I haven't seen her in about ten days

[Kittencaboodles]

So I upgraded Lucille's hot spot hide to this cool branch thing thats all hollow, and to say she loves it is probably an understatement... i haven't seen her come out a single time since she got it. I'm wondering about feeding her now, because unlike her old hide i can't just lift this one up and take her out, and since i literally haven't seen her come out to explore should i just put a hopper in her cage and see if she comes out for it? or should we play a waiting game and see if she does come out again and start hunting soon? She's almost 3 months old, and I've had her for about 6 weeks but haven't seen her shed yet, so I am wondering if that might also be whats up. sorry if this is super rambling, I'm just wondering what you guys think I should do. I don't like keeping the mice around for very long (she will only eat live), but maybe i'll have to get a little rodent set up so that i have one for when she does seem ready again. She last ate ten days ago, i bought the new hide the same day I picked up her last mouse.

[dr del]

Put the rodent in a little tub close to her tank so she can smell it. If she comes out take the hide out and throw it away.

Replace it with one you can lift off in an emergency.

[Kittencaboodles]

yeah I thought it looked really nice at first but I'm definitely not keeping it after this business.

[DennisM]

Put the rodent in a little tub close to her tank so she can smell it. If she comes out take the hide out and throw it away.

Replace it with one you can lift off in an emergency.

I like this advice. you need to have easy access to the snake and it's furnishing, even if there is no emergency. the snake squeezes in, lets loose some waste, and you spend 15 minutes prying the snake out of it's dirty hide.

however, if the log thing is natural wood, I would disregard dr del's advice about throwing it away; I would put some airplants on it!

[PhoenixGate]

You can also construct a snake trap pretty easy. Take an empty two litter bottle and cut a hole in it just big enough for the snake to crawl into. Put a food item inside the bottle with some smelly rodent bedding. When the snake crawls in to eat the food item, it will be too large to crawl back out through the hole.

Also, don't give up hope. When I was fifteen and had my first corn snake he escaped and was found a month later. I had stayed up until midnight or so and he crawled right into the hallway. I almost stepped on him but noticed him last second. I was able to pick him right back up and put him back in his nice warm cage.

[O'Mathghamhna]

Dang, I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. My BP is in a hide very similar, and he looooooves it. I can get him out after a few minutes (I usually have to take him out of the tank while he's inside the hide and then he slowly starts to make his way out). Never considered the need to be able to remove it quickly in case of emergency. Thanks for posting, everyone!

[Ax01]

do u mean she's hasn't come out and has just been chilling in her tree hide for like 10 days? or she's stuck?

i remember AKA_Dave had his snake stuck in the tree hide a few weeks back. thread here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...w-what-do-I-do

his big hide on the left has a cavity that his snake crawled into. i think he said he solved the problem by plugging in the cavity after the got the snake out. if you do a search, this seems to happen often.

i have the smaller tree on the right in Elphaba's tank, which has no cavity. it's not the best hide (has an opening on front, back and on top) and i would not place it above the hot spot b/c the snake would use it as their main hide to keep warm. instead i use it in the middle of the tank and it's used less often as a hide and more as a climbing toy. her warm hide is a rock cave with no bottom (as the others describe) that i can remove quickly and snatch her easily in an emergency or whatever.

here's Elphaba last night after i checked in on my snakes after football.






she's way above 300grams and the tree still supports her weight. i'll fill in the tree as she gets bigger so that i can be used completely as a climbing decor only.

anyway these are not the best hide, but FWIW i think they are the prettiest.

[AKA Dave]

Oh good...let's bring that up.

Dave

[Ax01]

Oh good...let's bring that up.

lol sorry. can't edit posts past 10mins.

but it does happen more often than u think. your example was just the most recent that i remember.

[AKA Dave]

Don't worry about it. It was a learning moment and if someone else does not make that mistake because of it, all the better. EDIT TO ADD: FWIW, it's still his favorite hide. Doesn't matter where it is in the cage, he'll always seek it out.

Dave