He took 3 small rats......

[withonor]

In regards to feeding, I always present it at the farthest point the space allows. With the live I put it in the bathtub on the opposite side and held it's tail while it moved. When Zeek got close I let go. With frozen I "dance" it around the enclosure like it's exploring.

Substrate is aspen but the rat blood was mostly on fixtures in the tank. All day Zeek has been huddled around the water bowl with his head on top of the biggest bloody spot. I used the open palm method to remove the rock slab, that had most of the blood on it, and his log hide which he can't fit in at all, to allow easier access to the heat. He has remained in the same position all day which is around his water bowl and head where the first of three rats was taken.

My main concern is cleaning his water bowl but he hasn't left it all day. I tapped him on the head a little while ago, so I don't know if that had any impact.

Fearing he has chosen security over temperature, I upped the ambient temps to promote digestion. I will not handle him for a few days as I feel the first day was not successful for digestion.



I am posting as detailed information as possible so hopefully experienced people will tell me I am doing something wrong before I start bad habits.

[Kaorte]

Well, you said you were using log hides and you might want to think about switching to two identical "rock cave" kind of hides. Maybe then he will use them and you don't have to pry him off the water bowl.

If he is just hanging around the water bowl, just wait until he isn't there and grab it to clean it. The blood on the cage furniture isn't really that big of a deal. Once he is done digesting then just clean it up. It won't hurt him.

[withonor]

Today I got a really good lesson in why you should never assume anything. Just because temperatures are good today, doesn't mean everything will be working tomorrow. On feeding day, which was Saturday, everything was fine. I've been relating his behavior to the fact that I gave him three rats and he didn't fit in his hide. Today when I got up he was still on his water bowl, where he'd been for about 24 hours. I check the temperature on his hot spot and it's way too hot. So I make adjustments to the dimmer and check it after a little while, no change. Do it again a couple times and it appears the dimmer is the problem.

By the time I figured it out it was time to go to work. I picked up three new ones from Home Depot. I'll need two when I get my Herpstat II up and running so that leaves me with a back up on hand in case this happens again the snakes won't have to wait an extra 10 hours or more to get it fixed. After the temperatures were back to normal I put the log back in there just so he had something because he did use it the night of the feeding. He was back in there within a few minutes of me reintroducing it, though it looks more like an ostrich with it's head in the sand versus a python in a hide.

Lesson learned: If my snakes are acting strange or uncharacteristically then check temperatures before anything else, even if I just checked them a few hours ago.

Well, you said you were using log hides and you might want to think about switching to two identical "rock cave" kind of hides. Maybe then he will use them and you don't have to pry him off the water bowl.

If he is just hanging around the water bowl, just wait until he isn't there and grab it to clean it. The blood on the cage furniture isn't really that big of a deal. Once he is done digesting then just clean it up. It won't hurt him.

Here's the setup, a picture from about two weeks ago:



The side of the tank the water bowl is on I keep a shirt draped, because it's right next to my door, so it's a little secluded when he wedges himself between the tank and the bowl. I got this tank and everything the way it is from the previous owners. It looks cool with the tree and the rock slab, but these things prevent me from putting two hides in there. He's been eating fine which I think is the biggest indication of being comfortable so I'm reluctant to make too many changes all at once.