Adopted Cornsnake burrowed and won't come out

T3rrortoff33 · 10-15-18, 02:35 AM

Hi guys, I made an account on this forum only for this question

I just adopted a 13 year old female amel corn snake from a sanctuary. Last Saturday I took her out of the bag. She was looking healthy and alert! The guy I got her from said sje might just be starting to go into shed again because her scales look a bit desaturated. I let her go into her new big tank (120x60x60cm) by herself and she went straight under one of the dried moss patches next to her wetbox and burrowed into the bedding (about 10cm Aspen fiber mixed with bark chips)

I could see her body against the glass and her tail was still sticking out.

My issue is, she's been like that for three days now. She is still alive, she pulled her tail completely under the bedding yesterday but aside from that she hasn't moved at all.

I thought maybe she'd come out at night or move to her wetbox (as I said, she's probably going in shed soon) or her cave but nope!

Is she ok? Should I look to increase the temperature in the tank? Is she just nervous because she moved?

**EL Ziggy** · 10-15-18, 11:20 AM

New additions will sometimes hide a lot while they acclimate to their surroundings. Also, what are your temps like? If she's prepping for a shed she'll probably stay hidden for the next 7-10 days while she completes her shed cycle. If your temps and humidity are on point I wouldn't worry at all.

craigafrechette · 10-15-18, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

New additions will sometimes hide a lot while they acclimate to their surroundings. Also, what are your temps like? If she's prepping for a shed she'll probably stay hidden for the next 7-10 days while she completes her shed cycle. If your temps and humidity are on point I wouldn't worry at all.

I agree with Ziggy 100%

ClockwerkBonnet · 10-16-18, 04:41 AM

My snake will also stay hidden when he's preparing to shed. It's perfectly normal as long as the temps and humidity are under control.

TeamSlitherin · 10-17-18, 01:52 PM

No need to worry. She's just acclimating, especially if she is going to shed. Just behaving like a snake. I often don't see my Dumeril's for a week or two at a time because she's such a burrower!

akane · 10-17-18, 10:22 PM

They do that. With bioactive enclosures that have dirt substrate I've "lost" a few. My corn that is now out every night I finally went hunting for after 2weeks to find she'd managed to burrow under the plant roots in a buried pot. My desert king spent probably his first month only poking his head out of the substrate and making off with rodents left on a rock for feeding. I'd be ready to go dredge the substrate for king snake to check on him but the rodent would disappear or I'd catch him sticking his head out. I see him 99% of the time now that he's 3' or so long.

**Andy_G** · 10-18-18, 08:29 AM

Snakes like to have objects touching them to make them feel secure. This is scientifically coined as "thigmotactic". Hiding a lot of the time is normal, especially during acclimation, shedding, or digesting. My best advice is this: provide proper temps, humidity, and hiding spots, and let your snake be a snake. Don't stress out.

T3rrortoff33 · 10-18-18, 01:05 PM

AN UPDATE! ive been busy with school so I haven't been able to reply hhhhh

When i came home today she was sitting on the eco earth hill I made (I wanted to plant something on there but that's gonna wait a bit) next to a full, perfect shed! I did work on adjusting the humidity since I've been having slight trouble keeping a decent humidity in the tank but I just watered the earth hill and found out that that holds humidity for the whole day!

gotta admit I have been stressing out haha, she is my first own snake after all

She is slithering around right now and making tunnels in her tank, She decided to use the piece of bark and the moss patches more as a hiding spot than the actual CAVE I bought for her lol, thank you all for answering my concerns!

akane · 10-19-18, 04:08 PM

I find my corns much prefer wood or plant matter type areas to smooth caves and stone. The kings will use low stone or ceramic hides, the bulls love deep caves, but the corns are always finding the wood, getting in any plants, or digging places I didn't mix the coco fiber as evenly. After watching them try to fit on or under too narrow of low branches I removed all the stone for flat wood or bark pieces set on frames of the small branches.

There are plenty of commercial versions of wood hides. I just collect my own materials much of the time so all my hides are stacked natural wood and stones. Unless the size starts to get too heavy or hard to find and then I use evenly cut items like 8-12" flooring tiles or some 2x4' landscaping stone for the bull snake caves.