handling question

[Boafan9876]

Hi I jus purchased a four month old male redtail and I jus fed him yesterday arond 7 pm how long should I wait till handling him he's not being active at all idk if its cause he jus ate or if he hasn't settled in yet

[percey39]

Snakes will be inactive while digesting their meal. Leave him alone for 3-5 days just so he will have fully digested the meal that way he will not feel as threatened when you do handle him. Congratulations on the new snake!!

[Jay]

when the "do their business" i pick them up

[presspirate]

It really depends on the snake. Rule of thumb is 2-3 days. But I have one that still has a noticeable bulge after 4 days. So I don't handle him until (As stated above) After he does his business:freakedout:.

[Boafan9876]

After eatin doesn't. Make them aggresive does it?

[TeaNinja]

After eatin doesn't. Make them aggresive does it?

they Could be aggresive if they KNOW they need to relax and digest, and you're trying to disturb that. other then that they're prolly just lazy and wanna be warm and digest.

[Boafan9876]

Is there such thing as too much handling

[TeaNinja]

Is there such thing as too much handling

definetly, if you over hold a snake and it gets super stressed, sometimes it can associate the handling with stress and get stressed whenever its held. after my snake eats i leave him alone for 2-5 days, and when he's shedding i dont mess with him at all until he's done. other then that, i hold my big boa about once every day or two, and i leave him out for a while he's out of the cage, and occasionaly when its nice out i take him outside to roam around the grass and such, he likes that.

[Boafan9876]

nnot much of a handling question but hes been in his cage now for about three days and he hasn't gone in his hide is it cause he dosent know where it is or jus dosent want to

[Ch^4]

^ Do you have 2 hides for him (i.e., one on the "hot" end and one on the "cold" end)?

If not, I would suggest putting in an additional hide, as this will allow him to thermoregulate while hiding. My snakes occasionally bask atop their hides, but typically prefer the seclusion and 'security' felt by being in their hides.

Or, he may have found a spot that he likes, and is just hanging out. Unless you monitor him for 24 hours a day, there is a good likelihood that he spends some time in his hide.

[Boafan9876]

No I only have one hide in the middle of the tank alittle closer to the hot side but I will get one over on the cool side but yes he does hang out over in the corner of the hot side

[Lankyrob]

He should be able to choose between hot hiding and cold hiding, i reckon when the second hide goes in the warm end he will probably be straight in there. I tend to have one warm one cold and one in the middle that is full of damp sphagnum moss for each of my snakes, the "humid" hide is good for shedding tho all of my corns spend most of their time in the humid one even if i move it to the hot or cold end.

[TeaNinja]

i just set up this new viv for him the other day and made him the carboard box hide in the cold side, he loves both of them.

http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/cage001.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/cage002.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/cage003.jpg