Pet Snake Worries :(

Ok so where do I begin..?
Introductions I suppose, hello my name is Liam and I am a new snake owner (a couple of months). I am 15 and live in Australia with my beautiful pet snake Elisa She is 2-3 years old (bought her around 2 and a bit so she would be nearing 3 now) A stimsons python.
This is her before she shed (she sheds every 2 or so months, is that normal?)
When I got her she was always roaming around, 'crawling' up and down the glass and such, always wanting attention. Recently after her last shed, (image above ^) She spent about a week in her hollow rock shedding and sleeping. Obviously you don't go touching a shedding snake and bothering him/her, so I left her there while she shed. Eventually she came out, spic-and-span. However ever since she has been especially skittish around me (keep in mind, she has never bit anyone yet, ever) The other day I was trying to get her used to me again by petting her, after a little while I decided I might pick her up like I used to do, I started petting her with two hands and she snapped at me (not bit, just whipped her head around fast and opened her mouth at my hands) Now obviously I reflexively snatched my hands back but I've been a bit nervous since.
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However thats not my real issue (although it is a slight worry) She has been really lethargic seeming lately, or at least she spends most of her time sleeping and not really moving (she is alive, I check every day as I change her water) I fed her about 4 days ago so Im assuming its not digestion sleeping (I feed her two 'fuzzies' every two weeks) So now I'm worried that somethings wrong with her, I can't tell though and I don't want to just sit around and hope that nothings wrong while she suffers if something is wrong So I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts? Also ever since my heat lamp shorted out I use 2 ceramic heat sources (I wanted to get another heat light but they didnt have any at the time and I didnt want her to get too cold, could the lack of that light be the cause? I use my bedside lamp to generate light for her now.)
Thank you so much.
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Hi Liam... Is Elisa seeming to be better today? I hope that someone will be able to answer your questions about what could be wrong. Have you called a vet or even a pet store about it? I don't know much about snakes at all, but I do think I've heard that the heat lamps/bulbs are important for them, so maybe that could be the problem? In any case, I hope that she's better today and feeling perky again. Are you able to tell if she's eating and drinking an amount that is normal for her?

Hi Liam. I love Stimy's! They are actually rather expensive here is the states. I have been wanting some of these, and some ants.

My first question is, what are the actual temps in the viv? And how is it set up? You said two CHE's, are they on one side with the other being cooler? Overheating can cause stress that could be displayed in such a way. One of the most important things with any reptile is to know the actual temperature, and this goes even more if you change the type of heating device.

And, you said you are feeding two fuzzies at a time? How big is she? She looks to be close to full grown. You might be better with 1 small hopper. And second part, re you feeding live, pre-killed, or frozen/thawed?

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. Just posting to say that she's fine now I think I was just unfamiliar with her habits but I think I'll be able to tell next time. Heres a few pics of her now.



Sorry about the bad camera btw haha

She looks good! Snakes can seem odd to us, not very "mammalian", lol. Sleeping in a hide for a few days is no real cause for worry, especially after feeding, during a shed, or during certain times of the year, and also varies depending on the species and the individual personality of the snake.

Glad she's well!

Hi, Liam. I wish you the best with Elisa. As a new pet owner, you are very brave to own a snake, especially one that happened to be in a bad mood that day. I am not that brave when it comes to snakes. I like smaller reptiles, but I was always told to never trust a snake because you never know when it may turn on you. I cannot speak that way for everyone, but I have not had many good experiences with a snake outside it's natural habitat. I hope all is well with you and your new pet.

What a beautiful snake,how is she doing? And glad everything seems to be ok with her since then, I myself enjoy snakes. A lot of people think that they are creepy when in reality they really are not, they are a nice pet to have but you need to know how to care for them. Specific snakes are expensive,there are some nice hybrid ones of different colors and I forgot their names that I would absolutely love to own. Hope you had the feeding thing figured out and everything is going well with the care of her, it's good that you are showing responsibility towards a wonderful creature.

Things that instantly comes to mind is like Fishbone said, sometimes they just want to be left alone, and the temps/humidity of the enclosure. Second thing that comes to mind is where is her enclosure set up? Is it an noisy high traffic area of the home? That kind of thing will stress a snake out more than almost anything. I would try to see what happens in a couple of days or move her to a more quiet secluded area of your home to see if that helps at all.

I feel like I understand snakes more than I do people haha

I often hide away for days at a time and get uppety and snappy when I'm bothered. Especially when I was sleeping.

Glad to hear Elisa's okay! I'd definitely suggest getting a humidity and temperature monitor, either dial or digital, so that you can closely monitor the humidity and temp and adjust them if need be. (We need to work on getting better ones for Cel. We had inside-the-tank ones and he was like "WHEE A TOY" and tried to hang on them and knocked them down so they broke...)

I'm really glad your snake is okay. You might want to do some research on your own about the habits of snakes because it can be very scary when you think there is something wrong with your pet. That can wind up costing a fortune in vet bills when there really isn't much wrong with your pet besides shes just a bit testy after a shed. I wish you luck and years to come full of happiness with your Elisa.

What I have learned I having snakes for several years is that having both a temp and humidity gauge is extremely imPortant. Snakes do the same things we do but at a much slower pace. You have to keep their environment at the recommended temP/humidity because by the time you see symptoms the snake has been sick for longer than you think.