Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my Unicolor for about a week now and I have NEVER seen him come out of his hide. I have a 6' cage, with a 3' hide box(above)/loft that I made for him. I heard they like to hide, but wondering why I have this big cage for him...lol. I know he probably goes in the main cage at night, as I have seen pieces of shed where he has been. Just wanna make sure this is normal. Thanks.

I recieved 5 Cribos back in October. I made a large cage for my adults that range between 6'-7' and they were pretty timid at first. They are CB but the previous owner didn't work with them much and all they seemed to do was hide as well. They mellowed out after about a month and spend alot more of their time out in the open. The female occasionally strikes at me but once you get them out of their cage they are sweethearts.

They do spend quite a lot of their time in the their hides still but I imagine yours will venture out once he/she becomes more comfortable with it's surroundings.

Good luck.

I gave him a couple days, but then have handled him every day since. He hadn't hissed or even struck when I removed him from the hide(have a hinged door on his hide). He does get "flighty", but not mean. I was suprised by how fast he crawls, given his size(approx 5 feet)
I have seen him pull his head back inside his hide as soon as I opened the door, which I had never seen another type of snake do! Anway, thanks for the input.

-John

These observations are based on a small number of Drymarchon: All my hatchlings have stayed hidden virtually all of the time. One pair of unicolor I raised up and bred always stayed hidden as adults. Eastern adults and sub-adults are often out but more often hide. One pair of Texas adults usally remains in view. Three younger Texas always stay hidden.

is that Easterns and Texans rarely hide as adults..YT's seem to hide a lot..Uni's BT's about normal..Rubs not quite as bold as Easterns and TX..
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Carl W Gossett
Garage Door Herps
Monument,Colorado...northern territory of the Great Republic of Texas

My adult Eastern Indigos are always out and about, as are my Texas Indigo and Black-tail Cribo adults. My Unicolor Cribo and rubidus adults are out half the time and hinding the other half.
As for babies, the majority of them appear to hide the majority of the time. I believe this is crucial to their survival in teh wild, as baby Drys make an easy meal for most anything seeking such.
In my experience, the rubidus babies tend to be out and about their enclosures more so than any of the other Drys. A few people who obtained rubidus offspring from me last year have informed me they were amazed by how bold the babies are, as they appear to be out and about more so than other Drys, of similar age, within their collections...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947