My red tail (3') has been acting weird lately. She took a huge dump about 2 weeks ago, and after she did I found her breaking her neck trying to get out of her cage. I changed the carpet as soon as I saw the mess, and I put her back in and she was quite calm. She curled up and went to sleep. However, about 4 days later she dropped a small amount of urates only, and she went nuts again. I immediately cleaned the cage, but when I put her in, she did not calm down like last time. Again, a few days later, she dumped some more urates and she is still acting up. Usually she just moves from the cool to the hot side, and vice versa, but now she just seems to crawl all over the cage. I know she is unhappy somehow. She doesn't get snappy at all, shes a big baby, but I don't like knowing my baby is unhappy and I don't know what to do. This is strange. Why does she keep dropping urates? She usually goes 1 - 1.5 months between any urates/feces. Please help!
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My boa is going insane, please help...
Replies (4)
what kind of cage are using, how big is the cage, and what is in her cage?
She is in a 29 gallon aquarium. Warm side high 80's (87-89) and cool side high 70's. She has a hide box, a large water bowl, a rock, some branches, and some leaves for looks. She has always been content. I gave her new carpet yesterday and she calmed down. I think the kind of carpet I bought does not clean very well, so I started throwing it away when soiled. Any other advice?
it's great that your so concerned about your boas happiness....
there are 3 things i would try.
1.try giving her 2 hide boxes. 1 at the cool end and one at the hot...so she doesn't have to decide between thermal comfort and security. make sure the hide boxes are snug.
2. try putting a large towel or blanket over her aquarium for a day. maybe she needs some privacy....after all...living in glass houses...
3. finally, take her for a ride in your car. yeah. it sounds weird but i've seen it work on problemed feeders...just make sure weather in your area permitts it.
good luck to you, chris
Is it possible that because you have carpeting in the cage, it's quite the chore to clean or replace it (such as moving objects around) that maybe your making your little one nervous during this task? Reason why I'm asking is I had a shy snake once, that whenvever I made a big deal on the cleaning, she'd eventually become a ball of stress. Cheers.
