My Snake Keeps Falling

[zzrayz]

I moved my snake into his new viv a week ago. He was in a 20gal long viv and there was not much for him to climb on. In his new viv there are 3 branches he can climb on at varying heights.
Shortly after placing him in his new home, I heard a thud. I looked and he seemed fine, he went right back to crawling and climbing. I didn't think much of it as he had not had any real chance to climb before. I figured he was just learning.
I went and bought some of those fake vines and wrapped them around the branches to help him get more traction. It has not helped.

He seems to fall pretty regularly. He always seems fine and immediately goes right back to crawling around. The highest branch is about 20" above to floor.
Should I be concerned?
Is he just learning to climb or will he continue falling?

 

[wstphal]

I gather from reading they all do this, at least at first.

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Doesn't sound too serious. Make sure there's something soft to fall on (wood chips or whatever) vs newspaper on glass or something.

 

[EsotericForest]

Well I don't imagine he's falling far enough to actually hurt himself. Though corn snakes can in fact climb to a certain extent, you also have to remember they aren't actually arboreal. So even though they are capable of climbing, they aren't exactly amazing at it a lot of times. Though with practice they do seem to get the hang of it for the most part.

 

[Lennycorn]

Get Life Alert!!! :sidestep:

 

[EsotericForest]

There you go...don't want him to fall and break a hip! Oh wait...snakes don't have hips do they haha

 

[oneirogenesis]

Climbing seems to be something that non-arboreal snakes have to learn, rather than something they're born doing properly. Ariadne was falling off of everything as a hatchling. It took her a lot of practice, but she is an excellent climber now.

I don't think it bothers them much. I've noticed that mine seem to intentionally fall if it means getting where they want to go faster. As long as they don't fall too far and they land on a soft surface I wouldn't worry.

 

[Caryl]

Technically they're not arboreal, meaning that they don't spend the majority of their time above the ground. That said, plenty of corn snakes love to climb and can regularly be found in trees or shrubs throughout their range.

zzrays, your baby will be fine. S/he will probably get more skilled at climbing with practice. Yohsong, my first corn, was quite a clumsy climber when he was small. He made me think of human toddlers. Little ones of every species can be wobbly and fun to watch. As long as the environment is safe, their explorations are fun to watch and they eventually grow out of it.