Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For some reason lately my snake never seems to rest. Its always crawling around the cage. All day and all night, it maybe seems to stop for a hour or two.

Is it too hot?
Too cold?
Hungry?
I would check these things first!
Good luck.

I dunno if its too cold or too hot. For a while all it was doing was burrowing. I have a heat pad on one side of the aquarium. But now all she seems to do is crawl to the top of the aquarium.

you're probably over heating the animal and causing some serious stress. I'd recommend replacing a heating pad with a flex watt heat strip, or an alternative heat mat made for reptiles. You can control the heat output with a rheostat or proportional controller that way you know what the hot spots are and not just providing an unregulated HOT spot.

Russ

Well I bought the heatpad from a pet shop.

What are the temperatures at the warm and cool ends of the tank? Could be he can't find a place that's the right temp for him.

Might be other things as well. Are there plenty of hides so that he can get out of sight if he wants to? How often do you change his water? How often do you feed him?

Not sure that it helps, but I have a King that behaves like this and after five years of tinkering with his setup, I still can't figure out what he's looking for.

Well if you bought the heating mat at a pet store then you are on the right track but it still may be overheating the snake enough to cause the "wondering" action. Try controlling the amount of heat the mat can put out and that might fix the problem.

Some snakes are just "roamers" and you won't fix it....that is just he way they are. I know of one line of bull snakes that tend to roam no matter how much room, heat, water, food, hides....etc you give them.

Try turning off the heat mat and see if that changes the snakes actions. If your house or room is heated, the snake will continue to eat and poop and thrive, otehrwise you'll need to turn the heat back on to get his digestive track working again.

Good luck,
Russ

and I thought you meant like a heat pad people use. Most herp keepers refer to the mat you bought as a UTH or under tank heater. They are effective when controlled/regulated but let to run full blast they can kick out some temps in excess of 120 degrees.

Russ

I have never regulated my UTH and have never had a problem with a snake getting injured. The snakes sometimes lay directly above the heating pad with no ill effects. The substrate insulates and helps keep the heat lower. If the snake doesn't like the heat it stays away.

Rich D

Where do you live? If you live in the south and keep your animals in a room that is warm and you let a heat pad run uncontrolled, in my opinion you are asking for problems.

Russ

>>you're probably over heating the animal and causing some serious stress. I'd recommend replacing a heating pad with a flex watt heat strip, or an alternative heat mat made for reptiles. You can control the heat output with a rheostat or proportional controller that way you know what the hot spots are and not just providing an unregulated HOT spot.
>>
>>Russ
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

>>>>you're probably over heating the animal and causing some serious stress. I'd recommend replacing a heating pad with a flex watt heat strip, or an alternative heat mat made for reptiles. You can control the heat output with a rheostat or proportional controller that way you know what the hot spots are and not just providing an unregulated HOT spot.
>>>>
>>>>Russ
>>-----

Sorry Russ but I have to disagree. I have been using heat pads for years and have never had a problem. I personally believe they work quite well. And they are a lot cheaper then normal Under Tank Heaters.
I do have a few tanks with UTH's and I use flex watt on my racks but the snakes in heat pad tanks are doing just fine.
If used properly they work as well as any UTH and last a heck of a lot longer.
my 2 cents anyway
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

just that they should be regulated. I agree it is the cheaper version of a UTH and effective but left to just heat wide open, I'd say your asking for problems. Snakes don't always move off of hot spots.....I had a transpecos that sat on a hot spot until it literally burned its belly to the point were it eventually died. Not a pretty site and that was an unregulated UTH.

Back to the initial questions at hand..........check your temps.

Russ

>>just that they should be regulated. I agree it is the cheaper version of a UTH and effective but left to just heat wide open, I'd say your asking for problems. Snakes don't always move off of hot spots.....I had a transpecos that sat on a hot spot until it literally burned its belly to the point were it eventually died. Not a pretty site and that was an unregulated UTH.
>>
>>Back to the initial questions at hand..........check your temps.
>>
>>Russ

You are right. They need to be regulated. They can be dangerous if the temps spike. Like heat rocks they can cause serious burns. Snakes, for some reason, don't realize they are being seriously burned until it is too late.

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

that is a ghost right? I treally looks nice. I had a very large ghost with the same light coloring once and I really loved that snake. But as all corn projects come and go..he went

Later,
Russ

>>that is a ghost right? I treally looks nice. I had a very large ghost with the same light coloring once and I really loved that snake. But as all corn projects come and go..he went
>>
>>Later,
>>Russ

Yep he is my ghost.
I love his light coloration.
I just bought a female for him.
I hope she stays fairly light as she matures.
Hopefully they will create some very light ghosts when put together. That is what I will be working towards anyway. Very very light ghosts.
Obviously a few years down the road.
another pic of him followed by a pic of his future mate.
Not great pics but I think they show the potential.

-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

>>One of my snows got extremely restless around this time last year.
It coincided with a slight warming trend.
She was restless and roaming her tank and active active active.
So, I put a male ghost in with her and within 5 minutes they were hooked up and doing the "nasty"...lol
After that she calmed down nicely and produced 19 eggs a few months later.
So, although it may be temps in the viv it could also be a biological response to a slight weather change or just may be that she is ready to breed reguardless of weather or time of year.
If the temperatures check out in the normal ranges then give her a week or so and she should calm down.

one of the babies

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes