Constant Roaming

So my bp Talia has been doing laps in her tank day and night without much stopping throughout the last week. She's not really going in her hides anymore. She's in a 31x12x18 long tank with paper towel substrate. Temps are 90 hot side, 83 cool side. Using a heat lamp as the source of heat, manually controlled. (if its a good idea i can get a thermostat) Humidity is at 40%. Measuring temps and humidity with Acurite thermometer with probe. I've tried the following things over the last week:


2 hides
1 hide
Big water bowl
Small water bowl
raising temp
lowering temp
feeding (adult rat, refused)
bathing (she pooped but didn't stop roaming)
covering all sides with black paper
leaving glass exposed
checking for mites (negative)
checking for RI (breathing is good, pink mouth)


only things left I can think of is the tank is too small (she's a little over 3 feet and about 2 lbs I think) she's currently in a 20 gallon long that she's been in since she was a baby.


Other thing is the bulb is too bright and bothering her cycle, but I've used these lamps before without her acting up. I also tested putting her in her 'cleaning bin' (a plastic bin with ventilation and a heating pad in a dark, quiet room) but that did not help. :confusd:


Any help/advice/input is GREATLY appreciated; I hate to see her so stressed out!

Update: I had her weighed and she's 1270 grams

What kind of hides do you use?

How do you measure temps?

BP's not hiding is usually a sign of stress.

What color bulb do you use?

Both hides are plastic; one is a dog bowl with a hole carved in the side (she used to use that one) and the other one is a large hide from reptile Basics. As I said in my OP I'm using a acurite thermometer with probe. The bulb is suppose to be a night bulb but it's a relatively light purple.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Haxle

Both hides are plastic; one is a dog bowl with a hole carved in the side (she used to use that one) and the other one is a large hide from reptile Basics. As I said in my OP I'm using a acurite thermometer with probe. The bulb is suppose to be a night bulb but it's a relatively light purple.


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Are the hides of a nice snug fit?

As anything changed recently?
have you moved his enclosure to a new location?
can you think of anything at all that you may have changed?

Hides fit her pretty well, they're definitely not too big. Her enclosure has been in the same place for the last few years. The only change I can think of was that she is kept in what used to be our bedroom, but we've moved our bed elsewhere and that room is now an office of sorts, but there's no more or less activity in the room she's kept in, and she's exhibiting the same behavior while we're sleeping too (I poke my head in during the night and she's still roaming)


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I think it would be best to stop all handling. Maybe try and find a bulb that gives off no light? I use a CHE.

Make sure the enclosure is nice and clean, and try clustering it some more. Make your BP feel safe.

Also, if kept in a glass tank. You could try covering the sides and the back, with some sort of black material, so the only way you can see into the tank is from the front.

Ok. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...b3843d9144.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...db531ffdcc.jpg

This is her current setup. I'll look into getting a CHE and I already ordered a thermostat (I live in MN so I'm concerned the temps are fluctuating when I'm at work)


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Your temps are not controlled by a thermostat?


Good info about glass tanks have a read:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-With-Pictures!

They are not currently and never have been, but having read on this forum recently I purchased one (now I know the care sheet at petco was useless) there's not a UTH hooked up, just a bulb, but I can look into getting a UTH when the thermostat gets here. And I read that post it's a wonderful setup. Do you think a 20gal will be good enough now that she's about 3 years old? If I need to go bigger I can as well.


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A Thermostat is a MUST while you're gone and out of the house the temps could be fluctuating and you wouldn't even know, resulting in a stressed out BP.

Just take advice from that link I gave you, and you'll be fine, I would definitely look into get more items for your setup to cluster it up and make your BP feel more safer. Im not sure about the 30gallon tank, I'm from the UK so we don't go off those measurements. I use a 3ft wooden vivarium with a Ceramic heat emitter.

But yes, get a T-stat ASAP, and always use one in future.

My BP was kept in a tub, until he was 3 years old, which is when I decided to make the move to a 3ft, big viv.

It's on 2 day shipping from Amazon and I'm throwing some tank decorations in now to see if that helps. Thanks so much for the advice, (and sorry for being so poorly informed!) she's in a 3ft by 1ft tank so seems alright then. I'll give this a whirl and I'll be back if she's still having problems!


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No problem, always happy to help. Just keep your eye on the temps.. while you do not have a t-stat.
:gj:

Let us know how it goes!

So the temp probe was on the glass behind her hide on the warm side, and I'm thinking that the black plastic covering the probe was heating up and giving an incorrect reading. I have it under the substrate under her warm hide and after some tweaks now it's reading 90 and she's sleeping now in the cool hide, shown herehttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...9488f5cc61.jpg

Thank you so much for your advice :)


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That cage seems a little small to me for that size of snake...

I was thinking that too; do pythons over 3 years old generally need to be in 40 gallons?


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Ok, That's a good start just keep monitoring the temps, and get the t-stat setup asap.

Give her time to settle down, and once your BP has started sleeping all day and only coming out at night, then consider moving into a bigger tank, as doing that now may just be overkill. But it is time to start considering the move to a bigger tank I think, with more decor.. and cluster.

Ok sounds good, thanks again for the advice!


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Alright so I got the thermostat, temps are currently 89 hot, 80 cool and holding. I tried feeding her last night and she refused. She's roaming mostly at night now, but still spends most of her time moving quickly, trying to get out. I'm at a loss as to what else it could be. Is the 20 gallon too small? Do I need a UTH too (not just a lamp)? Is she sick somehow? :/


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One of the most common reasons for a constantly active BP is being hungry... another common reason is that they pooped/left a urate somewhere and are trying hard to get away from it LOL.
I apologize if you answered these already:

How long hasn't she eaten? Are you trying F/T or live?

What size food are you feeding her and how often?

Not sure if it has anything to do with her being active, but 40% humidity is just a little on the low side. 50~60% would be better.

She's on paper towel so I can see when she's left me a present so I know it's not that (lol)

She hasn't eaten in about 3 weeks. I've been feeding her large rats the size of her widest point (F/T) I offer food every week

And I can totally up the humidity no problem there




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In case it helps, here's a video of her behaviorhttps://vimeo.com/143952707 (sorry for bad quality)




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