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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Miles

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.

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You shouldn't drop the temperatures at night... Just keep everything the same 24/7.

so leave one side 90 and the other 80??

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Originally Posted by Miles

so leave one side 90 and the other 80??

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yes, 90 degree hot side, 80 degree cool side 24/7... 365

Well my mite killer stuff came in and I went ahead and cleaned his tank with it then put some of it on a clean paper towel and applied it to him. I havn't seen any sign of the little buggers since maybe a day after I went to town on Uro's cage and cleaned it up, so I'm hoping the mite spray will kill any eggs left or mights I may have missed.

He struck 2 times while out and its starting to unnerve my room mates. I WANT to really like him but I feel like he just hates me XD

I'm hopin that handling him more often will make him more used to it, he's only been out of his cage/hide for approximately an hour and some change all together since I got him, unless I was cleaning, in which case he goes into his secondary home. Is there any way to curb the behavior? I was actually told at the store I got him that he was the more aggressive one, and I had assumed aggressive meant I'd have no problems feeding him.

I'm not sure what to think at the moment.

Uh what kind of mite killer did you get?


You aren't supposed to put the mite killer on the snake directly with any I can think of. It can/will hurt them. If you're worried about mites on your snake you soak him for about 20 minutes in tepid water while you treat the tub directly with the mite killer and let it dry COMPLETELY. Keep the water bowl out for a few hours to make sure it won't get any of the spray fumes in it as it is a poison.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Coleslaw007

Uh what kind of mite killer did you get?


You aren't supposed to put the mite killer on the snake directly with any I can think of. It can/will hurt them. If you're worried about mites on your snake you soak him for about 20 minutes in tepid water while you treat the tub directly with the mite killer and let it dry COMPLETELY. Keep the water bowl out for a few hours to make sure it won't get any of the spray fumes in it as it is a poison.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

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There are a few that can be applied directly, but most should not be.

The tuff i got Was from reptile basics and it specifically said i could apply and I used only a small ammount.

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Originally Posted by Miles

The tuff i got Was from reptile basics and it specifically said i could apply and I used only a small ammount.

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Ah well disregard then :) Good job on reading directions, not enough people do nowadays.

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Honestly, I would recommend that you let him bite you! It's no big deal at all and it will make you much more comfortable with him! I would like to say I'm just kidding, but I'm not!

I realize it wouldnt hurt and I prolly DO need to let him bite me so I can get over that little phobia I developed. maybe I'll let him today. I also got a hemostat so I can feed him without ever physically touching his food.

the idea behind that was not because I didn't want to get bit, I just thought it'd be alot less confusing for him when I do feed Uro.