He NEVER comes out

[Dirt]

My BP "Papa Clyde" never comes out of his hide.

He's in a 45-55 gal glass aquarium, back and sides are blacked out, heat and humidity are good, and he always stays in the hide on the cold side...

I pull him out for about 10-15 mins every other day or so and feed him every 5 days, He eats like a champ on live rats. I think he's pretty healthy, but he NEVER comes out of the cold side hide...

I've gotten him out and he was cold to the touch. (That can't be good, right?)
When he goes back home, he surfs from the middle of the tank to the hot side, seems to stay there ontop of the hot side hide (identical to cold side hide) for a few minutes, gets a drink sometimes and back into the cold side again.

He sheds in the cold hide, He poo's and pee's in there too... I have never seen him out of it and I stay up fairly late on the weekends sometimes... It's dark-ish, no traffic, nothing that I can think of that would make him want to hide in the cold side all the time.

Now I get it, they usually hide... but should he be going to the warm side from time to time? There's plenty of 'stuff' in the tank to make him feel secure,.. I just don't get it.

I went as far as to take the cold side hide out for a night, after changing out the bedding, and he curled up in the corner on the cold side where the hide used to be... so I put it back in the morning.

Dunno what his deal is, but I'm starting to think I'm waisting money keeping the hot side hot...

[PorcelainxDoll]

My big guy Titan does that too. He is always on his cold side, and mt husbandry is spot on. I guess some snakes just prefer the cold to the hot

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[KMG]

If it is a young bp being in that large tank can make him feel unsafe. What is plenty of cover?

Never going to the warm side sounds like it is to warm. What are you measuring the temp with and what is your heat source?

[Dirt]

I got a Zilla thermometer and thermostat, ceramic bulb on top and a pad under the hot hide.

92*ish hot to 83*ish cool. 40-50% humidity.

I'm thinking maybe he just likes that side of the tank, I stuck the pad to the bottom, so maybe I'll just rotate the whole tank, make a mirror image so the hot side os on the left instead of on the right... I just don't think it's right that he's always on the cold side.

I could probably get more probes to measure the gradient from side to side... I should get one of them temp gun thingies... heck, I got one at work I could borrow...

[KMG]

Yea, borrow it. Double check the surface temps. I would also lower the hot side to 90 and see if your snake visits the warm side then.

[PorcelainxDoll]

My hot side is 90 and cool side is 82 and my guy does.the same.

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[arialmt]

Try 86-87 on the hot side. My understanding is that hot side hides are not the same as basking areas so then they shouldn't be quite as hot. Also what if your snake goes to the hot side at night and you never see it? got a web cam and some HDD space? Record at night and see. That's my pair of Lincolns.

[dprballs]

Hey guys, IMO if your snakes staying constantly on one side of the tank it's temp related. As others have said, try dropping the temperature a few degrees on the hot side. If your thermometers a degree or two out ( in working in centrigade here nt sure what u guys use - I'm British) which is not improbable unless you are using regularly calibrated guns you don't know how hot he is really!!

Plus, like people, all snakes are different. If there was a 'human care' sheet and I had an owner I'd be happy if he upped my temp from whatever the care sheet would recommend - I can regularly sit in a room full of people and be the only cold one!!

They're only a guide, a baseline. Somewhere to start. Read your snake and adjust his habitat according to his needs.

This is why so many caresheets all have different info.... It's not an exact science !!

[DooLittle]

I would guess its temp related. I would shoot for 90 on hot side. Those stick on zilla thermometers aren't accurate. Go to Walmart and get an Accurite. It will measure your hot, cold, and humidity. Loads better than those stick on ones. Also, is your heat pad on a thermostat? That is a must! Otherwise it could easily get too hot and burn your snake. How big is your snake? If he's young or a hatchling, that tank is huge and could be part of your problem.

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[Dirt]

The zilla thermometer I have isnt one of the stick on ones, It's the one with 2 probes, one for heat and one for humidity.

I'm gonna borrow the temp gun from work and see whats up.