When a spiny burrows in sand with its head sticking out...

[Libpete]

..how does it do it? Head first going under the sand and popping his head out? or do they wiggle their bodies down or something?

I ask because my spiny has so far always lived in my mass amount of moss, but I just spotted him under the sand with his cheeky head popping out and I wondered how he did it.

 

[MonsterMinis]

Nose first.... then they "pop" their noses up and out... I've had some eels that you couldn't find... only to after careful examination spot that triangle shaped "nose" the rest blending in. I also found once buried... they can stick their head out... but then wiggle themselve backward w/out needing to re-bury to hide all but the tip of their noses.... imo no doubt they are designed to "hide" the majority of the time and ambush inverts ect this way.

 

[xApostle]

Nose first.... then they "pop" their noses up and out... I've had some eels that you couldn't find... only to after careful examination spot that triangle shaped "nose" the rest blending in. I also found once buried... they can stick their head out... but then wiggle themselve backward w/out needing to re-bury to hide all but the tip of their noses.... imo no doubt they are designed to "hide" the majority of the time and ambush inverts ect this way.

+1 My TT does this all the time which is funny because at about 14", he still hides in the weirdest places.
My 5" Fire eel does it a lot too, usually going in head first and then popping his head out. he blends perfectly in my Black substrate

"big ball of light, spits out dinosaurs" - Mac, Primeval New World

 

[Libpete]

Ah right, cheers. I imagined he did a shuffle under the sand like the sidewinder does in the desert.