Bask to Basics

[kgrah1]

A few weeks back, I posted that dearest Marble had picked up a new hobby: basking. This is apparently not a typical behavior for balls, so I decided to clean the tank on the off-chance that she found the bedding problematic. After some fresh bedding, she stayed in her tunnels for a while, but has recently come back out. Before, she'd come out as soon as the light was on and sun herself on her favorite log. Now, she comes out as soon as the light is off to watch me until she thinks I'm asleep, then it's off to her branch to survey the area, then a nice crawl around the tank, a nap under the lid, and finally back to the tunnel. She does this most nights she isn't digesting a rat or being terrified of a New Thing. I'm not concerned about the midnight roaming, I think it's her way of alerting me to her hunger. I'm actually more curious about her sense of time; 730ish every night, she's waiting for me to turn of the light, and within ten minutes she is on the damn log.

The log is on the cool side and her favorite tunnel is in front of it. Is she just 'guarding' her den?

[BCS]

They roam, they do that. Nothing to be concerned about. My snakes always know when it is feeding day... they just know. I am not saying they know how to tell time but it is a routine. Roaming does not mean she is hungry. Would you like to stay in a hole 24/7? No, they do not guard their dens. In the wild they would be in a new den quite often and they do not have a "territory" hence no specific area to defend.

[tbowman]

They are nocturnal so it's likely that she's just coming out because you turned the light out. It's normal, I rarely see or hear my BPs during the day. I also don't necessarily believe that the snakes know when it's feeding day. I'm not sure they have that level of comprehension to understand that they are being fed on a schedule.

[beeze]

I would say that's normal. My BP likes to spend a lot of time around his pool. Other days I never see him. Lately, he's been spending a lot of time in his coconut shell house. Other days, I come home and he's hanging around on his tree or chilling around his log. They're enigmatic creatures, i wouldn't worry about it. Here's a couple pictures of him.


Chilling on his pool.


Resting on his tree.

Very rarely am I able to catch him doing this stuff. The second he sees me start to come toward him with my camera, he moves. But he does these things often enough that I have gotten photos, not to mention, its cute.