Tell me to stay away!!!

I have 4 BP's; three adults, one juvenile. I love them all dearly but I am such a worrier! I've been teaching myself extensively about BP husbandry over the last year and a half and consider myself relatively knowledgeable at this point. Problem is, I continue to worry, worry, worry! I find myself CONSTANTLY checking up on the herp room every day. I'll check on each of em as soon as I wake up, after breakfast, before work, after work, a couple hours from then and again before bed. I don't know, I guess I fear one day I'll open an enclosure to find a dead snake or some other herp horror story. I know that they are timid creatures and need privacy. I fear my constant checking is stressing them out and may be causing my newest female to not feed. I need reinforcement on how often I should check up on them and possibly some ideas of what everyone does as a "routine checkup" per say.

Lol! I guess it's good to check on them, but not if you're lifting their hides and touching them every time. Honestly I check on mine once every evening mostly to make sure all the heating's working. I'd say check in the morning, then when you get home from work.

Honestly, if you keep your snakes into ther elder years, there will be that sad day when you really do open the cage to a dead snake. :(

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Originally Posted by Capray

Honestly, if you keep your snakes into ther elder years, there will be that sad day when you really do open the cage to a dead snake. :(

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Or not even into elder years: otherwise healthy-looking snakes just drop dead sometimes. The chance you take when keeping animals: they may get sick and they'll eventually pass. :(

Oh god, I do the same thing. I only have one snake and I keep her in a glass enclosure in my room. Any time I walk in there I'll peak in to see what she's up to. 80% of the time, she's just sleeping under her hide....yet, I still check in on her constantly. I'm just obsessed. :rolleyes: My boyfriend jokes that I love her more than I love him. lol :P

Once in the morning and once in the evening is plenty.

I spend a fair amount of time in my snake room, but I don't open every tub and check every snake every day. I peek in to make sure they are there, and check their water but that is about it.

Once a week I will take them out so I can clean and what not, but other then that they just chill :P You don't need to check on them like 100 times a day, they will be fine!

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Once in the morning and once in the evening is plenty.

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Exactly that. I do more of a "poop check" in the am and the pm. At that time, is when Id look for or notice anything going wrong or different. I do check my possibly gravid females more often tho....but just a peek in to look for eggs.

If I'm home, I check my three 2-3 times a day. Mostly to make sure they're still in there, I think. With 4 cats and 2 dogs, an escapee could very easily meet a swift end. I'm almost neurotic about pushing the tubs all the way to the back (they're in an enclosed CSerpents rack so there's no danger of the tub going out the other end). Also, with two in shed I'm checking humidity more often, though I don't lift hides if I can see scales inside a hide. Right now the air temp is fluctuating from day to day so I'm often in there turning on or off the space heater. I don't know what I'm going to do this week with my brother home... They're in his room so I can't check as often with him home. :P

At a minimum twice a day, more out interest than anything else. However daily checks on water, temp, humidity, and potential clean ups is habit at this point.

I've just got one, and she's in a glass enclosure in my bedroom too. I look every time I come in the room to see where she is, what she's doing, how's her water/temps/humidity, has she pooped... Sometimes I watch her through the glass even if all she's doing is hiding in her hide, and if I haven't seen her come out for a while I'll open the top and lift her hide enough to make sure she's breathing.

If she was in a rack and I couldn't see her easily, I'd go nuts.

I do a full check before bed. They're in clear tubs though, so I can easily see if things get messy before then and clean it up.

Stay away

well the 17 BP's i currently (with 12 more on hold), have are checked throughout the day and night, i have had the horror of opening tubs to find dead snakes in the past, (still can not figure out why, only happened with my adult Macklotts). but i don't poke and prod or hold them much. Since i use racks i do not get to just look through the glass and view them so to say.

I give all mine a quick check in the morning before work, again when I get home, and before I go to bed. If there's nothing to do I spend maybe 10 seconds on each snake. Last night the bed check took longer, as 3 in the rack made messes, all of which were rather impressive and required a full cleaning. Thanks, ladies. :rolleyes:

I do a habitat check once a day. Just check temps, humidity and spot clean if needed. Water is changed every day or two with a quick clean & disinfect.

Now I handle them once every day or two as well just to enjoy them except the day of and after feeding.

Once a month is full cage clean and disinfect. Water bowls get full disinfect once a week.

I thin I average 2 intrusions a day most of the time. I only have three or now and I will probably not be handling each snake quite as often so that will give them a little break from me.

You will drive yourself and them batty for a while. It's a herper's fate. After a little while though, you will start to relax and not be so neurotic. A simple peek in the tub/tank a few times a day is more than enough. If you use clearish tubs like me, you don't even have to move the tub to peek in. Once in the morning do an open and check to see if anyone made a mess overnight, then before bed do a water/mess check and that should hold you. If you don't have tubs you can just get close to and peek in, consider it. It helps the anxiousness a lot.

Gale

I only have one bp and he's about a year old. I've noticed that on days that I'm off, I do the same thing. I check on him constantly...not because I'm worried...but because I find him fascinating and want him to come out. Now, one thing I try not to do is disturb him when he's in one of his hides. I know people say it doesn't bother them, but how can he truly feel safe if at any moment you can just take his hide away? So I wait...and he seems very "happy".

We check our snakes twice a day. Once before we leave for work and then again we do quick run through before bed. It can become a very obsessive habit, just try to trust and have faith in your husbandry. Good luck!