Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved my BP into a bigger tank a few weeks ago and ever since I've done this, he's been trying to get out a lot stretching his body up to the top bouncing his nose up there. He rarely did this in his old smaller tank. Do you guys have any suggestions on what could be wrong all of a sudden? He doesn't do it 24/7 but he does it quite a bit and I'm worried their is something bothering him in there even though I have it setup just like I had his smaller tank setup. Warm side gets to be about 90 to 95 during the day with the cool side being about 80. AT night the warm side drops to about 80 and the cool side between 70 and 75. Same bedding too that he never had a problem with before. Hide on each side, etc. Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

More room to explore I would say.........snakes will not stay setled when they are too hot and also too cold..............your temps don't sound bad.........

My heat tape is set at 95 degrees...........I have 2 inches of shredded cypress mulch as a substrate.......

I would say it is happier and just exploring.........trying to find a way out.....

BPs are *notorious* for not liking to be moved. I've had 'em do the same thing when moved from tiny quarters to an appropriate-sized tank. He should settle down eventually.

I got evacuated during the fires here in SoCal - my boys did NOT like being hurredly dumped into the travel cage, nor did they like being in the 10-gallon tank in the hotel room. They're back in their usual tank now, and are quite happy. Of course, I left them alone for a few days to get re-acclimated to their own home before I handled them again.

That might be one thing - how often are you handling him? It's best to leave a snake be for a few days or weeks while it gets used to its new environment.

Another cause is that something is wrong (too hot/cold, too dry/wet, hide too big/small, wrong food). From my experience, it looks like you've got the temps OK. What about the humidity levels? Do you have a hygrometer to check for that?

Size is important - the tank should be just long enough for the snake to stretch out to its full length. Too small, the snake can't fully stretch. Too big, the snake doesn't feel secure.

Make sure that his hides are *just* big enough for him to squeeze into. Snakes are much more secure if they can feel their hide all around them - kindof like a little kid needing to be tucked in at night.

If you've got all conditions at optimum and this behavior persists, I'd recommend switching back to the smaller tank. On the other hand, he could just be revelling in the new space.... Yours wouldn't be the first snake to drive its owner crazy for no good reason.

Sometimes adult males are very restless when breeding season approches and don't seem to get tired of there enless moving about. I have to males that do it this time of year and also refuse food for months and months.