Nature's Whims

Speaking of the devil, yesterday I wrote about Barbossa's way of shedding and today I pick him up and discover he has a lightly pink belly. I thought he had been looking kind of dull. In a few days his stomach will look like a raspberry. Poor baby! Actually, they don't feel any pain when they are in the process of shedding, they only want to be left alone. Which is what I am doing today, no walking for him. I'm actually surprised he ate on Saturday. Usually he wouldn't even dream of taking food that close to shedding, but I guess a whole week of fasting made him really hungry. I think I mentioned that for a few weeks I had given him 3 mice instead of 2 which must be the reason why he is shedding again, relatively close to the last time. He's gaining weight! Yay!
I'd been a little concerned because he didn't really seem to be growing, which is why I was feeding him more. It's seems to have worked.
For the next week I have to make sure his cage is sprayed multiple times during the day, and maybe even give him "the spa treatment". I developed this after Topkapi had a bad shed, and I use it every once in a while for the other babies. I start by getting a bowl big enough to hold the snake. In Barbossa's case it'll have to be a big salad bowl. Then I fill it with water. The water must be the right temperature, because what feels warm to us is way too hot for a reptile, same thing with something that is too cold. I don't have a thermometer but I know when the water is ready because it feels neutral to my skin. For a snake it will be warm. I put my baby in the bowl, and try to him or her in there, with the head above the water of course (remember they are not amphibians) as long as they'll let me. With Topkapi it is a fight to the death. She squirms and tries to get out immediately, using every muscle in her body to hold on to the table or counter.
After they've soaked for a few minutes, I take them out and dry them with a towel, and then for the secret ingredient, I'll massage them liberally with baby oil. This helps them retain the moisture. They all hate the baby oil. Barbossa will try to slither away as fast as he can, and once I put him back in his cage he will sniff himself to see what that frightful baby smell is. It's actually quite funny.
I'll do this whole process maybe twice before they shed, and it does help a lot.

An update on the albino rat residing in our home: he is still ridiculously cute. His name is Gustav. I've been researching a bit about rats and the albinos are almost always blind, which is why they don't survive in the wild. Same thing with snakes, the albino ones never make it past a few days. They just don't blend into the surroundings and get eaten by birds, mammals, or other reptiles. It's really interesting, though, that an albino snake will cost more if you want to buy one. I guess what we consider beautiful and desirable, nature just thinks as mistakes.