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We caught a 48'' gopher snake a couple months ago and decided to keep it as a pet. She has been eating very well (live mice). However, the past week or two she's been acting very weird. Any time we try to pick her up she reacts to the motion in her cage very agressively, jumping away and such.

If we do pick her up, she may remain calm for only a couple minutes before lashing out all of a sudden. Once she's done that, she flails her body, darts around and is impossible to hold.

When put back in her cage, she will slither around banging her head on the glass, acting insane.

Any clues what is wrong with her?

Thanks,

perk

You cannot expect a WILD caught snake to come around right away. You're probably stressing it out by handling it so much. Give it time to acclimate. Make sure it has a hide box.

Her bihavior is probably due to the fact that she is wild caught, unlike a captive animal she probably has some kind of memory of her old way of life. She is just stressed about the whole ordeal, she needs to feel safe and has to have more room than a captive born snake would. What kind of setup do you have for her? If she looks like an adult I would keep her in a 40 gallon breeder or larger to give her enough room. Also give her two large hide boxes on each side of the tank and a large water bowl that she can fit in. I would also give her a 60 watt Dayglow light by Hagen for basking. The substrate that works best is shredded aspen, they love to burrow in it. Also, I would stop handling her for a while. The best way to interact with her for now is to check on her in her hide box. After a while she will get used to your presence.

Thanks for the suggestions. Our setup is pretty much like what you described, but we can add another hide box and put in a bigger water bowl.

I was concerned because she was very easy to handle for the first 6 weeks that we had her. Only in these last couple weeks has she started acting weird.

You didn't mention that it was fine for the first six weeks in your original post. Does your snake have a cool spot to "escape" to if it gets too hot?

I've seen snakes act nutty and even go into "spasmatic" behavior when they are being invaded by mites. You may not notice them, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. When they get behind their eyes, the snakes tend to spaz. Keep an eye out for that.

We have a lamp on one side of the cage and a place for her to hide on the other, which should be pretty cool. She spends most of her time there. I will look for mites, assuming that they can be seen with the naked eye.

Thanks for the tips,

perk

They(mites) are not always visible right away. Is there any swelling around the eyes?

>When they get behind their eyes, the snakes tend to spaz. Keep >an eye out for that.

"behind their eyes" ; "keep an eye out".

Almost clever I would say. LOL

Good suggestion on the subject of the post.

LOL, I didn't notice that. A coincindence perhaps. Or is it, muuuwwwwaaaaahahahahaha.

AuntEYE

yet there's that shadow of a doubt. Coincidence? as you say. Don't go up against a person who can make puns with no intention and perhaps knowing it; unless you have plenty of ammunition and/or backup. This is a win by attrition world. I always favored hand grenades myself. LOL. I shouldn't have said anything, it's gone to his EYE as in AuntEYE.

>>LOL, I didn't notice that. A coincindence perhaps. Or is it, muuuwwwwaaaaahahahahaha.
>>
>>
>> AuntEYE

It could be she is looking for a mate. Hormones might have something to do with the change in her behavior among changes in environment.

you can for awhile. Covering the cage might help. You say it's been a couple months. I don't think she had time to find a male and copulate, but she may be gravid if she did. Has she shed since you've had her? She may be in blue eye which is a time you need to leave her alone. Some wild caught snakes settle right in to a captive environment, some w/c take time and alot of work, some never do settle down and acclimate to a captive environment. I agree with the other post that one scenario is she may be looking for a mate. She may be ovulating and looking to copulate. Mites and/or external parasites is a possiblity as already suggested.

>>We caught a 48'' gopher snake a couple months ago and decided to keep it as a pet. She has been eating very well (live mice). However, the past week or two she's been acting very weird. Any time we try to pick her up she reacts to the motion in her cage very agressively, jumping away and such.
>>
>>If we do pick her up, she may remain calm for only a couple minutes before lashing out all of a sudden. Once she's done that, she flails her body, darts around and is impossible to hold.
>>
>>When put back in her cage, she will slither around banging her head on the glass, acting insane.
>>
>>Any clues what is wrong with her?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>perk

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