I want to move my snakes to the new enclosures i bought. I was wondering if moving them with all thier familiar decorations etc. Will help lower the stress of moving them?
I definitely don’t want to stress them with an unfamiliar environment. Like one trick for example when you move a cat to a new location when you move, you save the litter box contents in a bag and other familiar scents helps them feel some familiarity.
My question is should i transfer everything in the tub to the new enclosure, i know snakes have a good sense of smell so perhaps familiar scents will help them. Would this have any actual impact, would they not be less stressed by the move, or do you think that familiarity would help then settle in easier having tranfered everything over.
Yes, since they associate their current home with familiarity and security, moving some of their decor to a new home will help them with the transition. It’s helpful to transfer some substrate, or hides or whatever. Think of it like you moving into a new apartment but having familiar pieces of furniture. Now multiply that beyond comfort, as if you know your chance of survival is seriously improved in familiar digs.
This is why many breeders ship snakes with some material from their home viv. The familiar scent is a stress reducer in shipping. Many also recommend transferring at least some of the material from the shipping container to the snake’s new home, at least initially. If they’ve got a familiar scent in their strange new place, it helps them settle.
In my experience with a few species I find they adjust to upgraded enclosures a little easier if I take some of the substrate (loose or paper towel whatever I’m using for which ever species) and add it to the new digs. I firmly believe that familiar scent helps them settle faster in new set ups.
You ever notice how your animal decides to empty their bowels RIGHT after they’re back in a new clean cage? I really think that’s them sort of marking “home base” so they know it’s theirs. I have a friend who has cobras do it every single time he cleans their cage so he leaves their hide alone in all it’s grossness because he knows they’re just going to “repaint” it after it’s clean.
Exactly so! When I get a new snake or when I move one into a new enclosure, I know they’re going to mark their territory this way. I generally make a habit of trying to clean messes as soon as possible but I make an exception for these circumstances. I leave the “marking” until the animal’s first feeding after its move.
When I’ve needed up upsize my blood python to new tubs as she’s grown, I’ll typically move over most of her old decor and at least a little of the old substrate. Only exception was her last rehouse, when she let loose an enormous amount of urine right before I started the move. I opted to just toss all the old substrate rather than digging around in pee-soaked coco husk to find some dry bits to transfer. She still got all her old decor, though.
I opted to just toss all the old substrate rather than digging around in pee-soaked coco husk to find some dry bits to transfer. She still got all her old decor, though.