New BHP troubles

[spottedjayne]

Hi Everyone,

Got a new Western Aus BHP last friday everything seems to be going well. He is about 8 months old and is used to living in a container. I have him in one of my tanks with the right heat and light. However he seems to be very stressed now, im pretty sure its because he's not used to people walking past his enclosure. I fed him last night could that be the problem do i need to feed him in a different box.
I hope he grows out of it. He has striked at the glass about 10 times since yesterday. Im not game to put my hand in. I put a sheet over the tank so he could calm down.

cheers

Jayne:?

 

[ambah]

Ahh just put your hand in there! we love bite pics :shock:

lol, i've heard majority of BHP's are headbutters before biters anyway? not sure if this will be the case for you

 

[antaresia_boy]

the change from click clack to cage can be stressful. maybe put him in his click clakc, inside the enclosure and see if he settles down.

 

[Chondropython]

If he continues to eat whilst in that cage then it's ok to leave him there. The movement of people walking past an enclosure can be quite stressful to any snake, a simple way to get around this it to sticky tape some newspaper over the front of the enclosure, so that he cannot see out.

 

[spottedjayne]

Ok will do should i leave the lid off to see if he will have a wander

 

[andyscott]

Hi Jayne,
BHPs like most other pythons can get very flighty after a feed.
I would suggest to put a towel over its tank/enclosure for 3 days after you feed it.
Once it has digested it meal, it should settle down.
Cheers Andy.

 

[spottedjayne]

Can i eventually take the news paper off?

 

[cement]

Give him time and he will calm down as he gets used to his new enclosure. Bhps have a habit of forgetting you are around sometimes and get scared. Hence the strikes.

 

[spottedjayne]

Cheers Andy I'll remove the sheet in a few days

 

[Chondropython]

Ideally, your cages should be situated in a quiet part of the house. If he does not settle down after a while, you may wish to consider moving the enclosure into a room with less traffic.

 

[solar 17]

W.a.-bhp

l have wa bhp's and in my opinion they are very flighty and l have some rising 5 years old and are still very head butt mad ...they are definately a lot more flighty than NT.s...l leave mine fully covered and go with the flow...cheers solar 17

 

[andyscott]

Can i eventually take the news paper off?

As Condro said news paper or my suggestion of a towel. Just leave it there for 3 days after feeding. Once your BHP has had time to digest, you can remove Paper/towel.

 

[Pythonking]

hey spottedjayne,

I wouldn't be concerned in the slightest Bhps in particular are very flighty as well as they can hiss a bit and try and look menancing, as a few of the other people have said they are more headbutters than biters, you'll find when you put your hand in the cage it'll probably take a defensive position and start to hiss then when you touch it it'll fly or it could just go straight into flight mode not unual by any means for a bhp. They do tend to get more protective over food aswell as after eating which you'll see more and more of when the little one gets a bit more age on him.

 

[travie]

put him back in the small container, thats why he is stressed he feels scared being in the larg new tank

 

[spottedjayne]

Thanks guys i will see how i go with the little one and let you's know wat the verdict is!!

cheers

jayne

 

[Pythonking]

no worries spottedjayne

Keep him in what you got him in the tank like chrondo said no point putting him in something small if he's eating well, Bhps aren't typical in behaviour to morelias and the things you mentioned seem pretty typical of a healthy young bhp.