Sanity check

[Greekinese]

So I got my first bp today and after I put him in the tank he checked out the area and made his way into the temple of doom lol:

He was hanging out in the 1st & 2nd floor earlier in the day and was still there when I got home from work.

I checked later and he was gone! I heard they were escape artists, but there's no sign of exiting the tank.
I picked up the temple and he wasn't there!

Then I turned it upside down and there he was!
He's all the way up in the top of the temple...

His UTH is on the left side of the tank under what was supposed to be his log hide.
I'm a little worried about him not getting enough heat. I hit him with the temp gun and it read 77 degrees which is okay for night temps.

Should I be worried or just leave him be? I'm wondering if I should get him out of there and close up the entrances to the temple so that he'll use ground level hides which will be warmer.
They're smart enough to seek out warmer temps if they need it, right? What do you guys think? Let him continue to roost in the temple, or make him use the warmer hides?

[threezero]

the general consensus is that baby bp shouldn't be house in too big of an enclosure. But you have ample of hiding spot he should be fine. Leave him be the rest test is when you try to feed him. Give him at least a week to settle down though! if he takes his meal than your good to go

[Greekinese]

Yeah, I'm just worried about it not being warm enough.

Maybe I'll move the temple where the log is so there might be some more heat.
Or turn up the heat lamp...77 degrees body temp is still okay, so I'm not freaking out...yet.

It's day #1 after all, I guess the temple is best hide he could've asked for, totally out of sight hehe.
Pretty weird he's roosting up there!

[Medusa<3]

Im pretty sure they thermo regulate so if he needs to get warm, he will find a way. Snakes will sacrifice there body temperature for a hide they like the most. I was told to get two identical hides.

[Greekinese]

The temple was a decoration item lol, apparently he doesn't agree...to him the temple = greatest hide ever!

[Capray]

Just close the entrances to the temple. You'll never be able to get him out of there when you need him, and he's going to be cold.
He likes it there because he knows it's very secluded and a small fit. Just stick to simple hides on the floor of the cage.

[Greekinese]

Yeah...I was hoping to wait until he left on his own accord so I wouldn't have to evict the poor guy.
He just arrived, but yeah...I don't want him to be too cold for the sake of security.

Talk about stress! Probably going to need to put the bag under the temple and shake him out lol.

[Inarikins]

Just let him leave on his own time, then remove it. So long as your ambients are correct he'll be okay not always on his hot spot. Maybe downsize his other two hides so when he does leave he's not as tempted to go back? You'll do more harm than good trying to get him out of there when he's crammed in and doesn't want to go. If he's a baby he'll get hungry soon enough and leave to look for food.

[Greekinese]

Update: This morning, while he didn't leave the bell tower, he was on ground level, so I took the temple out of the tank without having to give him the boot.

I placed him at the end of the half log hide where the UTH is and left him alone.

I came back after some time and found him going up here:


The top of the head gets better heat from the heat lamp than the temple did, but he's not using the UTH at all!
I guess he's just shy now and feels unsafe, so he wants to be totally out of sight. So a week of leaving him alone should help him to realize he's safe?

I'm looking forward to him feeling comfortable enough to sit in plain sight or at least in the log hide to get the heat.
Maybe the tank is too big for him...thoughts?

[Greekinese]

Success!

I came home from work and saw his tail sticking out of the mouth of the statue head. The rest of him was out the back and up a fake plant sniffing around (looking for food maybe?).

It was nice to see him looking around instead of avoiding being seen.

He then proceeded to look around, passing over the former site of the temple (must've been something like Oz...where'd my house go?):

On this way to the log and the UTH:

Shortly after he was curled up inside the log soaking up the heat. Body heat was 85 degrees where it was 77 when he was in the temple.

Next milestone: Feeding!