Glass dancing is becoming a problem

[Crazy4Herps]

I keep my ball pythons in sectioned off AP cages with sliding glass doors. One of my bp's loves to glass dance, and she sticks her head between the plastic and the glass, trying to push her way out. I'm not worried about her head getting stuck (although it is a pretty tight fit), but she now has a few sores on her head from this. The sores are not deep, and I have been putting Neosporin on them, but I am concerned that they will worsen if she keeps this up. How can I discourage her from glass dancing and rubbing her head up against the glass?

Here is a picture of her cage.

She squeezes her head between the plastic lining on the bottom and the glass.

[dr del]

Hi,

Some form of packing perhaps?

Maybe the insulating strips designed for sliding (sash ) windows? Or the rubber edging for glass ( I have used this in a viv succesfully in the past ).

http://www.heritage-homeandgarden.co...tr-p-8866.html

http://www.sashwindowlondon.co.uk/info/brush-pile.html

http://www.componentforce.com/catego...edge-protector

http://www.gasgoo.com/showroom/chief...s/1260991.html

http://www.diypinball.com/images/DSC_2073.jpg

http://www.flowseal.co.uk/newpages/u_channel.htm

Would any of those ideas work?


dr del

[zina10]

When I used to have cages I cut pieces of plywood to fit into the gap. They were only thick enough to fill the gap, meaning the door would still slide shut.
They were long enough to only fill the spot between the other sliding door (the one that lays closer to the plastic part) and the side of the cage.

Of course that kept the other door from sliding , but all you had to do was open the side with the wood first and move it out, and you can move both doors if you have to.

Easy and quick and most of all effective fix. Found an old picture that kind of shows what I mean...





Hope this helps...

[kellysballs]

Is she to hot? Sometimes if temps are to high they will become "hyper" and move around way more than normal.

[mainbutter]

It's not a fix to your current problem, but perhaps in the future consider swing doors?

I stay away from sliding doors, and I really only see them being helpful if you're dealing with large snakes or hots. I've seen small hatchling colubrids wedge themselves in between the minescule gap between plastic and sliding glass before, and that alone has made me want to stay away from sliding glass doors with all of my collection.

[Crazy4Herps]

Dr del and zina10, thank you very much for the ideas. I will do some experimenting this weekend and try to figure something out along those lines.

kellysballs, I did recently purchase a space heater for the room, but the ambient temps in her cage are at 78*, so she shouldn't be uncomfortable.

mainbutter, I do like sliding doors, but this has been a consistant problem with this one snake. I'm thinking about buying a cage with swinging doors for her and putting one of my boas in her cage.