Noticed yesterday that Harper has a touch of nose-rub - she's been poking the lid a lot lately. Here's a diagram of her lid, we made it & it's worked fine for 6 months:

It's perforated plywood (like pegboard but heftier) with aluminum windowscreen 'portholes', & heat lamps (usually just one, unless it is especially cold) can be set over the screened portions.

We set the 2 snake tanks side by side recently; Maybe the proximity of the cornsnake tank is bothering her? I just put a sheet of cardboard between them; maybe that will help with the sightline, anyway. Ted (the cornsnake) isn't out of his hide very often but I'm sure she can smell him. She's been poking the screen nearest his tank most often. We've not had this problem before.

First of all, I want to prevent her from abrading her nose anymore, so I temporarily covered (inside) 2 of the 3 screens with packing tape for the time being :-P The third hole, with the lamp over it, hasn't been so much of a target for her.

I hope she will let the little scab heal now (it's just been apparent yesterday & today). Should I use something other than screen? I don't want to set the lamp on anything that will melt or act like a magnifying glass, obviously. Other than aluminum screen (or hardware cloth - prolly just as bad) what are my options that will work with heat lamps?

I want to alter whatever is causing the behavior also (I don't want to keep the packing tape as a permanent feature). She's always had lids with screen & she's never had nose rub before. The only real change is the cornsnake's proximity (his tank is like 6 inches away, they're on the same long shelf, side by side). They've been in the same room before, but not so close. Will she adapt, should I move them apart, & has anyone had this kind of reaction between BPs & other species before?

Lastly - I've not had any reason to put neosporin on my snakes, yet. I don't think I ought to for this, because i's one of those non-bloody sorts of scabs, & it's right near her mouth. Anything I ought to do besides wait for shed?

Thanks,
-Kim
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~kimhotep