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Burrowing!

brtrude

brtrude

New member
it appears that my little friend has discovered that he can burrow in the wood chippings in his tank.
I know this is a COMPLETELY normal thing but im a bit gutted at the minute really that he has learnt how to do this. I just went upstairs to get changed and turned my light on (which i dont usually do when hes out and about but i needed to see) but once he had seen me.....he was gone! bak under ground, first time iv witnessed it! lol like i said i know its normal but i just hope this doesnt meen that hes guna go under everytime he sees me. :cry:

however i have fed him this morning and i did turn the light on in my room which was dark before hand. so maybe he jsut felt more secure at that point to be under??

someone please re-assure me that i am going to see him again!! lol

Also...are they prone to burrow more during shed? do they feel more vunrable in shed, i think hes in shed at the minit, am not posotive but this may be a reason for him doing this? he may jsut feel more secure under the chippings?

:shrugs:

thanks guys. sorry about another nooby thread!
 
I'd say there's a good chance that he'll grow out of his shyness at least to some extent...but I won't guarantee it. There are some that you rarely see out and others that seem to be out often.

As for shedding, in my experience, the only time I've ever seen a snake in blue phase out and about was if they were actually in the process of shedding their skin. Otherwise, they stay hidden b/c they typically do feel more vulnerable, as their vision is impaired due to their opaque eye caps.
 
Even Choco, the friendliest snake in the universe, likes to pop out and then reverse back in when he sees me. He does that a couple times, then comes out and cruises around or begs to come out.

Nanci
 
haha! kool!

do you actually know when he wants to come out then? how can you tall? is he just more active or something?
 
I can tell because he comes out, goes to the front of the cage, stands up till he can almost reach the top, and then he waves back and forth till I take the top off and he crawls out to me. He always comes out of hiding when he hears the TV, and he almost always comes out within a few minutes if I knock on the top of his viv and call him. Not like right away, it takes about five minutes for him to appear. It's super cool. None of my other snakes do anything like that, except Maizey who is always out unless she is blue. She always really, really wants to get out. and resists being put away.

Nanci
 
wow! thats amazing! lol

how old is he/she then? i bet it took a long time before the snake got to that stage didnt it? i hope my snake can be as confident as that some day! lol
 
Choco was born in 08/06. It took him a few months to get so smart. I'd say in the winter was when he really blossomed. He was given to me buy a guy who bought him at Daytona, who then decided he'd bought too many, and only wanted tri-colors. He also said Choco was the meanest snake he'd ever seen, and that he musked, struck and tail rattled. When I went to pick Choco up, He musked once, but none of the other stuff, and he very quickly became very, very tame. He gets a lot of handling- it's not unusual for him to be out for two hours in the evening. Because he is just so mellow, easy to handle, doesn't get bored or antsy, and likes to learn tricks! And also because he makes himself available. Why go dig someone out who's peacefully sleeping when Chocs is there begging to come out?

Maize was wild caught and has always been very people oriented. She is always aware of activity, and will come out of hiding first thing in the morning, as soon as I get home at night, and any other time she hears something going on. She's in the kitchen- so it's easy for her to keep track of everything. What I really like about Maizey is how she stretches up to the lid of her viv when someone talks to her. I always stop for a moment to say something when I walk by.

Nanci
 
wow thats excellent! your snakes sound amazing!

my snake has been doin really well lately! Iv had him for 3 weeks on saturday. I found the first week of owning my first snake a reall challenge! I didnt really know whast i was doing i was stressting out about everything he was doing because i didnt know what was normal and what wasnt. The i found this website and became a lot more noligable of what to expect from my snake.

Things started to perk up a lot in the 2nd week. He seems to have got a lot more used to being piked up and handled and he is out ALL the time at night. From about 7-8 oklok, until way after i go to sleep bout 1-2 oklok in the morn! lol hes a party animal. My presence never seems to bother him at night. Which is y i found it strange when he burrowed last night when he saw me. BUT.....i think this may be due to a number fo things....he had just ate that morning so typically woudnt have been out n e way. I turned the light on, which i dont usually do n e more when i go in my room at night cos i know hel be out and wont like the sudden bright light going on. And thridly, i realy think hes goin to shed soon (iv just got a feeling) im not fully sure of the certain signs he will show when hes goin to shed....but they guy in the shop sed he was due, and its been neer enough 3 weeks now! I think i just caught him off guard last night. Im not worried bout it. I know hel be bak out and about as normal once his food has digested!

I cant wait til he shed and his colours start to develop more!
 
What he will do when he is getting ready to shed is this:

One day you will realize that you haven't seen him for a while. So you pick up his hide to look at him, and he will be very dull colored, with blue eyes, and he will be slow-moving. Then you just put him back and leave him alone and maybe raise the humidity a bit. You don't need to feed him during this time period, although you can, but don't be surprised if he refuses the meal. I almost always just leave my guys alone and don't try to feed until they shed. When he is blue, he will stay hidden. He won't come out at all. After a week to ten days, maybe a couple days longer, he will look normal again, with clear eyes, and you will think he shed and you just can't find it. But he hasn't shed, and he will shed very soon, usually in about 12 hours, but maybe up to two days later. Sometimes very tiny snakes shed in their hide or under the shavings, but usually the shed is out where you can find it, wound around a hide or vine. Then you need to inspect the shed and snake. Make sure the tail tip of the shed is intact, and that the tail portion has come completely off the snake, and no tiny end bit is left. Then inspect the head area of the shed- you need to make sure both eye caps are there, and one or both are not left on the snake. If they are, don't panic, but ask for advice. Now since he's probably missed a feeding, he will be ready for a meal!

Nanci
 
thats great info nanci thanks a lot.

the thing is with his eyes going blue though is that hes an amel and he as red eyes. And iv herd that because of this his eyes wont go blue??? i dont know if this is true or not.

Anyway, when i uncoverd him yesterday to feed him it did take him a while to cum round and then when he started moving he was a bit slower than usual. It did kind of look as if his vision or sences wernt workin as sharply as usual.

What percentage humidity should the tank be if in shed??
 
I think I have heard of people referring to blue amels as going pink. I think it's much more subtle than you see in snakes that have black pigment.

I want to say the humidity should be around 65%. You'll know after his first shed, depending on how well the shed goes, if you need to take additional measures to help him next time. What you're hoping for is for the shed to come off in one complete piece (except for tearing in half or something) not in multiple flakes or leaving pieces stuck on the snake.

Nanci
 
ok.

thanks a lot Nanci for all your great info and advise. Il let you know how hes getting on soon!

:cheers:
 
Here's a shot of my amel in blue, you can see how his usual yellows and oranges have a pinkish tone
 

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I've got an Amel as well that's in 'blue' for the first time.

True, her eyes don't get blue but they do look very cloudy, as does the rest of her body. I was worried I'd not be able to spot it on my Amel, but it was a very noticeable color change.

Since she's normally so bright white and pink, it was obvious when she was blue because she looked very, very dull.
 
great picture!

il have a look later on (if he comes out) and see what his colours are looking like. That picture will help a lot to compare to!
 
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