Solidus

[iddah]

Here's my gorgeous baby boy that I got today. He's super docile, but also a lot more inquisitive and active than I expected.







I snapped a few quick pics when I took him home and put him in his tank, to my surprise he almost immediately climbed into one of the fake plants I used in his tank to add clutter in it lol.



I honestly hadn't anticipated him to climb up into the artificial plants. He also peed, I don't know whether this is due to stress, or if this is a good sign? He hasn't shown any interest in his hides so far, which worries me a little, because the hides are size M (I did add crumpled paper towels inside to make it seem more crowded for him), I don't want to stress him out unnecessarily because I'm supposed to avoid handling for at least 2 days to let him settle in, I did manage to switch out his cool side hide to a smaller black box hide instead.



Should I just calmly and quickly move him so I can switch out his hot spot hide to a smaller hide as well, or should I just let him stay where he wants to stay?

Right now, he's been chilling between his hide and the back of the tank, on the warm side (but hasn't gone inside of either hide yet). I really care about this little guy and want him to feel as secure as possible and just let him de-stress in peace. How long does it usually take for babys to go inside their hides? He explored the tank for a bit (climbing the fake plants) but did not seem to want to go inside the hides even though when I placed him in the tank I put him close to the opening of his warm side hide.

Any advice or thoughts anyone can give me? The back and sides of the tank are covered in black paper and I guess the plant next to him also helps provide security, but I would feel less anxious if he went into his hide, either the smaller one I managed to switch out on the cool side, or to the medium sized green one on his hot side. He appears to be okay, he's remaining still, and as far as I can see, he stopped breathing heavily (which I associated with stress, his sides were heaving slightly even back at the breeder when she took him out and let me handle him for a minute).

I really wanna switch out his smaller hide for him on the other side as well to encourage him going into either one of them, but like I said because I think the reason is either unfamiliarity or he feels the space is too open for him, I /don't/ want to disturb him now that he's seemed like he's calmed down and found a spot for himself even though he's not inside a hide.

Should I wait, or switch out the other hide, too? (Just for clarification, he does currently have two hides within his enclosure, the cool side hide is much smaller, I left the mid-sized hot side hide in there with him, because he's curled up behind it).

[Potatoren]

My caramel albino has never used her hides. She'll push them away with her body or rest on top or right next to them. She eats well, goes active at night, and sgeds fantastic. But even as a baby she never used her hides, and she has three to choose from that are proper sized for her. One of them she'll turn over somehow. But shes done this for three years now and has never gone off feed or seemed stressed. Maybe hes like Cara and prefers to be able to see everything? Lol.

Either way. Hes a very pretty baby

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[Finn0208]

Mine is the same way, he is never in his hides, but everything else is perfect


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[MissterDog]

Omg maybe this is wishful thinking because of my inner nerd, but did you name him after Solidus Snake from Metal Gear Solid?

[iddah]

Omg maybe this is wishful thinking because of my inner nerd, but did you name him after Solidus Snake from Metal Gear Solid?

I absolutely did, I was half waiting for someone to get the reference lol!!

I also contacted his breeder and asked for her opinion, I'll wait to see what she says, but hearing some of you guys also have snakes that don't really use their hides makes me feel a lot less anxious, I think I'll just let him chill. The temps and humidity are good, so my baby should be good.

[KayLynn]

I LOVE his name! I'm sad I didn't think of it first. 😭

And a very nice bp, congrats!

[MissterDog]

I absolutely did, I was half waiting for someone to get the reference lol!!

Awesome!!! You get cool points from me! I was actually considering naming mine Raiden or Big Boss at one point. Nice to find a fellow Metal Gear fan :p

also congrats! Beautiful noodle <3

[RickyNY]

Congrats Iddah!! Solidus is a pretty solid snake

[RickyNY]

Forgot to ask, what morph is Solidus?

[kenthebird]

In my experience, ball pythons introduced to a new environment will spend some time exploring around their enclosure. Sometimes this means that they might not end up utilizing the beautiful setups we create for them right away. Give your new snake some time to acclimate and he'll figure out how to use his hides eventually! Also I would recommend not handling him for at least 7 days, and get a meal in him first, before working on handling. I think the hides you have in there now will be fine until then. The less stress for a new snake, the better he'll be at figuring out his new enclosure. And remember - a hiding snake is a happy snake!


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