New.BP owner suspects RI????

[Fiq5545]

Like I said recently picked an adult bp and.been nursing her back to health. She is about 2 years old and over 3.5 ft long. Just got her.onto f/t medium rats and she eats great. I just her setup all in order about 2 weeks ago but I think she has beginning stages of an RI if im not mistaken. No bubbles or drooling or mucus. Eyes are clear but she does seem to sneeze every once in a while. Maybe 3 times a day and she yawn about 3 times a day as well. Belly heat is about 90 degress, uth regulated by thermostat ambient hot side sits at 85 ,coolside I have seen dip to 73 so im getting lamp for that to bump it to 78-80??? And humidity will drop to low 30's when im not home. Im hoping she doesnt have an RI but im going to fix the husbandry and see how she reacts??? Any advice would help alot guys!!!

[kitedemon]

Yes the ambient air temps should never be below 75º cool air can contribute to RI. I personally hold air temps between 77-83º most of the time for brief periods they may be as high as 85 and as low as 75 but I would not suggest that as anything but for a short time. 30%rh is low I would suggest higher but not recommend sacrificing air quality to get it 40% with good air quality is better than 60% with poor quality.

[Fiq5545]

Yes the ambient air temps should never be below 75º cool air can contribute to RI. I personally hold air temps between 77-83º most of the time for brief periods they may be as high as 85 and as low as 75 but I would not suggest that as anything but for a short time. 30%rh is low I would suggest higher but not recommend sacrificing air quality to get it 40% with good air quality is better than 60% with poor quality.

Ok thanks again...but I watched her again and it doesnt seem like an RI anymore...she only sneezes\hisses when the repti fogger is on, she then goes closer to the stream of fog and starts to rub her nose on the glass or whatever she can find to rub on like she is trying to shed old skin!!!??? Has.anybody ever seen this before???Maybe is about to shed, she hasnt been in the blue yet but does look alittle dull. Any expertise is helpful.

[kitedemon]

Likely doesn't like the fogger. They drop the temps and can introduce bacteria if not meticulously cleaned every day. Foggers just put small drops of water into the air not like vaporizer. I would not suggest the use of a fogger unless it is used in conjunction with meds to treat respiratory issues.

[Fiq5545]

Likely doesn't like the fogger. They drop the temps and can introduce bacteria if not meticulously cleaned every day. Foggers just put small drops of water into the air not like vaporizer. I would not suggest the use of a fogger unless it is used in conjunction with meds to treat respiratory issues.

So if the foggers no good, what can I use to keep the humidity up in my glass terrarium...because without the foggef keeping the humidity up sucks ass...thanks in advance

[mercerasian]

So if the foggers no good, what can I use to keep the humidity up in my glass terrarium...because without the foggef keeping the humidity up sucks ass...thanks in advance

You can either use foil or saran wrap to cover the top of the tank and cut a hole for your heat lamp. Or you can make it a little nicer and go buy a piece of plexiglass and cut a hole in the top. This keeps the hot humid air inside your tank instead of letting it escape out the top. I'm currently just using a big piece of cardboard that I cut out and it works great. Keeps the humidity up around 60-70% after I mist the tank and doesn't drop below 50% very quickly (I'd say 5 hours until it'd need to be sprayed again).

My humidity used to be too low because I used aspen and it doesn't hold the humidity well but that trick helped me. You can also use a substrate like coco fiber and sphagnum moss to keep your humidity higher. They hold moisture well so you don't have to mist as often.

[kitedemon]

I would also not recommend lowering air quality either by reducing ventilation surprisingly tanks don't ventilate well and reducing that even less.

Solutions; side turning the tank would be my primary solution, heat rises and humid air rises so moving the open top to the side holds heat and humidity and if done correctly increases ventilation as well.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...arium-Solution

The second solution is about adding water mass, the issue is misting and fogging are temporary fixes the rh spikes up and then starts to drop shortly after to return to the original. If you increase the water mass this cycle slows to days not hours. The easiest is larger water bowls. Often this is not enough.

I used to use a low tray (like a plastic sandwich container) I would place it on the bottom of the tank over the cool side and then bank the substrate to be quite thick and cover the cool side deeply hiding the tray. The warm side I would keep quite thin an use the water bowl to help hold back the 'bank' Then I'd just poke a hole to the tray and pour water to fill the tray. The substrate absorbs the water and slowly releases it increasing the rh. I used coco coir substrates they seem to absorb and release the water the best. I don't think i would use aspen it would mould and go bad quickly. Cyprus should work too although that is a guess I never used it for long.

Hosted on Fotki

[Fiq5545]

I would also not recommend lowering air quality either by reducing ventilation surprisingly tanks don't ventilate well and reducing that even less.

Solutions; side turning the tank would be my primary solution, heat rises and humid air rises so moving the open top to the side holds heat and humidity and if done correctly increases ventilation as well.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...arium-Solution

The second solution is about adding water mass, the issue is misting and fogging are temporary fixes the rh spikes up and then starts to drop shortly after to return to the original. If you increase the water mass this cycle slows to days not hours. The easiest is larger water bowls. Often this is not enough.

I used to use a low tray (like a plastic sandwich container) I would place it on the bottom of the tank over the cool side and then bank the substrate to be quite thick and cover the cool side deeply hiding the tray. The warm side I would keep quite thin an use the water bowl to help hold back the 'bank' Then I'd just poke a hole to the tray and pour water to fill the tray. The substrate absorbs the water and slowly releases it increasing the rh. I used coco coir substrates they seem to absorb and release the water the best. I don't think i would use aspen it would mould and go bad quickly. Cyprus should work too although that is a guess I never used it for long.

Hosted on Fotki

Ok thanks for the ideas