Moody Broody Snake!!

[Xanadu]

I have a 3 year old BP named Xanadu. Typically he is very calm and mellow and sweet (if a snake could be described as such). However, the last few days he has been very moody and tense and a bit sluggish. I wouldn't say he has been agressive, as he hasn't tried to strike or bite, but he has been very shy and edgy. He has also been staying on the cool end of his tank (out of the light and away from his heating pad) almost all the time. Typically he is handled every day (except feeding day, and sometimes the day before feeding day depending on his temperment) however I recently went on a trip for 6 days and during that time he was not handled (the person who was checking on him was not comfortable with that so she just made sure his water was filled and light was working properly). I was wondering if perhaps the tension and moodiness was because of the 6 days of lonliness or for some other reason. I do not have an exotics vet anywhere near me (the closest one is an hour and a half away) so I figured this was the best place to get possible info. The situation worried me because he has never acted like this before.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks so much!

Jess

[piper]

Maybe just having a bad few days. Cranky? It's possibly. Everything has an attitude! Less likely to see this type of behaviour in a bp but it's not unheard of. One of mine has struck at me, hissed and everything but it doesn't happen all the time.

Cheers,

Mike

[Neal]

A 6 day vacation wouldn't affect a snake like that. Check and make sure you havn't changed anything in the habitat lately, and make sure your temps are right, a sign of a BP staying away from the light/heating pad can possibly be a sign it's too hot, maybe your t-stat could be malfunctioning, so just check that.

[2kdime]

My Bloods get a little moody before they drop a poop if that could be the case.

As long as your environment is correct, I'd leave him be.

Sometimes they're just in funky moods

I do notice also that if I don't handle some of mine for a while, they get a little more moody as well.

[Xanadu]

Ok...DUH...he hasnt pooped. I'll bet thats what it is...he just ate on saturday but come to think of it he hasn't pooped since the mouse before that...might be a little backed up. that would explain it...

Its always the simple things...

[Kaorte]

They can go over a month without pooping. So you could rule that out.

Maybe he is going into shed and you missed the signs while you were gone?

I wouldn't worry about it. Every living thing has "bad days".

Just wondering, what are his hides like?

[Xanadu]

He shed about a month ago, so we arent sue for that for a while.

His last 5 sheds have been in three peices: head, body and end of the tail. His skin is shiny and pretty "soft"...not rough spots and the one place he had a damaged couple of scales has re-scaled nicely.

[Xanadu]

oh wait, you ment hide as in his hidey-hole, not his skin, eh?

his house is an over turned flower pot with a door cut in the side and vent holes in the top (holes are about the width of a mechanical pencil and there are 3). thats on the hot side, along with a flat peice of flagstone that sits next to his house. the cool side doesnt have one any more. He had a similar flower pot over there, but he kept knocking it over and out of the way and burrowing underneath his water dish instead. i figued after about 4 times of him doing that, he obviously preferred being under the dish as opposed to the flower pot on the cool side.

[seercirra]

my bp baby has been doing a similar thing the last few days too. as in, he's always in the cool hide.
dont know about you but i live in the uk and the last few days its been pretty hot. my room idles at about 80f during the day. so i figure he just doesnt want/need any extra heat for the moment.
maybe its something like that?

[Xanadu]

I'm not sure. Its been in the mid to high 90s here in my state (Mississippi, USA) and his tank is near a window, so perhaps thats it.

He actually went back into his house last night and sat with his little face stuck out watching me. Too cute!