New behavior I haven't seen before

[BeastMaster]

So everyone's favorite BP, Simon has not been using his hides recently He has instead been sitting right by the Plexiglas door on top of his cool side hide.

Simon has always used his hides and I don't think he's outgrown them, but he seems to just want to sit out. His feeding response is as good as its always been and he doesn't show any visible signs of illness and all the temps and humidity are the same as they've always been (Herpstat Pro controlled, digi temp gun verified daily).

Fresh water every day and he is kept on Shredded 100% Aspen bedding. He is fed every 5-7 days. He weighs in at about 730 grams and is about 32" long. He has eaten every meal ever offered since day 1. He has not ever been handled for 48 hours after feeding and is not offered prey when in shed phase.

My question is, could this be a sign of maturity (or comfort in his surroundings) or could it be a sign of stress or some type of weird sickness?

Any help would be great, Simon is only a year and a half old and one of my favorite snakes. He has never been aggressive, he is 100% sweet and everyone that meets him loves him. Even people who were scared of snakes before meeting him

[ladywhipple02]

I see you're in Georgie, so the temps have been going up lately. Just curious... do you have A/C? Or have you turned the air on yet?

I've found that my snakes are more sensitive to temps and humidity, especially in the spring and fall. I haven't turned my air on yet because the temps still get pretty low at night (I don't really have the heat on anymore either tho... trying to keep the bill down!). Anyway, most mornings they will be on the cool sides of their tubs, and in the evenings they will be back in on the warmer side.

Just behavior that I've noticed myself. Simon may be feeling subtle fluctuations in temp and/or humidity that you don't... that maybe we can't even pick up.

Or maybe he just likes coming out to see you

In any case, I doubt he's sick... but that's my opinion.

[Kaorte]

As long as he is eating I don't think its a big deal. I don't think him laying out is him being more comfortable... Hiding is generally the signal that they are comfortable.

I take it you have a UTH being controlled by a thermostat? The one time I had a heat spike, I noticed because all my snakes were sitting on top of their hides.

[BeastMaster]

I have Flex-watt that is covering the back 1/3 of the enclosures. It is being controlled by a Herpstat Pro and I check it several times per day, The % of power needed to maintain the desired temps fluctuate, but rarely exceeds 30-50% power requirement from the proportional thermostat.

I have a Accurite thermo/hygro for cool side (78-82), warm side (88-92) and humidity (40-50%) on each individual cage. I scan the enclosures daily (when I change their water) with an Infrared temp gun (Reptile Basics version) to make sure their temps are staying within spec. I monitor not only the heat directly at the Flex-watt, but also monitor the surface temps of the Aspen, since there is a difference in belly heat with 1/2-3/4" of Aspen bedding (usually between 84-86 degrees) with my temp gun.

I know my household ambient temps/humidity fluctuate, so I make sure to constantly monitor and adjust the Herpstat if needed (which is very rare) according to my current settings for the household. My house temps maintain pretty good with a slight fluctuation between 74-76 degrees. The humidity in my house is also monitored (with an Accurite) and averages 30%, even with the air on. All of my snakes shed once piece perfect sheds (eye caps to tail tips), even my carpet python (who likes about 60-70% humidity during shed phase)!

My Spider Roscoe has the same housing, run to the same specs as Simons and has not been acting any different than usual. Also my Kingsnake Albert and my Carpet python Vikki seem to be doing just fine and are maintaining their usual habits without any noticeable deviation.

It seems like Simon just wants to be out more, maybe he has reached or is coming into sexual maturity and is looking for a mate? The behavior is just unusual for Simon and has caused me to be on high alert. I'm just wondering if anyone that has been keeping BP's for several years has seen behavior like this in young males around his age/size?