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l1nuxxx
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
 Posted - 01/11/2013 : 23:40:58
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Hi there.
Looking for some advice for my snake Fanta. She's around a year old and I have had her a few months.
Basically she has become a bit hostile towards me. She has bit me once and tried to strike me through her tank a few times. I don't have a clue as to why this has started.
I moved her to a bigger tank as the viv I was given her in was to small for her. The previous owner told me that she preferred the smaller viv but after a month or so of her looking bored and far to big for it I moved her.
Shes eating fine infact she ate today. I never handle her for 48hrs after feeding.
Shes never been keen on handling anyway but no matter what I try she just seems to be getting worse.
I have other reptiles (2 bearded dragons and a gecko) but i just don't know about snakes. I don't want to give her up either as I would be failing her as an owner. I just need advice
Thanks |
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Donnie
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
3215 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 08:13:21
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| Can you detail your husbandry and show us a picture of your enclosure? |
1.1 Corns (Anery Stripe, Amel) 1.0 Rootbeer 0.2 Jungle Carpet Python 1.0 Zebra Jungle Carpet Python 1.0 50% Diamond Zebra Carpet Python |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 09:58:06
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Its good to hear that you don't want to give up on her Andrew  . I'm with Donnie, we need more info to be able to help. How big is the new viv she's in and approximately how long is she? You say you've moved her into a bigger tank, is it a wooden viv or glass/plastic and therefore exposed on all sides? I'm assuming she has hides at both ends of the viv as well as plants, branches, etc to help fill it out and make her feel secure. Has this behaviour been since you moved her? Did you give her time to get used to her new home before handling her again? Are you using a heatmat, controlled by a thermostat and monitored by a digital thermometer? What is the temp in the warm end? How often is she fed and on what? Do you feed her in her viv?
Some snakes just don't take to being handled unfortunately but it does sound as though there must be a reason for the change in her behaviour. It may be worthwhile going back to basics, treating her as though you would a hatchling who has never been handled. I had to do this with a juvenile snake I got. Her owner was scared of her and barely handled her, when he did it was with gardening gloves  . This thread on Handling Tips may help - http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28249
Sorry for all the questions but the more we know the more we can help.
Xxx
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l1nuxxx
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 23:55:25
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Thanks for the questions. Shes was in this viv http://www.bluelizardreptiles.co.uk/starterkits/snakes/9632100005015 as thats the one she came with. She came with a heat mat, 1 hide and the water bowl, no thermostat however which I thought was strange but the previous keeper and self proclaimed snake expert told me I didn't need one and to turn off the heat mat at night. Since reading up the last few days it seems I need a mini-stat which I use with my other reptiles.
Length wise she's about twice the length of the wooden viv.
In her old viv the hot side would reach 32 degrees but I would switch it off at this point to try and keep her around 30.
In the new tank it's an old fish tank, not ideal I know. Its open on all sides. With the heat mat on all the time temp never gets past 23. It's a 2ft tank. All thats in it is her hide, bowl and a branch and a lot of free space.
She eats well, once a week on small mice from pet's at home. |
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l1nuxxx
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 23:59:24
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| Also she is fed in her viv |
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smart bunny
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
5091 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2013 : 07:47:17
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Ok so you have 2 problems here, the first is that 23 is not warm enough for her to digest pproperly and could cause her regurge problems, it needs to be 28 on the warm side for a corn, not going over 30. Using a heat mat in a glass tank you need it stuck to the ouside floor with a layer of polystyrene or cork tile etc underneath to prevent heat escaping that way. Hopefully that will bring the temps up a bit. If not you may need a larger mat?
The second is this: quote:
Originally posted by l1nuxxx
All thats in it is her hide, bowl and a branch and a lot of free space.
She needs at least 2 hides, one at the warm and one at the cold end, plus other stuff in there to make her feel safe - fake plants from Dunelm mill are great but anything will do, they love the cardboard tubes from kitchen/toilet rolls. Also what substrate are you using? Is it something like aspen which she can burrow in? They love burrowing. As she is obviously feeling insecure then you could try putting paper round the outside of 2 or 3 of the sides so she is not so exposed - so you just have the 1 open glass side at the from like she is used to.
I'm glad you're not giving up - with a few changes I'm sure you'll have a happy snake again! |
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Edited by - smart bunny on 03/11/2013 07:48:28 |
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Razee
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
2525 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2013 : 09:38:36
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Smart bunny just about covered it all - and you don't really need to spend huge amounts of money on various hides, which she's going to outgrow, anyway. Corn snakes love various cardboard tubes, like toilet and kitchen roll tubes. You can leave them as a tube, or you can cut them in half, and make tunnels. Then you can have one in cold end, warm end, and one that's in the middle. You can use small cereal boxes. If you don't like the look of them, you can cover them with the bedding. I've also seen some really nice hides people made out of sour dough on here.
Re thermostat, you're right, and the "expert" was wrong, you do need one. Not only it'll keep the temperature stable, where you want it, but it'll save you electricity, as it will only run the mat, when needed. And it will prevent the temperature rising to dangerous levels, which could kill the snake.
On/off thermostat is ok ( Habistat is meant to be slightly better than Microclimate ) , but, I must admit, I much prefer pulse stat for my snakes. I had Microclimate on/ off stat, and the temperature varied quite a lot, and it was driving me mad :-) . Pulse stats are a bit more expensive, but will keep the temperature bang on, very stable.
One more thing - if you're using an old fish tank - how secure is the top? Could she possibly push it off? Re sides - you could always stick some posters of landscape, or forest ( or any pictures, for example cut out of magazines ) that you like on the outside - that would make it more " covered " for her.
Hope this helps, and sorry for the essay. :-) |
0.1.0 late CB10 Carolina corn snake - Bazilishka
1.0.0 CB11 Abbots Okeetee- Little Twiddler
1.0.0 CB11 Hypo corn- Sebastianek
1.0.0. CB14 Butter Motley - Squidwood
0.0.2 CB18 normal/ Okeetee yearlings Bunny and Lalalishka
0.0.1 hognose
0.1.0 stable cat
0.1.0 house cat |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2013 : 09:48:45
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Unsurprisingly Smartbunny and Razee have answered brilliantly Andrew. There are definite issues with her set up that will be causing her behaviour. I'm so glad you changed her set-up as if she was twice the length of the wooden viv then she needed a new one. And to only have one hide . As for the 'no need for a stat', I could show that so-called 'expert' enough evidence to prove its a vital piece of equipment  !
The temps definitely need to come up in the warm end or you may begin to have issues with her regurging as she can't digest properly. How are you measuring the temp? It needs to be with a digital thermometer, with the probe on the floor of the tank immediately over the heatmat. I don't have much experience with tanks but think Smartbunny is right about the heatmat needing to be under the tank rather than inside it. This is how she knows  - http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27749
As I have said, the thermostat is vital. I've had bad experiences with the on/off sort and am with Razee in preferring the Habistat pulse. To my mind it's worth the extra money to have a stable temp. As far as I know you would then have the probe for the stat lying directly on the heatmat, outside the tank, while the probe for the digital thermometer is inside monitoring the exact temp. I know you've said that since moving her to the tank the temp isn't getting above 23oC, with the heatmat on all the time. It's good you're not turning it off any more as she also needs access to heat 24/7, so turning the heatmat off at night will have been stressing her out. I know the temp isn't coming up very high but I would be happier if you turned the heatmat off permanently until you've got a stat to control it. It's better to do that than risk her getting burnt. Just don't feed her until you have everything set up and running smoothly. She can handle the odd missed feed and it's better to do that than put her at risk.
I think that feeling exposed is also one of her problems. She's gone from a small, cramped, wooden viv to a glass tank with open sides and lots of space. Razee and SmartBunny's suggestion to cover some of the sides is a good one. You can use anything and stick it to the outside of the back and sides, making her feel more enclosed. She must have 2 hides, 1 in the warm end and the other in the cool end. You've been given some great suggestions for hides so that shouldn't be a problem to sort out. Also more cover inside her tank will help, branches and plants that she can hide behind as she moves around. The last thing she wants is lots of free space. As Smartbunny suggested Dunelm Mill is a fairly cheap and easy place to get plants or your local pet shop.
The final point is also one Razee brought up about making sure the tank is secure. Obviously it's not built to contain a snake so I'm not sure what adjustments you've made, but remember what escape artists they are.
Now that's an essay Razee  !
Xxx
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Don't know what I'm doing
