First Snake

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Originally Posted by kendracandraw

Alright so I ended up getting 32qt bin at target, it was on sale and they didn't have anything between 16qt and the 32qt so I'll just make sure I get nice tight hides.

Since I didn't get any thumbs up on the zoo-med UTH, I'm now thinking about the Exoterra 8x8 heat mat.

I can't drop 100+ on a thermostat right now and I have the one everyone hates, the reptitherm or whatever, left over from my sisters red tail boa she had for a couple months. Again I know you've all given it bad reviews but if I get the hydrofarm could I use the other as a back up or just junk it?

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I use a zoo-med UTH. They work just fine, but they NEED a proper thermostat (I use a hydrofarm). My Zoomed heats to 112F without any temperature contol.

I wouldn't junk the the other thermostat. Just keep it around in the case that the hydrofarm would quit on you (has never happened to me).

Zoo-med is fine, we use them on 32 quart sterilites without issue. Obviously dont plug it straight into the wall though or it'll get too hot. And I have 2 hatchlings in larger tubs right now and they do fine, but I fill the outer edges with either plastic vines or crushed newspaper to shrink the "conceivable" size of it to the snake quite a bit. With younger snakes it seems that having a hot and cool side hide is the most important thing.

If cash is an issue get a lamp dimmer from your local hardware store (10 bucks), just make sure that your temp gradient is good using it before you introduce the snake.

Thank you everyOne for answering my questions. Fingers crossed I'll be able to pick up my snake this weekend. I'll get pics up tomorrow of the cage all set up.

I use 16 quart sterilite sweater boxes + the smallest Zoo Med heat pads for my hatchlings right now, at least until I get a rack.

Can't wait to see pics when you get your new snake. :)

If you already have the repti-therm thermostat, hook it up. There's nothing WRONG with that thermostat per se, but it's not the top of the line. It works for what it is. I used one for 3+ years with no problems and it's a heck of a lot better than nothing or even going the lamp dimmer route...

After looking at the thermostat I have its the Zilla one not the repti-therm. I don't know if its much better but looks better than the reptitherm one.

I think I've found the snake I'm getting, I'm going to check him out this Saturday, he's a really pretty mojave :]

If I get him Saturday how long do I need to leave him alone before I start handling him? Usually I leave a new pet alone for 24 hours, but I'm used to pet rats and snakes are clearly different. I read something that said don't mess with him for 2 weeks except to check for mites and stuff but that just seemed really long to me.

He's also been feeding live, but I would much prefer to go the F/T route. He should be easy to switch over since he's still so young, 2 months, right? Should I feed him live the first time and then switch over or just F/T right away?

I've also heard rats are more nutritious than mice, is that true should I make the switch to rats as soon as he's big enough?

The recommended acclimation period is 1 week, or until 24 hours after the first successful feeding before you start handling. For that first week, you pretty much want to leave him alone and only get into the enclosure to change water and spot clean if needed.

If he's been feeding live you may want to keep him on live for the first couple feedings once you get him home. Moving into a new environment is pretty stressful for a bp in and of itself, so trying to change from live to F/T at the same time might be enough to trigger refusals. Once you have him acclimated and eating live consistently, you can start working on converting to F/T.

I haven't seen any real scientific studies on the nutritional value differences, gram for gram, between mice and rats. If the breeder has him on rats already, I'd keep him on rats. If you feed mice, you're eventually going to have to feed multiple mice per feeding, which can also be stressful, as opposed to one rat per feeding.

So I got the cage mostly set up yesterday, forgot to get the water dish, but we're improving one right now. Anyway my cage doesn't seem to be heating up enough, I had the thermostat set to like 95 but it still shuts the UTH off at 88? The cool side isn't getting much above 75 right now either.

I have a 32qt tub with a 10-20 gallon UTH on it. Should I take the sticker off the UTH and actually attach it, right now I have it taped on the tub so its easier to clean the cage. The thermostat prob is taped to the bottom of the UTH, do I need to have that between the bottom of the tub and the UTH, would that help? I used the little rubber feet the UTH came with and the cage is sitting on a desk, but maybe its getting too hot under the cage and so the UTH is getting turned off?

Since you have your probe mounted outside the enclosure and directly to the UTH, you will probably have to set it a little higher to get the proper temps inside the tub. Just bump it up a couple degrees, let it stabilize for a while, read the temps and readjust accordingly until you find the sweet spot. Your UTH really won't do anything for cool side temps, so just make sure your warm side is getting up to where it needs to be. What did you end up getting to measure the temps? And where are you measuring them?

One of the Accurite thermometers from Walmart. The probe sits over the UTH in the hide and the actual thermom is on the other side of the cage.