Clumsy baby

[ConcinusMan]

Most of my concinnus' like the steelhead better than silversides, even though the steelhead doesn't smell fishy like the silversides. They don't seem to like tilapia much but they eat it so yeah, I noticed that too.

Be very careful about keeping them from biting each others' faces/heads! They can bite each others mouth area and it will most definitely get infected. That wouldn't be good at all. In fact, it can eventually be fatal. Check them out thoroughly and make sure their "lips" are coming together correctly and check for swelling. After feeding them separately, spray their faces and bodies with luke warm water or put them in water to wash off the smell. It also helps if you feed all of them well and keep them separate for a while before putting them back together. Ember smelled fish on tiny, I guarantee it. That's the only reason he would have bitten Tiny. Ember isn't acting strange, he's acting like a typical concinnus at feeding time. Concinnus babies get crazy over fish and will fight! Ember shouldn't have been given a chance to charge at any of the other snakes because they shouldn't be together at all when they are still in feeding mode. I'm not telling you this to come down on you or make you feel bad, I'm telling you this to protect your babies.

Again, check their mouths from the underside of their heads and look for "lips" that don't seal tightly. If you see that, be honest and come back and tell me. The earlier you catch it and treat it, the better chances of healing it up before it becomes terminal. I have had it happen to my babies too. If caught early it is treatable in most cases.

[kibakiba]

He bit Tiny 30 minutes after feeding time. And I feed them all together mainly because I have 3 skittish snakes in the same enclosure that would freak out, musk and then not eat if I were to put them in a separate area. I've tried it. I feed them with my hands as a way to get them more used to my hand being inside the tank. Ember has been acting strange. I didn't just mean the fact he went all crazy after feeding time. He's usually calm and sweet, he lets me pick him up with no fuss and has never musked me since I got him. But, for the last 5 days he's been like Snap, spazzing when I pick him up, musking multiple times and he's bit me a few times, too. Nothings changed that could cause this, other than me exercising more, but I don't know if that would even matter.

About two hours ago before my nap I tried picking Ember up and he didn't fuss as much but he did strike at me, but didn't latch onto my skin or anything. He was fine with me touching him and moving him after a few minutes.

[ConcinusMan]

I know what you mean about them freaking out if you move them. I usually just get one off by himself, get him to take a bite while keeping the others away. Once he starts swallowing, that's when I pick him up and put him in separate enclosure. Seems to work fine, with biting incidents being rare. Should be very easy since you have way fewer snakes than I do. Ember might be going into shed soon.(turning cloudy soon) They often get cranky when the time is close. Does his colors seem to be a bit dull? sometimes I notice that before they turn cloudy.

Are you sure you're not keeping them too warm? They're acting like overheated snakes. The warmest spot shouldn't be over 88-90 degrees (that includes the surface of the substrate, not just the air) and the cool end really needs to be 70-75 and the whole tank cooled to 70 every night for at least 8 hours. The whole tank shouldn't be hot and it shouldn't be warm 24/7. I had a lot of babies this year and not a single one bites ever, even if they're cranky, unless they smell food on my hands. Sure, some of them spazz out and musk, but no striking or biting. Very common for a snake that doesn't normally bite, to bite if it's overheated. What about humidity? I mist the whole tank every morning, dampening the substrate. (it dries by the end of the day usually, but not before)

Keep watching for trouble around their mouths, even if you don't see anything now. First sign of their "lips" not sealing tight, or injuries near their mouths let me know (PM me) and I'll tell you how I treat it.

Looks something like this:

[kibakiba]

I only have a 40 watt bulb on them. I do keep my new heater on at night only because if its off, it goes under 30 degrees in my room and their night time bulbs are only 25 watts. I'd say when my heater is on it's no more than 75 in my room. Ember doesn't look dull anywhere, in fact, he looks just as vibrant as he always does.
My mom thinks he's been spending too much time with his sister and her behaviour is rubbing off on him. It does seem like it, he used to be such a sweetheart. He has been hanging around with her more... Maybe they are secretly planning to escape from the tank... or drive me crazy!

[ConcinusMan]

I only have a 40 watt bulb on them. I do keep my new heater on at night only because if its off, it goes under 30 degrees in my room and their night time bulbs are only 25 watts. I'd say when my heater is on it's no more than 75 in my room. Ember doesn't look dull anywhere, in fact, he looks just as vibrant as he always does.
My mom thinks he's been spending too much time with his sister and her behaviour is rubbing off on him. It does seem like it, he used to be such a sweetheart. He has been hanging around with her more... Maybe they are secretly planning to escape from the tank... or drive me crazy!

Well, the 40 watt bulb doesn't say anything about the temperatures in their tank. 40 watt works fine for me in the summer when I run air conditioners to keep the house at 75 but I often have to go to a higher watt bulb in the winter when the house is much cooler. And I'm sure that your room doesn't go under 30 degrees F. That's below freezing. The temperature of your room isn't really what I'm talking about anyway but that does affect the heating you should use for your tanks.

I really don't think the two snakes being together causes one to "rub off" on the other. I have aggressive, mean, nasty garters in with perfectly tame ones. They don't rub off on one another. Your mom is obviously a good mother and what she said about that definitely applies to human children and other mammals, but in case you didn't notice, snakes are a little bit different from us.

Now, I know you're running space heaters to keep yourselves and the snakes warm. Those can make the air in a room very dry. Keep the heater far from the snakes, at least, don't let it blow in their direction. I used to burn wood in a fireplace for heat. The humidity in a 70 degree room heated by fire got very low. Too low for garters. Space heaters do the same thing. They dry the air, and make the temperature in room go up and down like a roller coaster.

Maybe this is why he's cranky. Too warm, too fast on temperature changes, or too low humidity. I mean, if you were too warm, too cold, up and down a dozen times a day, or didn't know what was coming next, it would irritate you too wouldn't it? Snakes or any reptile are much more vulnerable to temperature changes. We can handle that because we are warm blooded.

So you're using only heat from above? That's OK, and so is only heat from below. Just trying to get a picture of their heat situation. I might be able to send you something that can help you to be sure of the temperatures. I know that food for the snakes, food for yourselves, and keeping warm this winter are a priority and so, you probably can't spend anything on good, accurate temperature and humidity gauges.

I have several thermometers, they are even accurately calibrated by the USDA since I work in a food production plant. They are like meat thermometers. They are great for measuring the temperature of a substrate surface when placed on the surface of a substrate heated from a heat pad below. They don't look great, but work perfectly for measuring the temperature of your substrate with a heat pad under the substrate. Surely, I can send at least one of them to you.

I don't have any humidity gauges or ambient air thermometers I can send at this time.

Surely, there's some forum members here that can do something for you and your snakes. Accurately measuring and keeping an eye on temperatures and humidity can reveal causes for behavior changes like you told me about. I think the crankiness is related to the changes.

Let's see what we can gather up for you.

Anyone? Does anyone have decent ambient air thermometers and/or hydrometers they can spare.

Chantel really cares for her snakes but could use a little help I think. That's what we are here for.

[kibakiba]

Steve has said that one of his more "unruly" radixes have become more tame after spending some time with the tamer ones. Or maybe I was just hallucinating when I read that. When it was snowing, if I had my heater off my room got so cold I could see my breath. I have noticed the air being a bit dry, I mist my room a few times a day to keep it from feeling like a desert. I cant make the heater not blow in the direction of my snakes, there's only one place that has room for it, which is directly facing my snakes, however, the babies are 5 ft. away and the adults are 6 ft. away from it. Both the babies and the adults are heated from above, but Squirt is heated from below on a heating pad, since he's being quarantined, and I'd like to work with him individually since he's very shy and nervous.
And as for the rollercoaster heat, it's hard to prevent that, but it actually doesn't irritate me when it happens, as I get sick a lot and get a lot of hot and cold rollercoaster feeling that don't last more than a minute and happen all day long. It's annoying when it happens, sure, because I cant do anything while it's happening, but I've learned to live with it. I know the snakes are different though. How much do humidity gauges and ambient air thermometers usually cost? We might be able to buy them if they don't cost too much, but since it's Christmas and winter it's hard to afford things. I wouldn't really feel right having people give me them, I'd feel bad not being able to pay them back. I guess if someone was willing to send them to help improve the life of my snakes, it'd be very greatly appreciated.

[ConcinusMan]

It's really not a good idea to have that heater so close or blowing in their direction at all. Not good. If you are going to buy the gauges, you'll have to price them at the store nearest you. I cannot say what they will cost in your area. Might want to put a large pan of water in front of the heater. This will help with humidity.

[kibakiba]

I cant have my heater anywhere else, or further away. If I do not have it in my room, my room is as cold as it is outside, even with the heat lamps and computer running.
What kind of store would have them? ... Other than a pet shop, I've seen some there but they are ridiculously priced and I will not buy from there.

[ConcinusMan]

I dunno? Anyway, that heater might be the cause of the crankiness

[kibakiba]

Ember was cranky a week or two before the heater and acted like Snap the whole time. I only got the heater on the 2nd. Ember was pulling his stunts when my real mom and my little brother were visiting for thanksgiving. You keep saying the heater is the problem as if I don't already get it. I can't change the fact that our furnace is broke, we don't have enough money to even get it looked at. If I leave the heater off and just have a blanket around me the whole time, my snakes would freeze. Sure, they can take cold temps but I have no plans on breeding them and I don't want to brumate them at all. I cant change what temperature my heater puts out, I have it on the lowest setting, it keeps things nice and warm, I keep it off on warmer days and at night when I'm exercising, I cant change how it goes... All my other snakes are acting perfectly normal, it's only Ember who is having the problem. I doubt if it was the heater, it would just be him and not everyone else. I can't work out somewhere else, I cant move my heater, I cant put a dish of water in front of my heater, and I cant move my snakes. Ever since I got the heater and the new heat lamps my snakes have been very active and seem a lot happier. The fact that my new heater is literally the "root of all evil" is pretty much putting unnecessary stress on me, we can't take it back and exchange it and its supposedly stressing Ember, so it's 40 dollars wasted that we cant afford to waste.