Behavior Help

[YZGuy79]

I've been searching here and elsewhere but can't find anything close to my situation. Here's what going on and I'm hoping for some inside.

My juvi bp (Daenerys) is roughly 6 mo is my guess. I bought her from a chain store and she was prob a month or two. Tiny little thing. She had mites and two bad eye caps. She was 'supposedly' eating f/t but refused to eat for me. After about 2/3 week's I finally gave her a live pinky. She gobbled it up. She has since moved up to two Pinky's. Fuzzy. Two fuzzys. Last week was first rat fuzzy. She ate it. They didn't have a rat fuzzy this week and ate 3 mouse fuzzys. She eats every Sunday (as do all my snakes). Her tank is all good. Hot/cold hide. Water. Some foliage. 20g tank. CHE and red heat bulb. 60% humidity.


So now the behavioral issue. She is timid and snaps at everyone. Including me. When I take her out, it takes about 30 min of me holding her in a ball before she'll poke her head out and start exploring. But when I do handle her, if anything comes into her vision suddenly, she'll tense up and snap at it. By snap I mean coil back and strike at the air. It seems more defensive then anything else but I'm not sure. She's never actually bit me but has had plenty of chances. She's guaranteed to strike at something several times any time I take her out. Can someone point me in the right direction? Am I horribly under feeding her? Is she just a timid defensive snake? My other two are tons of fun to handle and play with. I just want to make sure she's OK and I'm not doing something horribly wrong. She's about 140g now. I'll inclide some pictures for reference.

[Monty's_Mom]

According to many suggestions I have read on here, it is probably a good idea to clutter up her tank with fake plants etc and the half log may not be the best choice. It could be too big. Smaller hides will allow you to use two hides and have the waster dish in the middle. Cover the outside of her tank with construction paper to let her feel more secure.

[JoshSloane]

It might be just the camera angle, but to me she looks pretty thin and underweight for her age. IMO when I see babies that come from dubious prior situations, and exhibit behavioral issues, upping the food intake can do miracles for you. I am NOT advocating power-feeding or over-feeding, but there is a lot to be said for a full stomach when dealing with behavior issues. Add in that she looks somewhat below weight, and I think you would do fine feeding her every 4-5 days. I would definitely up the food size. I like to feed one appropriately sized rodent, rather than multiple smaller ones. I never started babies out on pinkies, usually a hatchling can go right to mouse fuzzies just fine. Choose a rodent that creates a slight bump in the stomach of the snake after ingestion. I would bet she could take down a weanling mouse.

With regards to the striking, adding more hides and cluttering up the tank can definitely help her feel more secure. Handle her daily, and make sure to not put her back right after she has struck at you. You don't want her to understand that she can deter you with a strike.

[AKA Dave]

It might be just the camera angle, but to me she looks pretty thin and underweight for her age.

I was thinking the same thing.

Dave

[DVirginiana]

I'm bad at judging what feeder size should be from pictures, but the feeder should be the same circumference as the widest part of her body (or enough smaller feeders to be the same weight as an appropriately sized one). She looks pretty thin to me too.

Cluttering up her tank and upping her food intake should help. Also, they have pretty bad eyesight, and young ones are more nippy than adults. She'll probably grow out of some of it.

[bcr229]

Yes that baby is underweight. Hatchlings straight out of the egg can typically take a mouse hopper. One that is six months old should be up to rat pups. So, I'm not surprised that snake is snapping at movement - it's hungry!

The good thing now since the snake is hungry is the OP should be able to switch over to F/T pretty easily if that's the long-term plan.

[YZGuy79]

Alright guys. I'll def up her feeding schedule. And the other juvi too! I just never thought it was a feeding issue BC the other two are pretty tame. Glad I caught it some what early. Also, I'll prob stick with live. Rats are cheap around here.

[YZGuy79]

So. Update. I went to the store. I ended up buying a rat pup and a weaning mouse. Which were size appropriate for each snake. However I weighed the snakes and feed before feeding them. The mouse weighed in at 11g and the rat in at 23g but they are the same size. Does that mean the rat is a better feeder? More to digest etc. Should I go with a bigger mouse or slightly bigger rat. I'm kind of confused now. Pics attached to help.

Dark one of the rat fuzzy if you can't tell.