My snake is freaking out!!! Help!

[jennrosefx]

So, I've had my snake now for about 2 months, and she is always extremely mellow and shy....rarely ventures out of her hiding place, and if she does, it's slowly and with a great deal of caution.

Tonight she was sitting in the corner of her tank under a fake plant I have in there, and suddenly, for seemingly no reason at all, litterally threw herself across her 32inch long tank. Like, I HEARD her hit the glass on the other side. She then started racing around the tank like mad....shooting up her branch, going along the screen at the top, and then darting to the other side of the tank....all over the place like crazy. She hit the glass a few times and I got kinda worried, so I was able to get her out of the tank (she didn't try to bite or anything.) I examined her tank, and everything seems fine. The temps are all normal, the humidity is fine. There's no mysterious critters in there that would have startled her. While I was holding her she seemed completely normal. Since I've put her back, she seems to have calmed down, but is still out and about exploring her cage, which is actually out of the ordinary for her. She's been exploring about for 45 minutes now...covering every inch of her tank...She's not due to be fed until Thursday around midnight (Friday early morning)...do you think it's because she wants to be fed? Or is there anouther cause for this sudden energy spurt? Is this normal? Should I be worried? Don't get me wrong...I love seeing her explore (allthough this is the first time she's really done this since I got her), but this was so extreme....I hate seeing her hit the glass like that!!

Maybe she initially got startled or something...I dunno.

But as for feeding...right now she's getting 2 fuzzies every 7 days and she eats them with a fury...do you think switching to every 6 days is too often? I don't want her to get fat! Heh.

 

[Jessicat]

How old is your snake? From your picture she looks as though she can handle a hopper or small mouse.
One larger sized meal will be better for her then two smaller ones.
Also, stick with every 7 days. As your snake gets older and her meals get larger she'll need less frequent feeding.

Not sure what to make of the rest of your post.. wish I could help a bit more in that department but hrm.. :shrugs:

Sorry, hope the feeding bit helps though :cheers:

 

[jennrosefx]

She's about a year and a half old (or so I was told). She's only about 24 inches long...and her head is much smaller than it appears in the pic...only about 3/4" long. I was told the right sized prey was to be 1 1/2 times the thickest part of her body...and if that's the case, I'm not sure she could take anything larger than a fuzzy quite yet. It's funny...she looks big in EVERY pic I have taken of her...but in person, is much smaller....

 

[Joejr14]

She's about a year and a half old (or so I was told). She's only about 24 inches long...and her head is much smaller than it appears in the pic...only about 3/4" long. I was told the right sized prey was to be 1 1/2 times the thickest part of her body...and if that's the case, I'm not sure she could take anything larger than a fuzzy quite yet. It's funny...she looks big in EVERY pic I have taken of her...but in person, is much smaller....

Here's something that might change your mind. This snake is a 2004 and is eating small hoppers. Your snake definitely needs to be eating something bigger than fuzzies.

 

[DdotSpot]

Ok...I just have to add...that no one can tell by EITHER of these pictures what size the corn or the meal it SHOULD be eating is. There is no point of reference that tell us size. How big is that deli cup? I can tell you that pictures and angles will deceive you every time if there is no reference point. Also, I can say that when some of my snakes were at 24" a large fuzzy was a good sized meal and left a considerable bump. With either picture, I cannot say 'definately' what size mouse it should be eating, only you can judge by comparison of mouse to snake. Some of the pictures I have of my snakes make it look like they should be on full size rats because of angles and perspective, when in reality they are on small hopper mice.

Having said that, I can say that if you have been consistantly feeding it 2 fuzzies every feeding, that it is time to switch up. :/ LOL

 

[jennrosefx]

I've been giving her two fuzzies every meal....for the past 3 weeks. Keep in mind...I have only had her about 2 months...and she would not eat the first three weeks I had her home because she was spooked...and then shed. So, The first two weeks I just gave her one fuzzy, since that was what the store told me to do and I didn't know any different. Then a reptile specialist I know said 1 food item was something petstores did because they didn't want to spend more money, but that the snake was probably still hungry and would prefer two. I had also read that sometimes it is easier to digest two smaller items rather than one larger one? I dunno. How large of a bump should there be? The bump is slightly vissable....the scales are a touch stretched when it meets her thickest point.

And yeah...photos always make her look large and impressive...when she is still verry much only a sub-adult. I'll try to get some pictures when I get back in town Sunday of her next to a ruler or something to better show her size.

She looks smaller in this pic though....I think...

Also....someone else who works for a vet noted that sometimes they find underlying heart problems in corns and that might cause them to spaz out...and that I should perhaps take her to a vet just for a general exam. Would you suggest this as well? Or is that just being over paranoid?

 

[danielle123]

I have a corn snake born in late Dec of last year so s/he is almost a year old and is around 24-26 inches long. Goliath actually looks a lot like your's except he has more orange on him . (I am unsure of the sex, but you can't call a she Goliath) He usually is really inactive and just sleeps unless its getting near the 7 day mark when he gets fed then gets a little more active. Lately he has been roaming around the cage non stop and actually climbed the glass wall and was going across the top- I took him out and he was flying everywhere like a wild snake (he usually keeps still when I hold him). This also was the day after feeding where he usually just sleeps. The only thing I could think of was the weather- we were having a week of really hot weather- 90s every day with it ending in a bought of 3 days of torrential thunderstorms. It is at the end of this that he started getting active and freaking out. Did you have any sudden drops and changes of external humidity and temps? That is all I can think up of.

As for food- I feed him two small fuzzies a week and I am pretty sure he wants more. When I worked at the vet's office the reptile specialist told me that it is bad to feed them too often with their digestive system and also it is ok to have a small bump there for a day or two. As long as the temp is ok they should beable to digest it quickly enough. I am moving up a size in mice once the ones I have run out.

 

[jamesbernatchez]

There was a time that my snake was going crazy. She would actually flip her hiding places over into her water dish!! And she moved all the wood chips from under her hiding place. Once i misted her a little she seemed to calm down. Just for your info she laid 3 eggs on the warm side of the tank in her hide. She moved all the chips so she was on the glass and then she stayed in there with them for a day until i realized what had happened. They were unfertilized (there wasnt any males with her) and so i threw them away. This was when she was about 2 years old. She had a little cut on her head and back from moving the items around looking for a nest spot. We put neosporin on them and when she shed her back was fine but the cut on her head is a little noticeable. It seems like it scabed over. It should be gone after her next shed!!! Hope this helps.

 

[Sisuitl]

What do you clean her viv with? Maybe she got irritated by a chemical or something? :shrugs: I've heard of people's snakes freaking out trying to get away from fumes that come from windex and things, but never observed it firsthand. Just a thought.

 

[Misss_misssy]

Thats different, My first guess whould have been something inside of the tank, But Then a couple of other things cam to mind. Have you sprayed any scents near her tank?
HAs she been out alot and handled with.(she could be over stressed)
I also think a snake is used to thier surrounding have you moved anything around her cage. In side the cange or outside.

 

[Aurora13]

I see that you are located in Southern California. Perhaps your snake sensed an earthquake? And got spooked? This incident could have some obscure explanation like such, probably not anything to do with quality of husbandry.

 

[SnakeLuvrs]

my girl

my girl did the same thing... granted she was a little older, then laid eggs a few days later. she flipped her water dish over, kid under it, pulled her plants with suction cups down etc. (we apparantly bought her gravid)...hope this helps...

 

[jennrosefx]

Can they sense earthquakes? I know cats are supposed to...allthough my cat has never acted differntly before one...then again, he's always a loon, so who knows!

I don't know....she definatly isn't gravid....I've had her four months, she was housed alone where I bought her...and she's really too young. Do they really lay unfertilized eggs? Is that something I'm going to have to worry about in the future? How common is that. I don't intend to breed her, or even have her around any male snakes, so would she still lay random eggs on her own?

Her spazing out has only happened twice...and I actually have anouther theory about it. Both times were before I bumped her up to hoppers...and I know there was a month or so where she was probably ready for hoppers and I was still feeding her fuzzys. Maybe she was super hungry and saw something reflect in the glass and was striking at it...and that actually could have in turn spooked her further when it turned out to be glass and not food...she does tend to be shy. It's just one of 1000 theories...I even asked Kathy Love about it....everyone seems to say "Well, they just do that sometimes...just like cats get the crazzies sometimes." As long as it's not a frequent thing, and she's not hurting herself, and I know it's not a husbandry issue, I've been told not to worry about it too much...

But, it's me! I worry!