Behavioral Wellness Series 1: Background & Establishing Baselines
Welcome to Serpentes Sunday for February 13, 2022. This week I am kicking off a new series on Behavioral Wellness. I will intermix these with the other series I already have in progress until their finished up and we can start something new. Part one is an introduction with background information about why behavior of captive snakes is important and how to establish what is normal for your snake so that you can recognize when something isn’t right with them.
Resources:
Divers, S. J., & Stahl, S. J. (Eds.). (2018). Mader’s Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Augustine, L., Baskir, E., Kozlowski, C. P., Hammack, S., Elden, J., Wanner, M. D., … & Powell, D. M. (2022). Investigating Welfare Metrics for Snakes at the Saint Louis Zoo. Animals, 12(3), 373.
5 Comments
Wow, Ronon is so interesting. So glad he is with you that allows him free roaming. Wish I had a house snake like Ronon. I have been trying to keep track of my snakes behavior and putting it on a calendar on my phone but the spread sheet would make it easier. Thank you for the idea!
Wonderful Lori ,,,,, that is a great idea ''''''
They are extremely good at hiding illness, even with lots of observation it can be tricky to recognise when something is wrong, they are that good. Unfortunately when you do finally get some indicators there is something going on, it can be to late. Finding out the health issues your species are prone to is important. In Carpets, tumors are a big one, Nido is another but at least with Nido a simple test can alleviate that worry, tumors are not so easy, especially in bigger snakes.
Awesome video Lori
Very valuable information. This knowledge is so important.