Stimmi behaviour

[Talen56]

So recently i came into possession of my first reptile, a yearling Stimsons python who's been spending a lot of time moving around his enclosure and exploring every nook and cranny. I've spent the last 6 months or so looking through as much information regarding everything i might need to know about keeping reptiles as i could get my hands on. However my Stimmy has been spending quite a bit of time trying to move about upside-down on the ceiling of his enclosure. I figured there's a decent chance that he's just exploring his new home as he's been in my care for less than a week. However i just wanted to be sure im not overlooking something important, i want to do this right. The enclosure is about 45x45x30, so not huge but i figured it'd be enough for such a small snake. Currently keeping the area under the basking light at about 30-33 degrees and im swapping from a dark blue heat lamp to a bright one depending on whether it's night or not as to simulate it being darker at night, but keeping the heat up 24/7 as to keep the temp steady. He's got plenty of cover with plenty of fake plants and a pair of hides, as well as a water dish large enough that he can get plenty of water when he wants. I plan on adding a little area for him to climb about on in the next few days so that might help him, he could just be wanting to climb around a little more. This kinda behaviour isnt something i've seen a whole lot of out of snakes that i've been around in the past, and i just want to be sure it's not something like him trying to get away from the heat because it's too hot, and i figured if anyone would know, it'd be someone on here.

 

[Tony Jones]

You said you are keeping at 30-33 but is there also a cooler area in the enclosure
Your snake cannot regulate its own body temperature so will move around it enclosure between hot area & cool area to regulate its temperature
Check that your enclosure has a area were your snake can cool down when it needs to

 

[Talen56]

You said you are keeping at 30-33 but is there also a cooler area in the enclosure
Your snake cannot regulate its own body temperature so will move around it enclosure between hot area & cool area to regulate its temperature
Check that your enclosure has a area were your snake can cool down when it needs to

Yeah i'm keeping a gradient of 30-33 at the hot side, and 26-28 for the cool end

 

[Vixen.]

Yes, should have hot side and cool side, hot spot should be in the range you've said, cool can be quite a bit cooler. I just use heat mat for mine and that's his hot side and hot hide, the water goes at cool side. They try and escape/look for food. So when mine is super active (in days leading up to a feed) he's hanging by everything up by the roof, up and down every wall everywhere, because they're 'hunting' looking for food and exploring. This is also how most people lose their little noodles as they find any tiny gaps or holes when they're doing this behaviour. It's normal and fine so long as the enclosure has a temp gradient.

 

[Talen56]

Yes, should have hot side and cool side, hot spot should be in the range you've said, cool can be quite a bit cooler. I just use heat mat for mine and that's his hot side and hot hide, the water goes at cool side. They try and escape/look for food. So when mine is super active (in days leading up to a feed) he's hanging by everything up by the roof, up and down every wall everywhere, because they're 'hunting' looking for food and exploring. This is also how most people lose their little noodles as they find any tiny gaps or holes when they're doing this behaviour. It's normal and fine so long as the enclosure has a temp gradient.

Ah okay sweet. On that note however I woke up this morning and the tank was wayy too hot, I think I may have bought bulbs that are too powerful (100Watt) so I may pay a visit to bunnings to pick up maybe a 75 or 50 and see how that goes instead

 

[Susannah]

You probably already know this, but heat mats are much better at keeping a good temperature, and also cheaper to run. Then just make sure you have a hide on both the cool side and warm side and your guy can move to somewhere comfy to regulate temperature himself easily.

 

[Talen56]

You probably already know this, but heat mats are much better at keeping a good temperature, and also cheaper to run. Then just make sure you have a hide on both the cool side and warm side and your guy can move to somewhere comfy to regulate temperature himself easily.

Yeah I just bought one of those $5 flood lights from bunnings so im gonna see how that goes, i'll probably look into buying a heat mat like next week or something if this bulb doesnt work out. I heard you're able to put heat mats on the side of the tank instead of under it as a viable option? I take it tho i'd have to supply some platform for the snake to rest on to get the most efficient access to it tho.

 

[highlander969]

I have 2 small heat mats (14W and 5W) attached outside and under the enclosure (60cm x 45cm x45cm). One at hot end set at 32 degrees and the other at the cool end (only for the winter) set at 23 degrees. I do not have a basking light as I found it was unnecessary.

 

[Sanitiser]

Yeah I just bought one of those $5 flood lights from bunnings so im gonna see how that goes, i'll probably look into buying a heat mat like next week or something if this bulb doesnt work out. I heard you're able to put heat mats on the side of the tank instead of under it as a viable option? I take it tho i'd have to supply some platform for the snake to rest on to get the most efficient access to it tho.

heat mat under glass with good substrate over it and a tree branch across it .
my setup struggled to work untill i started using quality substrate l.