Stressed out?

I got a new corn about 2 weeks ago from a dealer show. When I got her home, I played with her for about 10 min and then left her alone in her small plastic pet container I got from the pet store (9" x18" x 6" ) for about 3 days. She had a water bowl, couple toilet paper tubes and half a granola bar box to hide in and aspen bedding. Also placed a heat pad under 1/3 of the container. She seemed happy. She would hide during the day and explore a bit at night.
After 3 days I took her out for 10 min and she was a bit stressed at first but quickly calmed down and just explored my fingers and tried to climb up my arms.
I fed her a pinky the next day and left her alone for 3 days. I didn't see her for 2 days and she seemed active the next two evenings. She would explore her container and move the tubes about. She also seemed to like watching me work at the computer.
The next day I got a new 30 gal viv and pimped it out for her figuring she would enjoy more space and give her new space to explore and climb. I set up the tank and took her out of the old enclosure to place her in the new one. I handled her for about 20 min before placing her in the new viv and she seemed calm.
She hid under the substrate right away and stayed out of sight. I don't see her ever exploring the viv.
After being put in the new viv, I've taken her out 3 times with 2 days in between. She's hiding each time and i have to uncover her. She doesn't try to bite and calms down rather quickly after I pick her up to play between my fingers for 20 min.
The third time I took her out of the tank to feed and weigh her. She fed after I put the pinky in front of her face with chop-sticks. I noticed her eyes looked little blue so I figured she might be shedding soon. I decided to leave her alone for 3-4 days. On the 3th day I moved some aspen to uncover some of her body. I check in on her the next day and she hadn't moved a muscle! Looked like the part of her I had uncovered the previous day hadn't moved at all.

After all this rambling...my point is: Is all this inactivity normal? Should I just leave her alone until I see her being active on her own and then take her out? Or should I keep handling her every few days so she becomes use to it?

thanks in advance for advice...

That inactivity is perfectly normal, especially with an approaching shed. My guy is blue now and he will stay in the hide all the time. He is especially reclusive in the blue. Hiding under the substrate isn't strange either, mine does that all the time, blue or not (he likes to wedge under the water dish).

I wouldn't worry at all about your girl. She sounds perfectly normal. My guy only really likes to come out at night to explore. I can see lines in the substrate, so I know he's been out & about. You should sneak in at night to see if you can catch a glimpse of her cruising around.

Mine will stay in the same position for 24 hours or more at times. He does it when he's shedding, or soon after he eats (but after he's digested enough that I don't see a lump anymore). I imagine he does it when he's hiding too, but sometimes he does it out in the open, usually in his tree or on the top of his climbing stick. I wouldn't worry, unless it goes on for awhile, since she'd have to move to get water eventually.

Thanks, good to know that this much inactivity is normal.
I took her out today and had to uncover her as usual but she was calm when I picked her up out of the viv. The best part was when I put her back in 20 min later, she didn't hide right away! She stayed visible for about 15 min then hid.

I am no professional, I only got my first snake (a snow corn) last fall. However, I noticed with mine that after he started to calm down and was more accepting of being handled, he would stay out rather then hide immediatly when I returned him to his tank. So I'm guessing this is a good thing One note, though. getting her out of her hiding spot can only make her anxious and feel less secure. They hide when they don;t want to be bothered, or feel nervous or vulnerable. I would try not to disturb her when she is hiding. They come out at night (mine is usually out around 6 pm or so, and then on and off through the night), and I myself refrain from handelling unless he is already out of hiding.

Hey man it sounds like I'm in the same boat as you. I've had her for about 6 days now and I've fed her twice so far. she's really long and skinny so I have a feeling she's going to be ready for peach fuzzies in no time. It sounds exactly like how mines acting, I think it all sounds like completely normal settling in, or at least I hope so because your description was so similar to mine it's scary.

I fed her tonight a small pinky so if I see her out and about in the cage in the next day or two I'll spend some time with her. Otherwise I think I'm just going to wait till I see her out and about till I pick her up next.

poetris said:

I am no professional, I only got my first snake (a snow corn) last fall. However, I noticed with mine that after he started to calm down and was more accepting of being handled, he would stay out rather then hide immediatly when I returned him to his tank. So I'm guessing this is a good thing One note, though. getting her out of her hiding spot can only make her anxious and feel less secure. They hide when they don;t want to be bothered, or feel nervous or vulnerable. I would try not to disturb her when she is hiding. They come out at night (mine is usually out around 6 pm or so, and then on and off through the night), and I myself refrain from handelling unless he is already out of hiding.

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never mind my last post, this was exactly what I was trying to say. :cheers: