mexican red knee juvinile, Help!!!

[Keith Walker]

Hi, new to the BTS, can anyone tell me why my Mexican red knee seems to like climbing the sides of its tank all the time rather than on the floor. I have only had her for a week is this normal behavior?

[vincent winyard]

hi there keith and welcome to the forum. if you've only had your smithi for a week chances are she's still coming to terms with her new surroundings ie new substrate smells ect ect. the other thing is if the substrate's on the damp side she may try to avoid contact to the floor space as the mexican red knee would prefer the substrate dry. she'll get all the humidity she needs from her water dish hope this helps. she will settle in the end it just takes time great t bye the way.

[stuart longhorn]

Hi keith and welcome.

Good advice there from Vincent. But, could you tell us more about the setup? Especially substrate type and dampness. Hopefully it cant climb too high, as a fall from a hight can be dangerous for it. If the setup is decent it should settle down after a while, say a few weeks. Indeed this may be as new damp substrate dries. Also some prefer well compacted substrate. But also i find new arrivals often just like to explore to understand their surrounds/get their bearings. Some i have still climb a little even after have 'acclimatized', even though i know the setup is fine (after living for several years, growing an breeding for example, so my setups cant be too bad!)

If it doesnt settle down in a while perhaps consider to upload us a picture of the setup.

[david clarke]

Hi Keith, I noticed mine doing the same thing, and also my GBB and pumpkin patch. I had moved them recently and they all share the same heat source. I put it down to the substrate becoming a little too warm, as they were climbing on the side furthest from the heat source. Are you using a heat source? Where is it placed? I've mine on the wall and found that moving the enclosures a little further away sorted the problem immediately. The red knee still likes to explore and sit on display however it is no longer climbing the sides.

[Ben Cook]

My B. boehemi did this for a good 2 weeks before deciding the floor was ok. She still climbs, usually in the evening for about an hour. I reduced this by making the enclosure more like the real ground, more contours. Seems she likes to sit at different angles so the substrate is now "hilly.