Weird Behavior

Hey guys,

My 4 year old ball has been acting odd lately. He is constantly trying to escape the viv and I cannot figure out why. I have him in an Animal Plastics cage and he keeps shoving his head in the crack between the glass and PVC. He has been pushing super hard on the glass and I can see it sometimes moving his mouth from pushing so hard. He has been really healthy up till now and everything has been great.

I have him in an Animal Plastics t3 with RHP for heat. He has two black hides from LLLreptile. Warm side is always 86-88F and the ambient is 79-80F always. Humidity is 60% usually.

He has been eating normally and fed every 10 days on small rats. Consistent weight. Has not been fasting. All feces and pee is cleaned and he gets a full cage disinfectant and cage breakdown every 30 days.

One thing I've noticed recently is the cage has an odd smell.. It almost is chemically smell mixed with wood chips.. I have had him in the SAME cage with SAME decor for two years and it has never been a problem..

For the life of me I just cannot figure this out. I am worried he will hurt himself.

Have you checked around the RHP for any discoloration of the plastic? Heat doesn't always play well with plastic- plastics break down & the fumes are typically
toxic. AP's are made of PVC, if I'm not mistaken? I've seen people say they smell, so imagine how much stronger that would be to a snake kept inside "24/7"
with very little ventilation. And I think you can answer this for yourself....just do a search for "PVC toxic fumes" & do a little reading. This is why I house my
snakes in glass tanks, glass is inert & won't melt, & it sure doesn't off-gas toxic vapors. It sounds to me like your snake is telling you he needs fresh air.

One of many articles: http://www.chej.org/pvcfactsheets/Th...n_Plastic.html

I would like to see some sources that is not Quora on this topic... I know many keepers on this site use AP all the time with no problems whatsoever...

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Originally Posted by maausen

I would like to see some sources that is not Quora on this topic... I know many keepers on this site use AP all the time with no problems whatsoever...

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I just grabbed a couple articles very quick...search for yourself...I know ppl use plastic cages, but you are seeing your snake in distress & I'm just giving you
a likely (though "inconvenient") reason, especially since even YOU can smell it. I feel the same way about plastic smell as your snake does, I use glass tanks.
And just because plastic is "everywhere" doesn't make it safe. It's used for water pipes...but those aren't HEATED as your cages are. When you add energy
(heat), it off-gases...and you're breathing it too, but you are much bigger and you aren't breathing the same concentration as your snake is. And you have
a choice & the ability to come & go, unlike your snake.

Well, I do appreciate your feedback on the topic. I honestly think the smell could be more of a urate not found..

If there's a strange smell I would start with deep cleaning and see if that changes anything. Be sure to check temps in several places to make sure nothing has malfunctioned.

Mine does the same behavior and he's been in an AP cage for over a year. He only does it on the right side of the cage and not every night, but yeah he will wedge his head in and arch is neck and strains to try and fit himself in the crack (he's 1100ish grams and it ain't gonna happen!). I solved it but hanging a towel over that side of the cage - I roll it up during the day - then when the cage lights go out the "curtain" comes down.

He only does it at night, or when I've just taken everything out and deep cleaned - but if the towel is down he switches to the left side to glass surf where the gap isn't wide enough for him to wedge his head, whether it is day or night. I've even put my phone on record and watched - if the towel is down he either sits still like he's been defeated or switches to the other side.

*IF there is a weird smell though, I would check all your heat sources - if the RHP is malfunctioning it could be putting off weird vibes*

Just out of curiosity, how much light is in the room where your snoot is kept? Mine is in the living room and my fiance is a night owl that is usually up until 4-5am with at least the computer light and a small table lamp on so I've wondered if the extra light at night bothers him(the snake). That was the main reason for the towel too, it covers 2/3rds of the cage front and really makes a difference in the amount of light that enters it.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

glass is inert

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The debate of glass being a liquid or solid at room temperature has been a debate for decades. Just throwing useless information out there. LOL

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Glass, however, is actually neither a liquid—supercooled or otherwise—nor a solid. It is an amorphous solid—a state somewhere between those two states of matter. And yet glass's liquidlike properties are not enough to explain the thicker-bottomed windows, because glass atoms move too slowly for changes to be visible.

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How would I go about making sure it is not a RHP problem? I bought mine from Bob at ProProducts..

I did a deep clean and it definitely made the smell go away. However, now its starting to come back again and I am worried.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maausen

How would I go about making sure it is not an RHP problem? I bought mine from Bob at ProProducts..

I did a deep clean and it definitely made the smell go away. However, now it's starting to come back again and I am worried.

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Like stated above check for discoloration or deformities in the plastic make sure your RHP is not getting too hot so temp gun it and the plastic behind it.

If all of this does not pinpoint you may have to add elements to the enclosure one by one over a period of time(An old enclosure setup or even a quarantine setup to store your noodle in while this is happening would be advised) First remove your noodle and then the substrate clean the enclosure. But after you done cleaning DO NOT put more substrate in.

then wait for a few for the smell(How long this goes in depends on the average time it took the smell to come back after deep cleaning.

remove hides and repeat the rest of the above

continue removing elements until it is just the tank and it heating elements and then leave those on.

Continue to do this and then pinpoint the origin of the smell.