night exploring is a sign of stress?

[steveb]

Is evening activity, such as attempting to get out of the tank, necessarily a sign of stress? How common is it for BP to actively explore most of the night? I'm asking because i have a 1 yr old who truly wants to get out and whether he wants to be held or traveling around the room or whatever, at night he obviously really wants to be out. Just putting him back in the tank and getting the cover back on before he pops his head out again takes some doing. During the day he stays in his hide. I've been told that this is a bad sign - that he is exhibiting "stress", but I'm curious to hear from others whether their BP share this behavior. From everything I've read, it seems that behaviors greatly vary among this species. Is there any scientific or even observational data to suggest that this snake is stressed out? Thanks.

[Bruce Whitehead]

tis the season to breed... all my males that are actively breeding (and a few that really want to breed) are crazy for love right now and doing the same thing.

It coudl be stress, or could be a nocturnal animal being nocturnal.

I have babes that when I peek in after ten PM are bunched up in corners of their tubs trying their best to squeeze through tiny little cracks.

As long as he is eating and doing what he needs to do, do not assume it is a bad thing.

Bruce

[Bruce Whitehead]

*repost*

[loonunit]

Nah! That's really just what they do in the evenings. Not that he won't exploit a chance to escape and explore the house if you leave him one... I once forgot to close my tank and woke up at 4am to find my black pastel female cruising the alcohol shelf.

[A.VinczeBPs]

Well, what enclosure do you have? Temps? Humidity? Hides?
If all this checks out as normal, and he eats every week then:

Assume it's a male trying to explore and find a mate. Nocturnal animals will explore at night, it's normal. If however, they show other signs of stress or bad husbandry then I'd re-check it's housing first.

Some of my ball pythons like to explore, and each is in a tub/rack system, so I know the enclosure is ideal. They just enjoy exploring. Some of them only roam out to get water then go back to the dark side of the tub.

[Vypyrz]

During the day he stays in his hide. I've been told that this is a bad sign - that he is exhibiting "stress", but I'm curious to hear from others whether their BP share this behavior.

Day time hiding is what they are supposed to do. You may occasionally catch them nosing around the tank or getting a drink but this is usually when they are moving from one side to the other to thermoregulate. Constant daytime cruising is a sign of stress...

[DJ_Bizarre]

Day time hiding is what they are supposed to do. You may occasionally catch them nosing around the tank or getting a drink but this is usually when they are moving from one side to the other to thermoregulate. Constant daytime cruising is a sign of stress...

This is absolutly true, in they daytime they are supposed to just sit in their hides and hang out and only leave to regulate their body temp or get a drink, the only time i ever see my little guy move is when i take him out of his tank and he does most of his exploring at night so i wouldnt just assume stress ...sleep all day and play all night, its what they do

[mrmertz]

Yeah, if it were the opposite (daytime running the tank) then I'd say that's not a good sign. But they are nocturnal, so this IS normal.

Our Humphrey just got into a larger tank after out-growing the other one. He used to come out earlier in the evening but now he stays honkered in his bigger hide for much longer periods. This is good. The wife was afraid he wasn't doing well since we didn't see him as much. I told her that the opposite was true. He's more relaxed now having a bigger hide and more space to roam about at night. He comes out all right, you just have to catch him a little later in the evening hours now. probably because he's sleeping better/longer during the daylight hours than he used to.

[steveb]

Daytime is stays in his hide. I recently put an identical hide on the cool side (running about 78-84) and he has been using that one ever since. The warm hide is 88-90. These are the rock-like cave hides. He has not eaten for about 3 weeks now, and he was eating regularly up to that point, one small rate weekly...I'm going to wait a week and try the hair dryer trick and feeding just at twilight, when he starts sticking his nose outside the hide, before he gets all worked up into cruising.

[Seru1]

My female usually explores at night.

She hasn't recently which makes me worry.


But as long as your BP is eating and seems healthy I wouldn't worry. I'd just enjoy the show.