New Owner Worries

Wow i knew they could be picky eaters, but i didn't realise to that extent.

the current (and broken ritual) used to be:

1) thaw the ratpup in a open plastic tub next to the viv for him to smell (usualy thawed for 12 hrs)
2) place the ratpup in a plastic sandwich bag (supposidly to preserve smell)
3) place bag in warm water to warm mouse up

Then try to feed.

I'll contact the store and get his feed ritual off him down to the little details.

Thanks everyone for your great advice :D

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Maybe the one you mentioned would be better on a longer schedule like my pair of albinos - every 10 to 14 days ??


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Oh, he'll eat on a 7 day cycle (or less if given the chance), just he seems what I'd call "hesitant to strike". Breeder had him on a maintenance diet so I'm trying to get him plumped up a bit. I heat it and he shows IMMENSE interest if I do it in the same room as him but then when I offer the prey to him he just loves to stare at it a bit, like he's appreciating the detail in the "plating". Lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YoJimbo

Wow i knew they could be picky eaters, but i didn't realise to that extent.

the current (and broken ritual) used to be:

1) thaw the ratpup in a open plastic tub next to the viv for him to smell (usualy thawed for 12 hrs)
2) place the ratpup in a plastic sandwich bag (supposidly to preserve smell)
3) place bag in warm water to warm mouse up

Then try to feed.

I'll contact the store and get his feed ritual off him down to the little details.

Thanks everyone for your great advice :D

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To be honest with mine the important thing is to have the mouse WARM and that's why I warm with a hairdryer then offer IMMEDIATELY , usually takes a few reheats and they grab it ...


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Maybe I missed it but I didn't see humidity mentioned? If you are heating with a ceramic, odds are that it's drying out the air so if you are not misting on a regular basis then he is probably very dry and they do not like to be dry. What is your humidity?

Ahh mmm well i was talked around by the store owner in regards to Humidity.

I did mention this to him but he gave me the whole I've been breeding for x amount of years and humidity has never been a problem in the UK. As long as a water bowl is kept in the viv it shouldn't be an issue.
He was quite convincing and made me feel daft so i took his word for it.

So needless to say I'm now looking at getting a Thermo-Hygrometer to check the ambient temps and humidity of the viv, that and I'm going to start misting the viv a little till i know what the % is.


Guess i should have stuck to my guns on this subject, but he was very convincing. :oops:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YoJimbo

Ahh mmm well i was talked around by the store owner in regards to Humidity.

I did mention this to him but he gave me the whole I've been breeding for x amount of years and humidity has never been a problem in the UK. As long as a water bowl is kept in the viv it shouldn't be an issue.
He was quite convincing and made me feel daft so i took his word for it.

So needless to say I'm now looking at getting a Thermo-Hygrometer to check the ambient temps and humidity of the viv, that and I'm going to start misting the viv a little till i know what the % is.


Guess i should have stuck to my guns on this subject, but he was very convincing. :oops:

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LOL. It is rather damp there. I live right next to a huge humid swamp and even here if you are running heat or ac it can suck the humidity right out of the air inside. My cure is that I open the windows at night but there that is probably not an option there very often so I am thinking that the store owner is just full of it.

Where I live is supposedly humid too, but with the roommates running the AC all summer and heat all winter, the air gets pretty dry in here. Plus I have to use a CHE for my ambient temps in my current setup, so I use moss to offset that.

(It's 87% outside thanks to rain, and he's sitting at about the same inside since he's blue.)

In an enclosure like yours it shouldn't be too hard to maintain humidity, but if you're having trouble getting it to the usual 55-60% range, using moss in the hides or offering a moist hide is a good solution to supplement a water bowl. If he's shedding (the eyes look blue, body color dulls) you should aim to get the humidity up to around 80% during that process.

:O:O:O Well i went out to the reptile store and bought a lucky Rep Thermo-Hygrometer pro reader and placed it in the viv.

Cold End:
70F with 51% humid

Hot End:
81F with 50% humid.

Yet when i go with the thermo gun the surface temps are 92f in the hot end and 80F in the cold end.

So which do i go by? do i go by the air temp or surface temp? If i increase the air temp then surface temps will go up. So now I'm royally confused :confusd::confusd:

Surface temps - temp gun everytime IMHO .

The surface is crucial as its where your snake is lying / sleeping ..


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Yep, judge by your surface temps. A heat gradient going up > down can be just as useful as one going left > right. Allows for more thermoregulation if you give the snake opportunities to climb upward.

The 50% is ok, though getting it a LITTLE higher just to be safe might be worth it.