Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i wasnt going to post a message about this but the past few days its been starting to concern me a bit....my cal king in his last cage would always try to go to the lip of the aquarium it was a 20 long and he could fit up there til he got to the thickest part then would fall, i moved him to a 35 which has a very very small lip that i didnt think he could fit on...well he finds a way to get in there and once again gets to the thicker part of his body and falls down into the cage, it worries me a bit more with this cage as it is higher and i dont want him to get hurt. i dont think hes broken anything as he eats and everything but do u think he would continue to do this if he did hurt himself? it could be his personallity as i think he wants out alot when he does that and most of the time i will take him out to come sit, but im not always around and im sure he does it more do u think he will hurt himself? if so what should i do ?
thanks
Chuck

You didn't say what you are using on the bottom of the tank. Most mediums will cushion the fall (which really isn't much)so no harm done there. Sounds like your snake likes the "High life" (lol).

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

i use aspen bedding, alot of it too cuz he likes to burrow, he lands on his water dish, stick, half log, cave and everything lol im sure he will be fine though, i just owrry too much haha

mine does that constantly too. i haven't worried about it, he always gets back up and tries again. he should be getting close to outgrowing the lip and not be able to fit anymore. i gave him enough credit to not do it if it hurts.

If its a standard aquarium you have and the screen top fits on the outside this is what I used to do. I would get a box cutter and score the plastic lip on the inside around the tank. That lip is basically to hold up a glass fish tank lid and you arent using it as such you dont really need it. I remember when my snakes would do that they would also work the screen loose once they got a foothold and scrape scales of their backs as well.

Keith
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You could always put some caulk around the lip of the cage to eliminate the space.

It won't hurt the cage (provided you don't apply so much that it interferes with the lid), and it won't hurt the snake (provided you put him into a temporary housing until it dries).

Good luck.

-Brandon
www.nosnakeban.org