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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
 Posted - 15/08/2011 : 17:28:02
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Hi everyone,
I got my new hatchling yesterday afternoon from a local pet shop. I was advised to leave him in the box I bought him in, so it'll be less stress for him to settle in. However, there was a lot of spilt water in the box before I got him, and then last night he spilt even more water everywhere - and moved his bowl to the heated end of the box. The result - there was so much condensation it was dripping off the lid!
So, this morning I carefully lifted the box he's using as a hide, and slipped out the old tissue lining and put in some new kitchen roll. Then changed his water bowl for a little stone earring box I noticed this morning (the bottle top I was using was obviously far too light).
I'm a little concerned that I can't measure the temperature inside his box, as there's no holes for sticking in the reader. So I've got the stat and thermometer reader sitting on the heat mat outside his box. Will this be accurate enough, or should I try and make a hole in the box? I don't want to stress him, but I also want the temp to be right. What do you think?
As an alternative, I've now got a divider for the faun, which lets me section off a space 'only' about twice the size of his little box. Will it stress him to move him into this space? I got the large sized Exo Terra faun, which measures 46 x 30 x 17 cm, however with the divider I think the space would be more like 15 x 30 x17cm. His box is maybe 15 x 10 x 10 cm, though this is from memory, and I'm not very accurate with spacial awareness at the best of times. A picture of him in his box is here, before I put in the hide.
I'm just rambling now, so I'll stop.
Thanks for reading! |
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west5680
Hatchling
United Kingdom
134 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2011 : 17:36:34
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| If i was you i'd get him out of the travel tub into his faun with the divider in. I see you have a hide at the cool end, pop another at the warm end and let him crack on. |
 
0.1.0 Wife
4.0.0 Children
0.5.0 Chickens
0.2.0 Cats
0.1.0 Amel corn (Sydney)(hatchie)
0.1.0 Carolina corn (Sienna)(3yrs)
Various coldwater fish |
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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2011 : 17:44:54
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There's actually two hides stacked on top of each other there. I did have it all set up, but when it was suggested I keep him in the travel box, I moved things around to make space for it to sit on the heat mat. I'll take another picture when I get home of the little set up I could put him in, and get some more accurate measurements. I want to be able to just leave him alone for a week without any real interaction, but I want him to be comfortable for that week too!
The hides I've got are maybe a little big, I was going to just put some toilet roll tubes in for now. Do people do anything to stop them rolling around? |
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thistle
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
1757 Posts |
Posted - 15/08/2011 : 18:21:07
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You can cut the toilet roll in half lengthways so that it doesnt roll around.
I have one of those Exo terra cave hides for my hatchling. It was far too big for him to feel safe so I pushed a piece of the lengthways halved toilet roll tube in through the entrance of the cave, right to the back (cut off the part sticking out of the entrance so that you can't see the tube from the outside), to give 3 separate smaller hiding areas inside the cave. Bailey can pretty much always be found hiding between the inside wall of the cave and the outside of the toilet roll tube, it's just the right size for him to be able to touch the sides when he coils up. It means that he has a good place to hide but it is heavy enough that he can't move it around. |
2.0.0 Dogs (westie Angus, shih tzu Archie)
0.5.0 African Pygmy Hedgehogs (Harriet, Amelia, Matilda, Jemima, Maisie) RIP Hector
0.4.0 Guinea Pigs (Isobel, Effy, Mrs Mack & Sheila)
1.0.0 Lutino C0ckatiel (Sammy)
3.0.0 Corn Snakes - CB10 Amel (Barnaby), CB11 Anery Lavender (Bailey), CB10 Caramel Motley (Bradley)
0.1.0 CB11 Western Hognose Snake (Maggie) |
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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 11:00:14
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Ok, so I moved him/her into the small section of the viv this morning. Should I now reset the 7 days of waiting to start from today? As it's basically just moved house again. I didn't pick him up, just moved the hide (a small box) from one to the other while she was hiding inside. He then spent the next 20 mins looking for holes in the defences/exploring.
While watching her explore my cat came over to see what I was looking at... and noticed there's something *inside* that new plastic box in his living room.
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Mamma
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
4494 Posts |
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garrie
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
1148 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 11:29:15
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| Lovely picture with your cat above, my cat (puzzle) really hasn't had any interest in AURYN or new furniture in the house - however, on feeding day she did express some interest in the defrosted mice :-) |
^click for more pics^
Garrie - Halesworth, Suffolk. 1.0 AURYN (fire morph corn) 0.1 Puzzle (Cat) |
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Simmy_82
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
1272 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 11:33:52
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| I'd watch that small cable hole on the roof of the faun. Thats a common escape route. Especially for youngsters. I caught mine trying to get through it thankfully she was too big, but i block it with some rolled up tissue anyway to be sure. I think another user on here recently had a hatchie escape through that same hole! |
 
0.1.0 - Cat - Tallulah
0.0.1 - Carolina Corn Snake - Lilith |
Edited by - Simmy_82 on 16/08/2011 11:34:39 |
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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 12:04:54
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| I think he/she is too big to get through them, though he did have a look earlier while I was watching. I've sent my Dad a message and asked him to stick something in the hole. Luckily he's up staying with us all week, or I'd have been nervous about leaving the cat home alone with him. The faun wouldn't be too hard for a cat to accidentally knock off the shelf. |
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Simmy_82
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
1272 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 12:22:38
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| Similar situation with out cat. But we keep ours in the bedroom so we can shut the cat out during the day. It's worth blocking to be on the safe side. You'd suprised what they can squeeze through. |
0.1.0 - Cat - Tallulah
0.0.1 - Carolina Corn Snake - Lilith |
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Tallscientist
Egg
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 13:05:21
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Hi Anastasia,
My hatchling is about the same size and I originally put him into the larger part of the sectioned-off faunarium. I have modified some of those plastic boxes you get from packs of mushrooms etc with little holes in them to create hides. The minute I put him in the faun I discovered he could escape into the sectioned-off area so I would watch for that - maybe try and put something heavy on the large door so yours can't push it up and escape into the larger area! I gave up and just gave mine the run of the place with lots of hides and foliage so that he feels safe enough to come out, which he only seems to do in the evening.
I know I'm supposed to leave him alone for the week but he has left the odd "present" around the cage. As I'm using kitchen roll for the time being I keep having to remove the soiled kitchen roll, which often means disturbing him. I hope this isn't going to affect his settling in period.
Good luck with yours! |
 
1.0.0 Rootbeer snake - Domino
0.0.40 Hoya plants |
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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 13:28:12
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I had him in his travel box for 2 days, and while he was in there I put the divider in and checked for escape routes. The faun is designed to have the partition on the small door end, so I turned the lid around, then run my finger along the inside edges right around the divider before I put him in there. I'm missing having the double security of his travel box inside the closed faun.
I'm not sure if I should be expecting a present. I think he was fed in the shop on the 13th.. I do have a feeding record I can check, but I'm in work just now. I've sent my Dad another message to check he's still safe in his faun. :) |
Edited by - Anastasia on 16/08/2011 13:28:40 |
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Tallscientist
Egg
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 14:44:43
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Ah - maybe that's where I went wrong! I put the lid on the wrong way around  Too late now, I think I'll leave it as it is... I don't want to go disturbing him now he's settling in, plus it means I won't be able to feed him on Sunday. He has plenty of hides and foliage, in fact I caught him curled up on top of his foliage last night!
I think with "presents" it all depends on the snake. Mine was fed two days before I received him, and he "christened" the faun about half an hour after I put him in there! Then I noticed he'd left another, smaller, mess last night. A lot of owners say theirs wait until they are handled...  |
1.0.0 Rootbeer snake - Domino
0.0.40 Hoya plants |
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Tiswas
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
33 Posts |
Posted - 16/08/2011 : 22:05:38
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It was my baby who escaped and he was a lot smaller than yours. Just remember to be really pedantic about every little hole so your little one can't get out! Still no sign of mine.  But I had my set up just like yours with the diver up so that he was in the small bit with the plan to swap him over when he got bigger. Hope yours settles in well and now you have to wait for 7 whole days before playing!!! That's the tough bit! |
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Anastasia
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 17/08/2011 : 10:15:11
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Well, my cat did manage to knock his faun onto the floor last night while we were eating dinner! Luckily the lid stayed on and everything in there was light enough he didn't get squashed. He is now safely locked away in my bedroom where no cats are allowed. Stupid ruddy cat!
I wanted to have him in the living room so I could watch him whenever he came out to explore. Now I'll just have to spend a lot more time in bed.
Tiswas - I hope you find your baby soon. I was checking your thread all through work yesterday hoping you'd post that you'd found him. My fingers are crossed for you. |
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Settling in a new hatchling
just to make sure hes settled in well xx
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