out for a few months 

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk


----------



## Dustproof (May 24, 2016)

My Stimpson Pythons shed and don't want to know food for two weeks, when I saw how active they are getting the skin off I figure they are pretty tired so I give them time to recover. I leave them alone and feed them around two week later. Also it takes a couple of weeks to shed after they go dusty, both do it so I think it's normal.


----------

