Some things about Shauri

[Shauri413]

Hi all,

I'm wanting to make sure I am a better pet dad, so here's some info about my danger noodle, Shauri:

She's a 3-4 years old BP, at least 5' long, and was 4 lbs 13 oz last time I weighed her (at the time of her last shed). I have had her for a year now. She is the first snake I have owned.

After initially being skittish of me whenever I pick her up, she calms down and becomes very docile and curious. I normally like to let her hang out on my shoulders, and she looks all around and sometimes tries to climb down, so I put her back in her habitat once she gets too escapey. Every time she rediscovers my hair she is fascinated by it: she stares at it for a moment, smells it, and then crawls over it repeatedly, to enjoy the sensation I guess. I also have an old arm/elbow sling that I let her "hide" in while still keeping her next to me. She seems to really like the sling hide, and typically watches me from inside.

The previous owner was feeding her really big rats in order to "get her head to grow". From what I have read on this site I should probably move down from Jumbo rats to Large rats, as the jumbo rats are as big around as she is at her widest (but yes, she DOES eat the jumbos).

I think she's currently winter fasting, as it's been 6 weeks since her last feeding, and she wasn't interested in the thawed rat I offered her Monday night. I didn't have issues with feeding her last winter.

Her habitat is a 30"x12" glass terrarium with top venting. The substrate is Aspen bedding with liberal sprinkles of reptibark. She has a single hide (on the warm side), her water bowl, and a branch (that she enjoys climbing/wrapping herself around). Due to it's size and her size, there's no room inside the habitat for anything else.

I sometimes put cardboard around the sides of her enclosure to give her more privacy. Especially before/while feeding her. Should I permanently cover the left and right sides of her habitat to give her more privacy, and continue to cover the front before/while feeding?

After replacing the original UTH, she now hangs out on both sides of the enclosure, depending on her mood; before the replacement, she seemed only interested in the "warm" side.

Are there rooms better or worse suited for keeping the reptile in? Would a bathroom provide too much ambient moisture? Should she be in a bedroom? I don't want to put her in a closet to keep her shielded from all household activity, either.

I think I need to give her a bigger habitat, as it is the same habitat she's lived in for at least 3 years. I upsized the single warm-side hide given to me during the re-home, and she still lifts the hide 1/4" above the surrounding substrate when she is under the hide. It's crowded in her current habitat.

Plus I have to remove her branch and water bowl when I feed her, or she has no room to wrap herself around her meal. The situation is not ideal.

She is a VERY active noodle. She seems to press herself up against the glass at times when resting, and rubs her branch and the metal mesh of the enclosure while she's romping. What about other things to include in the interior of the future habitat? I'd love to include a rock in her future habitat so that she has a variety of surfaces/sensations to romp on. Not a heat rock, just a regular rock. Do BPs like rocks?

I want to core out some logs from trees removed from my property a few months ago (NOT cedar trees!). Is it better to give the noodle a hide with a single exit or a hide with openings at both ends?

I hope you all enjoyed my introducing Shauri to ya'll. Maybe I'll take a picture of her some day to share, too. If ya'll have some feedback and answers for my questions, she'd love to hear it.