Any help welcome

Hi was wondering if anyone could help me regulate the humidity in my vivarium? ive done alot of research before aquiring my bp -HER NAME IS PETRA, but research can only do so much. Currently im using room temperature water and a newly purchased spray bottle to mist the tank, only thing is it will only keep it between 50 and 60 on the hygrometer for so long.....before i have to spray again and i dont want to upset her by spraying all the time.

Can anyone recommend anything/something i am doing wrong or my setup is missing something.
i have a wooden viv with climbing spot, half hot half cold, heat mat under one side with hide and heat lamp ( i alternate using the heat lamp during the day and the heat mat during the night).
Many Thanks

What kind of substrate are you using? The heat will definitely dry it out quickly. I tried vivariums with my balls and in the end I decided that tubs are much more convenient. :) Good luck!

Well, you don't really need the heat lamp as long as you have a thermostat or rheostat for the heat pad.

Heat pad (flex-watt), and proper substrate will make an enclosure work.
Everyone says you have to use tubs BUT you dont if you know how to maintain the enclosure.
I have some in tubs and some in tanks or enclosures. Space makes tubs easier.
You can use eco-earth to really up your humidity, but a water bowl over the heat mat will also work.
Post some pics of your setup and we can help a little more.:gj:

You could post pics to make it easier, but from your descripion...

Lose the lamp and just use the heat mat. Close off the top of the tank with foil/tape on top of the screen. You said it's a wood viv, but also said tank, so I'm a bit confused. Also, what sort of hydrometer are you using to measure the humidity? If it's a dial, it's probably giving false readings and your humidity could be high or low, no matter what it says. If it's a digital, then you're probably getting decent readings.

The lamps are probably the worst heat source for high humidity enclosures, they simply suck the moisture out. It's good to see you did a bunch of research before getting your bp, and I'm sure with a little tweaking, you'll have everything spot-on in no time at all.

Congrats on your bp!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rikster...in/photostream

here is a photo of my viv the only difference is i have a exo-terra plastic plant in the left hand corner, and yes the hygrometer is a dial. i dont get paid till next week so i will definatly look into getting a digital one, the first thermostat i bought for my heat mat got dropped and broke (not me the mrs) lol i only found this out by probing the hide with my thermometer to find it was 41 degrees celcius :O so luckily petra was on the cool side. so im just waiting for my replacement thermostat which comes monday, until then im just alternating between the heat lamp and the mat (is this ok). Plus i have just purchased some moss off amazon to put in and around the hide.

Thanks so much for your comments guys as research can only go so far lol :D http://www.flickr.com/photos/rikster85/http://

The hygrometer I use is one from Walmart. It's in the Indoor/Outdoor thermometer section, and it's a little grey square digital one, and it'll measure the temps(at the unit and also at the end of a lone probe wire you can put on the other end of the tank) and also the humidity. The cost is around $14 I think, so it's pretty cheap. I've got a dozen around here for various bins and enclosures. Once in a while you get a bum one and have to go exchange it.

The pic isn't showing up for me. You're right in the research. Sometimes the inormation you get can contradict what you found elsewhere, so asking a ton of folks who all keep the species you have is ideal, which is why I love this site.

Using a heat mat without a thermostat can be risky. I don't know what your ambiant temps are, but you might wait until monday to get the new thermostat to use the heat mat. Some of them can shoot temps up to 120F without regulation from a thermostat.
Good luck!

Hah! You edited when I posted! This is the link I got to your pic I think... http://www.flickr.com/photos/rikster...in/photostream

You want to watch the exposed bulb so she doesn't get onto it. It LOOKS high enough that she won't be able to reach, but it's hard to tell. She needs hides that are a bit more secure, instead of the half log(unless you stuff the end with the moss which will "close" one end. One hide on cool end, one on hot end usually works well so the snake can choose to hide on either side. It's a very pretty cage.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rikster...ream/lightbox/

Hope this brings up the photo.
I wouldnt run the mat without a t-stat, it can get really hot real quick.
Also as mentioned I dont like the exposed light, that is also another burn waiting to happen:colbert:

Thats odd, I cannot get the pic to post:confused:

ooo thats what i wanted to ask lol, im giving her first feed this sunday, Im feeding her in a tub which i got pretty cheap from a craft shop (its been cleaned and steralised). how do i get her from the feeding tub back into the viv as i read i cant handel her after a feed?

Many Thanks :salute:

sorry the bulb is now covered, got a cover for it today after seeing a snake burn on the internet, forgot to mention in previous post (I FEEL LIKE SUCH A NOOB) lol :/

I handle ALL of mind before, during, and after chow. The after is putting them back in their homes.

You don't have to take her out to feed her. Some people do, some people don't. I don't.

You can gently lift her after she's done swallowing the prey. "Handling" after feeding is more about more extensive handling than just lifting her into her enclosure from the feeding bin.

There's nothing wrong with being new. We were all new once. The grand thing is how you are researching and checking into everything instead of assuming you know everything or doing the bare minimum of "tank-water" and hoping.

thats cool, thank you so much......im pretty siked about my first feed just wanted make sure i could get her from the bin back into the viv.

you have been really informative and i will post back and let you know how i get on with feed tomorrow and post pics of my tank when its all finished on monday :D

Thanks For All The Info :)

Hi,

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/...94803633_z.jpg

I appologise if this has been covered but there is tape holding a probe at the top of the pic.

Tape inside the enclosure is a bad idea - the snake will end up stuck to it eventually.

And what is that probe for?

It is miles away from anywhere the snake will be spending its time so I can't see how it can be doing anything useful?


dr del

it was just put there to measure the air temperature, this was set up about a week before the snake went into the viv.....plus i had no hygrometer, thanks for the advice though if i would have left it there it would have been removed before she went into it.

:) much obliged :banana:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick McDowell

ooo thats what i wanted to ask lol, im giving her first feed this sunday, Im feeding her in a tub which i got pretty cheap from a craft shop (its been cleaned and steralised). how do i get her from the feeding tub back into the viv as i read i cant handel her after a feed?

Many Thanks :salute:

sorry the bulb is now covered, got a cover for it today after seeing a snake burn on the internet, forgot to mention in previous post (I FEEL LIKE SUCH A NOOB) lol :/

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Personally, I am still feeding out of the enclosure. Next feeding, I'm probably going to feed in his tank, but I had the same question when I first fed. The first feeding is always exciting. Luckily, my buddy eats like a champ. The first time, I picked him up to put him back, but he seemed a pit persnickety when I touched him. What I do now is to tilt my other enclosure into his viv, and he generally crawls out and into his hide to digest. After eating, they generally want nothing more than to curl up under a heat lamp and go into a thanksgiving-like food coma. My last snake was a corn and he ended up starving his young self to death :( Brought him to a vet, but we couldn't figure out what the deal was. The good vibe from his appetite was exactly what I needed to kickstart my new BP adventure. Good luck with the feed!

ok so just tried my first feed and it didnt go so well :(, thawed the fuzzy, weighed my snake and measured her length. Put the scent of the fuzzy round the feeding bin, popped her in and held the fuzzy about 6 inches from her nose, she had her tongue going which got me excited as i thought she was going to strike (but she never did).

she just sat in the feeding bin in a ball so after about 10 mins i just popped her back into her enclosure, and she retreated straight for her hide. which kinda tells me she dont wanna be disturbed, im not dis-heartened as i know they can be fussy eaters lol.

Im gonna leave her for a couple of days (i think thats the best thing to do and just keep handeling her regularly, unless anyone can suggest anything else??

Thanks :banana:

Hi,

Stop feeding her outside her enclosure and heat the head of the prey with a hair drier just before offering it. And fuzzy's are probably a bit small unless you mean rat fuzzies.

Try a mouse hopper and thaw it slowly near the cage so that the pre-scenting is a long process.


dr del

Ditto on the heating the prey up. If you merely thawed it, then it's not warm enough to give off a heat signature to attract her interest.

Also, doing a proper Zombie Rat Dance is important. You can't be too aggressive because it'll scare the snake, but you don't want to simply have it laying there either. It takes practice to puppet a dead prey properly. It also takes a lot of patience. A lot.

You might want to not handle her so much before feeding. Basically you did a lot of stressful handling then asked the snake to eat a cooled prey item in a new situation(the feeding bin). Snakes don't want to eat if they are not comfortable about the surroundings because they are very vulnerable while they are swallowing prey. The entire situation is still kind of new to her so she's still settling in and trying to get used to everything. Remember they have a brain the size of a split pea, so they can't reason out things much at all.

I'm sure you'll have her eating really quickly! You seem patient and understanding of her needs. With a few adjustments, you'll have her gobbling up prey in no time at all.

Thanks for the info guys, i made sure she was Pretty comfortable before offering the prey to her, i also heated the head with a hairdryer. But she still didnt seem interested in it, ive decided im going to wait till i see her actually hunting for prey around her viv before offering her food, she has only been in her new enclosure for a week so it may have been too soon to offer her food. As for the handling everything is fine she gets into a tight ball and after a couple of seconds is roaming round my hands and checking me out lol.....i decided to remove the heatlamp as i found it was drying out the humidity in The viv, ive also added some sphagnum moss to her hide as ive read its a good way to keep the humidity up and can also help when it comes time to shed, im still waiting on my digital hygrometer because the dial ones are a pain :mad:. I have two in the tank and they both give me different readings so this is why im keeping a close eye on the temperature.

If there is anything im doing wrong here input would be greatly welcomed as your info thus far has been awesome :D