>>how long should i wait to see a change in him? He ate 2 adult mice the other day without any hesitations. He is still only hiding in his cave, and he still hasn't come out since about may 1st on his own, the only time he has come out was to get some water but then he quickly goes back into his cave. His last shed was over 2 weeks ago i think i forgot to mention that

He sounds like he is acting like a normal caged snake, to me. I have had snakes go through temperament changes before, for seemingly no reason. Maybe he wants to breed... Maybe he is just not wanting to be bothered...

Another idea - I noticed in your more recent pic of him, it looks like there is an overhead light over his cage. Does it stay on all day, or was it just used for the photo? What wattage is it, and how bright? When I used to keep snakes in glass tanks, I used light bulbs too - but found that this can keep some agitated. They really need a much shadier area of the cage to escape to - not just hides. In nature, snakes decide when they will expeose themselves to sunlight and ratsnakes are not really strong sunlight lovers. They are more crepuscular than diurnal, so really prefer muted light. One way to make shade in a cage is to provide some plants / vines (plastic are fine). This will break up the light, making shade, and will also make the snake feel like he is hiding among foliage. There is a thread somewhere here, from a while back, which is all about this.
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

[ Hide Replies ]

• Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Tue May 3 23:20:58 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - tbrock, Wed May 4 06:17:44 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Wed May 4 08:31:24 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - DMong, Wed May 4 12:00:23 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - tbrock, Wed May 4 16:52:16 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Wed May 4 21:59:23 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - tbrock, Thu May 5 22:23:24 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Tue May 10 10:12:43 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - tbrock, Tue May 10 17:58:04 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Tue May 10 21:15:43 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - tbrock, Wed May 11 07:14:22 2011
• RE: Black rat snake acting weird - shikome, Wed May 11 22:27:28 2011