Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. I just recieved a nice Blair's King and I believe my cage setup is correct but I wanted to run it by the board. The only reason I want other opinions is because he never seems to want to come out of his hiding spot (a driftwood log spanning the entire cage). I have Aspen substrate, and 15 gallon long tank. There are 2 heat lamps above the cage (hot side is 100w nocturnal heat lamp that maxes at around 84/day to 76/night and cold side is 75w "night" lamp that maxes 76/day

If you don't , then that's why he never comes out!!! They (GBKs) prefer to only come out during complete darkness! Mine are ALWAYS hiding until the light in the room is off and it's dark outside. After the light's off, they start to forage about the cage most of the night long! The activity usually starts around 9-10 o'clock and continues til the sun rises! If I were to turn the lights on in the room (even after midnight) then the activity quickly ceases and they head for cover. They HATE light. They know, that due to their small size, that almost any small animal could prey on them if they were exposed to light!
BTW: Your temps seem ok to me (almost the same as mine).

Zee
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

I have only been able to do that for 1 night so far, and from what I could see, randomly checking, he wasn't out and about. However, he has only been in the tank for 4 days tonight, so maybe he has to get used to it? My friend's is out and about at all times of the day, but if they only like light, should I not consider putting a regular lamp (on a timer, perhaps) above the cage? Should I try to keep my room as dark as possible so that he will be out more, or will that screw with his internal day/night clock?

A timer is always a good idea. Personally, I think you should set up a normal photoperiod and let your GBK adjust accordingly. Maybe 4 days isn't enough for it to acclimate yet.

Also, I guess the daytime activity just depends on the individual snake. Our female GBK will start to roam around her cage in the early afternoon and continue well into the night. Our male, however, only comes out at night except about a day before feeding time, when he seems to be interested in my every move!

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Diego & Tiffany
SNAKES
4.4 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.0 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.1.0 Honduran Milksnake
0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
2.0.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake
0.0.2 Rosy Boas (Coastal & Baja)
0.1.0 Pueblan Milksnake
0.2.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.0.0 Western Hognose
0.1.0 Solomon Island Boa
1.1.0 Gray Banded Kingsnakes (River Road locale)
LIZARDS
1.0.0 Frilled Dragon
3.1.0 Bearded Dragons (2 Normal, 1 RedXGold, 1 Citrus)
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
1.0.0 Turquoise Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
0.0.3 Leopard Geckos

Agree with above postefinitely keep the daylight hours! Keep things as natural as possible (even if your snake hates daylight as much as he does), it's part of nature! He will come around.
Also: I didn't know you only had him four days in the new environment. Give him some time he'll adjust/come around soon. His activity should increase soon.

Zee
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

In my opinion, having 2 heat lamps on his cage is a bit much. He actually may be feeling too hot and may not want to be roaming around. I agree with the other guy who posted about alterna preferring nightime to roam. I do have some that do the same thing but I do have some that are roaming around the cages at all hours of the day.

How warm is your room? I keep my room at 78-80 at the very highest and all my graybands are active, along with my pituophis. I personally would try cooling it down a notch to see if that helps.

Take care and good luck!
Billy

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Genesis 1:1

My room is cold. It can get into the 50s at night, so I feel safer with the 2 lamps in there. I noticed last night as I walked into the room that he was out and about, but got really freaked out when I got near the cage. And this morning I noticed that there was a groove in the bedding around the rim of the enclosure, so at least I know he is getting out. I have not yet added a lamp on a night/day timer, mostly because I am getting mixed reviews on if I should or not. I guess the real test if he is happy or not will be tomorrow night when I feed him. Any ideas on the easiest way? (should I put the pinkie in and leave or should I lift up the hiding place and try to feed him with the tongs?)

My room is cold. It can get into the 50s at night, so I feel safer with the 2 lamps in there. I noticed last night as I walked into the room that he was out and about, but got really freaked out when I got near the cage. And this morning I noticed that there was a groove in the bedding around the rim of the enclosure, so at least I know he is getting out. I have not yet added a lamp on a night/day timer, mostly because I am getting mixed reviews on if I should or not. I guess the real test if he is happy or not will be tomorrow night when I feed him. Any ideas on the easiest way? (should I put the pinkie in and leave or should I lift up the hiding place and try to feed him with the tongs?)

That is cool then if that room gets that cold! I understand the two lamps now!

For feeding, I would try this: Do not try to use tongs, as it is not going to be needed. Since you are using bedding, lift up the hide box, get him out for a quick moment placing him in another part of the cage, and then clear an area on the bottom of the tanks so that it is just the glass showing. Put the pinkie there and then put the hide box back in its original position. Then either put him back in the hide box by placing his head near the opening so that the snake would go in on his own or just leave him be and he will go back in the hide box eventually. Doing this lowers the risk of any bedding sticking to the pinkie and being ingested by your snake.

Then, just leave him alone. Don't mess with him at all. I would wait at least a day before checking on the snake if he is in his hidebox after placing the pinkie there.

This way, he has the least amount of stress around feeding time.

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1