Cubie
03-13-2010, 08:31 PM
Hello! I've had Tibby (Eastern garter) since late last summer, and he has always been very friendly. He was always active, crawling around his tank and peeking out of hides, and eating whenever I dangled something in front of him.
The very first time I picked him up, he did the whole freak-out-and-secrete dealy, but since then he has not sprayed once... until a couple of months ago.
Around Christmas I had to keep him in a small enclosure for a couple of weeks while at my family's home. He was fine there, but ever since we've been back, he's grown incredibly reclusive. He's always hiding in the smallest hide possible now, and I'm not sure if he ever crawls around the tank any more. He still eats when I dangle fish in front of him, but he'll only peer his head out a teeny bit, snap it up, and then duck back into his hide. He won't let me pick him up at all, and every time I put my hand inside the tank near him, he either hides or FLIPS OUT and flees in any direction. Whenever I DO manage to pick him up, he immediately starts secreting, and one time I think he tried to bite me (fortunately, he missed!)
Today I managed to pick him up after 15 minutes of cautious coaxing, and I thought he was actually being tolerant of me, but after a minute I glanced down and noticed the stream of secretion dripping onto my leg, down my bed and on the floor. xD; I didn't know the little guy could even hold that much nasty sauce!
Is there some way to convince him to be more personable again? He was such a nice snake before January. ):
And is there some sort of cause for this? Is he just being defensive because it's winter? Is it because my roommate's cats have been bothering him? (While I was away over Christmas, my roommate kept a mouse in Tibby's tank and the cats haven't left it alone since.) Or could it just be because I haven't been paying enough attention to him? (It's kind of difficult now that he's trying to pee on me every time I go near him!)
...Also, should I do something about the secretion on my carpet? xD I cleaned it with soap and water, but I'm scared that the smell might linger.
The very first time I picked him up, he did the whole freak-out-and-secrete dealy, but since then he has not sprayed once... until a couple of months ago.
Around Christmas I had to keep him in a small enclosure for a couple of weeks while at my family's home. He was fine there, but ever since we've been back, he's grown incredibly reclusive. He's always hiding in the smallest hide possible now, and I'm not sure if he ever crawls around the tank any more. He still eats when I dangle fish in front of him, but he'll only peer his head out a teeny bit, snap it up, and then duck back into his hide. He won't let me pick him up at all, and every time I put my hand inside the tank near him, he either hides or FLIPS OUT and flees in any direction. Whenever I DO manage to pick him up, he immediately starts secreting, and one time I think he tried to bite me (fortunately, he missed!)
Today I managed to pick him up after 15 minutes of cautious coaxing, and I thought he was actually being tolerant of me, but after a minute I glanced down and noticed the stream of secretion dripping onto my leg, down my bed and on the floor. xD; I didn't know the little guy could even hold that much nasty sauce!
Is there some way to convince him to be more personable again? He was such a nice snake before January. ):
And is there some sort of cause for this? Is he just being defensive because it's winter? Is it because my roommate's cats have been bothering him? (While I was away over Christmas, my roommate kept a mouse in Tibby's tank and the cats haven't left it alone since.) Or could it just be because I haven't been paying enough attention to him? (It's kind of difficult now that he's trying to pee on me every time I go near him!)
...Also, should I do something about the secretion on my carpet? xD I cleaned it with soap and water, but I'm scared that the smell might linger.