Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4ft borneo who for the last two weeks has been very active day and night,He doesn't stop going around his viv.He is eating a large rat once a week and has also defecated recently as at first I thought he may be constipated...His ambient temperature is 82 and he has a hot spot of 88 ..he has a hide up each end and one is full of moss which he uses regularly..he seems healthy and is eating and drinking and flicking his tounge around..could he be looking for a girlfriend??I was told that he wouldn't be eating if it was sexual behaviour?Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hey,
Here is what I think is going on with your male, as I have a male that behaves in similar fashion when!! When there is recent urate (urine-watery) release or defecation in the cage. Believe it or not, strange as it may sound bloods are not stupid when it comes to their home inviron; they don't like it smelly or dirty. Even when they don't necessarily pass solid urates, or stools, they pass urine in the way of water. This watery fluid, is strong in the way of smell and they hate it and try desperately to get away from it. As you are feeding your snake weekly and it is eating with no problems as you described then it is more than likely passing water just a few days after a meal; as they drink copious amounts of water from their water bowl right after a meal and do not retain most of it, but rather pass it. They don't like lying in it, and they don't like smelling it either. Just a very good observation from the many bloods and short tails that I keep.

What are you using for substrate? I use straight up news paper in several layers, and once the paper is replaced with fresh layers of it, they or he, calms down almost immediately. If you are using something other than news paper, like Cypress Mulch, they haven't anywhere to go, and they lie in it as it spreads and diffuses in the mulch and it is not easily detected by you unless you take a wiff of the cage or viv, and see that it is either not smelling of urine or urate ( bm=poop), and if it isn't, then it is something other than what I described.

The only other time that my male prowls his cage is when he is telling me that he is hungry - usually about 9 days after a meal; and when that happens again, once he is fed he is calm as a baby with a bottle and changed diaper. LOL! Try what I described and check that there is nothing out of place. We can tell from watching and observing them and making connections to their environment (cage) and other idiosyncrosies if we pay attention to them. They are telling us something is wrong, of course not terribly, but something is amiss.

Good luck! -

Angel
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Sometimes on your way to your dream, you get lost and find a better way!

Thanks Angel for your reply...Funny enough he had defecated a day or so before and also there was a small pool of urine on his tub which I had cleaned up..I thouroughly stripped and cleaned him out day before yesterday and he did calm down a bit but was active for a while today...What you are saying does make sense so will keep an eye on it thanks alot..By the way I keep him on newspaper as I find this easier because you can tell immediately if they have urinated unlike some substrates which soak it up without you even knowing they have done it.I will let you know how he goes...by the way I missed out on those red bloods from Bob Simpson...shame but there will be others..Regards and many thanks again

No problem!!, and too bad you missed out on the bloods, they were lovely!
They'll be others. I am picking up a pair tomorrow from Kara, at the NWP show. - Angel
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Sometimes on your way to your dream, you get lost and find a better way!