Weird hiding spots !

[GarterGuy17]

Well for a second I thought jade had escaped on the first day so I was going crazy taking things out the tank to find her. no luck weird actually she was inside a fake rose that I have in her setup. I don't understand why she would rather be there instead her other 2 hides but I guess it's whatever your snake likes ^_^

[EasternGirl]

This is a part of snake ownership that you will soon get used to...lol. I used to do that with my male eastern, Seeley...all the time. I'm laughing right now as I'm writing this...thinking about you doing that and thinking about how I used to do it...I used to do it on a daily basis...I would freak out and tear his enclosure apart...pull everything out of it...and eventually find him buried under the bedding somewhere...in fact...and make sure you don't make this mistake...he almost did escape once, because he was actually inside a plant, and I pulled everything out of his tank without checking the plant thoroughly and put the plant on the floor with him in it and then went back to checking the tank! Luckily, he did not crawl out of the plant and slither away! You should have heard everyone on here teasing me when I told them what I did... You will keep doing this for several months. Eventually you will trust that she is somewhere in the tank and stop thinking that she has escaped. I still do it now and again.

Oh...and you are right...snakes like what they like...Cee Cee prefers a slim jim can to all of her fancy log hides and Hermes likes little cardboard boxes and bushes...Seeley basically lives inside a little cardboard box that I made into a little house for him.

[kibakiba]

There's a teeny tiny little hole in one of the logs I had that the babies will shove themselves into. Thumbelina was almost always in that hole, until he grew too big to get in it. He still shoves his head into it, though. It's kind of cute.

[katach]

Our baby NW, Fish Bait, likes to curl up on top of one specific leaf at the very top of the tank after he eats. It's cute.

[chris-uk]

They often like to hide in places where they are touching all the sides, so my guess is that the rose was a tight squeeze and the hides are a little big for her. It can make the hides seem smaller if you put some moss in them, or just push them into the substrate a bit so that the inside is smaller.

[Mommy2many]

My 2 girls from Iowa love to rest inside an MP3 player box that has a cut-out opening on the top. It is their favorite place to sleep.

[EasternGirl]

Cee Cee loves that Slim Jim can...she sleeps in it all the time. If I can't find her in her tank...I just look in the can. If I put Seeley in for a visit, they will both curl up inside the can. Seeley has a cardboard box with carefresh inside and a little hole in the top. He basically lives inside of it...he pokes his head out all the time..it's so cute. Hermes favorite place is actually at the top of his hanging vine near the top of the tank or on top of a little bush under his lamp...but when he chooses to hide, he goes inside a little cardboard box with a little hole for a door.

[GarterGuy17]

Well sure enough the first time I did it I took out everything except the water bowls and flowers but I shook everything a bit while taking it out and she appeared , so after I did that I told myself to check thoroughly before doing that again. The second Time I found her in that flower. I will try to pick up some moss because her hides are pretty big even though she sleeps in them sometimes. She still prefers the flower's.

[EasternGirl]

You could also try the cardboard box thing...I just take little boxes from around the house..lightbulb boxes are good, boxes that have little things in them...like one of my boxes had alcohol swabs in it (in wrappers of course)...little boxes that the snake can get in and feel all of the sides of the box touching her...if the box doesn't have any openings, you can cut a little hole in the box...you can put some aspen or moss inside..or just leave it empty.

[GarterGuy17]

Sounds like a plan ! Will do as soon as I find a little box or something :)

[EasternGirl]

Here are a couple of pictures of boxes I am using for hides:

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[infernalis]

One word of caution, make sure whatever you use does not have any openings that the snake can get stuck in.

Due to the nature of the scale layout, reverse does not work so well, so be careful.

[EasternGirl]

Yes...good advice...always check the boxes for crevices and creases that the snake could get stuck in...if you cut a hole in the box, make sure it is wide enough for the snake to get in and out of and not get stuck...and make sure that there are no sharp edges anywhere. Also...do not use anything that has tape or glue of any kind on it...nothing the snake could get stuck on.

Which reminds me...make sure to check your plants in your enclosure for sharp points and edges...same with the hides. Oh...and if your water dish is heavy...make sure she can't get under it.

[chris-uk]

Our baby NW, Fish Bait, likes to curl up on top of one specific leaf at the very top of the tank after he eats. It's cute.
As I type, Eskerina is coiled around bits of plastic plant at the top of her viv. She's taken to sleeping up there late evening and through the night. And this is with her due to shed tomorrow or Tuesday (admittedly, she did spend most of the time that her eyes were blue borrowed in the aspen).

[EasternGirl]

Hermes spends most of his time coiled around the top of his plastic hanging plant at the top of his enclosure too. I joke that he thinks he's a poisonous jungle viper...

[EasternGirl]

A little bird just corrected me in a PM...venomous viper, not poisonous....I always say poisonous by mistake...bad bad blonde Marnie!

[GarterGuy17]

Jade loves the plant I have for her that I have in there she loves it as well as the rose. Maybe most garters like those hanging plants :)

[EasternGirl]

They do like to climb and they do like plants. When Hermes isn't at the top of his hanging plant, he's on top of a little bush. Seeley loves hiding in plants. Cee Cee just loves her fake log and her slim jim can...but she does love to climb up and down her hanging plant sometimes.

[tress29]

Sweets, the hognose, has a hide made from a single serve microwave dish from Green Giant broccoli and cheese sauce! It's black, so goes well with his black water dish!

[EasternGirl]

I like this thread...talking about everyone's snakes' different hides and favorite spots. It was funny because last night I cleaned Hermes' tank and I had to remove his hanging plant. I must have put the plant back in a slightly different spot on the glass than it had been before I cleaned the tank...when I put him back in his tank he was all out of sorts and wouldn't go back up into the plant. I had to go back into the tank and adjust the plant...I figured it had been down a little lower. Finally after I adjusted it a couple of times, he went back up into the top of the plant and was happy! Garters are so funny!

[GarterGuy17]

I like this thread...talking about everyone's snakes' different hides and favorite spots. It was funny because last night I cleaned Hermes' tank and I had to remove his hanging plant. I must have put the plant back in a slightly different spot on the glass than it had been before I cleaned the tank...when I put him back in his tank he was all out of sorts and wouldn't go back up into the plant. I had to go back into the tank and adjust the plant...I figured it had been down a little lower. Finally after I adjusted it a couple of times, he went back up into the top of the plant and was happy! Garters are so funny!

Exactly what I mean these plants must have something in the that attracts garters ! :rolleyes:

[EasternGirl]

I have begun to wonder as a budding herper...if when I go outside to look for garters and I don't see any around...could they be up in the trees around my house? Or in tall bushes? Now that I see how much they like to climb up in plants...I wonder if they do this outside in the wild a lot...??

[guidofatherof5]

I'm not sure about Easterns but I've never seen a radix in anything taller then a waist high bush.

[kibakiba]

I've seen a few northwesterns in trees, but to be honest that's a really weird place to find them. They aren't exactly experts at climbing, from what I've seen with mine. Mama was put in a tree once for a little photoshoot, she didn't understand that bark could help her hang on... :p

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...I've never seen any around here in trees or even bushes...always on the ground under things...under leaves, logs..or like Cee Cee...living under my house. But since they seem to like to climb in the hanging plants and vines in the vivs...it just got me wondering. I did watch a black snake climb a tree in my backyard at the beach when I was little...it was really cool...it would slither up the trunk and then along a branch and then up the trunk and then up the next higher branch..and so on. Not sure what kind of snake it was but it was pretty big and really long...and boy could it climb that tree!

[jamromhem]

Hello again everyone. I haven't posted in a long while. To those that remember me hello again lol.. Lilly is well. I wanted to post on her hiding trends.

I have seen her force her way under her water bowl.. Not a small accomplishment considering it is a 10" ceramic bowl about 2 inches tall lol.. it has to be a few pounds.. I have no clue why she likes to be under it, but she will sit under it with all the weight on top of her.

[Light of Dae]

I'm not sure about Easterns but I've never seen a radix in anything taller then a waist high bush.

Well maybe not in the wild, but my Babs LOVES being at the very top of her vines! I've been considering getting a few more vines to hang right from the top of her tank. (Which is very secure) It's where she spends over half her time, it's where she currently is spying on me from lol George on the other hand borrows under his flowers, he's a ground lover. But he is coming out of his shell and being out in the open more often, like now lol he is at the front of his cage, was watching Shade and Piggy play fight, now is just hanging out with me :)

[EasternGirl]

Hello again everyone. I haven't posted in a long while. To those that remember me hello again lol.. Lilly is well. I wanted to post on her hiding trends.

I have seen her force her way under her water bowl.. Not a small accomplishment considering it is a 10" ceramic bowl about 2 inches tall lol.. it has to be a few pounds.. I have no clue why she likes to be under it, but she will sit under it with all the weight on top of her. Just a word of caution...you may want to consider getting a lighter water bowl for her if she does that. A lot of garters do that actually...and it can be pretty dangerous if the bowl shifts and crushes them. I make sure to buy water dishes that are light for that very reason and make sure that they sit against the glass of the bottom of the tank with no substrate underneath so that my snakes cannot get underneath them. Just a bit of friendly advice!

[PINJOHN]

I have begun to wonder as a budding herper...if when I go outside to look for garters and I don't see any around...could they be up in the trees around my house? Or in tall bushes? Now that I see how much they like to climb up in plants...I wonder if they do this outside in the wild a lot...??
Its just a guess but out in the wild i imagine a climbing garter is more vulnerable as they don't have the speed or defense mechanisms of some other snakes, while in captivity this would not be an issue for them

[EasternGirl]

That's a really good point John.

[jamromhem]

Just a word of caution...you may want to consider getting a lighter water bowl for her if she does that. A lot of garters do that actually...and it can be pretty dangerous if the bowl shifts and crushes them. I make sure to buy water dishes that are light for that very reason and make sure that they sit against the glass of the bottom of the tank with no substrate underneath so that my snakes cannot get underneath them. Just a bit of friendly advice!

I will consider that. I just find it curious still that she will force her way under it (I do tend to make sure there isn't substrate under the bowl at least).
The bowl is often completely full when she decides to be under it.. I wonder if part of her enjoys the feeling of the pressure over her :P If the bowl is low or empty she doesn't do it. I am Thinking it will be less of a problem soon if I can finish getting her new enclosure planned out. It will be using her current enclosure completely as a water source for her to play in.

[EasternGirl]

That will be very cool. I know what you are talking about because my snakes used to do the same thing when I first found them. They actually stopped doing it when I put the water dishes flush to the glass in the tank with no substrate underneath. Maybe she does like the pressure and the feeling of the cool glass. Perhaps you could try putting a hide that is not as heavy against the glass, with no substrate under it, and see if she would go under that instead. If it's the pressure she likes, it may not work though.

[Selkielass]

My Butlers like to burrow into a plastic hide filled with very wet spagnum moss. I think contact as well as moisture play a part in this favored hide, and I think the acidity of the moss is good for their skin and scales. (Spagnum mosses acidity inhibits bacterial growth, but I change the moss regularly.)

[EasternGirl]

That is actually good to know about the moss...I did not know that it had antibacterial properties. I was using it to increase the humidity in my enclosures, and my snakes seemed to enjoy burrowing in it as well...but I took it out of the enclosures because I was concerned about bacteria and mold growth.

[Mommy2many]

I lifted the food dish the other day only to find my Dekayi all wrapped up underneath it! Sorry to have disturbed her but it was dinner time!