You sure this is normal behavior?

[Trollbie]

Her back and forth slithering against the front wall of the tank for hours and hours?

She just only does in the front of the tank

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/749dc2ec.jpg

I'm telling you, it's for hours at a time. It's cute and I'm glad she isn't just sleeping all the time. But I don't want her to be missin something :/

[lady_bug87]

if she flips on her back can she right herself?

[jdavy]

That kind of activity sounds like a sign of stress to me. Is she getting rub marks yet? How long have you had her for (not terribly uncommon when a snake is just settling into a new home). Better double check all of your husbandry just to be sure.

[Gungirl]

double check your husbandry and also I would reccomend covering 3 sides( back and both ends) of the tank with something. You can use fabric, paint, aquarium back rounds.If your husbandry is correct this will help her feel more secure.

[theapexgerman]

Since you only had her for a week or so I say maybe she just getting use to her tank but I would cover the sides with something maybe not enough spots to hide my nelson does it when he's hungry so I would think its normal

[TremTricolors]

Are you sure it is a her? It is breeding season and and sounds like you have a male instead of a female. My males are starting their journey to nowhere right now. Doing the exact same thing with no appetite. They only have one thing on their mind at this point.

[theapexgerman]

Yea my male albino nelson is surfing his cage still eating but I think he wants an mate lol

[snakekid6996]

Are you sure it is a her? It is breeding season and and sounds like you have a male instead of a female. My males are starting their journey to nowhere right now. Doing the exact same thing with no appetite. They only have one thing on their mind at this point.

So would that be why my snakes been a lot more active lately in his tank??

[youngster]

So would that be why my snakes been a lot more active lately in his tank??

Most likely.

[TremTricolors]

So would that be why my snakes been a lot more active lately in his tank??

It sure is most likely. Especially if they are males. Females are usually the same all year except when they are ovulating or producing eggs. At this time the females appetite will become better and eat more consistently. Males are usually the most active during spring.

[TremTricolors]

Yea my male albino nelson is surfing his cage still eating but I think he wants an mate lol

Not all males will go off food. I have one male that will eat until 21 days out of brumation and then not take his next meal until sometime in June.

[Trollbie]

She doesn't really end up on her back. But the few times I've seen her fall on her back she was right back up. Well I didn't check for sex, but I saw the guy pop my soon to be BRB so I don't feel the need to question it since he obviously knows how to.
I guess she could be hungry, but she ate on Monday. She started with the wall climbing as soon as she got the mouse down, did it for a couple hours and then she slept for like the next 24 hrs or more maybe, left me my first surprise yesterday by the water dish lol and is back to herself again. I also think she sleeps at night and is active during the day. But I could be wrong. It just seems that way because I won't see her out of her hide when I go pee at night.
I've had for almost 2 weeks.
As far as husbandry, she did it a lot less when the temp was not high enough, and my humidity is between 50-60% (finally got it to not go over 65% lol)
I'm getting her a new house next week, so I guess I'll wait and see?

Also when she does this and I go pick her up, she stays very calm and relaxed. Even when I take her out. She isn't as calm if I touch her when she's just chilling.

I also have 2 hides in there, one of which is the snake den thingy, a half log, and the substrate is deep enough that most of the time I won't know where she is if she buries herself. She spends most of her hiding time under the log though. I arranged a fake plant on the back wall and pressed the log up against it so she can feel secure there. She seems to like the log when she's sleeping. The few first days I had her without any hides she just spent most of the time buried. Now that the log is there she prefers the log. Id think she would spent most of the time buried if something wasnt secure in there?

I was told she did it at the pet store too when he hasn been handled in a while an would always calm down immediately after being taken out. But I handle her for a bit pretty much every day lol

[TremTricolors]

She doesn't really end up on her back. But the few times I've seen her fall on her back she was right back up. Well I didn't check for sex, but I saw the guy pop my soon to be BRB so I don't feel the need to question it since he obviously knows how to.


Trust me, popping is not a guaranteed way of sexing snakes, even more so if the are bigger. Hatchlings yes it can be done but I will tell you from experience it is not always 100% accurate. Probing is the only accurate way of distinguishing the difference. Even some of the best breeders in the states will tell you this and some have actually sent 2 males or 2 females when they were supposed to be a pair. Just a thought, not trying to be negative just looking at other reasons why?

[Trollbie]

Trust me, popping is not a guaranteed way of sexing snakes, even more so if the are bigger. Hatchlings yes it can be done but I will tell you from experience it is not always 100% accurate. Probing is the only accurate way of distinguishing the difference. Even some of the best breeders in the states will tell you this and some have actually sent 2 males or 2 females when they were supposed to be a pair. Just a thought, not trying to be negative just looking at other reasons why?


I know he probes older snakes. I remember being relieved that he popped my baby BRB instead of probing. Probing gives me the heejeebeegees lol. And he was like oh no i normally probe, just not babies... Don't males tend to have a bulge type thingy at the tail? And females tend to have a more gradual tail? If so I know it's a good way to sex. I'm just curious. Anyway, whenever I have a chance, I'll take her to get checked somehwere else just to make sure.

She better stay a she... Penelope is not a name that could go both ways lol

[Trollbie]

She is a young adult btw, she's probably been probed rather than popped. I guess I could also ask when I'm there if they probed her themselves.

[TremTricolors]

She is a young adult btw, she's probably been probed rather than popped. I guess I could also ask when I'm there if they probed her themselves.

It doesn't hurt, or if you trust them enough take her in and have them probe her for you. Accidents do happen from time to time.

[Trollbie]

It doesn't hurt, or if you trust them enough take her in and have them probe her for you. Accidents do happen from time to time.

Id hope it doesn't. But it creeps me out lol. But if she is a girl, and husbandry is fine, could she just be a weirdo, but a healthy one?

[Trollbie]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/e57b21e1.mp4

[alessia55]

What if you put a climbing stick in there or something? Maybe he'll be more inclined to get his energy out by climbing that instead of the tank's walls...

[Trollbie]

What if you put a climbing stick in there or something? Maybe he'll be more inclined to get his energy out by climbing that instead of the tank's walls...

There is one smaller one. I'm hoping it's all going to get better when she gets a new house by the end of this week :/

[millertime89]

some snakes just push and there's simply nothing logical you can do. Retics are notorious for this and people will go to all sorts of lengths to stop it and sometimes they manage, sometimes they don't. I need to figure out why my girl does it, thankfully she's small enough now she can't do any damage to herself. Try both a smaller enclosure and a larger one, covering sides, extra hides, it takes some experimenting to figure it out.

[Trollbie]

I asked the petstore about it, and they said that she's always been like that. They had her there for like 2 months before I bought her.

So I guess I just have a funny snakezilla? I'm researching vets and insurance because I do want to get her checked just to make sure

[a153fish]

She's very pretty from what I can see in that pic. I'd love to see the top side. Has she settled down for you since this post was made?

One more thing. She might still be hungry? Sh looks pretty big and one small mouse might not be enough. Also pet shops are famouse for underfeeding their snakes, becuae they don't want to spend more on the animals than they have to. I bet if you fed her a bit more she would settle right down, and try to digest the meal.

[Trollbie]

She hasn't done it in 3 days lol, but that's because she's going into a shed. Otherwise she still does it. When I gave her a big size mouse, she almost got the whole thing down, but than she spat it out. So I tried smaller next time just to make sure she's gonna eat. Well now she's going to shed so I'm not even gonna try feeding her till next week.

But I know the pet store fed her good size mice once a week, and that this is her typical behavior. The other day she would do this on the side of the tank I was on, and she would switch sides if I moved across the room lol.

I love her. I hope this is just her quirk and that she's happy and healthy. I was gonna take her to a vet this week for an exam, but I don't think it's a good idea so I'll have to wait till after she sheds.


http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/79c4069f.jpg
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/c8a67693.jpg

[Trollbie]

But she totally calms down when I pick her up. I guess she just enjoys coming out of her tank and exploring?

[theapexgerman]

such an good looking snake and maybe she just likes to be held my babie opal corn loves to be held and he's only 2 months old lol

[Trollbie]

such an good looking snake and maybe she just likes to be held my babie opal corn loves to be held and he's only 2 months old lol

She really seems to enjoy my sleeve and hood haha

[Trollbie]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/Czechish/c2100300.jpg

[theapexgerman]

Lol she's hiding she like it cause its an good spot for her to hide

[Trollbie]

Lol she's hiding she like it cause its an good spot for her to hide

Yeah :)

I REALLY love my snakezilla haha

[theapexgerman]

Glad you do and your going to love ya BRB

[Trollbie]

Glad you do and your going to love ya BRB

I'm going shopping for both him and Penelope today... I'm more excited to go shopping for my snakes than for myself haha

[theapexgerman]

My order of corkbark came in today I bought 25 pounds of the stuff going to use it to decorate my dumerils tub he under his substrate so I'm replacing one of his log hides woth cork bark so he can lay under

[Trollbie]

My order of corkbark came in today I bought 25 pounds of the stuff going to use it to decorate my dumerils tub he under his substrate so I'm replacing one of his log hides woth cork bark so he can lay under

what is it?

[theapexgerman]

It some good stuff here's a link to some info and were I bought it from Natural Cork Bark For Reptile And Amphibian Cage Decoration (http://www.bigappleherp.com/Zoo-Med-Natural-Cork-Bark)

[Trollbie]

I coulg get a few and stack them up! That would look super cool

[MoreliAddict]

I'm going shopping for both him and Penelope today... I'm more excited to go shopping for my snakes than for myself haha
i'm the same way lol

[Lankyrob]

I have large pieces of corkbark in a couple of my vivs, makes the viv look more natural and gives snakesy some nice hidey places :)

[Trollbie]

I'm all for natural looking... The only not so natural looking thing I'd ever out in my vivs is a dino skull :D But that's pretty natural too if you think about it.

[theapexgerman]

I have large pieces of corkbark in a couple of my vivs, makes the viv look more natural and gives snakesy some nice hidey places :)
Now only if corkbark was cheaper lol

[Trollbie]

Now only if corkbark was cheaper lol

Yeah why is the natural stuff cheaper than the plastic ugly stuff???

[a153fish]

She hasn't done it in 3 days lol, but that's because she's going into a shed. Otherwise she still does it. When I gave her a big size mouse, she almost got the whole thing down, but than she spat it out. So I tried smaller next time just to make sure she's gonna eat. Well now she's going to shed so I'm not even gonna try feeding her till next week.

But I know the pet store fed her good size mice once a week, and that this is her typical behavior. The other day she would do this on the side of the tank I was on, and she would switch sides if I moved across the room lol.

I love her. I hope this is just her quirk and that she's happy and healthy. I was gonna take her to a vet this week for an exam, but I don't think it's a good idea so I'll have to wait till after she sheds.

She is a very pretty Annulata, or Mexican Milk snake. A pretty good sized one too! Milk snakes often prefer smaller meals so you may need to feed her more than one. Or feed her more often. I bet if you do that, she will calm down quite a lot. Unless Jimmy is right and she is a he, then he is looking to mate. I would try feeding her a bit more. Of course wait untill after she sheds. She could easily take 2 or 3 smaller mice, like hoppers or slightly bigger than hoppers. She is beautiful!

[Trollbie]

She is a very pretty Annulata, or Mexican Milk snake. A pretty good sized one too! Milk snakes often prefer smaller meals so you may need to feed her more than one. Or feed her more often. I bet if you do that, she will calm down quite a lot. Unless Jimmy is right and she is a he, then he is looking to mate. I would try feeding her a bit more. Of course wait untill after she sheds. She could easily take 2 or 3 smaller mice, like hoppers or slightly bigger than hoppers. She is beautiful!

I was told she is a Red Milk lol. Then some members here said she must be a mix because she doesn't look like a full Red. But when I looked at all the species, she definitely looked like either a Red or Mexican. The pet store isn't sure about her locality so I guess I'll never really know! :wacky:

But thank you! I love her. I was going to buy fish food one day I noticed that the pet store started focusing more on reptiles (since that's their passion) so I was just looking around and the lady pulled her out and let me hold her and I instantly fell in love... I've held snakes before, and have always wanted one, but she was THE one :D
She was definitely an impulse buy, but she has an amazing "personality". And I think she has a really cute face too!

But she hasn't musked me or tried to bite me. The most she'll ever do is rattle her tail when I accidentally catch her off guard, but I usually leave her be unless she's doing her "let me out" dance routine. Then I just let her smell my hand and she'll come right out and be super calm and relaxed. I've accidentally took a nap with her twice already (ooops) but she either stayed in my hand, or stretched out against my side. (I'm not going to test my luck again though o.O)

Anyway, I'm getting a little concerned with how big she's gonna get since I don't know what she is! She sheds about every 4-5 weeks, so they think she's 2-3 years old and that she's not going to get much bigger. She's probably ~75cm right now. So how much bigger do you think she'll get? I'd like her to stay under 1m but I guess I'll just be prepared for her to get bigger.

In the pictures where she looks like she's posing, you can see the mouse bulge (right on top of the water dish). So should I feed her that size mice? Bigger? Smaller? And feed 2 at once, or one at a time, but more often?

[Trollbie]

The more I look up Reds and Mexicans, the more I think she is Mexican... Do you notice how one of her bands doesn't match up on her belly? Is that an indication of anything?

The only thing that doesn't match up is that they're more nocturnal. From what I've observed, she's most active during the day (especially when I'm around) and usually sleeps through the night. But I guess that could just be her personality

[theapexgerman]

Yeah why is the natural stuff cheaper than the plastic ugly stuff???
Don't know corkbark was ok price but 25 pounds in shipping terms are a lot and corkbark can use as a floating log basicly be use for anything

[theapexgerman]

The more I look up Reds and Mexicans, the more I think she is Mexican... Do you notice how one of her bands doesn't match up on her belly? Is that an indication of anything?

The only thing that doesn't match up is that they're more nocturnal. From what I've observed, she's most active during the day (especially when I'm around) and usually sleeps through the night. But I guess that could just be her personality
Not really red is more like yours for the belly part and mexicans has more band count yours has a few less than an red milk bands so its most likely an interbred

[a153fish]

Funny thing is from the side pics, she does look like a red Milk. That's why I asked for better pics of her top. She looks more like a Mexican. The Red Milks don't have such black heads usually. The Mexican, or Annulata does interbreed with a couple other Milks on it's borders so there may be a little bit of another milk in it. She probably won't grow much more, mabe another foot at the most, and probably not that much. Still she should get more than one small mouse per feeding. Try 2 and see if she takes the second one with gusto? If she does, than she is still hungry. It's hard to give you a set amount, because mice can vary so much. What I call a hopper might be some elses small mouse. But try 2 mice that are a size she will swallow. They should leave a noticable buldge.

[theapexgerman]

She posted the size of the mouse she feeds her awhile back in a thread I don't rember witch one and compared by the snake it was an good size mouse but it regurge it up

[Trollbie]

I guess I can give it a try. She should definitely be hungry once she is done shedding because she hasn't eaten since Monday last week

[a153fish]

Oh wait the snake regurged? That makes a difference! How long ago did she regurge? and has she kept any meals down since then?

[Trollbie]

Oh wait the snake regurged? That makes a difference! How long ago did she regurge? and has she kept any meals down since then?

I wouldn't call it regurge because she never even got the whole mouse down. She got up to the mouse's hind legs and then spat it out. It took her over 2 hrs to even get that far. But I fed her again 4 days later with a bit smaller mouse and she got it down great.

[shaunyboy]

So would that be why my snakes been a lot more active lately in his tank??

it's breeding season right now and in the wild,so they would be roaming around,actively looking for a mate

i've had pythons that do it for 3 or 4 months of the year (during breeding season)

i also had a few pythons act that way,after cleaning their tank out,and changing their substrate

imo,they can do it for multipule reasons,mating season,exploring,looking for a way out,etc

they can also do it through,nervousness or stress

as said,check your husbandry,temperatures,etc

i wouldn't worry too much,just keep an eye on the end of its nose,as sometimes a nervous snake can rub scales/skin off,leaving raw graizes

i'm sure he/she will calm down a little,after settling in,or after breeding season,if looking for a mates the reason,for the restlesness and the roaming of the tank

from the picture,it reminds me of the way,a few of my carpets used to act,imo they were just exploring their tank,also most likely looking for an escape route

cheers shaun

[a153fish]

I wouldn't call it regurge because she never even got the whole mouse down. She got up to the mouse's hind legs and then spat it out. It took her over 2 hrs to even get that far. But I fed her again 4 days later with a bit smaller mouse and she got it down great.

Oh I see, that's what I thought I remember reading. Just wanted to make sure. The larger mouse was just too big, and that's why I suggested feeding her 2 smaller ones. Even if it doesn't stop her from pacing in the cage, it's still better than feeding her one small mouse.

[a153fish]

it's breeding season right now and in the wild,so they would be roaming around,actively looking for a mate

i've had pythons that do it for 3 or 4 months of the year (during breeding season)

i also had a few pythons act that way,after cleaning their tank out,and changing their substrate

imo,they can do it for multipule reasons,mating season,exploring,looking for a way out,etc

they can also do it through,nervousness or stress

as said,check your husbandry,temperatures,etc

i wouldn't worry too much,just keep an eye on the end of its nose,as sometimes a nervous snake can rub scales/skin off,leaving raw graizes

i'm sure he/she will calm down a little,after settling in,or after breeding season,if looking for a mates the reason,for the restlesness and the roaming of the tank

from the picture,it reminds me of the way,a few of my carpets used to act,imo they were just exploring their tank,also most likely looking for an escape route

cheers shaun

Shaun you are correct. Those are all reasons they may seem restless. In my experience it's usually the males who get restless at breeding season, then the females get restless when they are about to lay. I still think it will help her a lot to feed a little more. Usually snakes that are fed well, and feel full, will want to find a quiet spot to digest the meal.

[Trollbie]

Shaun you are correct. Those are all reasons they may seem restless. In my experience it's usually the males who get restless at breeding season, then the females get restless when they are about to lay. I still think it will help her a lot to feed a little more. Usually snakes that are fed well, and feel full, will want to find a quiet spot to digest the meal.

She was active for a bit after she ate, but ten she rested for like 2 days, pooped a bunch, and went back to her normal self.

[a153fish]

She was active for a bit after she ate, but ten she rested for like 2 days, pooped a bunch, and went back to her normal self.

That sounds right. I'm sure she'll be fine after a while.

[Trollbie]

I may just have a crazy snake! :D

[theapexgerman]

You could have an crazy snake lol