Snake doesn't explore vivarium

I've had Candy since Saturday (at first I thought it was Friday, but I was mistaken). I've brought her out a few times and she's shy at first, then much bolder after about 10 minutes. She explores all over me and tries to get onto my desk or the couch or the table, etc. With a constantly flicking tongue, she inspects everything she can reach (even my nostrils!).

But when she's in her vivarium, she's nearly motionless. She barely moves from where I place her. Whenever I put her back into her home, she drinks from her water dish before even letting go of my arm, and then goes into the closest hiding spot she sees. Sometimes she just curls up behind some fake foliage even though there's a very nice hiding box I made, both ventilated and secure, with slightly moistened mulch inside.

I've never seen her explore her home. She's always in the last place I saw her. As far as I can tell, the temperature in her vivarium is perfect. The cooler side sits between 72 and 76 degrees. The warm side varies between 80 and 87 degrees (all depending on the temperature inside the house). The tank is a 20 gallon long, designed for reptiles instead of fish. It has a screen top which slides into place and locks. It's heated using an under tank heater, with that half of the tank covered by reptile astro-turf and cypress mulch spread over the entire bottom. There's also a heat lamp suspended over the warmer side. She has fresh water, two hides, and a moderate amount of fake plants to climb or hide under.

I just find it odd how active she is outside her vivarium and how inactive she is inside it. Is it normal for corn snakes to act like this?

Seems like your snake likes to hide.
Maybe she's more active on you because she's looking for a hide.
It's recommended that you leave a snake in it's new home for several days before handling.

Standard practice you should probably not handle her for the first 7 days you have her. That is what I have always done, its so they can settle in without stress before they feed for the first time with you.

When you take her out, your not giving her the option to be 'motionless'

Corns are nocturnal, so its completely normal that you wouldnt see them out. A snake going for a stroll in the wild during the day may be a dead snake. I never see mine out either. Id wager a bet she is coming out while you are asleep, and if she isnt, she will be soon. They arent animals that are going to be out all the time, exploring.

Allow her time to settle in, without handling.

Whoops
:awcrap:

I should leave her alone then. She was just too cute to resist. I'll do everything I can to give her a week to settle. Hopefully she'll forgive me.

You can still watch.

While you're waiting read a bunch of cornsnakes.com

How big is she? The little ones will often feel threatened by a large space--smaller is better and a 20-gal. tank is huge. If she's a big girl, then she does probably just needs to settle in.

It does seem like normal "getting used to my new home" behaviour.
I do wonder about the heat and the hides though. Is the temp taken on the heat lamp side? 87 seems a little hot to me. (Anyone correct me if I'm mistaken.) Do you have a "dry" hide as well as the "moist" one? What bedding do you use? Tell us more.

Cheers!

BTW, heres a link to the husbandry FAQ thread.
http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20919

It also seems that the younger they are, the better they like to hide. That makes sense; lots of things in nature eat baby snakes, after all. She may well be out and about while you're sleeping. Since my transmutation into a corn snake person, I've joked with my husband that I need my old job back, where I was often up all night!

Candy is just nearing 20 inches long. According to the keeper at the store, she recently moved up to pink fuzzies and is a good eater. She ate the day before I purchased her, and I can see a small lump which has been slowly moving down which I assume was her last meal. The warm side sometimes gets a little warmer than it probably should, but there's plenty of room to move around if she were to get too warm. The heat lamp is focused on the far right side of the tank. I have the temperature gauges very low to the bottom, one on each far side of the tank so I can see the gradient.

The bedding I got was a more expensive cypress mulch (I'll probably switch to cheaper stuff later). I live in Idaho so the humidity is low and the mulch dries out very fast. I try to keep the mulch in one of the hides moistened if I can. She has two hides, one on the cooler side and one in the middle. I keep it in the middle instead of the warm side due to the fact that she seems to stay in that one and never explores. I don't want her overheating just because she likes that hide the best. The fake foliage in the tank is long, so I have it stretched out over the entire tank, with a high climbing spot in the middle away from the heat lamp. Sometimes when I put her back in the vivarium she chooses to hide beneath the foliage near the warm side. So I'm pretty sure she has plenty of hiding choices throughout her entire home.

As for the humidity, I was wondering since the mulch dried out so fast if I should maybe spritz a little water in the tank every now and then to help with sheds?

Hmm, upon review of the husbandry FAQ thread, I see that my thermometers aren't the right ones. I turned off the heat lamp for now and will go to Walmart soon to get the correct kind. I don't want her overheating.

=(

Raiyne said:

Candy is just nearing 20 inches long. According to the keeper at the store, she recently moved up to pink fuzzies and is a good eater. She ate the day before I purchased her, and I can see a small lump which has been slowly moving down which I assume was her last meal. The warm side sometimes gets a little warmer than it probably should, but there's plenty of room to move around if she were to get too warm. The heat lamp is focused on the far right side of the tank. I have the temperature gauges very low to the bottom, one on each far side of the tank so I can see the gradient.

The bedding I got was a more expensive cypress mulch (I'll probably switch to cheaper stuff later). I live in Idaho so the humidity is low and the mulch dries out very fast. I try to keep the mulch in one of the hides moistened if I can. She has two hides, one on the cooler side and one in the middle. I keep it in the middle instead of the warm side due to the fact that she seems to stay in that one and never explores. I don't want her overheating just because she likes that hide the best. The fake foliage in the tank is long, so I have it stretched out over the entire tank, with a high climbing spot in the middle away from the heat lamp. Sometimes when I put her back in the vivarium she chooses to hide beneath the foliage near the warm side. So I'm pretty sure she has plenty of hiding choices throughout her entire home.

As for the humidity, I was wondering since the mulch dried out so fast if I should maybe spritz a little water in the tank every now and then to help with sheds?

Click to expand...

I wouldnt do it every now and then, Id do it when she is in blue. Youll know because she'll look all weird, look she rolled in flour, that is when I spritz the tank and cover half the top with a towel for humidity, other then that my tanks are dry.

The other thing is, I dont know if you handle her the day you got her and the following day, but its a good idea not to handle for 48 hours after meals otherwise they will regurge the mouse and cannot eat for another 10 after that. Its a big pain and something you want to avoid.

If you dont have one, you may want to pick up a thermometer with a probe, this way you know the exact temp of the area the snake comes into contact with. Their about 7$.

If you just got her, then she will need some time to adjust. My corn snake didn't come out for a week when I first got him, and would hide whenever I came in the room. Now he is often out, and almost always has his head out. He no longer tries to hide from me. I would say you snake needs time. As for the misting, you don't need to do that, except possibly when they are shedding. I never do.

Yay!

Candy explored her home this morning and after checking out everything she could, decided to make herself comfortable in the larger hide I made out of cardboard.

:dancer:

Patience pays off again. Congrats.

GRATS on ur victory