BP Question

Hey there,
I am a new bp owner, i have had my 6 month old bp Monty for 3 weeks now. Recently I have noticed that he has had the milky blue eyes indicating he is going to shed. I then noticed that he was submerging himself in his water dish then burrying himself in the aspen bedding I have layed down. ive read that this is because they may have mites. I looked for the mites but i couldnt find any so i took him to the vet. The vet who specializes in reptiles says he has no mites and that he is perfectly healthy and he is going to shed so i may want to raise the humidity. I know that because the cage he is in now is quite tall (3 feet tall) and so i have to have 3 heat lamps on a mesh toppping to keep it at 87 degrees combined with the aspen bedding makes the humidity quite low. So i keep his water dish under a heat lamp and spray his cage twice a day with water. after the visit to the vet i have out a humid box in his cage (damp sphagnum moss in a tupperware with a hole in it) and started to spray his cage 5x a day. it has been three days and he hasnt used it his humid box but his milky eyes are gone and he hasnt shed and he has stopped going in his water dish and stopped burring himself in his aspen. I just want to know whats going on?? thank you!!!

Hi,

They clear up a couple of days before they shed so keep on top of the humidity. :gj:

But check inside his hides and in the aspen just in case he shed and hid it. :)

You will probably find you would have a lot less trouble with humidity if you moved to an under tank heater on a thermostat instead of all those lamps.

Have a look around at other peoples setups to get an idea of what can be done.


dr del

Ya, you need a uth! 3 lamps is going to dry your cage in minutes!

From what I understand, Aspen is supposed to keep the humidity in, not lower it. We mist our cages and the Aspen keeps the moisture locked in.

Is the whole tank 87 degrees?

If so maybe he is tring to bury himself away from the heat?

3 lamps sounds kinda excessive to me

Jim

I would suggest foiling off the mesh part of the tank first of all. Then take a wet wash cloth....and drape it over his hide. Keep checking it to make sure it is wet or damp. Continue to wet as needed. Up spraying the cage to three to four times a day while in shed.

Ok the next step is for you to get a under the tank heater and you will need a thermostat for this to control it. This will allow you to get rid of those lights and not continue to have issues you are having now. You might check out www.reptilebasics.com

Now if you are going to keep him in a tank I might suggest a 20 gallon long for an sub adult. For a baby you can keep him in a 10 gallon at first. Keep in mind that balls like tight cramped spaces and the love it in the dark. I might also suggest covering 3 sides of the tank to make him feel more secure.

I hope this helps...good luck.

x2 to what the others said about the UTH.

3 lamps? That does sound quite excessive. What are you using to measure your temperature and humidity? Use digital. Analogue is worthless.

Also: I have had many, MANY troubles with humidity myself (and that was just with one lamp) and since I'm not going to upgrade my tank anytime soon, I suggest you find the sticky on putting foil on the cage. It does wonders.

And your aspen bedding IS suppose to help with humidity; you can spray until moistened but not soaked...but with 3 heat lamps I doubt it will stay moist for long.