A question for the experts in the house!

[pumba]

Greetings:

I guess I should have labeled this "Another question for the experts in the house" lol.. ANy way, Everything seems to be going pretty good with Loki. He fed on Tuesday, and fed well. The evening I braught him home and for about three nights he was very active in his tank, About two days or so before I fed him, he went inside his cool hide and there he has remained the entire time. I fed him in his tank and he ate and went back in the hide. He does stick his head out from time to time, and about half of his body to go to the water bowl and take a drink, but then retreats back into the cold hide.

Is this normal?

I have him in a 10gal standard aquarium. He has uth as well as a dimmer controwled 50W IR bulb that keeps the temps pretty good. Around 94 give or take a digree, and the cool side stays between 80-83 with the humidity changing between 54 and 60 percent depending on the outside weather. I have a hide on the warm side, and another on the cool side. His water is in the middle. There is not much room in the little 10 Gal tank for much else, but should I put some other structure in there to make him feel safer. With the hides on opposite ends of the tank, could they be too far apart for him to feel safe in changing? (He can reach one without his entire body leaving the other.) I am sure I am being parinoid.

Also, with him chillin in his hide. I want to start holding him in a few more days, (This will have given him a good 2 weeks to get setteled in, and like I said, he has already had a successful feed.) Do I take him out of the hide to hold him or is that bad. I just want to start the taming process a.s.a.p. but don't want to stress him out. I am also wanting to check the hide for poo, just in case. I have smelled nothing, and can see nothing from outside, but one can't be too sure. I have only disturbed his enviroment to feed him and change his water thus far, and do not want to push things, yet, I want to get the party started as well.

What do yall think? I just want to do things right.

Thanks for all the help and pacients.
Ray

[tigerlily]

Sounds like you are good to go for handling. Just make sure to start off with short handling sessions, starting with 5-10 minutes and slowly working up. I always have to pull mine from their hides. Just make sure that you go slow and kinda let them know you there. Since snakes have no eyelids you can't tell when they're asleep. Don't want to startle them.

As for activity....I wouldn't worry about it too much. They're nocturnal and you never know how much they are moving around while you are sleeping. I know mine moves around and sometimes catch them in the act. Like yesterday I would've sworn she never left her hide, but the opposite hide had a nice deposit in it. So even though I never saw the movement, doesn't mean she's not active. If you are overly concerned about security, you can always try the crumpled up newspaper or go to the dollar store and get some cheap greenery to use as cover.

[new2BP]

i used the paper balls for the first week i had my bp. seemed to help. my bp was like yours, was very active the first couple days but sense then she is hardly caught out of her hide during the day. dont worry about her staying in one hide more than the other. i have noticed this as well. all we can do is offer them the temp that is needed. my bp early this week was staying in the hot hide most of the time and the past 2 days she has been hanging in the cool hide more often. good luck.

[aibhaeog]

I'm no expert, but could it be normal for this to happen?
When you first get the babys in their new enclosure, are they this active trying to figure out their new environment? After a few days, when they start to stay in one place would it mean that they have settled in and feel comfortable in their home?
Just a thought.

[frankykeno]

Sounds like Loki is settling in wonderfully Ray. I'd agree that you are most likely not seeing him moving about much during the hours you would normally be awake. We rarely see either Baby or Punkin moving about but like Christie said, we find "presents" here and there (they do seem to like to drop urates in or around their hides) or find them in a new spot so obviously they are moving about. They do seem to have particular favorite spots they consistently return to so I suspect that's the most comfortable place in the tank relative to their heat need and the ambient room temps.


As far as handling we started Baby out very slowly, just 5-10 minutes at first and in the evening when it's normal for her to be more active. We made sure that handling was quiet and slow and very gentle especially at first so there was no reason for Baby to react defensively. We make it a practise to touch/gently stroke both snakes well down their bodies before picking them up to let them know we are there before lifting them out of their enclosure, just not sort of open and grab at them thing.

I'm no expert and I've no idea if snakes actually enjoy being handled but I think with slow steps you can get them to accept it if they have no reason to fear it.

Oh just in case you are interested I posted this link to a free-to- try snake husbandry database we use. I'm a bugger for details so I like this program to help me keep track of what each snake is doing or my observations of them. Just thought you might find it interesting to check out.

http://www.eyehit.com/degei/

~~Jo~~

[Forrest]

Im not an expert and this is just a matter of opinion but it has worked for myself. After the intial "settling in" process I would hold them as you want them to be held to try and start them on a "routine" you would like as an outcome in the future. Do not expect it to happen on the first try but just handleing your snake will start the bond. I don't think the amount of time holding your snake should be factor. If your snake is going to stress it will regardless if it 10 minutes or if it is an hour. The key thing is the contact between you and your snake. Let them get used to you and use the the enclosure as his security ( that is why I would recomend at least 2 weeks getting used to the enclosure before handling). I also do want to note that the information listed above is not bad information it will work as well, I just thought I would share what has worked for myself.