Safe to digest in cool hide?

kiiarah · 10-04-14, 12:09 AM

Hi everyone,

I think I have good news, as well as a question. It would seem that Shesha finally took his F/T rat. I say it would seem that way because we kept only his night bulb on and he pulled the rat into his hot hide after a few less than successful attempts to swallow it backwards. He is lying still now, but also remaining in his cool hide. So as of right now he either ate the rat or lost interest and it is in the hide with him. I don't want to lift the hide to check and risk disturbing and stressing him but I am concerned that he is not going back to his hot hide to digest.

He took a liking to the cool hide after I added the heat lamp yesterday and has been in it every since. It is smaller than his hot hide, but up until yesterday he had not even gone into the cool one. So I guess I am hoping someone can tell me if it is safe to let him digest on the cool side or should I maybe switch the hides and see if that encourages him to go to the hot side. I just feel like I should let him be but I want to be sure that staying over there poses no danger to him, especially since the hot hide is larger and he may need the heat but want the smaller hide now. (I will be picking up an identical hide asap but at the time the store only had one small hide so I had to grab a medium one too). His ambient temps are a stable 80 degrees.

(The hot hide temps are measured by a digital thermometer probe in direct contact with the glass over the UTH, and the UTH is regulated by a thermostat to keep it at a stable 88-91 degrees)

Lankyrob · 10-04-14, 04:42 AM

As long as your temps are right the snake will do what is right.

Obsidian_Dragon · 10-06-14, 08:26 AM

I've never seen my snakes in his their warm hide after feeding. They may use it when I'm not looking, or...not. Regardless, they seem fine.

/shrugs!

CosmicOwl · 10-06-14, 09:00 AM

In nature, I believe balls tend to live in termite mounds and underground burrows where it would be relatively cool.

**Aaron_S** · 10-06-14, 10:28 AM

If your husbandry is fine then it's fine. Don't overthink it.

kiiarah · 10-06-14, 03:40 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone! He seems to have finished digesting. I really do think his hot hide is too big so I will be remedying that soon. In the mean time he does have his lamp for ambient temps so it isn't like the cool side if freezing or, it stays about 81 degrees ambient. He came out for a short visit last night after 48 hours of digestion time and was active. No regurg so everything is looking good. I feel so much better now that he has had a decent sized meal. Tomorrow morning I will weigh him, hoping to see some higher numbers.

shaunyboy · 10-06-14, 03:58 PM

thats great news he finally took a rat mate

leave him be and check the hide the next day to make sure the rats gone,rats tend to stink after a few days in the heat of a tank

re digestion
he knows best where he needs to be regards thermoregulation and digesting

i'm NOT being cheeky but you are over thinking things and worrying way too much.....

try and relax and enjoy your snake mate (we all worry too much in the begining)

cheers shaun

P,S, i have a Diamond Python that i have to cut the tail off the rat (frozen thawed), because she likes eating backwards,and was always getting the prey jammed up in her mouth

cheers shaun

kiiarah · 10-06-14, 06:22 PM

Thanks Shaun.

Part of me realizes that I am likely over thinking tremendously. I would so hate to overlook something that is a real problem that other more experience keepers might catch right away. I have to say though, since getting some good food in him and having two weeks to see him drinking, exploring, and behaving like a happy healthy snake I am feeling much better and more confident. Just going to take time I guess, but I have learned a ton here and that helps tremendously.

Your Diamond CP is stunning btw. I have been doing more and more research on that breed lately. I understand they are a bit more advanced to keep than the BPs are, but I am hoping with some research and planning within a couple of years I may be able to take one on. So far every snake that catches my eye is a python, I think I am going to wind up a python gal for some time.

shaunyboy · 10-08-14, 07:06 PM

your doing the correct things pal.....

your on here asking questions and your doing research...

the relax thing will come with time as you gain experience,also the longer you have your snake the better you get at reading them and figuring out their needs and behavior

just keep doing what your doing and before you know it,you will be looking back and laughing about all the worrying you did as a new keeper...

i know i did...

i worried and asked questions about all sorts when i first started keeping snakes

the main thing is...

keep asking the questions

remember there's NO such thing as a stupid question,there's only people who are too stupid to ask questions

cheers shaun

Zelg · 10-13-14, 08:15 PM

Just wanted to post here in this thread rather than make a new thread. Basically i just want to say that my BP (a little over a year old) since i had him/her would go from the cold side to the warm side rinse repeat every morning and evening. The past month though she seemingly moved over to the cold side and didnt move. The temps had gone up where i live but turning off the cage heat i figured would be ok since the temps in cage were still a good range though the hot side ambient was a touch hot due to the lamp being placed over it. Point is that my BP used to move around a bunch, switching between the two hides.

The hides were different from each other but about the same size. So after a while of my BP not moving from the cool side i went out and got a new hide just like the cool side one and put it on the hot side. Still nothing. Finally, the other day I moved my heat lamp from the "hot side" to the middle to even out the cold side temp a little better and in turn lowering the hot side temp (or at least lowering the intensity of the heat on that side). 2 days later, my BP is now resting comfortably on the hot side.

Was it simply moving the lamp a few inches to the cooler side that did it? I dunno. Until told otherwise im going to assume it did.

Its definitely tough on a first time snake owner when trying to figure out weird behaviors or rather lack of normal behavior (of course plenty of people have told me that their balls stay on one side only.)

Anyways, crazy snakes. Shaunyboy is right though about worrying. So much worrying at first but then later on you just realize that the sky is not in fact falling. My snake refuses a meal? I used to worry and stress out about it but now i just accept that they might go off eating for a few weeks. Just try again next week as they say.

shaunyboy · 10-13-14, 10:08 PM

you need to move your heat source to one side of the tank

putting the heat source in the middle of the tank will mess up your heat gradients

cheers shaun

Zelg · 10-13-14, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

you need to move your heat source to one side of the tank

putting the heat source in the middle of the tank will mess up your heat gradients

cheers shaun

Im in the process of building a new enclosure. Im using a glass tank right now with the terrible screen top. The lamp is still on the left side, its just a couple inches more towards the center than it was. It was right over the hot side which has the heat pad. Where it is placed now still provides a gradient, it just lowered the ambient temp on the warm side and raised it a bit on the cold side. Doing so also allowed me to dim the lamp so it doesnt put off as much heat directly below it. My laser pointer thermometer tells me my gradient is alright. He has a cold side, a hot side and a place to climb up and bask under the lamp.

**Aaron_S** · 10-14-14, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelg

Just wanted to post here in this thread rather than make a new thread. Basically i just want to say that my BP (a little over a year old) since i had him/her would go from the cold side to the warm side rinse repeat every morning and evening. The past month though she seemingly moved over to the cold side and didnt move. The temps had gone up where i live but turning off the cage heat i figured would be ok since the temps in cage were still a good range though the hot side ambient was a touch hot due to the lamp being placed over it. Point is that my BP used to move around a bunch, switching between the two hides.

The hides were different from each other but about the same size. So after a while of my BP not moving from the cool side i went out and got a new hide just like the cool side one and put it on the hot side. Still nothing. Finally, the other day I moved my heat lamp from the "hot side" to the middle to even out the cold side temp a little better and in turn lowering the hot side temp (or at least lowering the intensity of the heat on that side). 2 days later, my BP is now resting comfortably on the hot side.

Was it simply moving the lamp a few inches to the cooler side that did it? I dunno. Until told otherwise im going to assume it did.

Its definitely tough on a first time snake owner when trying to figure out weird behaviors or rather lack of normal behavior (of course plenty of people have told me that their balls stay on one side only.)

Anyways, crazy snakes. Shaunyboy is right though about worrying. So much worrying at first but then later on you just realize that the sky is not in fact falling. My snake refuses a meal? I used to worry and stress out about it but now i just accept that they might go off eating for a few weeks. Just try again next week as they say.

You're overthinking things. Snakes know what they need and when they need it. If your husbandry is correct then it will make it's decisions just fine. They really don't need our assistance to tell them when to be hot or cold.

You'll be fine. You're doing well.

CosmicOwl · 10-14-14, 10:39 AM

If a snake is on the cool side, it's just because they want to be cool. As long as you're sure that the hot spot is the right temperature, don't worry too much about where the snake is hiding.

jpsteele80 · 10-14-14, 10:41 AM

My retic's spend most of there time on the cool side of the tank and almost never on the warm side, snakes will thermoregulate them selves to what they need, as stated if your temps are spot on don't worry about it.