Help...Snickers is climbing up her temp probe wires.

[Superpop]

We have 2 thermometers with probe wires for both her warm and cool sides and have had them for months but in the past few days Snickers has trying to climb the wires of the probes by wrapping around them to climb up.

It's her new "thing"...she never paid any attention to the wires before.

The thermometers are suction cupped to the outside of her enclosure and the probe wires on the inside of her enclosure are suction cupped at the bottom of the inside to keep the the probe wire relatively tight. But Snickers starts about midway up and constricts around the wire trying to climb it.

I don't want her getting tangled in them!

I wish I could use packaging tape to secure the probe wires against the inside of the enclosure but I know I can't do that.

Any ideas?

[ss10gotanks]

Mine does the same thing only I dont have wires, she like to climb on our thermometers and just hang there. Maybe you can leave as much wire out of the cage as possible with only the probe hanging were you need it. Or if it bothers you so much you can get thermometers that dont have a probe and just put one on both ends of the enclosure

[Kymberli]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, I really do not think they can get tangled in it. One of mine constantly did that when it was in a tank, it never became entangled, simply pulled the suction-cupped probe off of the glass. I am, however, curious if maybe your BP is stressed and that is why it's trying to climb. Mine quit messing with the probe and wire when I switched over to tubs.

[Kateesaurus]

I wouldn't worry too much about it either. My little guy did this for a little bit when he was getting used to his tank and has since stopped. He never got tangled though even when I thought he would, just lost interest.

[Superpop]

Mine does the same thing only I dont have wires, she like to climb on our thermometers and just hang there. Maybe you can leave as much wire out of the cage as possible with only the probe hanging were you need it. Or if it bothers you so much you can get thermometers that dont have a probe and just put one on both ends of the enclosure

The "stick on" thermometers are considered to be inaccurate though. They just measure the temp of the glass/plastic which they are stuck to) We had them for a while but due to this forum I found out that is was not way to measure temps.

I've ran into a few of problems with our Snickers and have asked questions and gotten hostile replies from a few member here but....the vast majority of people here have been helpful.

Can I just offer a bit of unsolicited advice to you? You [b]DON'T[b] want to use those "stick-on" temp gages sold at petco/petland because they are not accurate. I already learned that the hard way.

I don't want you to feel like I am telling you what to do or attacking you because I have already encountered that kind of thing myself here.

You are a new member to this forum and I don't want you to be treated the same way I was treated when I first joined.

I just want to make sure that you have read the BP caresheet:


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet


I am by no means an expert but I am a "new-ish" owner and so if you have any questions on what threads have helped me on this forum I will gladly help you out in any way I can by linking you to those threads or offering up what worked for me.

[Superpop]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, I really do not think they can get tangled in it. One of mine constantly did that when it was in a tank, it never became entangled, simply pulled the suction-cupped probe off of the glass. I am, however, curious if maybe your BP is stressed and that is why it's trying to climb. Mine quit messing with the probe and wire when I switched over to tubs.

I don't know? How would I be able to figure that out?

She couldn't be too stressed because in the past few days she has done it both pre-feeding and post feeding. She still ate and she is not starving by any means.(she keeps getting bigger)

I don't think it's a stress issue....I think it's an attempt to ESCAPE issue.

She can't escape...her enclosure is secure but that doesn't stop her from trying.

[Kymberli]

What size is your tank and how much does she weigh?
Since you say she's eating perfectly fine and is healthy, I really think she should be fine. Like I said, I don't think she can become tangled in it. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, I am by no means an expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I only ask the size of your tank and snake because my first BP did the whole "escape route search" until I moved it to a larger tub. The tank it had come in when I took it from its previous owners was entirely too small for it, hence the need to escape.

[PitOnTheProwl]

The "stick on" thermometers are considered to be inaccurate though. They just measure the temp of the glass/plastic which they are stuck to) We had them for a while but due to this forum I found out that is was not way to measure temps.

Actually Acu-rite makes a digital that doesnt have the "outdoor" probe
I use one of those in my enclosures and have a separate one outside the enclosure that monitors the flexwatt.

[Superpop]

What size is your tank and how much does she weigh?
Since you say she's eating perfectly fine and is healthy, I really think she should be fine. Like I said, I don't think she can become tangled in it. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, I am by no means an expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I only ask the size of your tank and snake because my first BP did the whole "escape route search" until I moved it to a larger tub. The tank it had come in when I took it from its previous owners was entirely too small for it, hence the need to escape.

I have no idea how much she weighs....we don't have that kind of scale. (should we get one) She is quite a bit larger than when we got her 9 and a half months ago.

As for her tank....she lives in a 40 gallon tank so I know it's not too small.

[Superpop]

Actually Acu-rite makes a digital that doesnt have the "outdoor" probe
I use one of those in my enclosures and have a separate one outside the enclosure that monitors the flexwatt.

We went to 3 walmarts trying to get thos acu-rite thermometers due to the BP caresheet but none of the walmarts had them! We asked employees at each walmart about them but they didn't have them. We didn't want to wait by ordering online and so we just went to petsmart and got 2 thermometers with probe wires.