HIDING

[phantom]

Hi all can some one please tell me why my diamond has changed he's routine,He now goes into his log in the day time and does not come out untill night,I done what most of you said about not cooling him this winter as he is only 5 months old,Also how offten should i be feeding him (once a week?) i'll thank you all now THANK YOU

PHANTOM

 

[Morelia_man]

has the temperature in his cage dropped even though you have not changed the temperature. if it has changed/lowered then he will stay hiden away most of the time. i would still try feed him every week but if he misses one or two then i wouldn't worry.

cheers
charles

 

[cyber_crimes]

How much daylight is it recieving?
If using a nearby window he may be syncronised to winter regime.
Do you maintain the same heat at night also?
Its possible that your snake is finding it an extremely hot winter and so he then hides to remain cooler but comes out at night when ambient temps are lower.
What size is the enclosure?
He may feel threatened if it is a large enclosure,especially during daylight hours as he has noticed all the activity within its surroundings.
What side is the hide located? warm or cool?
There could be 100 possibilities but it is hard to help without knowing how he is kept etc.I'd continue trying to feed every week.

 

[byjungle]

I going with the assumption that although threr maybe the same temperatures near the cages warm end (just like in summer months), the ambient temperatures in the cooler end would have dropped a bit. i have found it almost impossible to keep a tank (especially those that dont hold heat) the same temps during summer and winter. with my juvenile jungles, most feed and act the same, but a couple have gone off food even though they recieve the same photoperiod as summer, the cool end of the tank drops that little bit and puts certain individuals off food.Go buy 2 thermometers from cheap and chips like for $2 each and put one in teh warm end and one in the cool end and see what they read. Maybe just give it smaller meals so digesting isnt so hard.

cheers

 

[Brodie]

Hey,
When i first got my Bredl he stayed inhis hide all day and at night if he saw me enter the room and he was out of the hide, then he would go straight back in, until I left again, but now he spends all day asleep onhis climbing stick, and isn't bothered when I am in the room at all, perhaps your Diamond is just getting used to you or something? As for feeding a lot of people will disagree with me but i feed my Bredl 2 w/mice evry friday.
Cheers

 

[phantom]

How much daylight is it recieving?[/bIf using a nearby window he may be syncronised to winter regime.
Do you maintain the same heat at night also?
Its possible that your snake is finding it an extremely hot winter and so he then hides to remain cooler but comes out at night when ambient temps are lower.
What size is the enclosure?
He may feel threatened if it is a large enclosure,especially during daylight hours as he has noticed all the activity within its surroundings.
What side is the hide located? warm or cool?
There could be 100 possibilities but it is hard to help without knowing how he is kept etc.I'd continue trying to feed every week.

He is getting 10 hours of day light,one end of the tank is near the window,yes i do keep the heat the sameday/night,enclosure [is a 4ft by 1ft by 2 ft fish tank at the moment the log inside is3 ft,hollow throughout,he tends to stay in the middle of it.the activity around him has not changed since i got him

 

[Morelia_man]

are all four sides open?? if so you might wanna cover up three of the sides and just leave the front open. just a suggestion

cheers
charles

 

[Brodie]

4ft sounds pretty big for a lil diamond, how big is the diamond.

 

[cyber_crimes]

Sounds to me that your snake is feeling insecure or threatened.
Best bet would be to house it in a smaller enclosure,if not making the snake feel more secure by painting or covering the rear and both sides of the aquarium would help.You could also add a few more hides (at both hot and cool end,this will then allow your snake to hide within a temp he feels comfortable with).Also introduce a climbing brach that runs from the bottom of the cool end to a high spot on the warm side under your heat source.Your snake may feel more secure if it is off ground level.You could also raise the photo period to 15-16 hours a day by using a lamp or simply lighting the entire room it is kept.

 

[phantom]

i have got three sides covered plus a few more hide spots for him but since the log went in he prefers it to the others plus there are limbs right though the tank,top to bottom.once again thank you all

 

[cyber_crimes]

Ahhh ok!
Well dont feel to worried.
Your snake has obviously chosen the hollow log as hes favourite part of the tank.I find a few of the snakes I have kept had been more or less hidden during the day in a state of torpor but become extremely active during lights out.I find they have a stronger feeding response at this time also and you usually see them hunting around for prey at night.

 

[Whaa]

I was just wondering what sort of lid you have on your tank?
I have a 4ft fish tank that I keep dragons in. The lid is wire mesh on a metal frame and rests on the lip of this tank. This is fine for lizards but a snake would be able to squeeze between the gap of the lid and the sides of the enclosure.
thanks

 

[phantom]

Its a fine mesh ,like security door wire,escape proof (untill he grow's up,but by then he will be in his new enclosure)on top of the mesh i have alfoil to help reflect the light and keep the heat in(brother inlaw help set it up he has rattle snakes and boers and a croc

 

[Whaa]

thats a great idea about using the alfoil to reflect the heat
when I first set up my enclosure it was loosing a lot of heat so I have a towel across the top but might try out the alfoil
Where does you brother in law live?
I would love a croc one day but I dont think I could leave this country
I Love Oz 8)

 

[Emydura1]

"brother inlaw help set it up he has rattle snakes and boers and a croc"

Does he live in Australia? If so, he could be in a lot of trouble

 

[cyber_crimes]

Emydura1,
It is quite legal to own a croc under a private zoo permit or display licence (not sure if Phantoms brother has one of these or not but it is possible). You can purchase a reptile awareness/display licence to educate the public on the safety etc of Australian reptiles.With this licence you can purchase hatchling crocs from croc farms and keep them up to 1 metre in length after which you return it back to the farm and they will supply you with another hatchling.I am applying for mine in march 2004
(still introducing myself to the legal requirements and regulations atm)

 

[phantom]

No guys he does not live here he lives in Hungry

 

[Harty]

Woo hoo... Finally something I may be able to help with and give something back to the community... :lol:
I experienced the same thing phantom. My new diamond would only come out at night for a little while and never during the day. What everyone has said sounds right, intimidated by large enclosure. What I did was went and bought some fake leaves and little branches from Lincraft. I then drilled some holes into his existing branches and stuck the fake ones into it. This then gave him somewhere to hide out in the enclosure. It took him a couple of days to get used to the new additions, but now he is always hiding behind the leaves somewhere, allday and night, more so than in his hide pots... It also brightens up the enclosure with a bit of color.

Have taken a picture for you to get an idea of what I bought... Hope i have helped....

http://www.aussiepythons.com/module...ery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

 

[africancichlidau]

Congratulations me Harty, you got a post in