Olive has rubbed off rostral scale

[StellaDoore]

Hi guys. I've had my olive around 2.5 months now and all of a sudden she's rubbed her nose against her tank up until the point the rostral scale has rubbed off.
She was undersized when I got her (about 65cm and two years old) but has quickly grown to about 1.2m and doubled in weight.
Her enclosure is 3x2x2 foot and is high thirties at one end, and mid twenties at the other. She has water, newspaper substrate, a hide and a large log to climb/aid in sloughing. She's 600g and has just been moved onto 150g rats (slammed it down), previously being fed 100g rats fortnightly.

Any idea why she's rubbing her nose until the point it bleeds?
Is it because her enclosure is now too small? It was only meant to be only a temporary one (I thought it might last maybe 4-5 months), but I wouldn't expect her to outgrow it so quickly. Next week she's being moved into a larger enclosure (6x3x3 ft). I figure that can house her for a few years until I build/buy a larger one. Then I'll have an empty enclosure =D

Up until the move, is there anything I can do? Is her rubbing due to enclosure size or something else like lack or stimulation (hides, branches, etc)? And is there some treatment I can offer in the meantime, like Betadine or something?

Thanks for the help guys, it's appreciated.

[jairusthevirus21]

Interesting! My male Olive is doing the same thing..... a little help would be appreciated. My Olive is in a good sized enclosure so i don't think its that. Iv just rubbed some F10 on it.

[StellaDoore]

I quickly asked a breeder friend of mine and he said one of his woma does the same thing every winter, and to put a dab of betadine on it.
Definitely want to see if people have a reason why they're rubbing.

[rvcasa]

My Woma does that all the time to help rip off skin to shed.
(she scoups out sand w/ her head up right, like a crane digger)

Once skin rips at snout, it will roll backwards and eventually peel off.

Never seen/heard of bleeding thought!?

...she also does it flat and forward on floor (sometimes on walls too) after a meal, but here it's not too rough to bleed... It's to help put back in place the dislodge jaws. (they split, separately/independently downwards and sideways too.


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[Wild~Touch]

Most likely cruising looking for a mate

[StellaDoore]

Most likely cruising looking for a mate

It doesn't matter that she's no where near breeding size? Well there's not much I can do about a bf for her =S

[Wild~Touch]

It is just my reckoning if snakes continually roam around they are more than likely looking for a mate.

I guess they don't know know what size they have to be to breed. A bit like teenagers

My Morelia are doing the same thing atm.

[Pythoninfinite]

One point worth asking about - what is the snake rubbing on to damage the nose to the point of bleeding? Is there anything sharp (glass edge not ground properly), or rough, such as wire or mesh of some sort (definitely a no-no in snake enclosures)? The damage should heal without incident, and any scab will slough off when the snake sheds, but just make sure you minimise the potential for damage by eliminating any physical hazards from the enclosure.

Jamie

[caliherp]

Like others have stated it could be looking for a mate, looking for food. Not used to this species so it might not like the conditions it's in, or it just may be exploring. I wouldent worry about it to much unless it continues. The scales should return to normal after one or two sheds. Good luck.

[jairusthevirus21]

Thanks everyone... i suspected my Olive was looking for a bit of loving so Iv put him with the female. Iv also removed the suspected abrasive enclosure furnish... He has just never done it before so i thought it was weird... Oh and Stelladoore!!! Mine is only a meter or so long...

[Tsubakai]

What substrate are you using?

[cheekabee]

Interesting! My male Olive is doing the same thing..... a little help would be appreciated. My Olive is in a good sized enclosure so i don't think its that. Iv just rubbed some F10 on it.

Didn't know you could use F10 on injuries, I thought you only use it to clean cages, might give it a try.

[Renenet]

How's your olive's nose? I had no idea they could start getting "the urge" before they were sexually mature.

[StellaDoore]

Substrate is newspaper. I've got wire light cages, but I've never caught her rubbing these, just occasionally leaning against.
I think she's been poking around in the vents. They're just the small, circular plastic things from Bunnings (pretty common in standard melamine enclosures), but that's the only thing I've seen her push her face against. I'll pop down to the hardware store tomorrow and fix up the vents somehow, and then we'll see if that fixes the problem.
Recently given her a rat so she's hiding - that buys me a bit more time!
Renenet, it looks okay. Rubbed pretty raw, but not bleeding. Poor dear =(

[Paintbrushturkey]

Have you checked for mites?