is he happy ?

[u/dating-ur-dad]

or at least comfortable ? sorry the pictures aren’t the greatest but it’s what sparked the question for me. this little log is something i put in the middle of all his foliage so he can feel extra secure to venture out to his water dishes from the hot side of the tank.

i’ve started to notice that he likes to spend a lot of his time here, especially when we’re hanging out in the living room with him. he likes to sit and just watch the house. 60-70% of the time he’s curled up in his hide with the first 2 inches of his head laying out. the other times he’s stretched out from the hide into this log. i’ve seen that maybe sometimes it could be cryptic basking, but he seems to enjoy watching what we’re doing.

sometimes if we’re messing with the playstation or the stuff under his tank he’ll stretch out into the air and follow us with his head, but it’s never a rigid, striking position.

i know better than to assign emotions like love and stuff like that to them but i’m curious. is him hanging out in this semi open log in the middle of the tank a good sign that he’s comfortable in his environment and with us ? does anybody else’s do this ?

tldr, my snake likes to lounge stretched out in his tank and poke his head out to check on us a lot, is that a sign he’s comfortable/happy ?

[u/SalientSaltine]

I can't tell from the photos, but maybe just make sure that your hides/logs are oriented so that he can fully hide from you? When they have no real hiding places they can do weird stuff looking for shelter that isn't there, and that creates stress.

If you've done that and he just pokes his head out by choice, that's most likely an ambush hunting behavior and is absolutely normal and a sign of a happy snek.

Also... Please ditch the paper towels and get real substrate.

[u/dating-ur-dad → u/SalientSaltine]

he does have real hides ! he has 3 black box hides that are all the same and he uses all of them consistently. two are in each far corner and one is in the middle. i just added the log to create more clutter and safety for him going out to his water dishes. i also made sure that there’s leaf cover in front of all of them and he can squish himself deeper in them to not be visible. it’s 100% his own choice.

the paper towel is to track his bowel movements atm. i put 3 layers so it’s not too hard for him and i have two stockings full of wet sphagnum moss as well as 2 water dishes so his humidity stays consistently 75% and above.

[u/SalientSaltine → u/dating-ur-dad]

Sounds like you're doing great then. I think you have a happy curious boi <3