Is he settled in already?

[Elgaro]

I bought 2 bps last sunday at a local herp show. Only planned on 1 but the breeder, who was having a slow show offered me a pair (1m, 1f) for 30.00 and threw in a bag of 50 frozen hoppers. I have them ea. in a 20L tank and after a few days have the temps and humidity where they should be. Each has aspen bedding, 2 hides, water dish and branch with fake foliage. My ? is the female has not used the hide but seems to prefer hiding under the branch and leaves. She is active at night but hides other wise. The male seems to have settled right in and after about 4 days he comes right out when he sees me near the tank. He follows me back and forth when I walk by and when I reach in to change his water he crawls across my hand and arm. Do you think it is too soon to offer him food or to start to handle him. I was planning on letting them acclimate for 2 weeks before feeding or handling but the male seems to be ready now. Whatdo you think ?

[rabernet]

You can offer them both food this Sunday if you'd like and if they eat, then in 48 hours start short handling sessions.


If they refuse, no handling for another week, and try again next Sunday. I try not to handle any of mine that are off feed until they are feeding again. Or at the very least, limit handling to times when I have to do cage maintenance.

Are your hides small and snug for your female (ie, small enough that she can "just" squeeze into them? If they are too large, she may not feel secure in them.

[Cassandra88]

I would say to have them eat a couple of times before handeling so you can be sure that they are eating and not stressed still. If he eats for you a couple times than i'd say its safde to start handeling them.

[Elgaro]

Thanks for the help. Both tanks have identical hides. 1 small plastic butter container and the other is a small wooden box, access cut out and smoothed on both. Boy uses both girl doesnt like them. Should I change her's to something else?

[bearhart]

I would try something else. If your snake doesn't look like it likes something then it probably doesn't. I use arranged bits of grape-wood and cork-bark to make the hides. Typically when I re-arrange stuff I'll watch my snake for a while. He'll usually go through this little routine of checking things out its obvious he's evaluating everything for its hide-worthy status.

The important things are that he has the warm and cool areas that are both secure enough for him. This is why the identical hides are recommended. just remember the important thing isn't the identical part. The important thing is that your snake prefers his warm hide but clearly doesn't feel like he can't leave to cool off if need be.

I kind of use a design that gives him a nice tight warm hide but there is some cover over the path to the cooler area. It kind of gives him a long area that covers the temperature gradient and makes for good hiding all along.

[dr del]

This is why the identical hides are recommended. just remember the important thing isn't the identical part.

Actually that is fairly important when trying to diagnose problems as they really will stay in the hide they prefer rather than thermoregulate on some ocassions.

When your trying to dial in a setup or get a fussy eater started that can make a difference and it's one of the easiest changes to make so that's why it gets mentioned a lot.

Once your pet is feeling more settled and secure in his environment then you can try experimenting with hides and see how he reacts.

Some snakes just dont care but others can be really bothered - most of my adults don't care but the hatchling does at the moment.


dr del

[bearhart]

My point was that the important part is the end result of getting the snake comfortable with the correct behavior. The identical hides is a way of achieving this but there's nothing magical about it. Anyway, I'm mostly stressing that its good to pay attention to the snake and let it help guide your decisions.

[dr del]

It is indeed.


Watching your snakes behaviour can finetune things to an amazing degree - plus it's a great excuse to spend hours watching them.


dr del

[Lady Python]

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I first started keeping snakes was "Learn your snake's body language". I thought "Eh! How on earth???" but they do indeed have a language and it's really easy to learn if you watch your snake.

We got a baby Royal a few weeks ago (see Rosie the Baby Royal thread). I offered her food the first week we had her and she refused. We did not handle her. The following week we offered her food and it was "Wham, bang...mouse gone!" She's now had four feeds with us and we would have commenced handling sessions tomorrow except she's going into shed so handling will have to wait until after she's shed and had a feed.

It's really a patience thing with Royals (BPs). One thing I would say is I don't use Aspen substrates for any of my Royals. I prefer to use paper towel. It's easy to keep clean. Aspen puts off minute dust particles which can lead to RI infections. I found out about this last week when speaking with a snake expert. The great thing with using paper towel, especially when you have a new snake is if the snake has the dreaded mites you can spot them straight away.

Be nice to see some pics of your snakes

[tracy0416]

I kind of use a design that gives him a nice tight warm hide but there is some cover over the path to the cooler area. It kind of gives him a long area that covers the temperature gradient and makes for good hiding all along.

That's a wonderful, thoughtful idea. I'm going to do that in my glass tank setup.

Thanks for that tip.