Now What's Wrong?

Try a tub maybe? Sometimes they can get bp's to calm down since they aren't nearly as high. Worked for my bp.

By no means am I an experienced herper, but I think the first thing you need to do is get the temperature gradient right. Temps in the low 70s aren't really what you want. I used a reptile lamp with my girl for a while (in a tub though) and never had an issue with humidity. I had the lamp positioned about 8-16" above the top of the tub, which I think prevented some of the moisture from being sucked out. Also, you could try covering a portion of the screen with aluminum foil to trap some of that humidity in there. Once you have husbandry nailed, I'd leave the little squirt alone for 5-7 days. The newspaper trick sounds pretty neat and is apparently tried and true. Good luck with the little guy/girl and keep us posted. Hopefully it'll be back to normal in no time.
-- B

Thanks, folks. I'll find a way to raise the cool temp while maintaining humidity. (Most of the top screen is covered by a towel to help with humidity.)

I've now draped a towel over the entire top and front, which aren't already covered up, so that it has total seclusion.

:(

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Originally Posted by rabernet

it's ugly, but it really does work - it's a Kevin McCurley trick that's been passed on from keeper to keeper!

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Robin, THANK YOU!!! I don't know if it's the newspaper, having the entire tank covered like a bird cage, or a combination of the two, but it's WORKING!!!

When I peeked around 6 hours ago, and now at midnight removing the covering, there's no BP climbing the walls. Patriot is not only in his hide, but he's in the WARM one, which he hasn't been in in days!

A question: How do you manage to fill the tank with newspapers while keeping them out of the water? When I looked both earlier and again now, those pieces around it were dripping wet, which I replaced. If this is an effort to keep him left alone with no disturbance so as to calm down, having to lift the cover off to replace newspaper several times a day is backfiring.

Oh, and with the entire screen being covered for a few hours, the humidity is at 78% now!

That is awesome! You could just leave the part where the water dish is empty, and fill it up all around. Next feeding day, drop in an appropriately sized live mouse (or rat, if that's what you're feeding), walk away and check back in 1/2 an hour. It should be gone!

I'm glad to hear that the paper has helped to settle him down (I knew it would though! ;) )

Please keep us posted!

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Originally Posted by Danounet

I feel bad when you say yours weight 150 :(.

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Woohoo, Patriot has finally reached 200g!!! (Which is nearly double the size of when he came to us.) He's gained around 4" in length too (26"), but his girth now seems sooooooo much bigger. And especially since he shed a couple of days ago (90% intact, long "stocking), the new brightness combined with the new size is just "WOW!" We can hardly take our eyes off him! :banana:

And oh, those crumpled newspapers are still in there. He's been perfectly content ever since they were added and becomes very uneasy when exposed (e.g. when being held), so they just might be permanent!

Here's our growing, glowing one:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...100_4463Cr.jpg

Congratulations! :gj:

Have you considered moving him to an opaque tube? I mean you cant even see him anymore with the newspaper in there now anyways lol. :P

He would probably be less stressed in a tub. I use 28qt sterilite for all mine, but being as he has open space issues, maybe a 15-16qt? unless he is too big for those, hard to tell. Anyways, just an idea. :)

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Originally Posted by Danounet

I mean you cant even see him anymore with the newspaper in there now anyways lol.

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We can still see him in the hides, or at least which hide he's in! For pictures, I just remove a piece or two of newspaper, click-click-click, then put the newspaper back. Yesterday I posted the video I took of him shedding, where you can see the newspapers around him. The clear gap where he was visible to the camera was where a piece had been removed just during filming.

Thanks... I'm so happy about how he's growing. At first it took him forever to position and swallow a mouse, and his first shed with us left several pieces stuck on. Now he seems to have become more efficient at both eating and shedding. Filling out nicely, hiding contentedly... all is well in his little world. :)

They can be really funny when they don't like something, and it can be really hard to guess what it is, sometimes.

I had a hatchling last year that roamed constantly and wouldn't feed. I tried newspapers, and other tricks, and finally, I decided to play a hunch.
I moved him into a LARGER container. He stopped roaming and went into his hide, and ate the next day. <lol>