Posted by:
Rob Lewis
at Mon Jan 28 13:15:12 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Rob Lewis ]
-Changing her substrate more frequently - you don't mention what type of substrate you are using but changing substrate often encouranges a snake to explore more.
-Vary her feeding schedule - a 9 year old corn probably does not need to eat every week unless in a breeding situation. You could wait until she starts searching for food to offer it or offer it on a varying schedule (every week for a couple of weeks then wait 2 or 3 weeks until the next meal) which may encourage her to explore.
-Swap substrate with one of your other corn snakes - I know, this technically increases the chances of cross contamination of some illness. However, if you have healthy snakes and a relatively closed collection, this risk is really minimal. Obviously, if you have a sick snake, don't use that animals substrate.
-Use cheap/disposable hides and change them frequently - cereal boxes are great for this as most cereals have some sort of smell to them and new scents often encourage exploration. Imagine you're a corn snake and all of the sudden you get a whiff of some Fruit Loops!
-Put a few drops of various extracts (vanilla, etc.) around her enclosure - take her out of her enclosure and put a few drops of extract around at various places and then put her back in. Again, new scents often encourage exploration.
These are just some ideas off the top of my head. I have not necessarily tried all of these (but some I have) so I would be interested in the outcome. Just remember, new scents or the scent of a prey item (especially if the snake is hungry) are often a very powerful stimulus to get a snake out to explore/exercise.
I hope this helps.
Rob
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