Herp-noob checking in.

[SwampApe]

I'm a little concerned about Herb's health. He seemed "inflated" or swollen but I figured he was just getting fat over winter. I took him outside the other day just to see what he would do and he didn't like it. I had him in the dirt thinking he might check it out, but nooooo.....he hated it and bee-lined it for his water dish. I put him back in his terrarium and he headed straight for his hut and wouldn't come out.

So, that night he starts to shed--and he looks like an ethiopian! What gives? He was fat and swollen and then that? He's back to normal after his shedding and he's eaten a worm. Could this be a gas bubble or water retention disease or something?

 

[SwampApe]

He seems ok now. I changed his substrate (hadn't since August.) and cleaned and sterilized his water dish with a little hydrogen peroxide. I washed it out with filtered water, towel dry, and let it air dry. I soaked the rocks, plastic limbs, wood, and coconut hut in hot water for 30 minutes and let them air dry, too.

He shed while in his holding tank, so he went back in completely fresh and hasn't quit exploring in 2 hours. :lol:. I'd say he's happy again. No more bloating or cycling of bloat. I read up on kosher salt baths and pedialyte but he seems ok.

He went a few weeks between water changes when I was gone and came back and got sick. I had wondered if that hurt him at all but, again, he seems ok now. That winter slowdown behavior had a dose of warm winter weather . The fat that he was is gone. I still don't know if this is springtime behavior. He hunted down the worm chunk I put in there and scarfed it. That's two chunks in three days.

 

[SwampApe]

I have to relocate for a new job in Oklahoma. It's still well within his habitat range. How can I lower the stress on him? I figure put him in his big travel container but wrap it in a big towel to insulate light and noise. The container will breathe through the top.This is still two short days of driving a moving truck towing my car on the back. He'll be buckled up in the cabin with me. I won't feed him for about 4 days before we go just to minimize the possibility of yakking.

Herb is otherwise doing well. He sheds weekly and is just shy of 8 inches. He also appears to have slowed down to about .5in. of growth per month in Dec/Jan. Seems normal for the lack of activity and time of year. He is still the most interesting pet I've ever had.

 

[Kaysie]

That's how I move all mine.

Good luck with the move!

 

[SwampApe]

Herb seems to be doing ok. The shop cat is new to him and does stress him out somewhat, mostly when he's eating. I put her away for a 1/2 hour after I feed him and he seems fine. He's downed 2 worms since we moved here. He spent 500 miles in his travel container as my arm rest. He will be in his own home in a few weeks. Until then he's being quite the trooper in this Harley shop.

 

[SwampApe]

Hi, all. Herb is a foot long, now. He has adjusted fine and travelled well. There is a bit more variety in the fauna here. He gets moths, black crickets, spiders, worms, and frogs. Dusted crickets are a fav.

 

[blaze mcsmith]

I've fed tigers that size pinkies. I use frozen-thawed pinkies. They're wonderfully nutritious, but don't feed too many of these, as they're quite dense in calories. I think the rule of thumb is that if it fits in their mouth, they can eat it.

He'll probably grow pretty quickly. I got a rescued juvenile, maybe 4 inches total, and within a year it was the same size as my other two adults.

thats cool- ive only fed pinkies to my snakes lol
i just might get a tiger to hang out with my spotted and speckled salamanders.

 

[SwampApe]

Hi. Been a while . Herb is doing well in Oklahoma. He's grown into quite the big boy as you can see in the pic. He's actually a little smooshed against the side of the water dish, behind a rock. He is a solid 13 inches now.

Calcium dusted crickets are his favorite. The local pet store stopped carrying big earthworms, so he hasn't had one in a while. We'v got these giant moths around here that are about 6 inches across. He can down those after a little work to get past the wings. He like June bugs, too. I try to give him a little variety in his diet. He also likes frogs.

The size that he's putting on now seems to all be in his tail. He's not overly girthy and does not get pinkie mice on a regular basis. He's like my Maine Coone cat--his tail is his pride!

 

[SwampApe]

I'll get a pic later of his current tank setup. He is still in the same 30in terrarium tank with coconut fiber. His olympic sized swimming pool holds about a gallon of water and has a medium size reptile/amphibian filter in the middle. I use distilled or purified water. The idea was to let him swim some more. He had no depth in the water dish in the previous pics. He spends a lot of time in there. The rest of the tank is dry and he doesn't quite explore or dig like he used to. He looks content in his pool. It's a slow grind into spring, so he's slowly getting more active.

 

[SwampApe]

Here are a few updated pics. I have tried to use what vertical space is available to add depth. He gets to dig, climb, swim, and move around some terrain in his water dish. There are still 2 gallons of water in there. The additions are fishtank pieces. The big white piece is a little abrasive to encourage shedding.

I was also using the wrong water! Use distilled water, not purified. There are chemicals in purified water like chloride and bicarbonate that are not good for them.

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