could he hurt himself?

okay, so as many of you know i just got my first RTB, Cypher. I got him a hideunder, and he refuses to go in it, but he does love sitting on top of it. I am fine with that, but i have him in a Sterilite Tub, the kind that is really long and divides in the middle. well, on the divide in the middle there are some edges, they are not sharp...or not sharp feeling to me atleast. The hide is under that, and i am worried about if he will hurt himself. Should i get another hide? possibly a shorter one? I moved it to another side in his tank, so he doesnt hurt himself on the edges, but he still almost touches the roof of the tub, and im wondering if he can get stuck if he gets any bigger.
advice?
Thanks all!!

HAHA You FINALLY said hide :P :D . As far as getting hurt on the divider i would think if it doesnt feel sharp to you then it should be ok, but see what everyone else has to say. As far as getting stuck I really doubt it. They can squeeze in and out of some amazing small spaces, and i would assume if he can get in, he can get out.

I have those sterlite type tubs. First thing is I hope you have heavy binder clips or something securing that middle. With the split lid like that there is a major give on that lid and your snake can and will push it up at some point. Secondly, why is his hide in the middle of the tub? If they are the same kind as I have they are a good 39 inches long so his hides should be at either end to allow him to thermoregulate. I've used this type of tub with two hides for our larger BP's and have yet to see any scale damage from the lid.

personally with my rtb (and my hog island boa as well) i offer only one hide. on the warm side... when they want to thermoregulate they go on top of the hide or lay on the other side of the enclosure. boas aren't as needy when it comes to hides as balls are.

that said, i would definitely make sure the hide was against the warm side of your tub, not in the middle and honestly... your rtb isn't going to grow overnight. as he grows and can no longer 'fit' he'll find another place to lay!

i put it in the middle because that is where my heating pad that is on the bottom ends, and where the cool side begins, so he could sit on either side of the hide and it would be slightly diffrent temperatures. im a little curious about it because he loves to sit inbetween the handle and the top of the tub, and on top of his hideunder...buttt when he is older he will fit neither place. lol. I dont have clips on the middle...but i will soon...he isnt strong enough from what i know of to do that. yet. he is just a hatchling. ill go ahead and put some on there soon just incase. we all know that snakes are master escape artists!

Dont be fooled by small size, snakes are amazingly strong no matter if they are small or not. I had a 2 foot corn get out of a screen top aquarium that had the clips on each end of the tank. She flexed it up enough to push her way out.

One hide can't properly do in this situation Amy. A hide isn't big enough to provide enough area to allow for a proper heat gradient that he needs for thermoregulation. I'd suggest two hides so he never has to choose between feeling secure and his natural need to move from a cooler spot to a warmer spot. As far as that lid...he doesn't have to be very strong to slip under that middle part believe me. Also remember even a very young snake is still made of pure muscle. They are very strong for their size plus flexible and able to squash through very small openings. Makes them the perfect escape artists.

snake+opportunity=escape

notice age and size are not in that equation! :D

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

snake+opportunity=escape

notice age and size are not in that equation! :D

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Well... if someone had two aquariums that had screen lids, both with let's say 15 bricks on them to prevent escapes, which would escape: a hatchling corn or an adult BCI?

Other than that, you're right.

EDIT: ahhh... I always forget to check the dates on posts when I'm browsing the search engine...

I still stick to my oppinion on hides with b.c.i. and thats when they are established in your home, then they really don't need a hide. This isn't always the case of course but I haven't offered a hide for either of my boas and both eat fine and usually in shed as well. If he isn't using it at all and you are worried about it, take it out. If he starts refusing to eat(not likely) or seems stressed, put it back. Thats my only advice on it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGranger

Well... if someone had two aquariums that had screen lids, both with let's say 15 bricks on them to prevent escapes, which would escape: a hatchling corn or an adult BCI?

Other than that, you're right.

EDIT: ahhh... I always forget to check the dates on posts when I'm browsing the search engine...

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honestly what has that got to do with this thread? we are discussing HER snake... and HER setup... not all snakes in general. :colbert: old thread or not... i don't see how your post has anything to do with her situation. :P

About having one hide large enough to have a cool and warm end inside the hide itself: my vet actually suggested for me to do this. I told him that I use small hides on each end of the enclosures, and he stated that both methods are acceptable.

really? is your vet a herp vet cause i've never heard of that before. the point of hides is for them to hide... for them to feel safe and secure. in order for them to feel safe and secure they need to be able to squish themselves into the hide...

if the hide is large enough to cover both temps and have the snake fully on either side/temp... then how is it meeting the other needs?

cause... if you need 90-92 on the warm side... and 80-82 on the cool side... then the hide must be quite large in order to create that temp varience within one enclosed hide.

are you following me?

let me try again and let's see if this explains it better.

many people use 3" flexwatt. it doesn't mean they only have 90-92 degree temps on the flexwatt itself... it means the flexwatt heats the tub and the area around the flexwatt is also heated... to create a warm side.

so hypothetically... if the flexwatt (for example) heats 3" on either side of itself... thereby creating a 9" warm side... then, how big would the hide have to be to cover the warm area plus cover the cooler area at the same time? cause wouldn't the hide hold in heat?

Yeah my vet is an experienced herp vet. I hadn't really heard of this method that he proposed before he did. I can understand why a shy snake would prefer a smaller hide over a larger one, which is why I like the two-hide idea better. I haven't collected any kind of data pertaining to temperature variations inside a single larger hide placed half on, half off of a heat source, so I couldn't say if it was impossible or not to achieve the proper thermal gradient for ball pythons, Boa Constrictors, or any other species. Just wanted to share what my vet had told me at one time.

Personally until someone proves me wrong, I cannot see how it's possible to have a full ten degree temp variant inside a hide unless the thing is so freaking huge it nearly covers the length of the enclosure.