Just Some Pictures

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Originally Posted by Zombietox

Gosh some people are just pro at being ****s online. To someone who actually rescues animals and take them into my care Gee know nothing about the person and how much they actually love there animals but hey its easy cause you dont gotta care for the person who is thinking there doing the right thing.

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You can love animals but still not know how to take care of a certain species. What I do before I get any new pet is RESEARCH RESEARCH and then RESEARCH some more. That way I know exactly what I need before I bring the animal home. No one here is trying to be mean to you but they have told you more than once now how to treat the mites and set up a proper enclosure. What is frustrating everyone is you seem to be ignoring what they are saying. Take a few deep breaths and read back over this thread and you will see you have gotten some really sound advice. I hope your snake gets better soon but please try to take what everyone is telling you to heart for her sake.

I feel like you should need to take a basic questionnaire test before being able to buy any pet.

Okay, Zombie... Look, hey, I was in your shoes once. When I got Rosca, I was 14, and she came with "all" of the supplies she needed, and was already an adult. I figure, hey, drop a rat in there once a month (which is what the previous owner said). Free snake, free supplies, easy pet.
Can Rosca have SURVIVED if I kept her in a big glass tank with a water dish, no hides, and a heat lamp? Dropping a rat in here and there? Sure, she did for years before... But is that RIGHT and COMFORTABLE and OPTIMAL for her? No... Had I kept it like that, she'd still be a bit thin, would still have shed coming off in pieces, almost no humidity with a plain screen top, and I wouldn't deserve to be her owner. From my desire to learn how to care for the animal I already had and be a good pet owner, a good PARENT, even, if you will, I had to humble myself to 1) take advice from others and 2) admit I made a mistake and 3) heed that advice.

Fast forward four years, where are we now? A snake that's up to weight, perfectly regulated temperatures, and she sheds in one piece- which, by the way, NEVER fails to make me feel proud. And she has weekly feedings and eats like an absolute hog. I still make mistakes too- like I forgot to quarantine my latest arrival. I'm new to the hobby, of going beyond just keeping a pet. Maybe you're wondering if ALL this stuff is necessary or if we do it because we're hobbyist and are so "into it"... it is... the thermostat, the UTH, certain hot spots and cool spots and certain hides- all are necessary for a single snake to thrive in a comfortable environment.

I think you get the basic principles... I think you understand there needs to be warm, and there needs to be cool. But you're going off air temperatures. I know you live in a desert. I know it's hot to you. But having the air temps at 80 or whatever doesn't mean your snake doesn't need a hot spot... Your hotspot, note, SPOT, not hot air on the side, should be about 90-92 degrees. Why? Besides the need for thermoregulation, it's needed to assist in the digesting of meals. Furthermore, think of it like this- do you see snakes sitting on rocks basking? No... that's lizards. They absorb it from the ground, where their bellys are sliding all over- hence the term "belly heat". You can get a ZooMed heat pad for cheap- or a square of heat tape even cheaper (and you can get it pre-wired too!) and plug it in to a 30-40 thermostat by Hydrofarm... that was my first one, and it did its job fair enough. Please stop trying to justify it, and listen. What is an initial investment to years ahead with a HEALTHY animal?
Also, here's a concern: if the air temps stay 80, and you use a heat lamp to make a gradient (I'm think I read that- otherwise I don't know how you have a gradient), might not the inside if your tank, the AIR temperatures, be too hot? A strong heat lamp can make an enclosed space heat up 10+ degrees, depending on bulb strength.

As far as humidity goes, I'm assuming you have a screen top. Before I moved my snakes to tubs, I used a foil-and-tape trick listed on this forum and it helped a TON. A dirt-cheap way to provide adequate husbandry for your animal.

I'm sorry about Xena, but PLEASE let's take care of your girl now before getting a third... because even then you still have to address these animal care issues. And not to be offensive, but maybe call someone else in your family to come read these posts with you? They might understand better and help explain it to you, if we weren't clear enough.

The people on this forum aren't bad people. Really. I'm still pretty new, and I ask a RIDICULOUS amount of questions, and everyone has been really great to me and answer the best they can. People here genuinely care about the animals. Even if you don't like someone personally, listen to the,- they want what's best for YOU animal.

I'm not the most experienced keeper here, but I know a little about a little. ;) Try to listen to what people say though. If keeping a snake is too complex or expensive for you, there's no shame in honestly admitting it and choosing a different animal. It's your responsibility to decide if you can properly care for an animal. If you can't, it's not "rescuing".