Help me understand my JCP's behaviour...

[TheKingInYellow]

My JCP has been a real sweetheart. She only bit me once, the first time I took her out of her container after I bought her at the breeder expo.

Anyhow, before last week she would mostly rest in the fake plants that I have in her aquarium, and occasionally she would sun her self under her IR bulb on two large branches that I have set up for climbing.

As of the beginning of the week, she has been spending almost all of her time in one of her hides, coiled up. Very unusual for her, and the first time she has used her hides since I purchased her about a month ago. I try to handle her at least five minutes daily, although not in the 48 hours after feeding, so I've been removing the hide and taking her out. This hasn't been a problem so far.

Last night when I had her out though, she seemed very nervous. Moving quite quickly and trying to grab on to anything she could reach. After a moment or two she urinated on me, and then passed urates. I know this to be a sign of fear, so I put her back in the tank and gave her a minute or two to calm down while I cleaned up, and then picked her up again just for another minute to let her know that she was still safe if I handled her. Her feeding has been fine, so no trouble there (rat pinky once per week).

I *suspect* that she might be getting ready to shed, but her eyes are not blue, and since she is only about eleven or twelve weeks old, her scales are always a bit dull. Am I on the right track thinking that this is the case?

What should I do when a snake defecates or urinates out of fear? Why would she be suddenly so afraid?

[Jerhart]

...what are your temperatures like on her basking spot, and in her hide....? As an excessive amount of heat may cause her to retreat to her hide and cause some stress.

...I would *guess* that she is going to go into shed soon which is going to make her a bit more uncomfortable and nervous. Avoid handling her for the next week as there is a reason she is retreating to her hide. As long as she is feeding fine, dont worry too much, just give her some time alone. And again, if she is acting like she is scared of you, leave her alone for a week and watch her to see if she goes blue. If she does, then you can suspect that she is just cranky from going into shed. Allow her to shed, feed her, and then try handling her again (and keep with your 48 hour rule )

Keep us updated and good luck!

[TheKingInYellow]

Her temps are good. Ambient of about 80, and the hides are about 82 and 90 respectively (she's been retreating to the warm hide).

Her humidity is low, and I'm working on that problem. I mist nightly and her humidity has normally dropped below 40% by the time I mist again the following night.

[TheKingInYellow]

Oh yeah, mystery solved!

Went down to check on my girls tonight, and there was a full skin in her tank. Looks like it was a good shed, one piece, eyelids and everything.

I take this as a good omen that I was able to notice the change in her behaviour and guess at the cause. I must have done enough reading before I went out and got my snakes

[Colin Vestrand]

yeah my carpets pretty much only use their hides when they'e about to shed... good call.

[TheKingInYellow]

Ha! My GBK shed today. Apparently my snakes have 'synchronized'...

[Colin Vestrand]

mine do that too... haha. they all go blue at once.

[TheKingInYellow]

They didn't go blue though. No sign before they actually shed that I saw.

Got the JCP out today, she was much calmer, and her colours look great. A very, very nice gold tone. I love my JCP