whats up?

[PINJOHN]

i have two female Florida blues[sisters] they eat like pigs and are quite tame, one of them,has for the last two weeks been extremely restless, not eating much and continually pushing at the glass her only interest is in getting out of that viv, i have observed this type of behavior before over the years, but not at this constant level and from a snake that was formerly well settled in, she is not gravid, she does not have mites, and her sister has remained calm and contented any opinions would be welcome
they are around two years old

[kibakiba]

Perhaps you could try to separate them, if they're in the same tank. Some snakes don't like being around others. Snap used to be like that when she was in the tank with Mama, but she's fine with being around Snakey and Ember.

[PINJOHN]

Perhaps you could try to separate them, if they're in the same tank. Some snakes don't like being around others. Snap used to be like that when she was in the tank with Mama, but she's fine with being around Snakey and Ember.

i suppose in some snakey way they may have fallen out, but they always seemed at peace with each other, the other sister the quiet one was always the dominant one when the food came around but it wasn't really an issue there is always plenty for both

[kibakiba]

Well, as a baby, Snap didn't mind being near Mama. In fact, they were snuggled up to each other all the time. It was as if as she got older, she just started hating Mama more and more. She eventually attacked Mama and I had to separate them.

[d_virginiana]

Once he hit maturity my adult male got really crazy and tried to get out constantly every spring and fall. I figured the spring thing was just him wanting to mate, and maybe fall was him wanting to go find a place to brumate (we don't brumate them, but we keep them at our house's ambient temp, so they can sense seasonal changes). It's the middle of summer though, so idk if that has anything to do with yours..

Maybe try separating them like Chantel said and see if she calms down.

[PINJOHN]

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Maybe try separating them like Chantel said and see if she calms down.[/QUOTE]

i have prepared a separate place for her, but due to space constraints it has to be an aquarium type with the viv lid on top, i don't really like using this type as even with the very calm garters it makes them a bit more nervous, and my experience with Florida's is that they are skittish all their lives, even when they are tame like mine, they are likely to jump at some movements that the other snakes appear not to have even noticed, so coming in over her head is unlikely to help the situation, i have put off moving her just yet hoping that she calms down or that someone has dealt successfully with this situation.

[RedSidedSPR]

I can tell you that, while I believe the whole front-opening-cages-are-better, my snakes are used to it, and never even flinch when i open it. At first they do, but not anymore. Especially the concinnus who's always out and used to it.

[ConcinusMan]

i have two female Florida blues[sisters] they eat like pigs and are quite tame, one of them,has for the last two weeks been extremely restless, not eating much and continually pushing at the glass her only interest is in getting out of that viv, i have observed this type of behavior before over the years, but not at this constant level and from a snake that was formerly well settled in, she is not gravid, she does not have mites, and her sister has remained calm and contented any opinions would be welcome
they are around two years old

Perhaps you could try to separate them, if they're in the same tank. Some snakes don't like being around others. Snap used to be like that when she was in the tank with Mama, but she's fine with being around Snakey and Ember.

I tend to agree with Chantel here. My Big Bertha has always been a little restless. But if I have certain snakes in with her, or sometimes by herself, even though all other conditions are the same, she seems calm and at peace. If I rotate in or out, other snakes, she starts that same behavior you described or one or more members of the group can throw everything out of whack and somebody stresses. Its just that certain snakes, or groups of snakes can get along just fine and nobody stresses. change just one occupant of that tank, and everything gets out of whack.

Same thing can happen with snakes that have gotten along for years. One little hormonal change or something like that, and they don't get along anymore and would do better being separated.

There's a lot of factors for why this could be happening. I noticed that it happens especially when the days shorten and things cool down in preparation for brumating time. They start rooting around, digging, stressing out.

The only suggestion I can make is to change something. Keep her in that tank but by herself. If that doesn't work, move her to a new tank and surroundings. Try removing her current room mate and ad a different one. Try rearranging the contents of the tank entirely. Just change something.

Of course, it never hurts to take the snake out and let it go for a good vigorous run in the open, to the point of being nearly breathless and tired out. That usually calms most restless snakes, even if it's only temporary.

There is no real way to know why the snake is restless. They can't speak, but they do talk to us and it's good that you are listening. Something is causing the snake to be restless and stress out. You know that much. Best you can do is change something until it stops.

Short-term, this isn't a huge concern, but when a snake acts like this for more than a month or two, it's very concerning and something needs to be done. Anything. Just change something. Quite often, it's social stress even if the snakes have been fine all this time together, or even adding a snake can change the behavior. Either way, if it's social, you will need to clean out the tank, change the substrate, etc, too since a large part of snake communication is smells.

I've seen males act "funny" when there's a willing female anywhere in the room. I've also seen females act like this when they are ready, but can't detect any males nearby. Their instinct tells them to move, to cover ground, until they encounter a male.

[PINJOHN]

thanks i appreciate the input, i did as Chantel suggested and separated them nothing much changed for about a week, and then she settled right back down again, her sister was moved to the aquarium style viv, and again as Jesse suggested she was not at all put out by my reaching in from over her head and acts as if she has known nothing else,if possible she seems even more laid back so i suspect Richard the advice about change was spot on

[ConcinusMan]

It's always worked for me.