Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

I've got a 2 1/2-year-old female blood that's a great captive in every way (good feeder, docile, great sheds and poops) except for the fact that, for the past couple months, she starts pushing against the door of her enclosure every few days or so. Her cage is in my home office, and since I work from home, it drives me nuts when she's this busy. Plus, I'm worried about a potential injury that may result from this behavior. Since she was a baby, she's always been in the same room and the same place, so no change in location recently.

She's about 4 ft. long and between a baseball and softball size at her thickest girth. Ambient temps are kept at around 85 on the warm end and about 55-60% humidity. She's in a black Boaphile cage that measures 36" long, 24" deep and 12" high. Substrate is paper towel or brown kraft paper. Been in this cage since last Christmas. It has a top-mounted radiant heater kept on a thermostat control.

She eats one or two F/T large rats every 10 days (just one rat if it's big) like clockwork. And, like I said, she's totally docile--not even an aggressive feeding response (I take her to schools, she's so tame). When I take her out, she shows no other signs of stress and just loves to cruise around the room or crawl on me. In fact, she's so tame I can rest her head in my hand without her seeming to care.

Any ideas about what I can do to stop the nose rubbing? I bought the cage with an expandable end panel on it so I could add a blind end to use as a big hide. That would expand the length of the cage to 5 ft.

Does she need the extension now? Is this a breeding behavior (she's never been bred, and she was CBB as a baby)? The nose rubbing seems to subside for about a week after she's eaten, but I just presume that's the usual lazies that come from eating.

Any constructive advice would sure be appreciated! She's my favorite in the collection, and I want to keep her happy and healthy.

Thanks!

I would go ahead & remove the divider & see if allowing her the extra space does the trick.

Keep an eye on the 85 degree ambient temp as well. That is a bit on the warm side for this species, especially in a smaller enclosure. The behavior may be due a combination of the temp space, if she feels like she is too warm & cannot move away from it to thermoregulate. Start by expanding the enclosure since you have the option to do so & see if that works, but if not, it may be time to bump the ambient temp down a couple degrees as well.

Good luck!

K~

>>Hey everyone,
>>
>>I've got a 2 1/2-year-old female blood that's a great captive in every way (good feeder, docile, great sheds and poops) except for the fact that, for the past couple months, she starts pushing against the door of her enclosure every few days or so. Her cage is in my home office, and since I work from home, it drives me nuts when she's this busy. Plus, I'm worried about a potential injury that may result from this behavior. Since she was a baby, she's always been in the same room and the same place, so no change in location recently.
>>
>>She's about 4 ft. long and between a baseball and softball size at her thickest girth. Ambient temps are kept at around 85 on the warm end and about 55-60% humidity. She's in a black Boaphile cage that measures 36" long, 24" deep and 12" high. Substrate is paper towel or brown kraft paper. Been in this cage since last Christmas. It has a top-mounted radiant heater kept on a thermostat control.
>>
>>She eats one or two F/T large rats every 10 days (just one rat if it's big) like clockwork. And, like I said, she's totally docile--not even an aggressive feeding response (I take her to schools, she's so tame). When I take her out, she shows no other signs of stress and just loves to cruise around the room or crawl on me. In fact, she's so tame I can rest her head in my hand without her seeming to care.
>>
>>Any ideas about what I can do to stop the nose rubbing? I bought the cage with an expandable end panel on it so I could add a blind end to use as a big hide. That would expand the length of the cage to 5 ft.
>>
>>Does she need the extension now? Is this a breeding behavior (she's never been bred, and she was CBB as a baby)? The nose rubbing seems to subside for about a week after she's eaten, but I just presume that's the usual lazies that come from eating.
>>
>>Any constructive advice would sure be appreciated! She's my favorite in the collection, and I want to keep her happy and healthy.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
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KLG,

Thanks much for your expert advice! Yep, I was thinking it might be time to expand the cage size, but I'll bump the temp down a few degrees as well to see if that helps. A 5-ft.-long, x 2 ft. wide cage should be plenty of room for an adult blood, right?

Thanks again.

You betcha - 5' x 2' should last the life of your snake! Hope that fixes the rubbing issue. Good luck!

K~

>>KLG,
>>
>>Thanks much for your expert advice! Yep, I was thinking it might be time to expand the cage size, but I'll bump the temp down a few degrees as well to see if that helps. A 5-ft.-long, x 2 ft. wide cage should be plenty of room for an adult blood, right?
>>
>>Thanks again.
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