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Hello! I just got a beautiful 100% het albino tiger. I have had her for a week now. I know this is soon but, she is a little bitey and I am sure that it is because of the new enclosure and new situation. Any ideas on what I could do to reduce the aggressiveness? I have her in a 50 gallon tall for now she is about 2 feet long. I have the cage completely covered and in a back room to reduce foot traffic. I have her on aspen bedding with two hide boxes and a water dish in the middle. However, I am keeping up the humidity up at 50-60%, ambient temp is at close to 92 and floor temp is about 85-88. I put my shirt in there so she could get used to my smell as well, I switch shirts out at night time.
Should I place her in a smaller cage? Should I just not do anything for another week or two? Is the shirt thing a good idea? She was being kept in a rack system with a smaller enclosure. This is my first big snake and I really want to tame her down while she is still young (birthday=March 10, 2006). Any ideas, thoughts, or comments will be much appreciated. Thanks!
-Dan
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1.1 CBB Dumerils Boa
1.0 CBB Cali King
1.1.2 CBB Red Tail
0.0.1 CBB Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 CBB Normal ball python
0.1 CBB Siberian Husky!
0.1 WC girlfriend

Most likely a combination of a few things. Young retics are sensitive to several of the following factors involved in the aspects of cage setup.

First, try reducing cage size. A 50G tank is huge for that little girl. Downsize her cage to a 15 or 20H tank. If another tank is not available, try placing her in a sweater box inside her current setup and allow her allow time to grow into it and acclimate. Despite covering her cage and placing hides within she is still very exposed in her large cage. Being constantly "exposed" creates a persistent uneasiness resulting in being defensive which is often interperted as aggression. As a baby natural instinct dicatates that since the whole world is bigger than me it could hurt me. To survive there is no time to question whether what is coming at me is friendly. Bite it and drive it away or it could be the end.

Second, reduce your ambient high temp to around 86/87, with a basking site of 90. Even more essential is allowing her a thermal gradient. I recommend 77L - 87H. This will allow her to pick her own comfort zone. Constant Heat = Stress = Poor temperment and resistance to feed.

Third, allow more humidity. Around 70%. Think FL in terms of relative humidity, not making the cage drip. Often highly overlooked, this factor is essential to shedding and eating reguarly as well.
A difficulty for many keepers, screens work poorly as enclosure barriers in general. Misting does nothing except wet them down for a short term until the heat evaporates it all into the air and back out of the cage. Allowing not only humidity to be lost but creating problems in maintaining heat gradient. I prefer, if having to use a tank, a solid lid with ventilation holes drilled thru and a light socket mounted internally with a shroud if neccessary. Your bulb wattage MUST be reduced when this type of lid is used, as once heat loss is stopped it takes much less wattage to heat the cage than when it had to shine down thru a drafty screen to reach the bottom of the tank.

Hope this helps, retics allow many years of enjoyment.

Notah

>>Hello! I just got a beautiful 100% het albino tiger. I have had her for a week now. I know this is soon but, she is a little bitey and I am sure that it is because of the new enclosure and new situation. Any ideas on what I could do to reduce the aggressiveness? I have her in a 50 gallon tall for now she is about 2 feet long. I have the cage completely covered and in a back room to reduce foot traffic. I have her on aspen bedding with two hide boxes and a water dish in the middle. However, I am keeping up the humidity up at 50-60%, ambient temp is at close to 92 and floor temp is about 85-88. I put my shirt in there so she could get used to my smell as well, I switch shirts out at night time.
>> Should I place her in a smaller cage? Should I just not do anything for another week or two? Is the shirt thing a good idea? She was being kept in a rack system with a smaller enclosure. This is my first big snake and I really want to tame her down while she is still young (birthday=March 10, 2006). Any ideas, thoughts, or comments will be much appreciated. Thanks!
>>-Dan
>>-----
>>1.1 CBB Dumerils Boa
>>1.0 CBB Cali King
>>1.1.2 CBB Red Tail
>>0.0.1 CBB Sulcata Tortoise
>>1.0 CBB Normal ball python
>>0.1 CBB Siberian Husky!
>>0.1 WC girlfriend

Constant Heat = Stress = Poor temperment and resistance to feed.

The above statement my be true for some but I don't agree for the most part. I know people with heated rooms (one temp) and they have never had a problem.

Everything else seems to be fine. I agree with alot of what was said above. The sweater box is a good idea.

With handling I'd get a snake hook, gulf club, stick, or whatever to get her to climb on. Once out of the cage *most* snakes are far more calm. For example if I wanted to mess with the ceylonese pythons I'd have to reach in and gently let them know I'm there and then pull them out. If I tried to pet them or something along those lines I'm sure they'd take a shot at me. Also typically herps tend to calm down as they get older.

Good luck!
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John Light
JL Exotics
Contact Me
Web Site

I agree, in that those keepers I have known who keep heated rooms, set ambient for around the mid 80's. Not the temps stated in this specific post of an ambient 90 . Retics especially like to regulate to a cool area from a hot area. It has been my experience that a retic spends the majority of its time in the low eighty range. Then splitting the remainder of that time in the "exteme ranges".. of basking site and cool end. These observations were made from caging which allowed constants. A retic in a drafty screen may hug the light constantly in a room which is air-conditioned, placing it in conflict with what I just stated. Again though this is leading back into the essentials of set-up per speicies.

Secondly if one is working with, or maintains in one room, a range of species from varying climatic zones. They will eventually meet problems with such non-specific overall maintenance.

In retrospect I should have stated 'Constant HIGH Heat', mid range would be acceptable.

Notah

>>Constant Heat = Stress = Poor temperment and resistance to feed.
>>
>>The above statement my be true for some but I don't agree for the most part. I know people with heated rooms (one temp) and they have never had a problem.
>>
>>Everything else seems to be fine. I agree with alot of what was said above. The sweater box is a good idea.
>>
>>With handling I'd get a snake hook, gulf club, stick, or whatever to get her to climb on. Once out of the cage *most* snakes are far more calm. For example if I wanted to mess with the ceylonese pythons I'd have to reach in and gently let them know I'm there and then pull them out. If I tried to pet them or something along those lines I'm sure they'd take a shot at me. Also typically herps tend to calm down as they get older.
>>
>>Good luck!
>>-----
>>John Light
>>JL Exotics
>>Contact Me
>> Web Site

Personally, I think a constant temperature of 85 would be a bit too chilly. I am one that controls temps and humidities in whole rooms and it has worked exceedingly well for me, is very simple and lacks unneccesary complexity. While I do maintain constant temperatures I still allow for a chronological thermal gradient in that I provide a night time cool period every day cycle. During non-breeding months the night time low in the retic,burmese,ceylonese,rock, anaconda and blood rooms generally are 84 to 85. The day time highs top out at 90. I run similar temps/cycles for scrubs, jungles, mackies, etc. How ones caging is constructed can directly determine the humidity within individual cages.

This has worked very well for me and I don't have a single, discontent snake. By this post I am not by any means implying that thermal gradient systems don't work. Naturally they do. But so does this method. And it's a lot cheaper, far less complex, and safer in terms of less electrical equipment which is tantamount to MUCH less fire risk.
Our Website

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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

Thank you everyone who replied. I have dropped the ambient temp a little to bout 85, upped the hunidity to 70-80%, and shrunk her cage. She ate 2 fuzzy rats on saturday no prblems and I am holding her right now. She is starting to get used to me and loves to go in my hair!!

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1.1 CBB Dumerils Boa
1.0 CBB Cali King
1.1.2 CBB Red Tail
0.0.1 CBB Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 CBB Normal ball python
0.1 CBB Tiger 100% Het Albino Retic
0.1 CBB Siberian Husky!
0.1 WC girlfriend

Just so you know a cooler animal will always be calmer. I'm not saying cool them down before you go and handle them. Thus is probably why they are a bit easier to work with. For example pulling them out of their hide box will be much easier then pulling them from under the heat lamp.
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John Light
JL Exotics
Contact Me
Web Site