Moving Vivs

jovamabob · 12-15-12, 10:18 AM

I need to move my v. easily stressed guy to a bigger, more suitable vivarium and now i have one ready i need a few tips.

Whenever i've moved him before, even when i just moved house and he stayed in the same viv, he went on major hunger strikes. He refused to eat for 6 weeks last time and i checked the temps etc were perfect. This time i've just got him up to a nice weight and want to avoid that.

I was thinking of moving his current bedding over and all his stuff so that it smells the same and switched things out slowly over the next week or so. I was also wondering about feeding him first in his old viv and then moving him to the new viv 24hrs later so that he's at least got a good meal in him.
Would that work?

He's currently in this:

Lankyrob · 12-15-12, 10:32 AM

This may seem strange but will his old viv fit i his new one? When i have started snakes in a tub and then moved them to a vivarium i have put the tub into the viv and taken the lid off then left them to it.

I leave the tub ni the viv for a week so they could go back to their "safe" habitat if they want.

If you cant do that then just move him over and leave him completely alome for a week or so to acclimatise.

jovamabob · 12-15-12, 10:43 AM

It may fit - i'd have to check

Good idea though!

Aleks · 12-17-12, 08:03 PM

if he stress easily... try to put everything on the ground... they are ground snake... they like to go up once in a wild but not every time they need water... if he doesn’t have to go a long way for water will help him not to stress

other trick... do not try to feed him for 2 weeks... leave him alone like a new snake that u just got... it will help him to make peace whit his new home

poison123 · 12-17-12, 08:10 PM

are you using toilet paper for bedding?

Aleks · 12-17-12, 08:20 PM

looks like it....you would be better off whit newspaper!

jovamabob · 12-17-12, 10:26 PM

Ah no its shredded kitchen roll. I dislike newspaper - the print gets everywhere! I can get 3 rolls of kitchen roll for £1 and 1 roll lasts ages. Its super easy to clean up too!

poison123 · 12-17-12, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovamabob

Ah no its shredded kitchen roll. I dislike newspaper - the print gets everywhere! I can get 3 rolls of kitchen roll for £1 and 1 roll lasts ages. Its super easy to clean up too!

ah ok. how does it hold up with humidity? I use a bio-active substrate sand/soil mix. you NEVER have to clean it other then spot cleaning obvious waist and my snake loves it.

jovamabob · 12-17-12, 10:35 PM

its not too bad for humidity. If there is any excessive humidity - ie condensation, it tends to absorb any and its easier for me to spot clean 'cause i can see the damp ones easily. It helps me keep the humidity down quite nicely - i clean the enclosure every week fully and spot clean it daily anyway. I like nice clean enclosures

SnakeyJay · 12-18-12, 07:54 AM

I'd just switch him over with his old substrate, put everything at ground level. So there's a lot of floor coverage and leave him alone fir a week.. My corn is easily stressed and very shy aswell, I found that putting a towel over the viv at night helped. That way he has a complete black out at night to explore etc.

Aleks · 12-18-12, 06:31 PM

one thing I saw from some members on another forum... they had speaker near there cage... the vibration was making them stresse alote... had problem feeding and all... as soon as he moved his snake away from it... problem was solve!

(speaker, dog, cats, alote of people passing beside the cage all the time... are all stress factors!)

jovamabob · 12-18-12, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleks

one thing I saw from some members on another forum... they had speaker near there cage... the vibration was making them stresse alote... had problem feeding and all... as soon as he moved his snake away from it... problem was solve!

(speaker, dog, cats, alote of people passing beside the cage all the time... are all stress factors!)

Yeah, i had that problem in my last house - i rented a small bedroom so he was too near my TV no matter where his viv was. I've moved a couple of times since and he now lives in my (much roomier!) quieter bedroom. I don't spend much time in there so its nice and quiet.

He's getting pretty stressed at the moment so i'm putting the move off for a little bit. The adjoining house has been 'putting in a fireplace' for about 5 days now - from 7:30am - 11pm every day, always against the wall that my reptile vivs are along. I have no idea what kind of ridiculous fireplace needs this many drills/power saws/sledgehammers for so long! I know if i move all the reptiles somewhere temporary they'll stop immediately though and i'll have to move everyone straight back again...