Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have some questions i hope you can help me with. i have a young Pueblan about 11inches and about as thick as a pencil. got him about 3 days ago.
should i handle him right away or give him some time so settle in? he is very nervous at first but settles down after a few minutes (this was at the pet store)
current bedding is aspen and he spends most of his time burrowed in it, i have hides but right now he doesn't bother with them. my concern is with the under tank heater, since he is burrowing i'm worried that he might get too close to it and get burned.

whenever he is not doing god knows what under the aspen he usually is at the front of the tank with about 1 inch of his body sticking up pressed up flat against the glass, he'll do it on both the hot side and the cool side. and ideas on this?

thought about putting some live desert plants into the tank (succulents, not cacti) think this a good idea?

humidity seems to be a problem, cant seem to get it below 50% . covered 3/4th's of his water dish with cork but still not coming down.

at present he spends a lot of time peeking out from the aspen looking at me, i can tell cause when i move, his head moves too.
at present hot hide temp high 80's low 90's, cool side about 10-15 degrees cooler.
but since he burrows thru the aspen its hard to judge exactly what he likes.cause now were dealing basically with a 3 dimensional temp gradient.

BTW my pueblan is the cutest snake in the world, just so you know.

thanks,
mike

Sounds like he is finding the temp he wants now in the substrate. If he isn't using the hides, don't worry, they are there if he needs them. I would let him settle in for several more days before the handling sessions. No clue on the head/tail sticking out front to back, sometimes my kids would lay upside down hanging off the bed doing homework, go figure!
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Todd Hughes

I don't see that you have anything to worry about except that you should provide a small container with moist sphagnum, paper towels or a sponge so that the snake can retreat to this to avoid dehydration. Baby milks are susceptible to dehydration and I have had a few who refused food and/or regurged until I gave them a "humidity box."
My pueblans love aspen and other burrowing substrates and preferred them to hides. As they are older, I switched to newspaper, and they burrow under that too rather than use their hides (most of the time).
My first milk was a pueblan about the same size as yours. She has been a voracious eater almost constantly and at 18 months old she's around 30" long and bigger around than my thumb.
Good luck. And since yours is the prettyest one in the world, we're gonna need to see some pics.

Here is my first pueb the day after I got her.

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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

Sorry, that is a pic of her as a yearling.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase