Woah! W..T..F?!

[SnakeEyes]

So, its 1:31am and the lights in my room are off. So I know my little girl is gonna be roaming her tub as she only comes out when its dark. Shes about 58g so shes a tiny thing. So I turn the lights on and see her laying the length of the tub with her mid-section going across her water bowl. So I dim the lights down a little so I don't totally freak her out and go over to her tub to look at her. She scoots back a little from the wall and is staring at me but not moving anything, so I put my finger on the side of the tub, kind like you do when your looking at a toddler and bending your finger while saying "goochy goochy goo" and she snap at it! Full force right into the side of the tub, so I naturally reacted by yanking my finger away. So now she is on the other side of the tub looking at me, and im all freaked out cause I have never seen or heard about, or even read about it here. So now I'm staring into her tub, all freaked out, and out of no where she strikes at me again! This time I'm not even near her tub? Just looking at her...So I figured she is beyond stressed so turn the lights back off and am now writing this in the dark. But now I'm freakin' scared as hell of her, and she is just a baby! Hell, 3 days ago I couldn't get her to eat, now she is striking anything even close to her tub...wtf? This normal? She ok? This just a phase they go through? I'm actually really freaked out, even more so then when my male bit me a couple of min after he ate, at least he was in eating mode, this is all out of nowhere.

Tub set up is 80 degrees on the cool side, 95 on the warm, and 75% humidity. And no she is coiled in the back in the strike position and as soon as I turned on the lights to go look at the gauge readings she lifted her head like she is getting ready to strike again....Don't know what kind of help I need, but I really need some right now.

[chris B]

Sounds like she's getting use to her setup, or maybe shes hungry

[dr del]

Hi,


Well she probably got a bit defensive when this big warm thing loomed at her out of the dark.

Best advice I can think of just now is to just leave her alone to calm down and feel secure enough to carry on with her midnight stroll.


dr del

[SnakeEyes]

Sounds like she's getting use to her setup, or maybe shes hungry

I just fed her a little hopper mouse a few nights ago, and that was a tough task, I had to turn the lights out and everything before she would eat it, hell, lol, the mouse made a bed in the aspen and went to sleep...lol

Hi,


Well she probably got a bit defensive when this big warm thing loomed at her out of the dark.

Best advice I can think of just now is to just leave her alone to calm down and feel secure enough to carry on with her midnight stroll.


dr del

so this is ok? nothing is wrong with her, like she is sick or has some form of snake rabies or something? Sorry for me freaking out, but she struck twice, and is now all freaked out, as much as I am, and breathing really heavily, about as much as I was when she struck. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about her...I'll worry in the morning when I have to change out her water...

[dr del]

Sorry for me freaking out, but she struck twice, and is now all freaked out, as much as I am, and breathing really heavily, about as much as I was when she struck. I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about her...I'll worry in the morning when I have to change out her water...

Yes I would say she is ok.

She might still be freaked out because the thing that scared her hasn't gone away and keeps coming up and staring at her.

Let her settle down without interruptions and see how she is tomorrow. Their heat vision sense is supposedly really quite amazing so ,while you feel turning the lights down makes you less visible, you still look just as hot to her.

besides if she does get a little "snappy" - she's ickle!! I know they cause us great stress on occasion but I think you should be fine.


dr del

[SnakeEyes]

actually since I turned the lights off and got the readings of the gauges on her tub I haven't been back over there. Since I made the post I have stayed away. Shes on the other side of the room and I am making it a point to stay as far away as I can.

[jknudson]

Some hatchlings are snappy, definitely nothing to worry about. In fact a lot of times it will make for a better feeding response...

But again, Make sure you've husbandry is right on, and provide the snake with a sense of security...the snappy attitude may go away with time under the correct husbandry.

[SnakeEyes]

awesome, thanks for the tid bits. Since she is in no harms way and is ok, I can hit the sack since its 2:15am and I got work in the morning, but no way could I sleep and not know if this was ok or not. Thanks again for the awesome responses!

[sweety314]

Sounds like she's getting use to her setup, or maybe shes hungry

Nope...tiny snake, biiiig mean predator...she's being defensive b/c she's scared.

Little ones tend to be snappy as a means of protecting themselves. They know if they're not hidden, they're food for almost anything else. Leave her be and she'll calm down.

(BTW, rabies is a warm-blooded animal disease)

Give her a chance to calm down, and later on you can handle her, moving slow and steady.


R.

[West Coast Jungle]

You should be proud, great feeding response. She's a keeper!