Good afternoon everyone. Ive had snakes and various reptiles my whole life and this is a new one for me. My dumerils boa has always poked around the lid of his encolsure to try and fine a way out as most snakes do. However i woke up this morning to find the top of her snout missing a small piece of skin, enough that a ver small amount of blood was present. Its a common mental screen lid. Any recommendations on how to prevent this from happening again? Also curious into any insight on why she seems to be more enthusiastic on gettimg out.
1 Like
Sometimes if the heat or humidity is not right…or at least pretty far from normal, snakes will actually rub the end if their noses raw…or push to the point of facial damage(sometimes permanent). I have also seen this on animals in too small of enclosures. If an animal is established, and up to a certain point…has been content, you may want to check temps first…then humidity levels. I have been noticing A LOT of people having these type of issues, as well as overly defensive animals lately…and I believe it to be from this crazy heat wave. I have never had ANY of my retics push…but over the past 4 months they are all acting a little more “edgy” and a LOT more food aggressive…with a couple even starting to push. Keep in mind I have been keeping retics for almost 15 years now and have NEVER had any push…ever. I keep them in larger than most…naturalistic enclosures. And even in my central air cooled house…it has been a few degrees warmer than normal…and I am sure the barometric pressure has been a bit off from normal lately. My buddy even had his retic try to eat his snake hook…and would NOT let it go! Then when I suggested he put a rag soaked in listerine in there…to try to get his hook back…the retic actually attacked and tried to eat the rag and stick!..and this is normally a pretty relaxed animal. So it could be from the higher temps and barometric pressures…I have been keeping boids since 1986 and I still learn and get surprised by these awesome animals. Hope this helped…good luck!
Thanks for the reply. Ironically after i posted that she stopped doimg it. Unsure if the cause as ive never seen her do it before. I suspect youre correct in your assessment as it did take place during a heat wave. Temp and humidity are stable and consistent. I have been eyeballing a larger enclosure (despite believing hers is appropriate). Apreciate your thoughts
1 Like