I have only had my 06 JCP and he has yet to shed. His color has been dimming for at least two weeks and he has been blue for two days all of my other snakes take much less time to shed. Does any one know an average shed time for a 4' male JCP that eats two adult mice every week?
How long have you had him? My IJCP is 17 months old, slightly over 4', eating rat weanlings and is really starting to spread his sheds out. Ira shed in January, February, April, July and November this year. He goes 4-6 days between 'blue' and actual shed. My 8 month old IJCP sheds about every month still, she too goes 4-6 from blue to shed. Peggy Sue shed in August (end of the month, when I got her), October (beginning) and mid November. Babies shed frequently and as they start to get big the shedding slows down. I should think by mid-week your guy will be all pretty and new. Hope that helps you a little bit anyway, even if mine aren't JCP's Also, have you tried switching over to rats? If he is eating two adult mice it would be more economical to have him eat one rat. It's not the end of the world if he doesn't switch, CP's really like their mice, but when he gets larger you are looking at a lot of mice a week to keep him happy.
I have only had him for about 90 days. He was raised on mice and I had read that CP's can be difficult to take rats plus I can only get live rats at my LPS and have never tried to whack a rat before so I am a bit skittish. He has eaten every week since I got him and will feed again tonight. It's just his color is so dull compared to when I got him I just would like to see hom clean and bright again
Some will make the switch with no problem, others will never switch. Ira gave me a bit of trouble, I had to scent the rat with a mouse but he eventually started eating them straight up. Peggy Sue ate them right away, didn't even notice a difference I don't think...but I switched her right away and waited a while with Ira...could be an age thing? They both eat f/t, I've never had to deal with live so can't help you there. I do order from, and love, www.themousefactory.com They are a bit more expensive than rodentpro but the quality and consistency is well worth it.
Man my jcp seems like he is in shed for at least 2.5 weeks a month. But then again, I have a pygmy rattler who has been with me for like 3 months and has yet to shed. My other male jcp would shed once ever other month. I had a female who would shed when ever. There was no rhyme not reason to it. My male was feeding on live mice and within a week I had him switched to f/t rats My other male was the same way. I have a friend who has some and they took him a while to switch over. Anyway, he will shed when he is ready. Good luck with him. Make sure if you are going to wack a rat that you put it in something other than a plastic bag. I did that once, the bag ripped and the rat shot out and ran away. I was outside at the time too.
Thanks for the info. He did not feed last night so I hope that means a shed is immenent. I want to change the heat source to help with humidity (currently lights and an underpowered UTH that is worthless as he is ever on the ground). I am going to mount a UTH on the side of the tank for heat attached to a rheostat. Humidity is steady at 45 right now so I have been spraying daily. After the shed I will try a F/T rat if I can find one or whack a rat in a pillow case if I cant. My BP should be on rats now also but he has been off feed for the past month so I do not want to order a bunch of F/T in case the BP and the JCP won't accept them. My wife is already a little uncomfortable at the various sizes of frozen mice i have in the fridge
If you have a petco near you I know they sell single frozen rats and mice. You will pay more for them but until you know if they will eat it, that may be your best bet. I like f/t just because they are ususally cheap at shows in balk and you can keep them longs. Plop them in the freezer and use them when needed. My carpet is actually getting ready to shed as well but he eats anyway.
If you are changing the way the viv is heated anyway think about a radiant heat panel. I'm using one for my male and will when my female gets her big viv, we also have them for a Corn snake and BRB. They work really well, especially for 'up' snakes!
Thanks Clem. A bit pricy, I wish I would have seen this before i bought a UTH and a rheostat last week for my BP as it would have been about the same cost. Do you need a thermostat / rheostat with the panels? or are they adjustable?
They are a bit on the pricey side but I really do love them! They heat very evenly and stay cool (ish) to the touch. Yes, you still need a thermostat/rheostat for them, I'm not sure really how hot they would get without one but a device to control any heating method is needed. They aren't adjustable but they are the right 'fit' for your viv, I emailed him and told him my set-up and he made recommendations based on that (I was kicking around a few different set-ups at the time)...he's a nice guy to do business with.
BTW, I gave my JCP a soak last night, afterwards he ate a mouse and this morning he shed. It was extra cool that he shed using his perch/branches so it was all out in the open.
