Hiding Snake

I have been watching my new snake because it is about time to feed him, but he hides in his cave all of the time. He never comes out. I try to monitor him at night too, but occasionally i will see him poke his head out a little and then just go back inside. While I know that they like to hide out, is he doing it excessively for a reason? Also, when I need to feed him, am I just supposed to lift his cave off of him do get to him? I have a feeling he won't like that too much.

You'll have a better feeding response if you leave him in the hide, turn out the lights, and leave him undisturbed for a while (if you're feeding f/t). He'll feel much more secure eating if he knows he can retreat back to his hide if King King comes to hover over him.

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Originally Posted by ZeroGuitar00

While I know that they like to hide out, is he doing it excessively for a reason? Also, when I need to feed him, am I just supposed to lift his cave off of him do get to him? I have a feeling he won't like that too much.

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It doesn't sound excessive to me - sounds just like what they normally do. Display snakes, they are not! ;)

I don't remove my hides when feeding. I feed in the enclosure and leave all "furniture" in place. They love hunting from their hides - makes them feel more secure and less exposed.

My bp comes out most nights for a few hours around midnight - although he didn't come out at all over the winter! If it's feeding day though, I don't bother trying if he's out of his hide - I wait for him to go back inside. That's because he just won't take a mouse if he's out of his hide - he'll basically ignore it. When he smells the warmed up mouse in his cage or feels it jiggling around from my long tweezers, he'll poke his head out and will strike from the safety of his hide.

put the food in an empty toilet roll tube, leave it so he can see it near to the entrance of his hide... turn off all lights and leave him for 10 mins.. I bet its gone when you come back !

I have always read not to feed him in his cage and to take him out and put him in a new location. Are you all saying that I don't have to do this?

No, you don't. Feeding in the vivarium is fine.
:)Sam

You said you have been watching your "new" snake. It takes a while for any new animal to become confortable with their surroundings.....give him time and he will begin to hide less and less.

Could it possibly be going into shed? BP's will stay in their hide during the whole process.

Just give him(or her) some time. Sometimes they take a while to get used to their new surroundings, especially when they are little. Although I do have a 1200 gram female that I almost never see ....


Neil

i rarely catch my snake outside of her cave. i got lucky once and saw her drinking water! when she saw that i was watching her, she immediately froze and stopped. i also see her if i take my f/t hopper and start wiggling it outside of her cave. i think she smells it then starts to come out to get it if i can lure her out. and the only other time i see her is if i want to hold her. i just lift up her cave and voila! there she is. i hope it's okay to do that. there's no other way to make her come out of her cave except to remove it. :zerb:

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Originally Posted by adOggy07

i rarely catch my snake outside of her cave. i got lucky once and saw her drinking water! when she saw that i was watching her, she immediately froze and stopped. i also see her if i take my f/t hopper and start wiggling it outside of her cave. i think she smells it then starts to come out to get it if i can lure her out. and the only other time i see her is if i want to hold her. i just lift up her cave and voila! there she is. i hope it's okay to do that. there's no other way to make her come out of her cave except to remove it. :zerb:

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Typical ball python!