No bonding

I know my BP is definitely more comfortable with me than with my boyfriend. I'm not sure if it's something to be proud of, but when around my neck, she wraps and squeezes quite firmly, staying put. I put her on my boyfriend, and she'll just sag there and give me a funny look. :rolleyes:

I don't think a snake can "bond" with a person so to speak, but they do get comfortable with people. I believe your scent has the most to do with it, as everyone has a different scent and snakes are really good at scent perception. Once they get use to you and know you mean them no harm they can become very complacent with you.
When someone new tries to handle them, suddenly it's a new scent that they don't know. They can become reluctant to be held again.
In my house I handle our BP 99% of the time. With me he'll find a comfortable spot and just hang out. But if my fiancee tries to hold him (rarely!) he'll usually try to find a place to hide or he'll just curl up.

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Originally Posted by maria1232

i have the UTH for mine AND a light, i put the light on during the day because my house is extremely cold [[68-72˚]] so i need it to keep the air temp. up, but at night i put the UTH a little higher and put paper over the glass to make sure it doesn't get too high and that seems to do the trick, she does seem to know me, cause she'll let me hold her and play arpund with her, but if anyone else tries to hold her she'll curl up into a ball until she's either back on the cage or into my arms, it ujst might be my wishful thinking though =P

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We did end up getting a UTH last night..temp up to 91 when I went home for lunch today. Unfortunately it did not come with a thermostat, it was sold separately and they Petco was out of them. When his night light is on the temp stays at around 89 to 90.We put the UTH on the side of the tank, as the tank is on a wooden entertainment stand. Now Im having probs with humidity. its dropped to 20%. We are using 100% fir chips, thats what came with the kit. We mist the tank often, but its just not holding. But once I did get the temp up, my BP finally did his first feed. Keep the advice coming.:banana:

Try this: take a drinking class and put like a 1/4 cup of water in it. Cut a paper towel into strips and hang loosely out of the glass, and make sure they are touching the water. The water should seep up the strips and give you more humidity. I used this when I had my bp in a 50 gal aquarium.

You can look in the forums too for DIY humidifiers. Usually you can just cover the top half way with alluminum foil, but I don't know how that works with a side opened enclosure. You can also take some moist moss and fit in around his tank, and in his hides.

I've a damp washcloth on my hides before if i was having a bad shed. Be careful with wet stuff though, and keep an eye out for mold. Change them oftem.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by PYMOM

We did end up getting a UTH last night..temp up to 91 when I went home for lunch today. Unfortunately it did not come with a thermostat, it was sold separately and they Petco was out of them. When his night light is on the temp stays at around 89 to 90.We put the UTH on the side of the tank, as the tank is on a wooden entertainment stand. Now Im having probs with humidity. its dropped to 20%. We are using 100% fir chips, thats what came with the kit. We mist the tank often, but its just not holding. But once I did get the temp up, my BP finally did his first feed. Keep the advice coming.:banana:

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I don't think putting a UTH on the side of the glass is going to do you much good. Heat generally rises so you are pretty much only heating the glass where the UTH is. If you need to elevate your tank to put the UTH under it you can check at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Target, or Home Depot and see if they have any of the plastic or rubber stick-on furniture feet. Or you can check at arts and craft's stores like Michaels in the wood craft section. They have all kinds of little wooden knobs, cubes, and doohickies that you can glue to the tank to lift it up. Or you can simply hot glue 4 plastic bottle caps to the bottom. Or, you can buy an Exo-Terra Desert UTH. It will come with the risers. I would also advise against using a UTH until you get a t-stat, or at least a dimmer or rheostat. They will get alot hotter than you think, especially mounted on the bottom of the tank...

Out of curiousity, what kind of t-stats does Petco sell and how much do they charge? A Petsmart near me actually has a couple of Helix's for sale... $169.99...The other pet stores in my area have some of the Reptitemp 500r's and some of those Alife stats for $50-$60...:O

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I don't think putting a UTH on the side of the glass is going to do you much good. Heat generally rises so you are pretty much only heating the glass where the UTH is. If you need to elevate your tank to put the UTH under it you can check at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Target, or Home Depot and see if they have any of the plastic or rubber stick-on furniture feet. Or you can check at arts and craft's stores like Michaels in the wood craft section. They have all kinds of little wooden knobs, cubes, and doohickies that you can glue to the tank to lift it up. Or you can simply hot glue 4 plastic bottle caps to the bottom. Or, you can buy an Exo-Terra Desert UTH. It will come with the risers. I would also advise against using a UTH until you get a t-stat, or at least a dimmer or rheostat. They will get alot hotter than you think, especially mounted on the bottom of the tank...

Out of curiousity, what kind of t-stats does Petco sell and how much do they charge? A Petsmart near me actually has a couple of Helix's for sale... $169.99...The other pet stores in my area have some of the Reptitemp 500r's and some of those Alife stats for $50-$60...:O

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I saw the price of the T-stat at $44 and some change.... brand name: Repti...Im thinking these are pieces of crap, cause the snake kit I got of the same brand was subpar. And as for the UTH...I have a 20gal long tank and I bought the UTH for a 30gal-40gal. It only covers a small area on the tank not even half. I put a thermometer by it and the temp is holding between 90-91 during day..at night it drops a few. he stays in is hide by it all day. I feel it and its not so hot that i cant touch.