Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby Blairi (around 15 inches)for the past 2 weeks. When I first got him he explored the enclosure (10 gallon) with Aspen and hides. Since then, he remains under the Aspen nearly all the time. He has eaten twice no issues there. The issue is that he is staying on the colder side (around 70 degrees.) The warm side is around 82-85. Whenever I take him out he generally feels cold. He is not very active, even in the evenings/night.

Once I take him out he is active.

Is this typical Blairi behavior?

Also, I have read varying info on the adult size anywhere from 2 feet to 4 feet. Does anyone have closer numbers?

Graybands and most other snakes generally prefer dark, tight fitting hides that have it to where their belly is touching the substrate and the hide is touching their back. Think of a crevice that gradually gets tighter; they will go all the back as far as they can go until both their belly and back is touching something. If your hides are not dark and tight enough they may use the aspen instead just because it makes them feel more secure.

This can be a problem because they instinctively know that hiding is a more immeadiate need than temperature so they may forgo seeking the temps they need in favor of seeking a good hide. To solve this problem make sure they have dark, tight hides on both the cool side and hot side.

Actually 70 is not that cold and snakes will often seek moderate to low temperatures in order to conserve fat, once they have digested most of their meal. It may be that the snake just wants to be at 70. This only becomes a problem if the snake starts refusing food and/or regurgitating.

I know you didn't ask but another thing to be aware of is humidity. Ideally you should have 4 hides, a dry one and a moist one on both the hot and cool sides. If you live in a somewhat humid climate you might not need the moist hides as long as the snake has water to drink. If you are getting complete sheds every time then you are probably ok but if you get stuck sheds or pieces of the sheds are sticking then you need to have the moist hides. Also be aware that leaving water in 24/7 can cause the humidy to be too much. If you have a screen top that usually doesn't happen though.

As far as adult size they can be adults at 2 foot but 28 inches is more likely considering the way most people feed and raise them. They never stop growing their whole lives. They will grow really fast up until they are about 2 feet then their growth rate slows somewhat. Once they get to about 36 inches their growth usually slows way down but they do still keep growing, just very slowly. A 4 foot grayband would be considered a very large adult but they can even exceed that if they live long enough.
-----
www.hcu-tx.org/

Mature size in alterna can vary depending on where they come from. In general, the eastern locales attain greater size, and the more western locales stay more petite if I remember correctly. I had an adult male Juno Rd. locality that was every bit four feet and girthy. On the opposite side of the coin was a male Christmas Mtn. I had that didnt make three feet on a good day!!

Thanks for your responses. Interestingly enough, over the past few days there has been a huge increase in activity; even spending a couple of hours on top of tank (under the mesh) attempting to find a weak spot.

Is there a way to tell locality from pictures? I bought locally in NY from a reptile only store. I am still trying to narrow (size wise)of what to expect at adult size.

Definitely a "blairi"

Currently 15-16 inches hatched July/August 2010
feeding 1-2 pinkies every 5 days.