Apartment Move Update

Alrighty, so it has now been a week since Marbles and I moved here into the apartment. Things are going really well!

The gray over her eye is skin that will be shed

I am having a much easier time keeping humidity here than when we were set up at my house and honestly I have no clue why.

Marbles is doing just fine! I went to go feed her on Monday and she struck at the mouse but didn't eat it. I thought it was because she realizes she is in a relatively new environment and she just got nervous. But it turns out there's another reason.

I took her out to hold her the other day and I noticed that her eyes were fogging up, and in the world of reptiles, that means Marbles is about to shed her skin.

For comparison, here you can see her eyes are black

I am not worried about her as this is normal for ball pythons and they're known to be picky eaters. I will continue to feed her (or attempt to) during the shed. This is only the second time she's refused food in the four months I have had her.

Marbles likes to curl up in her log hide and poke her head off. When one of my roommates comes into my room she peaks out to see what's going on

Moving on Over

Alright, so my next step in life is moving into an apartment near my college. After some discussion with the apartment complex manager, he agreed to let me bring Marbles with no pet fee and rent charge.

So to start this process off, I found this gem on the side of the road. Its a three-tier rolling beverage/snack cart. It looked really rough so I sanded and spray-painted it.

This is going to be the stand for Marbles' enclosure.






Then, I put Marbles in the cloth bag I got her in and put that in a open bucket to make transportation easier. Honestly, I thought she would freak out, but she remained calm actually.

Next, along with some help, I dismantled her enclosure and gathered her supplies and headed to the car. The drive was less than a half hour long and I had her on my lap so she did get some heat. She didn't squirm on the ride. I was careful to make sure the driver knew not to go fast around the corners so Marbles didn't slide and become scared.

We arrived at my apartment soon enough and I had my crew get everything inside. We had to set this up a little different than at my house; at my house the dresser that Marbles' enclosure was on top of was longer and wider than the enclosure itself, but the cart was not. So a piece of particle board was put down to steady the enclosure - I wasn't going to take a chance without it and have the enclosure fall. After that it was just the same set up at home, I just put a towel over the board for aesthetic purposes and the supplies on the shelves underneath the enclosure. Then I just slid her out of the bag (notice I didn't stick my hand in the bag with a snake because my mom didn't raise a fool) and she just started exploring then eventually left to open area to go into her hide over the heat pad because that's just what she does.

I am supposed to feed her today, but I am not going to. She is just now is in a new environment even though her enclosure is the same. I could run the risk of her not eating and me wasting a mouse or she could actually regurgitate it due to nerves and anxiety from the new place and the move. I will probably wait 1-2 days for her to become acclimated before I feed her again.