Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recently purchased a California Kingsnake (2/20/10). they said its about a month old. and i got the whole setup. Bedding, heat pad, water bowl, hide, lamp with red light. everything i think i need. and all the snake likes to do is burrow underneath the water bowl, which is the side opposite the heat pad and lamp. i fed it saturday when i got it home and it ate well. but today when i went to change the water bowl it was underneath like usual. i came back to my room to put the bowl back in and the snake started to rattle its tail and snap at the glass. I'm not sure why its acting the way it is, but i would like to know if its normal for a young snake to do so. the warm side is about 80 degrees and the cool side is 73-75ish. thanks for your help.

Rick

That is VERY typical behavior, especially for very young snakes. They are trying to thwart off the big monster (meaning you) that came stomping back with the water bowl..LOL!

Tiny hatchlings are instilled with this defense mechanism so they can survive in the wild, simple as that. Just let it be a little snake and do what it does best....hide! from giant monsters.

Don't worry, it will get better with time, and it will gradually start seeing you as less and less of a threat as time goes on, but you can't expect it not to act like a tiny defensless snake, when it IS a tiny defensless snake..LOL!

Do yourself a big favor, and make a small hook out of a thich piece of wire, or coat hanger. Then instead of you big giant monster hand coming down on it, you can simply hook the snake at mid-body, slowly take it out of the enclosure this way, and gently place it in your already opened other hand. This way, the snake is gently lowered into your hand without him thinking a big monster just grabbed him for a snack. This works great on acclimating snakes to getting used to being around people and being held. One good word of advice though. Always wait at least 2 days after a meal to attempt to hold it. This will help ensure that it doesn't regurgitate it's meal out of nervousness. This can actually kill a young snake because it can snowball big-time if it isn't taken care of in the correct manner.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

here is an up date. this morning about a minute after i turned on the heat lamp, the snake was crawling around the terranium, im glad to see it active. here is a pics from when i first got em. just for perspective that giant black thing in the top right corner is a comcast remote.

I'd dump the heatpad, unless you live in Iceland. Getulus are hard to kill, so just a bowl of water and hiding place. He is probably underneath the bowl because a) he likes it there, or b) the cage is too hot. Another thing could be that he hide you have is not secretive enough for him.

If what you are saying is that he's not tame, put him in a pillowcase and hold him a couple of times per day - let him get used to being handled. Juvenile getulus can have nasty tempers, and it's just a matter of breaking his will, much like a dog, IMHO.

Please do not get rid of the heat source......
Snakes need to thermal regulate no matter where you live.....

Give the snake the option to conserve on the cool side (room temp / 70F or so) and digest on the warm side (85F-90F).....
Other options/choices your snake needs is moisture/humidity, dark, dry and combinations of all of the above......The heat and the moisture is more important than the water bowl in my opinion.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

yea i live on the east coast and we havent been having the best weather lately. MAD snow storms, and its freezing up here. so getting rid of the heat source would potentially kill my snake. i mean, its a young snake, im sure its just scared the only thing is it didnt do that to me the first day. its only been today that its done it out of no where. but also it was the first real day i left it alone (monday i have classes so im not home). so i was jsut asking to make sure my snake isnt hurt or just freaked out beyond return. thank you everyone for your responses. let me know if you want pics.

Rick

You snake is behaving completely normally. If you handle him regularly he will become very tame very quickly. You might get peed on a few times first. Just wait him out.

He is also trying to tell you something. His first priority is thermoregulation, followed shortly after by security. If he is under the water bowl it is because he doesn't have any other tight dark hides that he likes as much. Give him lots of tight dark places to hide at differnt temps. Toss in a few cork flats or even just scraps of wood on each side and let him climb under them.

He will usually be on the cool side but the hot areas are important for the short periods he does use them. Don't get rid of the heat.

I found that scrap bits of 2x4s are great...I keep mine on cypress usually, so they just burrow underneath the wood and it's all good. A hell of a lot cheaper than cork (but nowhere near as pretty). I put one cut as long as the cage is wide on the cool end, and one as long as the cage is wide on the hot end (or did till I ran out of wood...I need to buy another small section).
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Well, see, he does live in Iceland!

Leave the heat pad in. the snakes needs to thermoregualte.

it will sit on the warmer side to digest and then move to the cooler parts of the cage to conserve energy.

that is what snakes do. they are always looking for the best temp and humidity.
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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

Yep...what he said.....lol
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...
www.coastalbendcaptivebreeding.com

I dunno, back in the day, heh heh, we had ugly, aluminum framed aquariums, none of those fancy-schmancey heatpads or 10 dollar rocks. Don't spoil your snake. Our snakes from back in the day had to walk to school, both ways, in the snow.

Take a speckled kingsnake, from Louisiana for example. 95 degrees in the summer, down to freezing in the winter. When it gets that low, he doesn't self thermoregulate, he freezes his butt off.

You have a getula - maybe if you had something more delicate. If you were breeding them, certainly you would want to control temps. You might want to pamper your snake, and help him feel as comfortable as possible - nothing wrong with that. But if you have a reasonable temperature-controlled room that makes you comfortable, chances are nippy is ok too.

For a getula, if I was going to heat at all, I would use flexwatt on the outside, not a pad in the inside. But that is me, and I'm a cheap bastard.

LOL i hear you but i keep the pad on the bottom outside the tank, im thinking about just taping the heat pad to the side of the tank. that way its radiant heat instead of conduction. but the snake has been coming out more during the day.

That'll work. But check it from time-to-time. Nippy is one handsome bastard.

Why thank you.