Signs of stress in king snakes!
Hi! I recently got a CA king snake (Harrowhark 🖤). I forgot to get the hatch date but she's around 12" and 19g (hasn't gained weight in the 3 weeks I've had her) so about the size of a hatchling I believe. She eats super well! Following the directions of an exotic vet tech I'm feeding her 1-2 pinkies every 5-7 days.
But I'm worried that she's possibly stressed. She's SO active and always looking for places out of the tank. She glass surfaces a lot. The breeder told me she could stay in a 6 quart bin for another 6 months which I personally didn't like and wanted something a bit bigger with more heating and lighting flexibility. So I got a 10. After seeing how active she is I put her in a 20. She's pending a bioactive 50 once I get my ball python into a 120 bioactive set-up.
She goes through periods of rest and activity through the day and night. She has 3 main hides and often burrows in new spots or sleeps under leaves. She has lots of leaf litter, basking rock, CA native grass, branches, and hanging hoops she loves. Temps range from 70-90+. Evening drops a little bit she always has over head heat. I've put her in the 120 that's pending set up for her to explore. It's got a bunch of potted plants in it and I added leaf litter and a textured mat to explore hoping she just needed more enrichment and explore time. She's a bit squirrelly but seems interested in me and even approaches sometimes.
I'm not sure if this is normal activity or I'm missing something. The only thing I can think of is maybe I started handling her too early (I've had her 3 weeks, I waited about 3 days to handle and feed), maybe her environment has changed too many times, or maybe her sleep patterns are being thrown off because I made the mistake of a red pm light. I need to replace it with no light ceramic heat.
Any thoughts or advice?
Edit: a few extra specific details