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Brave Girl Aki

moukin

moukin

New member
Okay, these aren't super great pics, since they were taken with my phone.

Aki is my first snake, she was hatched 7/17. Just brought her home and introduced her to her new jungle. She's going from her little plastic tub into a big 55 gallon aquarium. Of course, I'm going to take great care to make sure she's comfortable and I will downsize back into something smaller if she is overwhelmed by too much space.

I kind of expected her to start burrowing and hiding right away, but she climbed out of her plastic tub and immediately started exploring. She tested the upper lip of the aquarium and lid and then settled down on one of the branches I have clipped to the back of the tank for a while. Now she's back to exploring the lid.

Does this mean she is comfortable?
 

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She's disappeared under the substrate now. She spent about 45 minutes exploring! Hopefully she feels safe and secure and likes her new digs.
 
Haha, I remember when my snake use to do that. She'll grow out of it. Just leave the snake be and let her explore. Nothing to worry about. :D
 
My abbott does the same thing. She climbs up the thermometer probe cord and circles the lip of the tank a few times. No worries, just be careful when removing the top so you don't pinch her.
 
Thanks everyone! I'm not planning to open up the lid much or at all for several days. I'll definitely look for her before I do, though. Definitely don't want to pinch her.

My cats are a little freaked. So far they haven't tried anything, but with her right along the mesh like that, I worry that they could get a claw in at her if they decided to jump up there when I'm not looking.

I thought about maybe taping off along the top of the lid with something...electrical tape? I don't want her to get sticky stuff from the tape on her from underneath but just want something that would create more of a barrier between her and the cats if the cats jump up there.
 
Or, actually maybe I can find a strip of clear plastic material that I could tuck into that edge just a bit. Clear so I can still see her, and not sticky.
 
Sonja used to do that, shes too big now!
Saxon currently is doing that!
I have to wait for him to get down before I open the lid but its no big deal.

my son's cat watches them all the time, he has yet to jump up there to get close and personal, if he does that, it will be his last time! LOL
 
Nile finally jumped up there for a closer look. Grrrr. I may lay a sheet or two of aluminum foil up there. I'll crinkle it up some so there's still plenty of air flow, but supposedly cats don't like the way aluminum foil feels if they come in contact with it? I'll give it a try.
 
I'm sure once the novelty wears off your cats will be fine...

When I brought my hamster home I had 1 cat that was obsessed with him and he would circle his cage and stick her paws in, etc. It lasted for about a week and now she doesn't even look at the hamster.
 
I fed Aki on Wednesday and my plan was to try handling her for the first time tonight.

When I handled her, she really was very antsy and I noticed her nose was starting to shed just a bit. I put her back and left her be for a while and when I looked in the tank just a few hours later, I found her shed. She didn't shed all in once piece. There's a little bit still on her nose in these pics and I found the tail tip (I think?) separately in the tank.

So for now, I have her on a damp washcloth in a container to try and get the last of that off. I'm not so sure if it'll help since it's on her nose and she doesn't seem thrilled about being in there, let along sticking her nose down against the damp cloth.

When I got her out to inspect her after the shed, she was soooo much more calm and relaxed. She was great. I have some new photos from that handling and a short video.

Photos first and the video I'll get uploaded asap.


DSCN1729 by treadingclouds, on Flickr



DSCN1728 by treadingclouds, on Flickr



DSCN1727 by treadingclouds, on Flickr



DSCN1726 by treadingclouds, on Flickr
 
Her soak in her container got the rest off her nose, and I found one more piece in her tank that included a complete tail tip, so she's all good now!
 
Ugh! I just nearly squished her!

Knowing she would be more active now that she shed, I was checking the clamps on the tank and adjusting them farther out to the edges to keep the corners secure. Then I was going to weight down the middle where the bar connects across the 55 gallon tank.

I went to set a jug of drinking water on there for now to weight it down and nearly set it on top of her. She was just hanging out there on that bar underneath the wire mesh.

She was probably there the whole time I was making adjustments.

She acts fine and is moving around normally. I'm just paranoid I hurt her.
 
Awwwww! What a gorgeous little girl! I love your videos, those are awesome. Don't you just love how they get so curious about the camera and have to check it out? :grin01: Adorable!

As to the smooshing...I think she'll probably be ok. Maybe just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't turn lethargic or stop eating. They are really resilient little creatures. Best of luck with her!
 
Glad you liked the video clips.

I'm not entirely sure I even put any pressure on her. There's a bit of give there between the wire mesh and the support beam that runs across the top. I always check and make sure she's not under there before I do any thing to the lid, but I got absent minded and didn't check. I'd only just put her back a few minutes before and she burrowed under the aspen when I did, so I just assumed she was burrowing around.

So, she was in a bit of a tight space there between the mesh and the bar, and I could have added pressure by messing with the clamps, but maybe not.

I held her and let her wrap around my hand a couple times and watched her move a bit, and quickly inspected her for any physical wounds. She seemed fine. I just feel like a dummy I guess.

I'm so glad her attitude was so great after she shed. She was great to handle and I'm looking forward to handling her regularly now that she's settled in.
 
Found her at the top of the tank this morning, exploring the lip again, so she's active and doing well. I'm glad she wasn't hurt. Handled her very briefly just to check her over.
 
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