Pushing issues

Having rubbing issues (still) Irwin, my 4 1/2-year-old male central American, nosing like crazy at all of the gaps/edges of the sliding glass doors. So far all I can do is apply weatherstripping to the edges and gaps to keep him from doing any more damage to his nose, but I’d really prefer to fix it at the root.
Snake is just over 4 1/2 feet long housed in a 4 x 2 x 18“. Substrate is Coco chips, humidity is usually in the mid to high 60s, fluctuating a bit recently because our heat is it drying out the air more quickly than usual. Warm side is 88/89, cool side 78/79. Has a warm side hide and climbing tree. Not sure how much it makes a difference but I have a female in the tank just above his. She is only about 2 1/2 years old although she is definitely nowhere near large enough to breed I don’t know if she has any sort of sexual maturity that might be resulting in pheromones and what not… I know very little about breeding because I have no intention to ever do it but I know that randy males sometimes push.

Yep deffo horny lol.
My males have been at the glass pretty much all the time as if they want feeding since end of September, there also lots of females in the room too .
You may of also noticed sperm plugs in the Viv or water dish

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I thought boas in general liked cooler temps. 70-75 cooler side and 80-85 hot side. I am sure someone will chime in here.

Quick search to check my information.

"There is no set perfect temperature for boa constrictors, rather it is more of ranges of acceptable temperatures. A hot side of your setup should usually range from 87 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit and the cold, or unheated side, of your enclosure should not reach below 75 degrees Fahrenheit."

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

I thought boas in general liked cooler temps. 70-75 cooler side and 80-85 hot side. I am sure someone will chime in here.

Quick search to check my information.

"There is no set perfect temperature for boa constrictors, rather it is more of ranges of acceptable temperatures. A hot side of your setup should usually range from 87 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit and the cold, or unheated side, of your enclosure should not reach below 75 degrees Fahrenheit."

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80/90 is a great gradient with a boa, pretty much the standard I feel like. My Hog (which are known to prefer slightly cooler temps) has a cool side of 78 and loves it though.

I 100% agree with Richard though, and if you want to test out the theory.....take a shed from your female and put it in his cage. See if he responds, but I HIGHLY suspect he will. If that's the case you might have to move your female. The temps dropping this time of year along with the proximity to your female will trigger the mating response.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

80/90 is a great gradient with a boa, pretty much the standard I feel like. My Hog (which are known to prefer slightly cooler temps) has a cool side of 78 and loves it though.

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Thanks.

I had no ideas boas pushed like that. Hope your boy settles down soon!

Yes most animals will especially when hormones are involved, it's like a horny teenager.

Luckily mine have never marked there face ,some can make a right mess, alot go off there food too

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Today i padded all the edges and gaps of the doors with foam, when i snuck in to spy on him he was pushing at it like a dummy. This is soo frustrating. Is there any kind of fix for this besides not having the female around? My cage setup is not really designed to come apart, although if i could separate them, how far would they have to be? Would it even help now that he's "in the mood"? And finally, how long does this last, 'till spring??
Thanks so much for al the help, folks.

Still A bit swollen, I was able to apply some ointment under his lip and I’ll switch the substrate over the paper for the time being, really hoping this doesn’t necessitate a vet visit

How much do you have him out every day? When my retics pushed I found that getting them out of their enclosures and into the front yard (it was warm) for exercise for 45-60 minutes every day really helped settle them down. Obviously it's too cold now for that, but maybe you can just take him out and hold him for an hour or so each evening.

More exercise works for many creatures...and besides hormones, many snakes (in my experience) are drawn to fresh air coming into their cage IF you have
the sort of cage with limited airflow. Just look at how much information IS in the air for them to 'read'...it's no wonder. It's their best sense.

I can't speak for boas, as I only had a solo female who never pushed (thankfully, as she was big & strong), but maybe it's boredom & a need for motion too?

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Originally Posted by bcr229

How much do you have him out every day? When my retics pushed I found that getting them out of their enclosures and into the front yard (it was warm) for exercise for 45-60 minutes every day really helped settle them down. Obviously it's too cold now for that, but maybe you can just take him out and hold him for an hour or so each evening.

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I get him out pretty often, and especially now b/c i thought perhaps it would help. But unfortunately it seems like even after more than an hour of "playtime" he goes back to it. I may try taking him out even a bit more though. It had occurred to me to maybe try feeding him an undersized meal just to get him to slow down for a few nights. Whenever he eats he'll just sleep in his hide for about 2 days. He's about a week away from a normal meal (medium rat) thought i might throw him a small in a few days instead. As far as airflow is concerned, well he's in the basement and pretty close to the cat litter (gross, i know) but what gets me is that this is where he always has been, nothing has changed. This is why i keep thinking its a breeding thing since the only change is that my female is 2 and a half years old now.

If you try to "pacify" a snake with food you'll soon have an obese (& unhealthy) boa...snakes don't lose excess weight easily either. It's most likely the lure
of a mate that's driving him, poor guy.

I'm sure it's a male thing too.should start to ease soon

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Now I am freaking out that he may have developed an abscess :tears:
i guess I'll call some vets tomorrow, but I am really really worried at the prospect of the cost. On the other hand, most of my stress is stemming form facebook comments on my post so maybe those people are prone to overreaction (???) what do we think, i know the pics are not the best

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f0&oe=5C948404

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...eb&oe=5CC5A864

I mean - how can just pushing result in such a serious condition, i feel like every retic would end up needing surgery several times over if a swollen face from pushing was such a big deal??

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

I mean - how can just pushing result in such a serious condition, i feel like every retic would end up needing surgery several times over if a swollen face from pushing was such a big deal??

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I had a young retic that squashed half his face in by pushing .. I phoned the breeder immediately I noticed and he said to move it rubs taller / deeper viv - it went back to normal in about 10 days


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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Now I am freaking out that he may have developed an abscess :tears:
i guess I'll call some vets tomorrow, but I am really really worried at the prospect of the cost. On the other hand, most of my stress is stemming form facebook comments on my post so maybe those people are prone to overreaction (???) what do we think, i know the pics are not the best

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f0&oe=5C948404

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...eb&oe=5CC5A864

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Sorry to say, but yeah, it looks like an abscess & this is a typical way that snakes get them, & yes, on their face/nose area. DO see a vet, but also you need to make
sure it doesn't keep happening. You may know that in snakes, pus that forms is mostly solid & does NOT drain without medical help (from your vet). It's not too bad
yet...these can get far worse & jeopardize your snake's life, because this infection is on their head (hint, near the brain & vital functions), so it's not to be ignored. I hope
you can figure out how to house him so he does not continue to do this...he has to heal.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I had a young retic that squashed half his face in by pushing .. I phoned the breeder immediately I noticed and he said to move it rubs taller / deeper viv - it went back to normal in about 10 days


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What does move it rubs mean incidentally?

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Originally Posted by RickyNY

What does move it rubs mean incidentally?

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I'm just guessing but I think he was trying to say "move it into taller tubs or deeper vivarium"?

Correct .. tired typing :)

Thank you


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Correct .. tired typing :)

Thank you


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And here I was thinking you had too many Carlsbergs last night

Wondering what it means when we start finishing each other's sentences around here...? :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Wondering what it means when we start finishing each other's

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..... sandwiches ..

( Tangled )




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Well I was wondering whether his pushing was breeding season related or husbandry related. He just left a white sticky answer smeared across my hand. :hump:

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Well I was wondering whether his pushing was breeding season related or husbandry related. He just left a white sticky answer smeared across my hand. :hump:

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:rofl: Thanks for the "visual"! :rofl: Always nice to get an answer though...

Update: All seems to be well now. It's been a few weeks since he's done any pushing, though it lasted a lot longer than i would have hoped. Thankfully his messed up nose didn't require anything more than some antiseptic flushing and silvadene, although that was very unpleasant. All thats left is a slight bump and some damaged/worn scales and he's in blue now so I'm eager to see how it looks underneath (see picture). Strangely, now he seems more subdued in his cage than ever. Maybe I'm just not remembering accurately after such a long time, but i feel like he used to roam around a bit at night, now he's pretty much in his hide 24/7. Out of his viv he's his same old self, but i don't know?

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a6&oe=5D43410A

Snakes that are "in blue" typically stay in their hides. It just doesn't pay (in terms of long-term survival in the "real world") to meander around with greatly
reduced vision...they can't see well enough to catch food & would more likely get hurt trying, plus avoiding risks would be even more difficult. You'll have to
wait until he sheds to see if he has really stopped pushing his nose. Fingers crossed for ya...

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Snakes that are "in blue" typically stay in their hides. It just doesn't pay (in terms of long-term survival in the "real world") to meander around with greatly
reduced vision...they can't see well enough to catch food & would more likely get hurt trying, plus avoiding risks would be even more difficult. You'll have to
wait until he sheds to see if he has really stopped pushing his nose. Fingers crossed for ya...

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Thanks for the crossed fingers, I'm most worried for next season to be honest. I should have been more clear, he's been calm for weeks now but just went onto blue a few day ago. Again, i really cant even remember if this activity level was the norm for him before the pushing began this fall.

Compared to last shed, I am quite pleased with his healing. His nose is still not as pretty as usual, but I am sooo relieved to see how much progress its made! Last shed was 2/28, current pics are from today.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...w1422-h1066-no
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w928-h1066-no
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...w1422-h1066-no
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w800-h1066-no

Glad hes healing nicely


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