RCReptiles.com

[zee-man]

So I came in last night from my first day of classes to see my Nefertiti calmly relaxing on the warmer side of my tank. I looked in on her t see if she was ok and she was calmly sitting there. I turned around and heard a wierd noise and said that sounded like she hit the glass. So I turned around and looked at her again closely, not right up against the tank mind you, but say a foot away. She then struck at the glass....? I haven't made any attempt to handle her yet as I just got her last Wednesday and aside from me coming in from time to time my room receives no traffic. She has two hides, and a rather large plant that she seems to have taken quite kindly too. So her tank setup isn't bad. Her temperature on her warm side is 91 degrees or so as she has burrowed out some of the bedding and seemingly rearranged most of it to make tunneling systems throughout her tank, pretty cool. The cooler side I am just now checking on but she spends most of her time on the warmer side, but I have to theorize part of the reason is because that is where her plant is. She is in her warmer hide in the morning when I get up but at some point during the day she comes out and relaxes over the UTH. I haven't really seen her use the cooler side of the tank's hide, but I have dropped down on the amount of bedding I use to about .5 inches or so. I am going to increase the humidity when I get back to the room in case that is the cause of her frustration but I have yet to see her soak in her water dish which is definitely large enough for her to soak. Humidity now was 47% and rising on the cool side before I left this morning when I moved the hygrometer. On the warmer side I haven't taken an excellent reading as right about the UTH its rather low, which makes sense because the heat from it will evaporate any moisture in the bedding. Should I start spraying the tank from time to time to up it, or just place the damp towel over the lid as was my plan once I return to my room once my Control's class is over? I also have moss which I was going to place in her warmer hide, but I was planning to use that only right before and during shed. Any input? I was thinking she could also be hungry but that doesn't explain her striking at me, especiallly since I was outside the glass. I will throw up some pics of the tank in a couple hours, but again, the setup is solid I've paid good attention to successful setups of other owners on this site. I haven't fed her since I got her last Wednesday so that could be the reason for her frustration, was going to attempt that today as well. But I am going to wait until she leaves her hide or is at least facing in a direction that she will see her prey. I would also like input from you more experienced owners as to what the cause of her strikes may be, thanks.

Josh

[arlynos]

Well you may of just scared her when you came in and being so close to the glass she may of struck at you, or could be just hungry but since you say she is acclimating to the new setup you have giving her I would say she is just scared but trying to feed her isnt a bad idea either and yes putting a towel is gonna help with the humidity it helps with mine but if you get a plastic top that covers 3/4 of it would help you better I have the top to a tote on mine and it keeps the humidity at about 55 percent and I spray during shed to up it to 70 percent.

[snakesRkewl]

Possibly a scared response to motion.
We are working with 18 babies at present, several will strike each time we open their drawer, but I grab em gently, let em know whose boss, and ignore the strikes, which normally stop as soon as they are being held a few. The strikes don't hurt at this size, startle yes, lol.
My guess is it will calm after a few feeds and some handling.
Like arlynos said, spraying during shed, or adding a small humid hide will be fine for the humidity issues.
I cover half the top of my 40 gallon critter cage with plastic wrap, helps keep humidity around 50%-53%.
Also putting the water bowl close to the heat source can elevate the humidity a bit.
For my tanks, I remove the hide, make sure they are alert, and drop in rat pup and watch the action, hehe.
MY Het pied female takes em out of my hand, she's a savage when it comes to feeding, wish they all we so easy

[zee-man]

I'm going to place a damp towel on top of the warmer side of the tank when I head back to my room, have a 2 o 'clock meeting to make first. Then I'll try to feed her. I'm feeding f/t rat fuzzies. I hope there won't be any problems in getting her to eat them. Got her off of Ron so I'm assuming it won't be too much of a problem. As I said she seems to be fine aside from the strikes last night, even when I moved in Saturday she literally spent the entire day wondering around her tank and looking outside at her new home. So I believe she's taken well to the situation seeing as she's burrowed out a tunneling system and hasn't exactly hid at any sign of people being in the room. I have to say last night I was rather concerned at her striking, thought perhaps something may have affected her temperament but being scared makes sense. So long as she doesn't assume I pose her danger now, its always tough trying to get an animal to trust you if they are scared of you in the first place, not just unfamiliar. I think I'll save the humid hide until she shows signs of entering shed, I think the towel should work well enough. Any more input on the situation is appreciated, thanks Arlynos and SnakesRkewl.