What is my snake trying to tell me??

[dadofsix]

OK, one of my snakes, Tia, has just done something which has me scratching my head. This is a two and a half year old snake, about 40" long and weighing in at just about 690 grams.

I moved Tia from a 20 gallon terrarium to a 40 gallon breeder with no problems about four months ago. Tia has a warm hide (93°) and a cool hide (that she prefers) at about 77°. Ambient is usually at about 83°. Humidity is usually between 60% - 65%. Thus far Tia has been eating well. She just moved up to a medium rat this last feeding.

Now, the behavior . . . two or three days ago, Tia started to curl up in the water dish. I had never seen her do this before. At her size, there's not much room for water when she is in the water dish so, for a few days now, it was only getting filled half way.

When I came home for lunch today, I found that Tia had burrowed UNDER the water dish with only a wee bit of herself showing. The substrate is about two inches thick in that particular spot. I suspect that she is about to go into shed but this behavior was just so different from her usual behavior that it has me scratching my head.

So, what is my snake trying to tell me?

Peace

[Sunnieskys]

Rofl! My boople does the hot tub soak too. But under it? Warm hide should be 90. Ambient 80 degrees. Check the humidity in her hides with your gauges. If it's low put moss in there. She might just want the humidity for her shed.

other than that, I got nothin'

[Kcl]

My garter snakes insist on sleeping under the water bowl half the time no matter how many other options I give them in the same spot. I've given up. The ball python just this shed cycle decided to soak in the water bowl a bunch. I gave him a wider one so he would fit better, but he preferred to shove as much as he could of himself in the little one. Your hot hide is kind of high - try bumping it down and see if she likes it better - I try to adjust within the range if they're not using both sides relatively often. I actually bump the garter snake's hot side up a bit when they're in shed because they seem to seek out the warmest spots at that time and then bump it back down for the rest of the time. But in general, the answer is probably just that she feels like it. Under the water bowl may also be more humid.

[OneEyedFox]

Only thing I would look out for in soaking is mites, if she doesn't have mites, I wouldn't worry too much. Some snakes like to soak, as to why she would start now, I'm not sure. Your humidity seems alright, though you have room to bump the cool sides temp up a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hollowlaughter]

Soaking in water -- if mites are proven not to be a concern -- often comes from:

• desiring more humidity
• disliking the current hides (too big, wrong temps)
• eating too large of a meal

Check if any of those might be the cause and make sure husbandry changes are made as needed.

[Godzilla78]

My hatchling is under a water bowl the last couple days. I think the hide was too big. I put a smaller hide in there, and if that does't take, I will find an even smaller one. They really, really like to be under cover.

[dadofsix]

Yeah, I pulled her out from under the water dish last night, and she gave me this "withering" look. lol

She's back inside the water dish now. I'm thinking of moving the water dish (or maybe using a smaller one) and making a hide right there where the water dish is right now. I find it interesting that she found the one spot in the terrarium that has virtually no substrate covering the bottom or floor.

Peace

[dadofsix]

Soaking in water -- if mites are proven not to be a concern -- often comes from:

• desiring more humidity
• disliking the current hides (too big, wrong temps)
• eating too large of a meal

Check if any of those might be the cause and make sure husbandry changes are made as needed.

Interesting points to consider:

1. Humidity is where it needs to be (though I may bump it up because she's due for a shed).

2. She's been in this terrarium for nearly five months and is almost always found in the jumble of logs and artificial plants that I have placed on the back of the cool side of the tank (though it runs along for a while to the warmer part of the terrarium). As I indicated in my original post, inasmuch as nothing has changed in her habitat, the temps or the humidity, this behavior is a radical departure from her usual behavior.

3. This is the first that I have heard that too large of a meal can drive a snake into water. I am quite interested in the source of that information. Doubly so, in that she went from a (largish) small rat to a (smallish) medium rat a few days before she began manifesting this unusual behavior.

Peace

[tttaylorrr]

this sounds like a situation i had with Yellow a year or so ago. he stopped using his hides and was burying his entire body below the substrate and carpet (i used carpet at the time ) after some observation i realized he just didn't like his hides anymore, and needed bigger ones.

it could be a security issue. check your hides situation and see if they're suitable for her; she just might not like them.

[Aerries]

Everything I've ever read states that BPs can survive on nothing more then small rats at adult sizes....I fed my BP by accident a med rat and well (husbands fault) he didn't eat for a month lol needless to say stick to small rats every week unless your breeding from the chart


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk