My new BP doesn't seem to be settling

[calislytherin]

I might be overreacting but let's see.

I brought my girl home 6 weeks ago, she's already 2.5 years old but had lived with the breeder her whole life up until then. She weighed 1500g and was eating F/T weaned rats weekly (I thought this was too small so just planned to take her up a size). She had a vet checkup shortly after I got her and is in general great health.

When I first went to collect her, I held her for about 20 mins while the shop assistant helped to build my flatpack viv. She was calm and curious. When I brought her home, I left her alone for a week then tried a feed. She didn't take it. Since then, I have offered food once a week to every 10 days (trying weaned and small rats) but with no luck so far. I let her have a little explore outside her viv on maybe 3-4 occasions but have tried to keep handling to an absolute minimum until she eats. Some of you may have seen my post last week, she did escape and was hidden somewhere under our kitchen units for about three days but she's since back in her usual routine of hiding all day and poking her head out at night.

The last few days I've noticed she has been moving the substrate around in her enclosure at night, looks like she's been burrowing and sort of piling it into mounds/barricading herself, as well as moving one of her hides. The last rat I left in there overnight, she moved it further into her hide but didn't eat it. She popped her little head out last night so I opened the door and she slowly came out. She started to head behind the TV unit and as I gently tried to redirect her, she literally moved like lightning (virtually whipped her tail) and shot underneath the unit. I will admit it startled me a bit. I didn't know they could move that fast. I'm thinking she may have hidden here for a while when she escaped as she clearly knew where she was going. I brought her out but she was extremely restless so I just put her straight back in her viv and she hid. Could the escape experience have been scary or distressing for her?

She is my second BP and I'm finding it a very different experience than the first 6 weeks with my baby (who I got as a hatchling). He took to regular eating after 2 weeks and handles extremely well. He moves calmly and curiously and seems to enjoy exploring his enclosure and climbing. I know that it is advisable not to handle until a new snake eats for you, but I am worried that the longer I go, the more skittish she seems to be becoming. She retreats and is frightened very easily which didn't seem to be the case when I first collected her. Last night I also noticed her skin seems quite loose.

More experienced BP owners – is the handling something that I can easily work on later down the line? Should I keep leaving her well alone until she eats? What more can I do to get her to eat? At what point should I take her into the shop and see if she eats for them? Have you noticed a difference in having a snake from a hatchling vs getting them as a grown up? Are some snakes always just going to be less social/more skittish?

Enclosure info: 4x2x2, coconut fibre and sphagnum moss, 90 warm side, 80 cool side, humidity 60, two hides, fake plants and vines for clutter.

Thanks everyone on this forum for being so helpful and knowledgeable!

[Lord Sorril]

1500 grams is a decent size.

It can take adult BPs weeks (hatchlings-just days) to adapt to a new enclosure and months to adapt to a new environment (undisturbed-e.g. no handling/excursions). She is active because she is trying to find a place to hide that she will not be bothered. She already escaped once in a new territory...she will move everything around for a few weeks and push to test for exits in another attempt. Transporting her to another location is just additional stress. More is less in this case: no handling until she is comfortable and eating regularly.

Since recently she escaped I would reset the clock and give her another 3 months before I was concerned-roll back food offerings to once every two weeks.

As usual I recommend checking your temps regularly and having a water bowl large enough for her to fully submerge in.

Best of Luck!

[calislytherin]

1500 grams is a decent size.

It can take adult BPs weeks (hatchlings-just days) to adapt to a new enclosure and months to adapt to a new environment (undisturbed-e.g. no handling/excursions). She is active because she is trying to find a place to hide that she will not be bothered. She already escaped once in a new territory...she will move everything around for a few weeks and push to test for exits in another attempt. Transporting her to another location is just additional stress. More is less in this case: no handling until she is comfortable and eating regularly.

Since recently she escaped I would reset the clock and give her another 3 months before I was concerned-roll back food offerings to once every two weeks.

As usual I recommend checking your temps regularly and having a water bowl large enough for her to fully submerge in.

Best of Luck!

Thank you so much! This makes perfect sense. I was actually thinking yesterday I need to get her a larger water dish as she only has a small one at the moment. I'll push this to the top of the list!

[Craiga 01453]

More experienced BP owners – is the handling something that I can easily work on later down the line? Should I keep leaving her well alone until she eats? What more can I do to get her to eat? At what point should I take her into the shop and see if she eats for them? Have you noticed a difference in having a snake from a hatchling vs getting them as a grown up? Are some snakes always just going to be less social/more skittish?

Enclosure info: 4x2x2, coconut fibre and sphagnum moss, 90 warm side, 80 cool side, humidity 60, two hides, fake plants and vines for clutter.

Thanks everyone on this forum for being so helpful and knowledgeable!

- yes, the handling is something you can work on later. Although some are just more active, curious, flighty than others.

- yes, absolutely leave her alone til she's eating regularly.

- to get her to eat, leave her alone. Adults can take a lot longer to settle in than juveniles. She's already been through a lot since you brought her home. Just let her be.

- definitely DO NOT move her to try to get her to eat. That's just adding more stress. Stress = refusals. Stress = regurgitating if the animal does actually eat.

- and yes, adults do take a bit longer to acclimate. And yeah, they do have different personalities and mannerisms.

Please understand that I'm not trying to rag on you here, but trying to help...
It seems to me that something is a bit lax regarding your handling. BPs are not a fast species. In fact they're pretty slow as far as snakes go. So to allow the animal to "escape" like that leads me to think something is a bit off with your handling. Letting them roam a bit is one thing, but allowing them so get into dangerous situations and areas should not be happening. That's already 2 "close calls" with this animal in a matter of 6weeks. And since the animal isn't eating, it shouldn't be handled at all yet.

Also, you mentioned you have another snake. Are you following proper quarantine procedures with the new snake?

[calislytherin]

- yes, the handling is something you can work on later. Although some are just more active, curious, flighty than others.

- yes, absolutely leave her alone til she's eating regularly.

- to get her to eat, leave her alone. Adults can take a lot longer to settle in than juveniles. She's already been through a lot since you brought her home. Just let her be.

- definitely DO NOT move her to try to get her to eat. That's just adding more stress. Stress = refusals. Stress = regurgitating if the animal does actually eat.

- and yes, adults do take a bit longer to acclimate. And yeah, they do have different personalities and mannerisms.

Please understand that I'm not trying to rag on you here, but trying to help...
It seems to me that something is a bit lax regarding your handling. BPs are not a fast species. In fact they're pretty slow as far as snakes go. So to allow the animal to "escape" like that leads me to think something is a bit off with your handling. Letting them roam a bit is one thing, but allowing them so get into dangerous situations and areas should not be happening. That's already 2 "close calls" with this animal in a matter of 6weeks. And since the animal isn't eating, it shouldn't be handled at all yet.

Also, you mentioned you have another snake. Are you following proper quarantine procedures with the new snake?

Thanks so much for all your answers. I was attempting a feed in the dark when she escaped, she must have slipped out as I actually locked the viv that night thinking she was in it. I felt really horrible afterwards and won’t be making that mistake again. The TV unit is right next to the viv so I wouldn’t really call that a close call, I was just shocked at how fast she moved. I hadn’t handled her at all prior, a couple of times I’ve just opened the door and she’s done a loop of the enclosure then slithered back in.

I’m between two countries, my baby snake lives in the other one.

I’m going to pop a bigger water dish in there then I think just leave the door closed for the next few weeks if I can before trying another feed. I think I’d been going off my experience with my baby as he adjusted so well but this is a new learning curve. I really do care and just want to make sure she’s comfortable.

[Bogertophis]

I agree with the above posts but just a few added thoughts:

She lived in one place (w/ the breeder) for about 2.5 years. She probably wasn't handled a whole lot. So between those 2 things, coming home with you to a
whole different "world" is very unsettling...yes, she is trying to find her way home, to familiar territory.

Since her "world" is vastly different now, you want to make as few other changes as possible to help her settle in: always best to feed exactly as she had before.
Since she was eating weekly, I would NOT have sized up...at least not for quite a while, well AFTER she had settled it & probably also by feeding every other week.
Stop "rocking the boat".

So yes, handling can & must wait until she is settled in (ie. eating regularly for you)...sadly, her escape was also a set back. She is frightened & stressed.
Do NOT "take her into the shop to see if she eats for them"...not unless you plan to leave her there...it's just more confusion & stress.
Some snakes may always be more skittish than others...isn't that true of everything? Every snake has it's own mind & personality...do your best to understand &
help yours.

When you get a new snake & for BEST results, always initially house & feed them as close to what they had before while they settle in...it makes it faster. Obviously
this doesn't apply if the snake is a rescue from a bad scene... but otherwise, avoid changes. Use the same substrate if you can too...whatever worked before.

[calislytherin]

I agree with the above posts but just a few added thoughts:

She lived in one place (w/ the breeder) for about 2.5 years. She probably wasn't handled a whole lot. So between those 2 things, coming home with you to a
whole different "world" is very unsettling...yes, she is trying to find her way home, to familiar territory.

Since her "world" is vastly different now, you want to make as few other changes as possible to help her settle in: always best to feed exactly as she had before.
Since she was eating weekly, I would NOT have sized up...at least not for quite a while, well AFTER she had settled it & probably also by feeding every other week.
Stop "rocking the boat".

So yes, handling can & must wait until she is settled in (ie. eating regularly for you)...sadly, her escape was also a set back. She is frightened & stressed.
Do NOT "take her into the shop to see if she eats for them"...not unless you plan to leave her there...it's just more confusion & stress.
Some snakes may always be more skittish than others...isn't that true of everything? Every snake has it's own mind & personality...do your best to understand &
help yours.

When you get a new snake & for BEST results, always initially house & feed them as close to what they had before while they settle in...it makes it faster. Obviously
this doesn't apply if the snake is a rescue from a bad scene... but otherwise, avoid changes. Use the same substrate if you can too...whatever worked before.

Thank you! This is beyond helpful Feel like I’m understanding so much better and going to stop worrying about time going by and just leave her completely be.

[Craiga 01453]

Thank you! This is beyond helpful Feel like I’m understanding so much better and going to stop worrying about time going by and just leave her completely be.

Don't get discouraged. Now that you're cleared up on a few things you'll be good to go in no time.
Just give her time. As you've learned, adults just take a little more time.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, we're happy to help. And please keep us posted.