Caging Question

Currently I have my BP in a 20g Long tank and for the past couple days he's been just hanging out in his hide, Skipped his meal this week and has tried to strike me quite a few times. If at all possible, I think he is generally unhappy with his current set-up. I know BP's are not for show. He resides in a separate room and I often get up at night for whatever reason ( toilet, drink or whatever ) and will take a peek into his room and there is no activity whatsoever. I figure as a nocturnal creature he would atleast be checking stuff out.

I place him into this

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07...27_215X215.jpg

When feeding. I have this:

http://www.zoomed.com/Library/Produc...s/reptiuth.jpg

Attached to one side ( underneath ) of it to keep him warm while feeding. When he is in this tub he unwinds and moves around quite a bit. Overall it seems his shyness goes away and he looks to be almost enjoying himself. I placed the flukers temp gauge in the tub and couldn't get the temp up to a level of satisfaction with the current UTH. I have the 10-20 Gallon hooked up. Do you think I need a bigger UTH? How much of the tank floor should the UTH take up?

Also I am going to take him from his tank today and move him into a tub. The obvious answer to this would be to get one that is not as deep because it would simply be easier to heat.

I have this and found that it is great, I know opinions will vary, but it's cheap and does the trick.

http://www.zoomed.com/Library/Produc...mostat500r.jpg

I plan on hooking up the UTH to it. And I am going to Lowes this morning to get a second acurite for the tub.

Next, out of these three choices which would work better? We'll label them 1,2 and 3 to make them easier.

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07...27_215X215.jpg

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07...86_215X215.jpg

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07...08_215X215.jpg

I am going to use good old fashioned newspaper as the substrate. Please note, Saying as I already have the UTH attached to choice #1, I would prefer to use that, But do give me your advice!

Thank you for your time

How long have you had it?
How old is your BP?
Is it in shed?

Yes, sounds to me like he is stressed out. I think you are on the right track about moving him to a tub. I like tubs that are not very high. It seems easier to hold heat than tubs that are higher. I suggest putting him in a 32 qt tub. Also make sure he has a nice tight dark hide.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

A little history might server usefull. There are many reasons for the behavior you mentioned. :)

As far as heating real estate is concerned: I use flex watt and only take up 1/3 of the bottom surface, if that, regulated via a herpstat.

I use and will continue to use tub #3. It serves my scale kids needs. As long as the needs of the BP are meet I don't see a problem here. :)

I can't believe I missed the signs, but he was actually in shed. I just put him in some water for about an hour and helped him out with a wet cloth, Now he's got a fancy new coat. He's been in shed for like a week, but being a new owner, I thought when the eyes turned greyish blue this was the beginning and it took like a week for it to complete.

Now that he is over that I want to make sure he is 100% satisfied by his surroundings, so I plan to move him into a tub. Seems to like it a lot more when feeding.

I've had the snake for abut a month. Not sure of the age, but length is close to 20 inches or so if that helps at all?