My BP's Behavior

So I've had Uro for 2 weeks and I understand that pets need time to settle in, but I feel a little worried that he spends all his time in his hide unless I'm feeding him or handling him. Am I just worrying needlessly, or maybe I've stressed him out and he just isnt a happy customer. What do you think?

Not to mention the random striking he'll do if he sees me moving close to him or around him.

What is your setup like? Temps, humidity, ambient temps, how your heating the cage and how your reading temps. Knowing all this helps with why he's stressed and striking. Also what are you feeding him, how often and the size of him.

As for him hiding that's normal for bps.

I have a electronic thermometer that measures humidity and both temperatures on the sides of the tank, as well as a thermostat connected to his heat pad under the tank that is normally kept at 89-90 during the day then 80-82 at night on one side. The humidity is reading about 50% and as for lights, since I have the heat pad, I keep his tank close enough to the window so he gets daylight without getting direct sunlight, I figured that'd be best. He is currently in a 10 gallon glass tank with all but 1 side blocked so it looks enclosed, and the top has a mesh screen.

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Originally Posted by Miles

I have a electronic thermometer that measures humidity and both temperatures on the sides of the tank, as well as a thermostat connected to his heat pad under the tank that is normally kept at 89-90 during the day then 80-82 at night on one side. The humidity is reading about 50% and as for lights, since I have the heat pad, I keep his tank close enough to the window so he gets daylight without getting direct sunlight, I figured that'd be best. He is currently in a 10 gallon glass tank with all but 1 side blocked so it looks enclosed, and the top has a mesh screen.

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Your husbandry is right on, good for you =) Don't worry about them hiding too much, that is normal. BP's are very shy. When i first got sam, he was all over the tank, constantly trying to escape. i later learned he was actually stressed out because his tank was too open, so i put in a rock cave (along with his two hides) and a bunch of fake plants. now hes much more calm.

As long as your BP is nice and calm while you are handling, then everything is good :cool:

*edit* blah, i just noticed the part about the random striking. Is your BP very young? The little ones are usually a little more aggressive until they learn that you aren't gonna eat them =P

I'd give him about a week to settle down, no handling, just routine maintenance. then you just gotta start handling him until he gets used to it. oh and dont worry, BP bites dont hurt much =)

A hidding BP is a Happy BP mine do exactly the same thing mostly :)
So sounds pretty normal to me :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miles

I have a electronic thermometer that measures humidity and both temperatures on the sides of the tank, as well as a thermostat connected to his heat pad under the tank that is normally kept at 89-90 during the day then 80-82 at night on one side. The humidity is reading about 50% and as for lights, since I have the heat pad, I keep his tank close enough to the window so he gets daylight without getting direct sunlight, I figured that'd be best. He is currently in a 10 gallon glass tank with all but 1 side blocked so it looks enclosed, and the top has a mesh screen.

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This is a red flag to me. Why is your hot spot dropping so much at night? Did you mean to say that this is your ambient/cool side temp? Your temperatures should be fairly consistent from day to night. What is your cool side temp?

As far as his behavior, though, hiding is what BPs do, especially during the day. He is striking simply because he is intimidated by you. They almost always grow out of it, and it doesn't have to be caused by anything more than you being an enormous "predator" to him.

I agree with the temp change. There's no reason to drop temps at night. What is your ambient ( air ) temps and cool side temps?

My little youngster, Dinah, spends virtually all her time in one of her two hides. Based on all the good info on this forum, I made "hiding = happy" my mantra, and I don't worry about it. Sounds like your little guy is quite secure in his hides. Has he eaten yet in your care?

A hiding ball is a HAPPY ball. If your husbandry is all good, your snake will hide all day long. :gj: but that's a good thing. At night time it will be cruising around since they're nocturnal :)

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

This is a red flag to me. Why is your hot spot dropping so much at night? Did you mean to say that this is your ambient/cool side temp? Your temperatures should be fairly consistent from day to night. What is your cool side temp?

As far as his behavior, though, hiding is what BPs do, especially during the day. He is striking simply because he is intimidated by you. They almost always grow out of it, and it doesn't have to be caused by anything more than you being an enormous "predator" to him.

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I have a thermostat on my heating pad to bring it up during the day and putit down to 80 at night, and the other side stays 80 all the time.


And Uro has eaten 4 times since I got him I believe, 3 or 4.