BHP acting funny

[canales]

My new BHP have been acting strangely these two days. I had him for 1.5 weeks and he seem settled in his enclosure , he would sleep in his favourite hideout (28- 30 degrees Celsius) and become really active around 7pm when it's darker but for the past three days he looks lethargic and remains in his hiding spot sometimes without even coming out .

The hot spot is around 30 - 35 degrees Celsius and his hiding spot temp is 28 - 30 degrees Celsius . I leave the heating code at at temp of 31 degrees during the day and 35 for the night.

Please advise if this is normal?

 

[CrystalMoon]

Perhaps he is ready to shed, they do become a tad reclusive when going through this phase. You might like to have a look at his records(from previous owner)and see when his last shed was....

 

[Stuart]

Why are you increasing his temp at night?

 

[Riffherper]

My Bhp's are mostly active at night. Despite having a 33-38 degree hotspot they spend most of the time just away from it in an area which sits in the low 30s. I offer no heat at night. Once I feed them they hide for a few days and I don't see them at all. Bhp's by nature like to burrow and hide. I would say what you are experiencing is normal.

 

[CrystalMoon]

Why are you increasing his temp at night?

good point, I have had a long day and missed that bit

 

[canales]

Perhaps he is ready to shed, they do become a tad reclusive when going through this phase. You might like to have a look at his records(from previous owner)and see when his last shed was....

Is there any signs when shedding other than being reclusive? His weekly feed is due tomorrow and should i attempt to feed him?

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Why are you increasing his temp at night?

Correct me if i am wrong? During the night the ambient temp will fall and should the hot spot temp increase so that the snake would get some heat? Pardon my ignorance since its my first snake
what gradient temp do you guys normally set at?

 

[Stuart]

Correct me if i am wrong? During the night the ambient temp will fall and should the hot spot temp increase so that the snake would get some heat? Pardon my ignorance since its my first snake
what gradient temp do you guys normally set at?

It's not natural for heat to increase overnight.

Offer heat overnight if your ambient temp gets very low but many a keeper offers no additional heat overnight unless necessary.

 

[andynic07]

I have no heat at all for my snakes at night time apart from hatchlings and my GTP. I think it may be coming up to shed as well. He may look dull and you may notice a day of his eyes looking a bluefish colour if he is. I would not handle him for a few more days and maybe hold off feeding.


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[creaturesofhabit]

Firstly how old is the bhp, and where abouts do you live ?

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

My Bhp's are mostly active at night. Despite having a 33-38 degree hotspot they spend most of the time just away from it in an area which sits in the low 30s. I offer no heat at night. Once I feed them they hide for a few days and I don't see them at all. Bhp's by nature like to burrow and hide.

Agree with this.

Also not sure why you would want to increase temps at night. Not many places I can think of where night time temp is warmer than day time. I think this may be stressing the snake.

 

[canales]

Firstly how old is the bhp, and where abouts do you live ?

the BHP is around 7 months old and live around South East Queensland.

 

[creaturesofhabit]

If its only that old I'd keep a basking spot for it 35 degrees 24/7 until it's about 12 months old.then just have heat on it during the day.that all depends on how cold your house gets at night , on the coast where I live it never gets really cold so I don't supply any heat at night all year long I'm lucky to get my herp room under 19 degrees in winter

 

[andynic07]

If its only that old I'd keep a basking spot for it 35 degrees 24/7 until it's about 12 months old.then just have heat on it during the day.that all depends on how cold your house gets at night , on the coast where I live it never gets really cold so I don't supply any heat at night all year long I'm lucky to get my herp room under 19 degrees in winter

Mine drops down to about 12 degrees overnight through winter and mine are fine without night heat. I am the same though heat 24/7 until over a year old.

 

[creaturesofhabit]

[MENTION=34534]andynic07[/MENTION] yep was only saying as my parents live in gumbdale and there house is on stumps about 1 meter off the ground, and in winter it gets down to about 2 degrees due to the wind getting underneath the floor boards ( even my cousin from north Yorkshire in England said its the coldest house hes ever slept in) so we did have some heat on the snakes at night when I was a kid living there

 

[andynic07]

@andynic07 yep was only saying as my parents live in gumbdale and there house is on stumps about 1 meter off the ground, and in winter it gets down to about 2 degrees due to the wind getting underneath the floor boards ( even my cousin from north Yorkshire in England said its the coldest house hes ever slept in) so we did have some heat on the snakes at night when I was a kid living there

Wow mate , that is cold. I was just giving another safe temperature to gauge on. I don't think I would like my herps getting much below 12 degrees though. Do you know what the lower limit is? I know all situations are different but as a general rule of thumb.