Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 07 crumbly line bullsnake I purchased at a reptile show in september. The snake has been doing fine, up until a three weeks ago i noticed it seems to pace the cage and at almost the same spot tries to ascend the cage. As he goes up he curls his neck in a very unnatural posistion and descends to repeat the process. The cage is part of a thermostaticlty controlled rack system. There are two hide boxes and fresh water at all times,he is still eatig fine but his movement does not look right has anyone seen this behavior before? can you help?
Thank you
Joel

Sounds like he is way to hot, just off the cuff. Check out your substrate, heat and for pests. Something is making him want out badly. About five years ago we got a shipment of aspen that the animals started acting similar to this when they were on it. As it turned out it had been contaminated with a petro chemical that was irritating the scutes of the snakes. Another time the heat tape in half of the rack system was getting hotter than it should have been and was causing a problem. So again the best bet is to double check all your husbandry.

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms

I know the back one third of the cage is between 82 & 85 degrees and the front two thirds are in the mid seventies.
How did you determine you had a petro chemical on the aspen? and wouldn't you think I would see issues with other snakes? That might explain his odd movement in the neck area.
Thanks John
BTW the deppei i got from you last month are awesome!
Joel

If it is a serious problem, and not just him trying to get out, it would probably be a respiratory issue. I have seen snakes take that posture when trying to dislodge mucus or fluid from their respiratory tract.

I am sure of the temps I have indoor/outdoor temp probes and have tested with raytek laser gun. The rack is heated with heat cable and controlled with a herpstat proportional thermostat,the sensor probe is in the middle of a 22 tub vision rack. The cool side of his cage is 73 to 76 i feel confident that the environment is ideal. He is not moving 24/7 what concerns me is the contorting he is doing, at times he has his head upside down in the air with his neck twisted. He ate one rat pinky last night 12-12-07 so appetite is good his feeding schedule is every 5 to 7 days and he does not refuse. He shares the rack with 21 other pits that have no issues, like i said in my first post he just started this about three weeks ago. Thanks for your time all information is appreciated.
Joel

guess i should read the whole post before i try to wax intellectual about something.
are you sure of your temps? how is the rack controlled? where is the thermostat in the rack? where do you live, and what is the temp on the "cool side" ("room temp" is not the right answer, i hear that a lot)? is he moving all the time? does he still sit over his heat at all?
most likely it's just a husbandry issue. if it was a serious respiratory problem, you might also observe drooling, wheezing, or some other obvious breathing problem.

like jcherry said, check your entire husbandry again, and then again. i hope everything works out. keep us posted.