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Normal?

A

AlexEarl

New member
I have just got my second snake who his a 4 month old hypo-butter. I know it is normal for them to search around their new environment for a while but he has been doing it for 15 hours straight. Is this normal? As my other one did not search around for that long.

Also my cat is very interested in them now for some reason, will it be ok if she sits by the tank and watches? Or is there a risk of passing something over?

Thanks
 
Yes, that's normal. Different Corns can behave very differently in identical setups. Sounds like your first one preferred to hide away until it was used to the new home, whilst this one is more interested in trying to find a way out. Don't worry - this behaviour should calm down over the next week or two. As usual with new arrivals, the trick is to minimise stress as far as possible by not handling or feeding for at least a week.

I don't believe that any diseases or parasites can pass between cats and reptiles. Your main concern is that the cat can't get to the snakes and the snakes can't get out to the cat. Some determined cats have been known to "break in" to screen lids, so if you have one, make sure that the cat can't get up there and sit on it. Cats do seem fascinated by the way that snakes move.

However, the presence of the cat may be disturbing the new arrival even more, so it might be a good idea to keep the cat out of the room for a few days whilst your new arrival is settling. If you can't do that, then perhaps put newspapers around the tank so that the cat can't see in. In the long term it shouldn't be a problem once the snake is settled in. My cat and snakes used to follow each other up and down the glass front of the vivs - the snakes seemed as interested in her as she was in them!
 
he's finally gone to have a rest now but now i miss him wandering about :rofl: and theres a huge towel on top of both the viv's to keep heat in because the room is a little cold right now so that should prevent the cat being able to get in (fingers crossed). although i will keep the cat away from him for the next few weeks so he can settle in stress free.

thanks for the help
 
I've had good luck with putting a couple strips of aluminum foil on top of the screen lid and using a bit of tape here and there to keep them down. I crinkle the foil up a little bit so that it's bumpy and more visible to the cats.

If they jump up there, they're probably not going to like the loud noise and the feel of the foil, but so far just having it up there has deterred them. I'm sure if they think about getting up there, they look up, see the foil and think "Hmm, I don't know what that stuff is but I don't think I want to jump on it."

For whatever reason, it works. I did try taking it all off after the first week since the cats seemed to be ignoring the snake, but then one of the cats got seriously interested again so I put it back on.

She doesn't seem too much like she wants to get to the snake, just watches intensely when she sees the snake come out for the night. The snake doesn't seem bothered by it.
 
The biggest problem with cats being interested in the snake... they can make the screen sink in if they are too heavy! I have a fat cat that has let a few snakes escape because his fat butt breaks the screen .:D
 
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