freaked~! help!

here's what I did today...

full cleaning of the cage.

used a 5% bleach/water solution in a spray bottle to spray down the cage.
then I hosed it down thoroughly. and again. and again. amy'be 15 min of hosing.

I treated cypress substrate with provent-a-mite as directed (thx andy)
let it try for about 1.5 hours in the sun outside, I fluffed it occasionally to make sure it was all dry.

before today she was on paper towel.

She hates it, wants to get out, is digging everywhere. She's never exhibited this behaviour before. Her hides are the same and they are in the same spots, as well as the water dish.

She looks freaked. Lots and Lots of tongue flicking.

She's been in there for 30 min.

Do I...

a)Leave her in it, and give her time to settle down.
b)Go back to exactly as I had it before.

I really really hope she is gonna like it the way it is, cuz the cage looks fantastic, but if it's gonna cause problems then out goes the substrate.

The wierd thing is that when I bought her she was on cypress, and for the first 2 weeks she was her she was on cypress. So she's been on it before.

I've never seen her dig before. I dunno, or may'be it's me. I wish she would settle down cuz she's gonna give me a heartattack.

personally i would get the snake out rinse it off real good. re-clean the tub and use paper towel or newspaper until the mite situation is gone. maybe ther is some kind of chemical residue causing the snake to freak out?


better safe than sorry, imo

vaughn

there was no mites. I was just using it as a preventitive measure.


but she's coming out, and paper towel is going back down.

she's gonna be ok....
yes, something was obviously wrong. She is now soaking in her water bowl. (which is big enough to accomodate most of her). Back on PT, and staying that way forever. AHHHHHHHHH I SUCK

Hm.. when i started using cypress substrate last year, I never had any trouble. My snakes went a little wild at first, frantically flicking tongues and tasting their new substrate, but they gradually cooled off and accepted it as if it were always there. Same happened when I switched to aspen; I love the cypress but can't find it anywhere around here in fall/winter (I buy big bags of the mulch at a local nursery.)
Unless you had some sort of overapplied chemical residue, I don't see what the problem was. your snake probably just got a little freaked about the texture, but they soon get used to it. My BCI gets crazy if I put him out on the grass outside; probably similar :) But you know your snake best; if you think you want to switch back, that's what ya should do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snaker35

AHHHHHHHHH I SUCK

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I wouldn't say that at all. If a keeper is willing to give the snake the environment it wants/needs, rather than forcing it to endure a more attractive set-up that the keeper would prefer.....that's good husbandry in my book. Not sucky at all. ;)

A change in a cage setup for a ball python can be streeful or even exciting. She may of been uncomfortable with the cypress because she wasn't sure of her surroundings and it probably smelt different. She may of been more concerned with trying to hide until she could adjust to the new conditions.

I wouldn't dismiss it as being a failure, just something she is not used to.