Wandering....weird.

[andrew123]

My female ball python is about 1 1/2? years old and when i got her in January of 2009 she was very docile and always kept under her hide etc. NOW, in the last month she is all over the place, all the time. She has her head stretched out all the way to the top of the 60 gallon tank and she'll run her body along the top until she legitimately falls and hits her head on the side of the tank because of her weight. She has completely "flipped" her attitude and I'm afraid she'll get hurt... :[

Any comments would help.

thank you so much,
Andrew

[JayBP]

The tank is a too big, but you said you didn't have any problems until recently. Has your husbandry changed even a little bit? How are temps, humidity, etc?

[CoolioTiffany]

Normally, if a snake is not eating enough, it will wander around searching for food. A 60 gallon seems kind of large, but if you have plenty of hiding spaces and no open spaces it's fine. As stated before, what are your temps on both sides, humidity, cage setup, etc.?

[andrew123]

Hey guys,
thank you for the messages.
It is HOT in agoura hills CA- like 90s.
so the temp on the cool side is around 80 and on the warm side its 80 if i keep the lamp off its a 90 degree day or ill turn it on if it gets a bit cooler and the hot side can get to near 100. the humidity changes whether or not i have the lamp on and how the air is outside, but i try to keep it at 60. it drops to 50, often...and it raises to 70 when i blast it with water (when its 50).

She literally is wandering all day everyday and i have NEVER seen this happen.

It's a complete change in attitude...her cage is perfect size, and i feed her on a set plan :/

hmmmm.

[Patricia]

Is it possible that it's sensing the fires in the area, however far away from you they may be, and so is uneasy?

[Shadrach]

Are we sure its a Female?

[lolashowme]

im in the la area as well- and my bps have been very active as well-- maybe they can sense the fires?

[WingedWolfPsion]

They have a good sense of smell, so it's not out of the question that they may smell fire, and may be looking for a good deep burrow to hide in. Fire is a hazard in Africa as well, so they may have evolved some behavior to avoid being killed if the scent of fire is in the air.

I know that when there were grass fires fully 50 miles north when I was living in Cheyenne, we could smell them when the wind was right. If I can smell a grass fire that far away, the snakes can surely smell them at even greater distances.

[andrew123]

Wow, thank you again for the insight.
You thoughts and ideas are way insightful and "out of the box"
The fire scenario makes sense...I'll have to see if she calms down...when
the fires calm down...hm/

And as far as her being a female, the breeder that I bought her from had her marked a female, so that's what I have been "going by"...is that bad?

Why do you ask the sex? What could this imply?


Thank you so much for the help,
Andrew

[Montie Python]

Is it possible that it's sensing the fires in the area, however far away from you they may be, and so is uneasy?

Its kinda crazy right now, but I can see the fire from my window...

My humidity has never been this bad...I'm spraying everyday, I can't wait till all this is over...

This morning i woke up to a smokey red choking morning...Wiped some ashes off my car and went off to work...


My gecko has been moving from hide to hide more lately...I will wait till this whole mess is over, and see how your snake reacts afterwards...