Why is he on the cool side?

[missi182]

My bp refuses to hide anywhere but under the hide on his cooler side which has got me worrying because his UTH on that side crapped out so I am waiting for another one in the mail (it should be here in a few days) The UTH under his warm side is stuck on the tank (I won't be doing that again) so I can't move it. His hides are identical and both are very secure and hidden.

I can't get the cool side over 80 (sometimes it lingers as low as 78 without the UTH) and he won't go to his warm side (90). So I lowered the warm side to 87 and stole his cool hide so he will go under the warm side until his UTH gets here. His tank is covered very well with plants and foil on the outside to make it more secure. Is it a bad idea to steal his hide?

[nathaniel]

I think that if he was too cold then he would go to his warm side. Has he oved around since you took away the hide?

[missi182]

Hes half under the warm hide.

[nathaniel]

i am thinking that he wasn't cold enough to be uncomfortable. has he done anything besides that to make you worry?

[missi182]

nope, hes shiny so I think hes going to shed and his humidity and everything else is alright, just that darn UTH. He has not used the hide over his warm side in over a month.

[nathaniel]

i was just going to say something about the shedding. All of this could be because of that. Some of my snakes do crazy while in the pre shed time.

[littleindiangirl]

What's your set-up? Do you have two identical hides?

YES, BP's will stay where they feel the most secure. If he doesnt feel safe with thermoregulating, you have to make it more comfortable (claustrophobic) for him to move.

[missi182]

His set up is fine except for the fact that the UTH quit 2 days ago. He has always stayed on his cooler side under his hide which, yes as I mentioned is identical to the hide on the other side and he can bearly but entirely fit underneith both hides. There are several nylon vines that cover the hides for additional security, Im not worried about him not having suffiecent security.

Since I brought him home, he has always hid under the cooler hide (83 with a UTH) and has visited his warm hide maybe three times (90 with a UTH). I took out the cooler hide tonight, lowered the warm hide to 86 (he never used it at 90 before anyway) and he is hiding there securely now. After he had been under there a few hours I put the other hide back in. He has been on the warm side for a few hours now so I'm hoping he will stay there.

Three sides of his tank are covered during the day and all four at night.

Thanx for the advice so far though!!

[BostonMacK]

My snake was about 6 months old when I brought him home and he pretty much stayed in his cool side hide for the first couple months taking the occasional quich stroll to his hot side hide. Now he seems to split his time pretty evenly with the slight advantage going to his cool side still.

If your snake needed the warmth it would move to the hotside so don't worry about that. Also, 78 on your cool side is still in the range although I wouldnt let it dip any further below that.

Question. How long have you had the snake? How old is the snake? Has it been eating for you?

[missi182]

I have had little dude for 2.5 months and he eats every 4-5 days and has put on 50 grams in the last month. He was treated anti-biotically through injections last month for mouth rot and he currently weighs 140 grams (I bought him at 65grams) He just turned 4 months old.