Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First, here's some background. I got her at the Hamburg, PA show on the 3rd. The guy I got her from said she's CB and feeding on baby rats. I held her at the show and she didn't hiss or strike or anything. On the drive home, I got her out and was holding her. She was fine for a couple minutes, then all of a sudden she started striking at the snake bag that was laying on my lap. I moved the bag, and she went back to crawling around on my hand for a couple minutes till I put her back in the bag(I'm thinking it may have been because of the vibrations from the car?). When I got home, I put her in her tank and left her alone until 2 days ago, when I got her out to take these pics. She was fine for a couple minutes, then she made a huffing noise and made a closed-mouth strike at thin air. She wasn't going for the camera, because she struck in the other direction. I kept her out for another 5 minutes then put her back in her cage. Does anybody have any ideas on why she's doing this? She hasn't tried to bite me or anything. Also, I'm going to try feeding her f/t mice in the next couple days, and I'm curious as to what's the best way to do this. With my Columbian Boa and BPs I just drop them in the cage. Should I use hemostats to hold the mouse in front of her, or should I just lay it in the tank, or what? And right now I'm heating her tank with a red heat lamp, but I have a 1' piece of 11" flexwatt I'm going to put under the tank. The room she's in is 70 degrees, and I'm wondering whether the belly heat will be enough, or do I need to use the heat lamp to raise the ambient temp as well? Thanks for any help you can give me, here are the pics.

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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
0.0.1 Crested Gecko

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boa
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos

Hey SF,

First let me say, congrats on getting a blood and it's great to see that she's CB. These days, there is no reason not to go CB...unfortunately it seems many (especially it seems from Florida) are labeling CH animals as CB.

What you're seeing with the huffing and puffing is perfectly normal. Although it varies snake to snake, bloods in general are very vocal animals. One of my girls is perfectly tame, never struck at me ONCE, yet always gives out a little hiss when I pick her up. Another one hisses and haws, but it's all show. A good indicator of a blood that may strike you is the "tongue half out." By this I mean they don't normally tongue flick, but stick the tongue half out, not flicking. Keep working with her, making sure she's supported well and you're not moving around much.

Feeding: Personally I prefer just dropping a warmed F/T animal into the cage overnight. This way the snakes hopefully don't associate movement with food.

Heating: You probably should raise your ambient temps a bit. This can be done with a heat lamp, but because heat lamps reduce humidity drastically, I think your best option would be to get a full length piece of 11" heat tape and tape it to the back of your aquarium. Just make sure to control it with a good quality thermostat like a Helix or Ranco.

Also, you probably should get another hide for the "cool" side of your tank so the blood doesn't have to choose between security and temp.

Looking good!

Matt

I know the huffing is normal, I'm just kind of curious as to why I can pick her up without so much as a hiss and then she strikes at thin air. Actually, the hide is on the cool side, I had it laying around, and they work great on the cool side, but put them under a heat lamp and they get HOT. The bottom of the dish is actually hollow, and she hides in there a lot, although she's going to outgrow it pretty quick. The tank she's in now is 12" by 24", I'm probably going to move her to a 20Long so there's more room for another hide. Im going to try feeding her tomorrow night, I guess I'll just put the mouse in the cage and see how it goes.
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
0.0.1 Crested Gecko

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boa
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos

Hey,
Here's my take on it, and it will vary from Matt's some. I do not like glass aquariums for bloods and it is simply because they do not offer enough insulation nor control of humidity. That said I think you can figure out that the practicalness of glass aquariums with me at least goes out the window for this reason. They make for good temporary quarters, but that is it. Moving on. If you are going to heat glass, then my take is to control the heat source, with a thermostat or dimmer. Dimmer's are much less expensive and for this purpose might be good enough. However, always have a means of checking and gauging your temperatures in and under the hides where ever they are placed. My personal preference is to place the heat source under the hides, and maintain a lower temperature under the hide so as not to over heat the environment and make it unpleasant and or unsafe for the snake. A good starting point for the hide if placed over the heat source is in the lower eighties. 82-84 degrees. Heating more than that would create uncomfortable temparatures for a small animal like this. Large glass cages are very difficult to heat properly because of the poor insulating qualities of glass. They have what is known as a poor R rating. The under side of the screen lid should also, be covered with some plexi glass. You can buy it precut from a glass cutter or framer and then you can drill a few holes in the plexi glass for ventilation. The plexi-glass can then be fitter underneath the screen lid with some hot glue.

Bloods need proper amounts of humidity and ventilation too. The trick is to find that balance and maintain it once within range. Bloods will suffer from respiratory problems from dry cages just as they will from overly wet and damp ones too. So not a good choice just to reiterate. Measure the temperature with either a thermostat or thermometer or temp gun. It's the best way to know for sure what the heat source is doing and protect your precious blood.

As for substrates, I prefer using a good mulch for glass aquariums, as the mulch will retain some of the heat when heated from underneath a lot better than news paper of other paper substrate source does or will. They most likely will bury them selves closer to the bottom of the cage and get closer to the heat source too, so lower temps can be used. I like using a 2 inch layer when I have had cause to use glass cages. I did use them for years and this was my choice of set up until I decided to build my own cages. Anyhow, all of that said, that is my thought on it. As for temperament, it is young and it is just getting used to being handled, and it is also, just being a blood. It's all typical behavior. You'll just have to get used to it until it outgrows it. JM2C!

-Angel

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In life you can fall many times, but you're only a failure, if you don't try to get back up!
Evil Canevil