Questions on my new BP

Hi all...new to the site and a new owner of a pastel ball (Walter)... 7 years old, very nice disposition.

I read lots of good info on this site and all very helpful. I do have a few questions I'm hoping you can help with...

- I have my guy 2 weeks (purchased at reptile show) and he shed over the past week in bits and pieces.. still coming off..should I soak him to help it long?

- Where he did shed, he's a bit dull and lighter than he originally was. Is this ok/common?

- Supposedly ate last on 10/28 - was going to feed today 11/19 or at least try. Was told he eats frozen...

He's in a 20g long, which the dealer said would be fine, I think he needs a bigger tank. BTW, I did leave several mess. for he dealer, no response :(

Warm side 90 with hide, cool side 70, humidity 50-60, 70+ while shedding. Just ordered a thermostat for UTH. Use white light for day and red for night. Have damp towel on top to keep in humidity , use cypress mulch - read it retains moisture and moss in the corner too. Mist as needed during the day to maintain humidity.

Thanks for reading and any suggestions are appreciated... :)

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Originally Posted by Rizzi

Hi all...new to the site and a new owner of a pastel ball (Walter)... 7 years old, very nice disposition.

I read lots of good info on this site and all very helpful. I do have a few questions I'm hoping you can help with...

- I have my guy 2 weeks (purchased at reptile show) and he shed over the past week in bits and pieces.. still coming off..should I soak him to help it long?

Yes, I mix in a bit of Zilla shed ease if it is too excessive.

- Where he did shed, he's a bit dull and lighter than he originally was. Is this ok/common?

Yes

- Supposedly ate last on 10/28 - was going to feed today 11/19 or at least try. Was told he eats frozen...

Sounds good, a small to medium rat should do the job.

He's in a 20g long, which the dealer said would be fine, I think he needs a bigger tank. BTW, I did leave several mess. for he dealer, no response :(

A 20gal is minimum, I prefer to keep adults in 106qt tubs or 40-gallon tanks.

Warm side 90 with hide, cool side 70, humidity 50-60, 70+ while shedding. Just ordered a thermostat for UTH. Use white light for day and red for night. Have damp towel on top to keep in humidity , use cypress mulch - read it retains moisture and moss in the corner too. Mist as needed during the day to maintain humidity.

I have honestly never had to use this damp towel people are using...mildew nightmare waiting to happen if you ask me, my specimen has had healthy sheds since I acquired him 8 years ago and I simply saturate his substrate weekly.

Thanks for reading and any suggestions are appreciated... :)

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See bolded.

With reading your post, I'm assuming you're not from the US and with that in mind sometimes the wording from what one country says to what another says can be differ. This is mainly directed at your statement at being dull and lighter than he originally was. I mean no disrespect either, so please don't take it that way.

With him shedding in pieces that is generally a sign of the humidity not being high enough. You should get something that will measure the humidity so that way you know and you won't have this problem in the future. When snakes go into shed they tend to dull out but once they shed they brighten back up, though with age they do dull out regardless. I know you said the humidity was 70%+, but a lot of gauges can be wrong. This includes digital ones.

If he eats frozen thawed, then that's great but you want to make sure you're heating the food up properly. Do you need to know how to heat frozen thawed food up? Many of us have different methods but I have found through trial and error that mine is pretty easy and has a very high success rate.

The cool side is quite low for my liking and I personally would try to raise the temp up. If you bump the hot side up it may help bump your lower side up as well.

I soaked mine when she had a problem shed, her's was coming off in pieces and she ended up with a retained eye cap. Luke warm water, half an inch - inch deep supervised soaking :) Or you could let him run through a damp towel in your hands. If he looks to be having difficulty I would assist although more experienced keepers may tell you to wait a little while.

I offer food as scheduled whether they are shedding or not, if they're hungry they'll take. He may not eat as he is in shed but I don't see any harm in offering.

Can't help with tank size as I only have little BP's ranging from 60g to 550g(empty) so I am useless there for you but there are some great guys on here who can help you with that! :)

Hot side should be 88-90 which I see you have. Great! Your cold side needs bumped up a few degrees. 70 is too low, I'm afraid! You need a minimum of 74 farenheit. Ideally you are looking for 74 to 78 cool side (correct me if I'm wrong guys)

Humidity sounds great. His bad shed could be due to stress of the new place, nothing to worry about though! Hopefully next shed will go better as he'll be settled right in :)

Great that you're getting a thermostat. How soon are you going to have it? A UTH without one is quite dangerous as those mats can reach astounding levels of heat and cause burns!

If the tank is fully glass suggested to cover three sides for added security if not already done as they can feel very exposed.

Hope to have helped a little bit :)

thank you all..

Some responses.. Naom9Anne - Tank is full glass and I do have three sides covered.. :) Thermostat should be here tomorrow..I have been watching the temp on the hot side and unplugging the UTH when it's to hot. Will bump up cool side with dome light. Thank you

Neil - I'm from US.. :) I'll get a better humidity gauge.. can you recommend one? Also, what's your method of defrosting? Thank you

Physician&Snakes.. I'm already using shed ease..so that's good I see you go with that as well. I have sm/med rats and will offer to him today. Looking for a larger tank... I think this is too small as well. Thank you


Appreciate the quick responses and great info.. I'm sure I'll be back..

That's great that you've already covered the sides and that you're aware of UTH problems without a thermostat :)

I'll throw down my defrost method also; people do it differently and it's finding the one which works for you:

I place the guys in a ziploc bag and place in luke warm water until fully thawed, I then put in hot water from the tap (for between 15 and 20 minutes until warm), I blowdry the head before serving on tongs. Some people heat the heads on lamps or radiators. Some thaw in the fridge and then heat, some thaw on the counter. All different and all effective.

Boiling water can cause the rat to explode in my experience, many people use it successfully but I have had too many 'rat guts' instances to chance it again :)

All looks good but the cold side... aim for 78-80, 75 being the lowest it should ever get! Congrats and enjoy!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

I have to find the link somewhere but it's an analog one that you can calibrate. The acurite one from wal-mart works but I can tell you that it's off.

As far as defrosting goes what I do is take out what I'm feeding about 5 hours ahead of time. Then for the last hour I leave it under a heat lamp which stays cranked about 100ish. Then about 20 mins before hand I flip everything over in the plate so both sides get heated that way it properly heats the inside. Then when I get ready to feed I take a hair dryer and hit the rats with it for about 30-45 secs and have it aimed in the direction of my rack. That brings most if not all to the front of the tubs. Just a warning feed with tongs and don't put your face near the tub. Even my little ones who were born this year have killer feeding responses and almost all of them will come out the tub if you're near. I just hold the rat for them but usually I put it on the side of them so they don't strike out of the tub. Then once it's all said and done you're good. When they were babies I started them off on rat pinkies because I wasn't sure if they would take to frozen thawed. Then after that one meal I switched them to rat fuzzies. Then straight after that I went to rat pups.

I offered last week, but wasn't interested...but today he ate... very happy.. I have the UTH on a Thermostate with the hot side at 90 and cool side at 80 (using dome light).. seems to be working well. Now just trying to keep the humidity levels steady.. I mist throughout the day but it still drops fairly quickly..any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
Lois

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Originally Posted by Rizzi

I offered last week, but wasn't interested...but today he ate... very happy.. I have the UTH on a Thermostate with the hot side at 90 and cool side at 80 (using dome light).. seems to be working well. Now just trying to keep the humidity levels steady.. I mist throughout the day but it still drops fairly quickly..any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
Lois

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Hot side 90.. Good..what's your hot spot at? Not hot side but hot spot...

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

Hot side 90.. Good..what's your hot spot at? Not hot side but hot spot...

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what kind of enclosure do you have? I have tanks,so I can give advice what I do, that's if you have tanks or soemthing similar