My yellow ratsnake is acting weird

Nicolehunt · 01-27-16, 09:42 AM

Hello guys, I have a question about my 6 yrs old yellow ratsnake.
She always was a good eater, done everything at time (shedding every 1.5 month, pooping and eating small rat every monday). Now she is acting weird. We were in Germany for 12 days, so brought her to the local reptile shop for "accommodation" while we were outside the UK. Boys who work there told us that she was absolutely fine - in her own viv with good temperature, was eating well, also she had her favourite hide from home. After we brought her back home (2.5 weeks now) she shed(a little bit later than it was expected), now is refusing to eat (she has interest at the beginning, but then just turn her head in opposite direction and goes away) but defecated two times already, very active - moving from one side of viv to the other and again and again, seems a little bit aggressive and sometimes she is trying to escape (never done it before), also she ignores her favourite hide since we brought her back. Don't know what to think...
She has fresh water all the time, hides, corn cob granules as a substrate, 12hrs of light, 12 hrs of night, temp - 95-100 F in the hot corner (cause she was sneezing few months ago and Vet advised to put higher temp apart from medicines) and she was absolutely fine with this temp all the time before January, so I don't think that the problem is in temperature. And yes, humidity is 35-40% and I use spray to make rain regularly.
So I would like to listen to your thoughts about her behaviour.

Handyhens · 01-28-16, 10:13 PM

Her cage is way too hot. It should be 80-86 degrees. Other than that, sometimes snakes need time to adjust. Good luck, and can we see pictures?

**Andy_G** · 01-29-16, 08:17 AM

While 80-86 would be ok...it is a little too cool for a hot spot, and 95-100 is a bit too warm, even though your snake seems ok with it. Ideal would be 86-90 for a hot spot for these guys. As Handyhens mentioned, your snake probably just needs a bit of time to settle back in, though.

Nicolehunt · 01-29-16, 12:44 PM

Attached some pics of her viv and her pic was made yesterday/day before that.
Offered a rat yesterday, still refuses to eat.

**Andy_G** · 01-30-16, 09:37 AM

Just make sure you're only offering once a week or so, and don't handle or otherwise bother her until she is eating again.

Albert Clark · 01-30-16, 12:16 PM

Beautiful snake and viv btw! At six years old do you know if she has ever been bred? You may want to consider brumating her which after a short 2 month period would reset her feeding clock and ready her for a male. Maybe that's what she wants and needs?

Nicolehunt · 01-31-16, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Just make sure you're only offering once a week or so, and don't handle or otherwise bother her until she is eating again.

Thank you for the advice!

Nicolehunt · 01-31-16, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Beautiful snake and viv btw! At six years old do you know if she has ever been bred? You may want to consider brumating her which after a short 2 month period would reset her feeding clock and ready her for a male. Maybe that's what she wants and needs?

Thank you! I've had her for 3 years now, first 3 years she had another owner, but he didn't pay to much attention to her, so I'm not even sure if she has been bred or not. She is sneezing at the moment, this happens periodically but goes away after we increase the temperature (last year we've been to the vet, used medications, but it still happens sometimes. no signs of RI apart from occasional sneezing). That's one of the reasons why I'm not sure if we should brumate or breed her. At the moment it's quite cold in the UK, so I would rather wait until the weather gets better to take her to the vet. Plus it would be a quite stressful moment for her right now...