| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 21:10:45
i was given a coralina corn from a friend 2 days ago, have had her out twice and she is great, but today she has been acting very strange, she slithered into her moss box and just started to bite herself. does anyone have any ideas on why she wud this as my friend said its the first snake she's ever known to do that, any advice wud great. cheers |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 23:58:24
Does she have 2 hides, one in the cold end and one in the hot end, I ask because they choose safety/hiding over regulating temperature, if the hide is in the middle thats where she will be. |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 23:50:51
i can just tell the heat mat is on, and and its laying under the rub and not in it so is not in direct contact, shes above it half and half on it under her piece of bark thats wat made me think she was cold, as if she was too hot she wud be the other end i wud of thought |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 23:42:34
Your heat mat should be around 28oC but no higher than 30oC and then the cold end can be whatever your room temp is, mine is around 20oC, they aren't tropical so that does them. Too hot can cause problems, I've heard of brain damage and digestion problems been caused by too much heat so its very important to get a stat as soon as you can, you can pick up a simple mat-stat for about £20 on ebay and thermometers for a few quid but while you don't have a thermostat I would switch off the mat. A heat mat running at the correct temperature doesn't feel warm to the touch, I can;t feel my mat until its over 30 oC, if your mat feels warm to the touch its most likely already far too hot. |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 23:21:07
the heat mat ive got hasnt got a thermostat and ive been checking it regular to make sure its not too hot, but she's in my kitchen as ive got 2 dogs and dont want to leave them hanging about when i'm out, but my kitchen is quiet cold at night, so defo need a thermometer and maybe i shud move her to the sitting room, wat temp shud it be? |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 23:03:05
Without a thermometer and thermostat to regulate temperature a heat mat can easily reach dangerous temperatures of 40oC+. It is vitally important to have at least one digital thermometer and a thermostat to control how hot the mat can get. Until you can sort out the temperatures I would turn off the mat, move the snake into the hottest room of the house, don't handle or feed until the mat is under the control of a thermostat. Its the lesser evil in the case of a unstatted (or if you have a stat unknown temperature) mat, they can cope with room temperature much better and less risky than a mat kicking up 40oC. Until you sort out the temperatures you won't know if the unusual behaviour is just as a result of the move or something more serious as a result of long term incorrect temperatures. (I dont want to scare you but its really important to get the temps sorted ASAP). |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:44:18
thanx gingerpony, have just read that, shud not have got her out maybe and give her the week but see she did not tell me that, mmmm but i'm so impatient.lol |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:38:48
she's a rub, and a heat mat one end, i asked my friend is she needs a temp gauge in there to keep an eye on the temperature and she said that she wud be fine, maybe i shud invest in child's nursery thermometer and stick it to the inside, so she cud possibly be cold and just have the raving ump wiv me |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:21:45
have a read of this http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4133 |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:21:27
quote:
Originally posted by gingerpony
what are your temps in the viv and how are you controlling the heat source?
I second that just to be on the safe side. |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:17:28
well she's 9yrs old, i'm just hoping that its just the move thats unsettled her. no she's in fantastic condition, she's lovely and shiny just like marble, i think i'm just being a worry wort, as she's my first. but just looking at the pic of ur medusa she does that too but rolls her head sideways too and upside down, at first i thought she was dieing |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:15:55
what are your temps in the viv and how are you controlling the heat source? |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 22:02:46
Did the shed come off in 1 piece or is there some of the shed stuck, if it shed three days ago it shouldn't still be head rolling. Does she look all nice a shiny or are there any flakey or dull patches? |
| saamicaat |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 21:56:40
As said it could be shedding related but I'm no expert but when I first got Medusa she was quite young and had a few random little habbits that she's slowly grown out of, such as sleeping with her tail in the air, all the time! She also went through a phase of occasionally biting her tail but that was when she'd coil up and it would flick her in the face! Or if she caught sight of it. Snakes are funny little things so it could be either shedding or health related, or just a quirky little thing! Hope all settles down soon  x |
| charlotte grove |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 21:49:44
my friend said she shed about 3 days ago, she is the first snake ive had, and didnt know to take out the moss box thanx for i will try that, plus she has been doing some funny head rolling too i was told they do that when they shed, but as she has already shed i'm still a little confused, have only had 2 days and love her to bits :) have called her sunshine. lol |
| lotabob |
Posted - 16/03/2011 : 21:37:33
I've heard of it before but as to explaining it thats another story, my dog chases his tail if he spots it so maybe he saw himself and decided to have a munch, its not totally unheard of. Did he do it for long or pretty soon realise it was himself he was biting?
Another thing, is the snake shedding? A mos box is only really required when they are shedding, they don't need much humidity for most of the time and having constant access to a moss box could cause more problems than it solves. |
