Do I need hide anymore?

[Jmarshall]

Hey guys,
So Damian hate his first FT rat the other night and I am happy to say he appears quite plump after taking his first rat. The meal was about 12% body weight.. My question is this.. So for feeding him, I removed the hide.. after he ate I found him on the warm side of his tub. I gently moved him over to replaced his hide in the back of the tub in case he wanted to use it. I found him this morning hanging out behind his hide and not inside of it at all. I have heard some people that keep their snakes in an enclosed rack dont use hides at all. I have removed the hide because he was just sitting behind hit bunched up between the hide and the back of the tub. Should I keep the hide out or leave it in there for him? He has settled in quite nicely and has eaten weekly for me since his first successful feeding. He was born April 2nd if that makes a difference.

[Zincubus]

Hey guys,
So Damian hate his first FT rat the other night and I am happy to say he appears quite plump after taking his first rat. The meal was about 12% body weight.. My question is this.. So for feeding him, I removed the hide.. after he ate I found him on the warm side of his tub. I gently moved him over to replaced his hide in the back of the tub in case he wanted to use it. I found him this morning hanging out behind his hide and not inside of it at all. I have heard some people that keep their snakes in an enclosed rack dont use hides at all. I have removed the hide because he was just sitting behind hit bunched up between the hide and the back of the tub. Should I keep the hide out or leave it in there for him? He has settled in quite nicely and has eaten weekly for me since his first successful feeding. He was born April 2nd if that makes a difference.

I'm presuming you have a Royal python ??

All my Royals over the years have certainty preferred a hide .. in fact mine all strike from under a hide and eat in there as well .

I have had Boas , Retics and Burms in the past and they were fine , even preferred not to have a hide . They all had loads of branches and bark on there though so they could find a quiet place ..


I think it's generally accepted that Royals do so much better ( feeding wise ) if they have two identical hides ... one over the warm area the other in the cool side .

Pretty sure that layout helps and even encourages them to move from one hide/area to the other and back and forth - thermoregulating .

If there's only one hide they will sometimes just stay in there where it's safe rather than moving from warm to cooler and back .

I've heard the same behaviour if they have two completely different hides and they just stay in the preferred hide ..


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[Zincubus]

PS

First off , if you haven't already got one .. get yourself a £8 / 10 dollar digital temp gun ( digital thermometer pointer )
They're invaluable for random checking on the vital surface temps in the viv
They're found cheaply on eBay or Amazon

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[Jmarshall]

Okay. I’ll do some research to see if he uses it or continues to hangout outside of it. He is in an enclosed rack and I had heard that the entire rack acts as a hide allowing the snake to feel secure without it. Maybe I’ll leave it out until feeding time to see if he eats without it.
Thanks for the reply!

[Valyrian]

I've heard some people don't provide hides. I'm of the opinion that you should always provide a hide, branches to climb etc. Because sure, the snake might not use it for months but what happens when it finally wants to use it an it's not there? It causes stress which leads to rubbing, pushing and striking and an all round bad tempered animal. Not judging anyone else but I think you should give your snake as many options as possible regardless of species because they didn't choose to be captives. We chose that.

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[Craiga 01453]

I don't use racks, so no hands on experience there. However, for new keepers I would definitely advise sticking to "basics" while you're still learning about your snake and the animal's body language, etc...

I personally see no benefit from removing the hide. Leave the setup basic with two hides and a water dish. Let the animal decide.

Also, no need to move the snake after it's eaten, they know how to thermoregulate and will digest where they feel comfortable. These animals wouldn't have survived thousands of years on their own if they didn't know how to digest their meals, and nobody moves them to a "better" spot to digest in the wild.

[Ericballardo]

Ill be post behind you all morning Craig haha. With racks the rule with always giving a hide is kind of a gray area from my experience. I have a couple girls that in the beginning would push there hides all the way to the front of there tub.

[Ericballardo]

Sorry pressed enter... Anyway what is was getting at was one of my girls was almost literally telling me to take this hide out of my home. Had another one started getting stressed when i took his hide out cause he was sitting behind his hide like yours was. My advice is to test it out without a hide the snake will tell you if it wants it back(pushing, rubbing constantly, bucking when you reach in, not eating things like that) do to these snakes being different from eachother somethings are still trial and error.

[Craiga 01453]

Sorry pressed enter... Anyway what is was getting at was one of my girls was almost literally telling me to take this hide out of my home. Had another one started getting stressed when i took his hide out cause he was sitting behind his hide like yours was. My advice is to test it out without a hide the snake will tell you if it wants it back(pushing, rubbing constantly, bucking when you reach in, not eating things like that) do to these snakes being different from eachother somethings are still trial and error.

I agree that different snakes thrive in different ways, but personally, I would go the opposite way, especially if I were still new to snakes, like OP is. The way I see it, leave the hide, it can't hurt. If the snake never uses it or is constantly pushing it out of the way, then maybe take it out. I wouldn't want to take it out and wait for the snake to have to rub and push to see if the snake wants the hide there after all.
Leaving it in won't cause any stress, it just won't be used. Removing it could possibly stress the animal to the point of rubbing and pushing. Granted rubbing may only lead to some minor irritation on the snake's nose, but why not go the other way and avoid that?

[Ericballardo]

I agree that different snakes thrive in different ways, but personally, I would go the opposite way, especially if I were still new to snakes, like OP is. The way I see it, leave the hide, it can't hurt. If the snake never uses it or is constantly pushing it out of the way, then maybe take it out. I wouldn't want to take it out and wait for the snake to have to rub and push to see if the snake wants the hide there after all.
Leaving it in won't cause any stress, it just won't be used. Removing it could possibly stress the animal to the point of rubbing and pushing. Granted rubbing may only lead to some minor irritation on the snake's nose, but why not go the other way and avoid that?

very true, it is frustrating dealing with a snakes once its to the point of stressed. the girl i was talking about was actually showing signs of stress, just like everyone i started evaluating everything in husbandry end result was the removal of her hide, but i do want to share she is the exception and not the rule. The only really thing i was getting at was that not all husbandry rules apply to every BP. i do recommend giving your little one more time with his hide and then evaluate the keep or take situation like Craig was saying. As long as the snake seems happy your doing something right. racks with 3 enclosed walls do work as a hide themselves. So it is less stressful when there is not a hide inside the tub compared to like a tank where it is all visible space.