My newly arrived Nelson’s Milk is quite active. He typically is seen from about 18:00 to 22:00, active for at least four hours. Neither bright lights, nearby computers nor movement of persons in the area disturb him much; he is delightfully non-skittish most of the time. I’ve also seen him active during the day for hours, sometimes even basking under the bright heat bulb.

Snake sightings in the wild are more likely when rain comes before or during the night in warm weather. Or, when barometric pressure drops, as it often does before an approaching storm. Last Monday, we had prolonged rain (not our usual “frequent showers”) and a drop in barometric pressure:

Temperatures were from about 40 to 48 degrees; steady rain fell much of the day.
Lowest Barometric Pressure : 30.13 ″ At 11:59 p.m.
Highest Barometric Pressure : 30.33 ” At 8 & 9 a.m.
Lowest Relative Humidity : 25 % At 3 p.m.
Highest Relative Humidity : 69 % At 4 & 6 a.m.

Correspondingly, my Nelson’s Milk snake became *highly* active, and broke a record for longest period of activity of ANY snake – especially for a Nocturnal snake. I have an under-tank heat pad, but the daytime heat bulb was also on the entire time, yet he was not intimidated by the bright light. Here is a sampling of his activity levels:

05:18 Basking on front, center branches. When I turned on my computer a few feet away and began working at it, he continued exploring.
14:50 Retired to rest in stump den on cool side. (Active 10 hours during day.)
20:45 Exercise starts.
21:15 Exercise ends, he retired to his stump den. (Active 0.5 hours during evening.)
Daytime active for 10 hours, 10.5 hours total!

Wow! I live for these moments!! (chortle)

Ameron
Portland/Vancouver

1.0 Boa constrictor imperator (Hog Island)
1.0 Lampropeltis triangulum nelsoni
1.0 Agrionemys horsfieldii kazakhstanica

Flicker link below shows some photos of my 55-gallon vivarium & snake.
Link

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