• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

How much hiding is normal?

I

iameveryman

New member
I've had Cornelius for over three weeks now, and I gave him 3 days alone time to acclimate before handling him at all. I now regularly handle him for about 30-45 minutes a day, except for the 48 hours follwing feeding. I never see him out and about in his viv. He hides underneath his water dish all the time. I have hides for him on both the warm and cool sides, I know his temps are good, and he doesn't seem at all skiddish during handling. Is it normal for him to do this? I have tried putting his water dish directly on the floor of the tank and he always manages to push under it. I'm not sure whether to be worried or not.

-Eric
 
I'm sure theres nothing to worry about. Several of my snakes also hide under their water dishes. You'll find that over time, he'll move from regular hide to regular hide.

Six months from now, you'll always find him in a completely different area.
 
LOL. Eddy does the same thing and I was worried too. He went so far as to make a little snake hole leading down to a Den" he'd set up under the water bowl........this week he abandoned that home for one he's creating under his log hide. I was told that if he's uncomfortable there, he'll move. There should be nothing to worry about, or at least I wouldn't think so.
 
my snakes all have a hot and cold hide and a bunch to hide in/around throughout their homes and quite often surprise me when i take them out.

My male anery striped is good at tagging me when i don't exactly know where he is in the tank yet. (no worries he's only a yearling)
 
Cornsnakes are secretive animals and it is completely and utterly normal for them to spend most of their time hiding away.

If I didn't take my corn out of his viv to handle him, I would pretty much NEVER see him. He hides that much. But if I get up in the dead of night and flick on a night, I'll often see him (and my other snake) roaming. Your snake does move around; just not when you might see him. ;)

Relax. Everything is fine.
 
He'll start coming out more when he gets older/bigger.

My examples are Inez, 08/2006 milksnake. I saw her out once the week I got her, in November.

Lila, late 2005 corn. Got her the end of April. A couple weeks ago I started seeing her poking her head out of her hide every once in a while in the evening, and then last week she surprised me by "hiding" out in the open on her branch! I so didn't expect to find her there that I didn't see her there, right in plain sight!

Maizey, young wild-caught adult corn. Is out every day, for much of the day.

Jake, 2003 Florida King. Also arrived the end of April, and I didn't see much of him the first few days, but he's gradually started hanging partway out of his hide, watching what is going on, and he is usually out, full-length, when I get up in the morning.

Choco, 2006 Cali King, out every day, usually late afternoon on, but earlier if he feels like he has a chance of coming out, or if he's nearing a feeding day. If I _don't_ see him out, I know he's gone blue.

In fact you could say that about the last three- if they aren't out every day that isn't a feeding day, then they are blue. The two smallest- they'd rather hide.

Nanci
 
Ok. I wont worry then. I guess if I make sure all the variables he can't control are right, then he'll just do as he pleases.
 
make sure your hides are of a comfortable size, maybe your corn hides under the water bowl because that is the only place it feels safe.

How big are your hides, cos they should be dark inside, and of a close fit. i heard a good rule of thumb was that an adequate sized hide is one in which another snake of similar size could not fit ie. too spacious a hide, the more insecure your corn will feel whilst hiding in it, can't remember where i heard that though......
 
I think they just like to be under the water bowl, if they can get under there. Choco has a permanent moist hide, and a lot of the time he likes to go under that. They must like the cool, smooth feeling.

Nanci
 
i have had my corn for 6 months now and over the last two weeks i have noticed he has been out a lot more. he used to live under the newspaper under a hide (if that makes sense). i think he has just got more confident.
 
When I first got Kade he would always be hiding under his half log. Then I have him a paper towel roll along with the other hides he has he used that the most now he dosent use any of them really. He just hangs out curled up somewhere. You really have nothing to worry about. Same as other people if I come downstairs at night ill see him climbing on his leafs, getting a drink, or sitting on his branch. Just wait some time he'll be out more. :)
 
For hides I had a coconut that I cut in half and hollowed out so I could make hoofbeat noises (a la Monty Python's Holy Grail) and so I just stuck them in his viv. One on the cool side one on the warm. They are pretty small and he fits in them closely but with a bit of growing room.

I did take a hint from some of you and I snuck up on his viv around 1:30am and sure enough, he was drinking from his water dish. I'm sure in time he will become more confident of his surroundings. It probably doesn't help that one of my dogs is like a horse :crazy01: and she likes to come around every once in a while and peek in and see whats going on.

-Eric
 
Cerberus is always under his water dish. I occasionally see him checking out the glass sides of the viv, but usually he's just curled up underneath the dish. I think the hides I've got are too big for him, but they were the smallest 'natural' looking ones I could find.

He's growing fast - I've only had him a couple weeks and I've noticed a size difference in him so I imagine he'll be using the regular hides in the near future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top