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Spending all day NOT hiding?

ladymagpie

ladymagpie

Lover of all things shiny
All day today Cleo has been hanging about outside of her hides, when normally shes hiding. Shes stretched out along the front of her viv, inbetween the glass and the aspen. Wedged in that gap. She does move when we come right up to her, and she was there when I woke up this morning, with her head down so I think she was sleeping like that. Does she think shes "hiding" as she must feel like she's in a secure gap? I have seen her curled up in a ray of sun recently, which I took as basking behaviour. I'm wondering if this change of behaviour seems to have happened as shes gradually got more and more confident since I've got her, or if shes decided shes too big to be comfortable in her coconut hides?
 
Our corn snakes do this and the only reason that we can think of is that they enjoy the temps wherever they lay. Our snowy will stretch out anywhere in his tank and fall asleep there, when naturally you think they would sleep in their hides. I've known him to sleep on top of his hide too, crazy things! Unless there is a problem with the hides or temps in the hides then i'd let him carry on.

Unless anyone else thinks this is part of a problem then obviously i'd like to know too lol :)
 
The temp of the warm side in her viv tends to fluctuate between 24.9 - 27.9 Celcius, depending on whether the heatmat is currently heating up or if its been turned off for a little while by the thermostat. I know thats a big gradient, it is normally around 26 but those are the most extremes I've noticed (it rarely swings that much within a day), and as her heatmat is 2/3 of the floor I like it to be on the lower end of acceptable temperatures so she still has a cool end. As I've had the same set-up since October I'm guessing my temps must be ok, I was worried when I woke up that the heatmat had broke or something.

But maybe it is just normal behaviour and she's just acting different because she's less of a scareling and growing up :)
 
ladymagpie said:
The temp of the warm side in her viv tends to fluctuate between 24.9 - 27.9 Celcius, depending on whether the heatmat is currently heating up or if its been turned off for a little while by the thermostat. I know thats a big gradient, it is normally around 26 but those are the most extremes I've noticed (it rarely swings that much within a day), and as her heatmat is 2/3 of the floor I like it to be on the lower end of acceptable temperatures so she still has a cool end. As I've had the same set-up since October I'm guessing my temps must be ok, I was worried when I woke up that the heatmat had broke or something.

But maybe it is just normal behaviour and she's just acting different because she's less of a scareling and growing up :)
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You have 2/3'rds of the tank taken up by a heatmat? I only have 1/3rd :( But our snakes dont spend that much time on the warm side so hopefully they are not that cold. And our tanks are just over 3ft long so 1/3rd is quite a big space. But yeah I guess shes just changing as she gets older. Out Snowy used to never like coming out, but now he comes out for cuddles more than our female snake, although I love them both the same :) I always put my hand on the heatmat every night before I go to bed as im paranoid about that sort of stuff as well. No one will believe me on this next line, but our female corn snake likes watching the TV - she will prop her head up and look over the wooden ledge on the viv and stare at the TV (or at least I like to think thats what shes doing haha). They have their own characteristics dont they :)
 
disgurlchar said:
You have 2/3'rds of the tank taken up by a heatmat? I only have 1/3rd :( But our snakes dont spend that much time on the warm side so hopefully they are not that cold. And our tanks are just over 3ft long so 1/3rd is quite a big space. But yeah I guess shes just changing as she gets older. Out Snowy used to never like coming out, but now he comes out for cuddles more than our female snake, although I love them both the same :) I always put my hand on the heatmat every night before I go to bed as im paranoid about that sort of stuff as well. No one will believe me on this next line, but our female corn snake likes watching the TV - she will prop her head up and look over the wooden ledge on the viv and stare at the TV (or at least I like to think thats what shes doing haha). They have their own characteristics dont they :)
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I believe it is meant to be 1/3, however I purchased a complete set-up from Pets at home and thats what it ended up like, well, I say 2/3 but its slightly more than half. I find Cleo splits her time fairly equally between the warm and cool end, yet she does have a "snake cave" in the middle of her viv which appears to be her favourite hide :), which I'm assuming is neither too hot nor too cold but just right :rofl:. I have heard of corns watching the TV too, I think its the bright colours and movement that they "key in" on. Whenever I've sat with Cleo in front of the TV she's too busy trying to get in my hair to look that direction, lol. I guess part of the reason I've started this thread is she's like my only friend and I think I'd be heartbroken if there was something wrong.
 
Some of my corns like to be more near the front, while some prefer to keep hidden. Each animal will have a unique personality and varied preferences to match.

If you think she's outgrown her hides, it wouldn't hurt to swap them out with something bigger.

Overall, though, as long as your temperatures are consistent, not too hot, and she's otherwise healthly, I would not be concerned. :)
 
Thanks Cynthia :)

Yeah the temp in her viv is nearly always the same, throughout the last year its only fluctuated if say I turn the heating on in the house but it soon goes back down. She does still fit in her hides, but she's making more of an upwards spiral shape rather than being flat against the ground when inside, and when I lift the hide away she kinda "springs" out so I think I will buy her larger ones soon. Thanks :)
 
The 'basking in a ray of sun' is a little worrying. That's quite a small viv (very nice though!) so the effect of any sunlight hitting the glass could raise the temps inside beyond safe quite quickly IMO. Is there any way you can move it so it gets no direct sunlight at all?
 
The sun doesn't shine directly on it, the easiest way I can describe it is that the window is on the right side of the room whereas the viv is on the left, and isn't directly in line with the window. When the sun sets and moves across the sky shining through the window the light goes on that side of the room but only slightly as the sun itself goes behind my neighbours house before it gets low enough to shine fully on the viv. It isn't bright enough to reflect on the glass anyway like a camera flash does, for example.

And thanks, the viv is really suited for snakes. Even has one low vent on cool side and one high up on the warm end so air moves efficiently through the viv (warm air rising and all that), its base is set on legs so there's a gap between the viv and the floor, there's two locks one on each side. I have a snake cave in there for her too. :)
 
How close is it to feeding day when she hides in the open? All of mine seem to beg for food about 2 days before feeding day. They either sit in the very front of their tubs or out in the open like yours in the viv right on the glass is plain view. I think its their way of sayin "I know you see me go thaw out one of those miscles from the freezer i'm hungry"!
 
Its 5 days since she last ate 2 pinks so she is due. I weighed her recently and she's now in the band according to that feeding plan to move up the next size mouse, which I'm going to try her with now :D she's moving on from pinkies my baby's growing up lol
 
Wow fuzzies seem huge when compared to pinkies. Pinkies no longer make a sizeable bulge, and it does look 1.5 times wider than her. She weighs 26g, and it says that snakes weighing between 24-30g should be ok so here goes!
 
disgurlchar said:
Our corn snakes do this and the only reason that we can think of is that they enjoy the temps wherever they lay. Our snowy will stretch out anywhere in his tank and fall asleep there, when naturally you think they would sleep in their hides. I've known him to sleep on top of his hide too, crazy things! Unless there is a problem with the hides or temps in the hides then i'd let him carry on.

Unless anyone else thinks this is part of a problem then obviously i'd like to know too lol :)
Click to expand...

My old snow boy does this too. More often than not he's on top of his hides rather than in them. Or just curled up in the front watching everything.
 
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