Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My GTP, about 2 years old, grew so much his coils were touching under his perch. In the past I've used bird perches, but was not able to find one any larger than the 1" diameter perch he was using, so I bought a 1.25" diameter wooden rod from home depot, cut it down to size and put it in his enclosure. I put him back inside on his old perch, on the bottom of his cage. That night, I found him up on the new perch, looking normal and happy. In the morning, the new perch was on the floor of the cage and so was he, on top of the old perch. I replaced the new perch and found him on it again that evening. The next morning, the new perch was on the floor again (apparently I cut it a bit narrow, so he was able to dislodge it). Since then, he has been on the floor. I took the old perch out in hopes that it would encourage him to go back to the new one, with no luck.

He also appears to be sleeping at night, or at least isn't at all active.

This afternoon, I took out the new perch and replaced the old one. It's nighttime now, all the lights are out in the herp room and he's still on the floor, apparently sleeping.

I am concerned that he may have injured himself by falling with the new perch, but am not sure how to tell, short of taking him to the vet to be x-rayed. For several days, he was in one corner of his cage; this afternoon I found him a few inches away, so I am encouraged by this.

Any input would be appreciated. (i.e., is he okay? what should I do? is it okay to move him so I can clean the enclosure? any other advice?)

One more thing -- I took some pictures (admittedly, poor, of him on the floor. Would it help if I posted one?

TIA
Chris
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1.0 GTP
1.1 Brazillian BCC
1.0 Columbian BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
1.1 Bearded Dragons

My males sometimes spend quite a bit of time on the ground. Initially I thought about posting a similar concern but eventually they resume their respective perches.

I first thought mabey the upper reaches of the cage were too warm etc. but all was cool in that regard. Feeding, demeanor, overall health is good so I quit stressing.

I did get a new female two weeks ago that has yet to perch and has spent all this time hiding on the ground behind a potted plant. She does cruise at night and eats like a banshee but always stays on the ground. It could be just an acclimitization thing??

Bill

Is this snake handleable? If so, inspect the snake yourself, take notice of how it moves. It is entirely possible the animal sustained an injury. I think it is also possible that the snake doesn't trust the perch site now, after falling twice. Get a perch that fits and he'll get over it. Is the snake eating? If the snake is not handleable. coax it to move around a bit and you will have to determine for yourself weather a trip to the vet is warrented. Goodluck, Clint

Thanks for the tip. The snake, as GTPs go <g>, is handleable. However I was concerned that if I picked him up, whatever injury he sustained might be worsened -- like if he broke something.

In the time I've had him, I have seen him on the ground before, but never for more than a couple of hours at a time.

As far as feeding, he has always been a very good eater. However I have not tried feeding him since he has been on the ground, as I was not sure if he would be able to digest properly in that position.

I installed an air conditioner in the herp room recently, as it gets too hot in there year round. Everyone -- except the GTP -- has heat tape or lamp (depending on the species) except the GTP.
Since I got the AC, average temp. in the room has been in the high 70's. He has had no problems digesting his food, and the temp. didn't change since I found him on the floor, but I thought perhaps it was too cold, so I turned the temp up to 82 degrees several days ago. This does not seem to have had an effect though.

The only other change is that I have been decreasing the amount of "daylight" every day or two by four minutes to more closely approximate the length of the real day. The lights currently go on at 6:30am and off at 7:24pm. Even thought the GTP does not have a light, he can quite obviously tell when the lights of the lizards nearby are on or off.

Thanks again for your suggestions, and any others you may have.

Chris
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1.0 GTP
1.1 Brazillian BCC
1.0 Columbian BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
1.1 Bearded Dragons

I found him back on his old perch last night, a perfect shed on the floor. He was looking happy and healthy and wondering where his food was. So I guess he wanted to be in the more humid area to shed.

Thanks again to all who replied.
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1.0 GTP
1.1 Brazillian BCC
1.0 Columbian BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
1.1 Bearded Dragons