My hatchie is avoiding his hot spot?

[Ghotar]

I purchased my first hatchie about 2 and a half weeks ago, and was worried because he refused two feeds. I set up a digital thermometer and found out that my thermostat reading was way off and corrected that problem.
Now he still sits in the cold end of his tank all the time. I've literally never seen him in any other part of ythe viv and definitely nowhere near his heat mat.
He's a diamond intergrade and I know diamond python's don't need to be as warm as some other snakes, but I feel like its just been a bit too long without heating up?

 

[ssnakeboyy]

What are your temps? Have been handling him/her? Have you let it settle in? How big is the cage? Provide those details and other people will be able to help.

 

[Ghotar]

What are your temps? Have been handling him/her? Have you let it settle in? How big is the cage? Provide those details and other people will be able to help.

Hot spot temp sits around 30-32.5 (I'm not sure why it fluctuates)
The cool end unfortunately goes between 15-20 as I don't currently have the means to control the ambient temp
The only times it's really been bothered are when I've attempted to feed or change the water, and when I've added things to the viv.
The viv is a 30x30x30cm glass cube.

 

[ssnakeboyy]

The temperature gradient is good, the snake can choose the perfect spot it wants to be in (correct me if im wrong). have you been handling him at all? You should let them settle for 1-2 weeks before handling so as not to stress him out. Have you got a hide? One on the hot side and cool side is great.

 

[Ghotar]

The temperature gradient is good, the snake can choose the perfect spot it wants to be in (correct me if im wrong). have you been handling him at all? You should let them settle for 1-2 weeks before handling so as not to stress him out. Have you got a hide? One on the hot side and cool side is great.

I haven't been handling at all, but I have added a couple things to the vivarium since he went in? He has a toilet roll to hide in at the hot and cool sides

 

[sharky]

How many hides do you have?
He probably feels insecure in a full glass enclosure(hence not feeding). Cover 3 sides of the cube with paper, foam, etc so it is more enclosed/'cozy' for him
Diamonds prefer cooler temps and it isn't uncommon for them to be in the cool end more often than the warm. He probably goes there every now and then to bask when you aren't looking.

 

[Norm]

Try using a more secure hide now as well. A light globe box or something similar with a small hole will do the job. Chances are hes fine, just doing what snakes do, if he wants to warm up he`ll move to the warm side.

 

[Ghotar]

How many hides do you have?
He probably feels insecure in a full glass enclosure(hence not feeding). Cover 3 sides of the cube with paper, foam, etc so it is more enclosed/'cozy' for him
Diamonds prefer cooler temps and it isn't uncommon for them to be in the cool end more often than the warm. He probably goes there every now and then to bask when you aren't looking.

Just the two toilet roll hides. Two of the walls are covered entirely with corrugated cardboard to help with security as well as retain heat.

What I'm basically trying to find out is; does him spending a lot of time in the coldest part of the enclosure mean either a) something could be wrong or b) he doesn't know there's a warm spot?

This is a pic of his set up

 

[Ghotar]

Try using a more secure hide now as well. A light globe box or something similar with a small hole will do the job.

Ah okay, I wondered about that but I didn't want to stress him by changing more than I already have

 

[sharky]

Ah okay, I wondered about that but I didn't want to stress him by changing more than I already have

It will cause him less stress putting a few hide away boxes in there than not

 

[Norm]

It`s just a thought Tariq, your checking temps over the heat mat on top of that substrate aren`t you? Where the snake would sit?

 

[Snowman]

probably shedding.

 

[Ghotar]

It`s just a thought Tariq, your checking temps over the heat mat on top of that substrate aren`t you? Where the snake would sit?

Yep, the warm spot probe is placed in between the substrate and the toilet roll

Also, as for a more secure hide, something like like?

 

[Snowman]

Yep, the warm spot probe is placed in between the substrate and the toilet roll

Also, as for a more secure hide, something like like?

tighter fit the better. They like to feel secure, even to the point that three sides of their body is touching the hide. Scrunched up newspaper works well to fill a large hide and make it more squeezy

 

[Norm]

Yeah, nice and dark. Snowman could be right too, could be shedding.

 

[Ghotar]

tighter fit the better. They like to feel secure, even to the point that three sides of their body is touching the hide. Scrunched up newspaper works well to fill a large hide and make it more squeezy

Yeah, nice and dark. Snowman could be right too, could be shedding.

Great, stuck some scrunched up paper towel in there to be sure.

So do snakes just decide that they won't live by normal snake rules when they're shedding? Haha

 

[Norm]

It is normal snake rules. And it may not be shedding, its just a thought.

 

[Ghotar]

Snakes have some very odd behaviour either way

 

[alex92]

i wouldn't mind an explanation of this, my pythons have 2 hides, one around the heat mat and the other away from it, both hides are the same size yet you'd think they might wanna keep warm but more of the time i find them in the cooler hide, i try not complain but it bothers me a little when you spend a decent bit of money on heating for them and they avoid it. i catch them on it sometimes, i guess more around feeding time like they are now and i try have faith that they know what temp they want to be at since they have the choice even though i worry about how cold they are when i pull them out sometimes

 

[ssnakeboyy]

i wouldn't mind an explanation of this, my pythons have 2 hides, one around the heat mat and the other away from it, both hides are the same size yet you'd think they might wanna keep warm but more of the time i find them in the cooler hide, i try not complain but it bothers me a little when you spend a decent bit of money on heating for them and they avoid it. i catch them on it sometimes, i guess more around feeding time like they are now and i try have faith that they know what temp they want to be at since they have the choice even though i worry about how cold they are when i pull them out sometimes

It is winter, and as it may not be getting cooler in your house snakes have an internal body clock and they know that it is winter. They will heat up when they want to, either they want to eat or they just feel like it. They may also sit on the heat for a couple of days after to digest then back to the cool side to relax, and it all starts again