Help-A-Noob :)

[moonlightgdess]

Okay so I'm a tad overwhelmed with all the very helpful and informative threads, and having read through some of them I have a few questions:

What's a PAM treatment? (I'm assuming PAM is not referring to the cooking spray)

How easy is connecting a thermostat to a new rack system? Electricity scares me, lol.

Which is more prefered: professional racks like Animal Plastics, or homemade ones?

If you get snakes from different sources, can/do you QT them in the same area?

Is deworming necessary? And can you do it at home?

Does anyone here keep their snakes in the basement? How do you keep the ambient temp up other than overclocking your home heating system?

Also, I have a sweet normal female who hides a lot. I've had her for about two and a half months now, and she's very well hand tamed, and likes to snuggle and watch Lost with me. But in her tank she hides under her water dish all the time. Granted, it's warm (heat pad under it) and humid, but her tank is too. Her hot spot is near 90* daytime/75* night and is right over a rocky hide, and her tank humidity is between 60-70%. Sometimes she lays with her head poking out from under her dish, but I never really see her exploring her 20gal long tank. Suggestions? or is she just shy?

Thanks in advance!!

[Annarose15]

Okay so I'm a tad overwhelmed with all the very helpful and informative threads, and having read through some of them I have a few questions:

What's a PAM treatment? (I'm assuming PAM is not referring to the cooking spray) Provent-A-Mite by Pro Products - It kills snake mites (and just about any other bug around).

How easy is connecting a thermostat to a new rack system? Electricity scares me, lol. The higher-dollar therms (Herpstat, etc.) are easiest. None of them have any bare wires that expose you to electricity.

Which is more prefered: professional racks like Animal Plastics, or homemade ones? This all depends on how handy you are. I have one homemade rack that any BP over 200g is strong enough to escape (I'm not very handy). I have a few other homemades (not by me) that are escape-proof. If you aren't very precise at building, then the AP Economy racks aren't that much more expensive than the supplies you'd buy to build one.

If you get snakes from different sources, can/do you QT them in the same area?
In a perfect world, new additions would always be separate from other animals. I try to at least keep them on opposite sides of the QT room if they didn't come in at the same time.

Is deworming necessary? And can you do it at home? I haven't needed to deworm. I feed mostly F/T, so the chances of picking up worms is slim. You could take 1-2 samples a year to a herp vet for peace of mind, especially if you feed live. I'm sure you could probably deworm at home, but it depends on how comfortable you are with administering meds.

Does anyone here keep their snakes in the basement? Nope.How do you keep the ambient temp up other than overclocking your home heating system? I have the vent and door cracks sealed in a room heated by a radiant oil-filled electric heater, so it stays warmer than the remainder of the house.

Also, I have a sweet normal female who hides a lot. I've had her for about two and a half months now, and she's very well hand tamed, and likes to snuggle and watch Lost with me. But in her tank she hides under her water dish all the time. Granted, it's warm (heat pad under it) and humid, but her tank is too. Her hot spot is near 90* daytime/75* night and is right over a rocky hide, and her tank humidity is between 60-70%. Sometimes she lays with her head poking out from under her dish, but I never really see her exploring her 20gal long tank. Suggestions? or is she just shy? A hiding BP is a happy BP. Roaming (or "exploring") is typically a sign of stress.

Thanks in advance!!

[heathers*bps]

Okay so I'm a tad overwhelmed with all the very helpful and informative threads, and having read through some of them I have a few questions:

What's a PAM treatment? (I'm assuming PAM is not referring to the cooking spray)
PAM is Provent-A-Mite, used for the treatment of mites and keeping them away.

How easy is connecting a thermostat to a new rack system? Electricity scares me, lol.
I honestly don't know as my man does that stuff...sorry!

Which is more prefered: professional racks like Animal Plastics, or homemade ones?
All my racks are homemade. Much cheaper in the long run

If you get snakes from different sources, can/do you QT them in the same area?
Some people have a specified QT area, but everytime you add a new snake the countdown starts all over again for all snakes in QT

Is deworming necessary? And can you do it at home?
I've never dewormed

Does anyone here keep their snakes in the basement? How do you keep the ambient temp up other than overclocking your home heating system?
Our entire basement is our reptile room, though it is fully finished, and we have a lot of wall units that help keep the temps up, and a wall gas heater

Also, I have a sweet normal female who hides a lot. I've had her for about two and a half months now, and she's very well hand tamed, and likes to snuggle and watch Lost with me. But in her tank she hides under her water dish all the time. Granted, it's warm (heat pad under it) and humid, but her tank is too. Her hot spot is near 90* daytime/75* night and is right over a rocky hide, and her tank humidity is between 60-70%. Sometimes she lays with her head poking out from under her dish, but I never really see her exploring her 20gal long tank. Suggestions? or is she just shy?
It is normal for a bp to hide most of the time. As the saying goes "A hiding ball python is a happy ball python.
Thanks in advance!!

Quick question, do you have your heat pad hooked up to a thermostat now?

[RetiredJedi]

What's a PAM treatment? (I'm assuming PAM is not referring to the cooking spray) PAM is Prevent -A-Mite...basically it gets rid of mits but read and follow instructions on it carefully.

How easy is connecting a thermostat to a new rack system? Electricity scares me, lol. Easy. The heating element (Under Tank Heater (UTH), flexwatt or whatever you use) gets plugged into the thermostat, the thermostat probe gets taped to the heating element, and then the thermostat gets plugged into the wall. You set the thermostat to the temp you want the hotspot to be. The setting is usually set at a slightly higher temp than desired warm spot temp inside the enclosure to get the enclosure right.

Which is more prefered: professional racks like Animal Plastics, or homemade ones? It's your personal preference.

If you get snakes from different sources, can/do you QT them in the same area? Someone with more experience can answer this one

Is deworming necessary? And can you do it at home? and this ine

Does anyone here keep their snakes in the basement? How do you keep the ambient temp up other than overclocking your home heating system? That's about the only way to do it or get some sort of room heater

Also, I have a sweet normal female who hides a lot. I've had her for about two and a half months now, and she's very well hand tamed, and likes to snuggle and watch Lost with me. But in her tank she hides under her water dish all the time. Granted, it's warm (heat pad under it) and humid, but her tank is too. Her hot spot is near 90* daytime/75* night and is right over a rocky hide, and her tank humidity is between 60-70%. Sometimes she lays with her head poking out from under her dish, but I never really see her exploring her 20gal long tank. Suggestions? or is she just shy? A hidden BP is a happy BP. I would say try to get your humidity closer to 50-60% unless in shed or you could risk a respiratory infection (RI). You want the keep the hot spot around 90 all the time and cool spot/ambients around 80.

I have an additional question reference QT. What is the average QT time for a new BP?

[k8nkane]

Everyone else has already answered your general care questions, so I'll throw in my two cents on your "saving money on heating bills" question.

I use a thermostat controlled space heater in my bedroom (where my BPs tank is) to keep that room warmer than the rest of the house, which is at 65 during the day.

[Daybreaker]

I have an additional question reference QT. What is the average QT time for a new BP?

The norm is 3 months, but some people swear by at least 6 months to a full year. I do the standard 3 months of QT and reset it once I get new snakes into QT.

[moonlightgdess]

No, my heat pad isn't hooked up to a thermostat, but I use it more for just warmth. Through the tank glass, it's simply warm to the touch, not hot. The herp vet I took her to suggested a humidity between 60-70%, but everything I read says 40-60% so I'm a little confused.

[Daybreaker]

I keep my humidity at 50%. When their snakes are in shed some people mist to bring it up to the 60-70%

Your UTH needs to be regulated or it can get way too hot, it might be warm to you but it could be a LOT hotter to your snake. If you don't want to deal with possible burns, get a thermostat or at least a lamp dimmer in the meantime for it.

[Mike41793]

No, my heat pad isn't hooked up to a thermostat, but I use it more for just warmth. Through the tank glass, it's simply warm to the touch, not hot. The herp vet I took her to suggested a humidity between 60-70%, but everything I read says 40-60% so I'm a little confused.

If you dont have your uth on a thermostat i suggest unplugging it asap. Your snake will get nasty burns which will lead to a costly vet visit. Just order at the very least a dimmer for now. If you can, buy a quality thermostat like a vivarium electronics or herpstat.

[moonlightgdess]

Okay thanks I unplugged it... does it help if there's substrate over it? That's how I had it set up just to warm up the water dish (I didn't intend for it to be her hide, LOL).