Please help, multiple problems.

The first problem I have is today after holding my BP I saw 2 black mites crawling on my hand, and of course I saw more in his tank after noticing this.

What products do you personally recommend to clean his enclosure, and for his body as well. (I am so angry, I know that the mites must have come with him from the pet store as I've only had him a few weeks, and he's only eating f/t and his aspen substrate was fresh from the bag, and the enclosure was brand new (and I cleaned it thoroughly before setting it up).

Second problem, I have him in a glass tank at the moment, but it's too hard to regulate the temps in there, the cool side gets down to 74 at night and I need to fix that so tomorrow I'm going to buy a new enclosure. A tub with newspaper as substrate, any idea on how to keep the tub raised up for the UTH without having a full rack system?

Third maybe problem, sometimes when I take him out he makes a squeaking noise, it's not every time I take him out, but it's not constant, and I've never heard him make the noise while in his enclosure. Is this a sign of something worse, RI? Or could it just be excitement/scared because he is in a new environment.

I want him to be as happy and healthy as possible so tomorrow morning I'm going to spend as much money as I need to fix these things. Do you think I should take him to a vet as well? Don't judge me too harshly.

Edit: I should have known there would be problems, this pet store is cheap and shady, but when I saw him in a clear on all sides enclosure with no hide, a tiny water holder, he was very skinny and unhappy, I had to rescue him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

Don't judge me too harshly.

Edit: I should have known there would be problems, this pet store is cheap and shady, but when I saw him in a clear on all sides enclosure with no hide, a tiny water holder, he was very skinny and unhappy, I had to rescue him.

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Granted im pretty new on here and have a whopping 2 BPs to my name but I dont see how anyone could judge you at all. Seems like you are very concerned for your bp and willing to do whatever it takes to provide for him. Got to respect that.

As far as the rest, I will leave that to more competent people. But I will say I am having the same issues with my glass tank and am looking at a rack system. Sadly, I will spend just a little more on a 4 tub rack system then I did for the complete tank setup.

As far as the mites, soak him in water for about 10-15 minutes(water will kill mites but it wont kill the eggs), clean out his cage with soap and water, order Provent-a-mite, then use it(be sure to follow the directions that come with it).
Just put the UTH under the tub(make sure you use a thermostat):confused:
As far as the squeeking, I dont know, just get his temps up in the tub and make sure you get the humidity up, If you use a tub you shouldnt have problems with humidity if you have a water bowl, as long as its not really really ventilated.

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

The first problem I have is today after holding my BP I saw 2 black mites crawling on my hand, and of course I saw more in his tank after noticing this.

What products do you personally recommend to clean his enclosure, and for his body as well. (I am so angry, I know that the mites must have come with him from the pet store as I've only had him a few weeks, and he's only eating f/t and his aspen substrate was fresh from the bag, and the enclosure was brand new (and I cleaned it thoroughly before setting it up).

Second problem, I have him in a glass tank at the moment, but it's too hard to regulate the temps in there, the cool side gets down to 74 at night and I need to fix that so tomorrow I'm going to buy a new enclosure. A tub with newspaper as substrate, any idea on how to keep the tub raised up for the UTH without having a full rack system?

Third maybe problem, sometimes when I take him out he makes a squeaking noise, it's not every time I take him out, but it's not constant, and I've never heard him make the noise while in his enclosure. Is this a sign of something worse, RI? Or could it just be excitement/scared because he is in a new environment.

I want him to be as happy and healthy as possible so tomorrow morning I'm going to spend as much money as I need to fix these things. Do you think I should take him to a vet as well? Don't judge me too harshly.

Edit: I should have known there would be problems, this pet store is cheap and shady, but when I saw him in a clear on all sides enclosure with no hide, a tiny water holder, he was very skinny and unhappy, I had to rescue him.

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Provent-a-mite is the product you want - but follow the directions exactly as it is potent stuff.

The give him some immediate relief a water bath at 86f with just a spot of mild dish soap in it will drown the little blighters. Do not use water that is too hot and keep an eye on him during the soak to make sure he is ok.

For the tub you can buy small rubber stick on feet at most hardware stores in various sizes.

As for the squeaking noise;

Does he have any stuck shed or is he in a shed cycle at the moment?

Is there any sign of excess mucus inside his mouth?

Does he sit with his head raised and his mouth open for extended periods of time?

Is there any sign of mucus dried on his cage furniture or in his water bowl?


dr del

Well Provent a Mite for the mite READ the directions carefully twice before using and follow them to the letter.

For your heat issue I use tanks with great success and have posted in a couple other threads how to stabilize tank temps.

First I covered 3 sides of the tank with aquarium background (the only good item I have found from Petsmart) just to make it look nicer for me to look at.

Second I took some cardboard and cut it to fit the 3 covered sides. Then I taped one side of the cardboard with foil tape to reflect heat back into the tank and taped the cardboard to the 3 coverd sides of the tank as seen below.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...83841836_n.jpg

As for the screen top I purchased a peice of plexi from HomeDepot and cut it to fit just inside the slider top for my tank. Drilled a few holes in it for ventilation and one large hole for the CHE. Taped a portion of it with foil tape and left the back untaped for the tank light. I do like to see my snake when she is out

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...64496118_n.jpg

Heat is supplied from a 60W CHE and Flexwatt 11 taped to the bottom. The CHE is set at about 50% on a lamp dimmer from HomeDepot (plan to get a dual T-stat for it in the future) The Flexwatt is set on a Vivarium VE 300 T-stat set to 96F. This keep my hot spot at 91F and ambient at 78-81F as room temps fluctuate a little. My Snake seems to love it she just got a great checkup from the vet and is eating like a pig. Hasn't refused a meal yet. As you can see in the photo below room temp was about 68f and tank temps were exactly what I wanted them to be. Hope this helps out and feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...84084614_n.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Domepiece

As far as the mites, soak him in water for about 10-15 minutes(water will kill mites but it wont kill the eggs), clean out his cage with soap and water, order Provent-a-mite, then use it(be sure to follow the directions that come with it).
Just put the UTH under the tub(make sure you use a thermostat):confused:
As far as the squeeking, I dont know, just get his temps up in the tub and make sure you get the humidity up, If you use a tub you shouldnt have problems with humidity if you have a water bowl, as long as its not really really ventilated.

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His humidity is actually good, it's actually probably on the high side, around 58-60% mostly. The UTH heats his hot side hide bedding to 92 F, it's the cool side that I cannot keep warm, I tried putting a towel over the tank and that just makes the humidity too high, and the hot side too high without bringing up the cool side ambient temp more than a couple degrees.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

As for the squeaking noise;

Does he have any stuck shed or is he in a shed cycle at the moment?

Is there any sign of excess mucus inside his mouth?

Does he sit with his head raised and his mouth open for extended periods of time?

Is there any sign of mucus dried on his cage furniture or in his water bowl?

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I've never seen his mouth open, aside from eating, and he doesn't rest with his head up.there is no mucous or anything around his nostrils or enclosure, he had a shed about 10 days ago, the skin came off in about 8 pieces, but everything came off, none left on his nose.

As far as a tub goes, any tub with a latching lid will work. Make sure it is latch, and not just a press and lock type.

You will want a UTH for the tub, plastic and heat lamps do not mix. If you don't have a thermostat yet, you will need one as well.

Provent -a -mite, available online from Pro Products, is your best bet for the mites. As stated you can use a shallow warm water bath with a drop of dish soap or baby shampoo in it to drown some of the little buggers while you wait for your PAM to arrive.

Newspaper or paper towels while you are treating the mites is a good idea according to most.

Lastly, are you sure he isn't hissing when you pick him up ? A lot of times a nervous snake will close-mouthed hiss to protest an intrusion on it's privacy. Since you only hear it once in a while, I kind of suspect that might be what it is. I call it "huffing" because it sounds kind of like you when you exhale hard when something annoys you.

I don't think a vet visit is necessary, as long as you take adequate steps like you are.

The tub will help stabilize your temps to a degree, but if the ambient temps still drop too low, you may have to consider a small heater for the room he's in.

And as far as judging you ? Hon I'm delighted to see someone so ready to make necessary changes for the health of their pet for a change! Besides, we all made some pretty dumb mistakes when we got started, I know I did. What makes us good keepers now is that we wanted to learn, and then applied our new knowledge. Sounds to me like you are off to a great start.

Gale

Thank you everyone for responding. I have PAM on the way, and I moved him into a tub enclosure so I can see any mites clearly while I'm treating it. I soaked him and at first he was scared moving around trying to get out of the water, but then he got really relaxed and even moved his whole neck underwater with just his head sticking out, and it was very satisfying to see dead mites floating in the water afterwords hah.

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Lastly, are you sure he isn't hissing when you pick him up ? A lot of times a nervous snake will close-mouthed hiss to protest an intrusion on it's privacy. Since you only hear it once in a while, I kind of suspect that might be what it is. I call it "huffing" because it sounds kind of like you when you exhale hard when something annoys you.

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Yes that must be what it is, a "squeak" was the wrong adjective, I actually thought at first it was me making the noise because my nose was a little stuffy and I had to stop breathing and listen to make sure that it was actually coming from him.

Just throwing this out there: do you have the uth on a thermostat?
Sometimes i read fast so i apologize if i missed it but you def wanna make sure you have one otherwise your snake could get burned.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

Yes that must be what it is, a "squeak" was the wrong adjective, I actually thought at first it was me making the noise because my nose was a little stuffy and I had to stop breathing and listen to make sure that it was actually coming from him.

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BP's can "squeak" or pop slightly when they are held. It seems to be related to stress/excitement. If he's only doing it when held, I'd assume he's fine until you see other signs of an RI as has already been mentioned.

Everyone else has given great advice! I also do my tanks up the way Robbie suggested and it's worked great for me too. Don't give a moment's thought to anyone judging you - we're just happy you're here asking questions and that you want to learn! We all start somewhere... ;)

I don't want to make a whole nother thread for this question, so while I'm waiting for PAM to arrive is it okay to give him a bath daily, or should I do it less frequently? Is there any reason this would be bad?

and to the person above I do have the UTH on a dimmer, it's only on about 1/4 of the power yet reaches 90 F

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

I don't want to make a whole nother thread for this question, so while I'm waiting for PAM to arrive is it okay to give him a bath daily, or should I do it less frequently? Is there any reason this would be bad?

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I don't see the harm (other than potentially being stressful), or the good - as the easier and less stressful solution would be to give him a water dish big enough for him to completely submerge himself in water.

That way he can choose to be in there, and it wont be as stressful as you plunking him into the bath everyday. Just make sure you change the water every day - and I wouldn't put COLD water in it, maybe room temp or a bit higher, but definitely not scalding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xotik

I don't see the harm (other than potentially being stressful), or the good - as the easier and less stressful solution would be to give him a water dish big enough for him to completely submerge himself in water.

That way he can choose to be in there, and it wont be as stressful as you plunking him into the bath everyday. Just make sure you change the water every day - and I wouldn't put COLD water in it, maybe room temp or a bit higher, but definitely not scalding.

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He does have a big enough water bowl, and he does soak in it, but he only puts about 1/3 of his body in it, actually it was kind of funny today when I took him out of the bath the first thing he went to in his tank was the water dish and he laid in it for another 10 minutes

I hope this isn't breaking etiquette to keep posting multiple questions in the same thread like this, but..

He's only fed for me one time, the feeding response was strong and I was really surprised how much weight he put on just after eating 1 mouse, though I'm sure he was also dehydrated when I got him, so water put on some weight too probably. Now he actually looks to be a healthy weight to my eyes.

Though it's been 2 weeks since he fed, he turned down both times, but now he's acting hungry, but I don't want to feed him until all the mites are gone because I'll have to be handling him and moving him to clean..etc.. Because he is a juvenile will him missing a month of feedings have a negative effects on his future growth? Will it stunt his growth? malnourished..etc..?

Should I offer food anyway or is it okay to wait?

Don't deprive him of food because of the mites, it's not necessary. Yes you will need to handle him a little, but if you do it carefully it will be fine. Just don't put a lot of pressure on his tummy after eating, and don't handle him more than is absolutely necessary.

Take it slow and easy, and no harm will come to him. I've had to handle several of mine for cleaning, etc. right after eating, and I've never had a problem. I remember to be gentle and avoid grabbing them right where their dinner is.

Gale

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Don't deprive him of food because of the mites, it's not necessary. Yes you will need to handle him a little, but if you do it carefully it will be fine. Just don't put a lot of pressure on his tummy after eating, and don't handle him more than is absolutely necessary.

Take it slow and easy, and no harm will come to him. I've had to handle several of mine for cleaning, etc. right after eating, and I've never had a problem. I remember to be gentle and avoid grabbing them right where their dinner is.

Gale

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Great, I just fed him, how blind exactly are they? He doesn't seem to see me dangling it in front of him and he looks all over for it and he doesn't know where it is until he bumps into it and then he goes into s position.

I am going to agree with what they all said about the glass tanks as I have my bp in a 40 gallon and only have one yea lamp on it and I have good temps and humidity. My humidity stays right between 50 and 60 percent when I use Cyprus mulch. Now I know u go to a pet store and see Cyprus mulch is very expensive but u can go to ur nearest hardware/gardening store and by very large bags for extremely cheap. I got a 40lb bag for 5$ and it's by far the best substrate I have ever used. I also put aluminum foil on the lid of the tank and that is awesome for holding in heat. I have a hot side that stays between 92 and 94 degrees with a cooler side sitting between 82 and 84. I would t ditch ur glass setup yet I would try what has been recommended first before u go spending money u don't need to. Also as far as mites that had been very well covered and good luck and keep us posted.


1.0 normal bp- Blitz
1.0 Nicaraguan boa- Gavin
0.1 Red Tail Boa- Tara

Balls see in heat. So if you don't have it hot enough, he can't see it well. This is also how people end up getting bitten sometimes. If your hand is producing a bigger or stronger heat signature than his food, guess what gets hit ?

I always hit the head of my f/t prey with a hairdryer for about 15 seconds just before offering it. That produces a massive heat signature and usually results in a hard, fast strike.

Gale

wow never thought of that, thanks for the tip gale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drezden

The first problem I have is today after holding my BP I saw 2 black mites crawling on my hand, and of course I saw more in his tank after noticing this.

What products do you personally recommend to clean his enclosure, and for his body as well. (I am so angry, I know that the mites must have come with him from the pet store as I've only had him a few weeks, and he's only eating f/t and his aspen substrate was fresh from the bag, and the enclosure was brand new (and I cleaned it thoroughly before setting it up).

Second problem, I have him in a glass tank at the moment, but it's too hard to regulate the temps in there, the cool side gets down to 74 at night and I need to fix that so tomorrow I'm going to buy a new enclosure. A tub with newspaper as substrate, any idea on how to keep the tub raised up for the UTH without having a full rack system?

Third maybe problem, sometimes when I take him out he makes a squeaking noise, it's not every time I take him out, but it's not constant, and I've never heard him make the noise while in his enclosure. Is this a sign of something worse, RI? Or could it just be excitement/scared because he is in a new environment.

I want him to be as happy and healthy as possible so tomorrow morning I'm going to spend as much money as I need to fix these things. Do you think I should take him to a vet as well? Don't judge me too harshly.

Edit: I should have known there would be problems, this pet store is cheap and shady, but when I saw him in a clear on all sides enclosure with no hide, a tiny water holder, he was very skinny and unhappy, I had to rescue him.

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Many many moons ago we all kept our snakes in glass aquariums and all was good. Alex (Kitedemon) is a guy you should hit up with a PM. He has tuning glass enclosures down to a science. Talk to him before you go spending money on any new set ups.

As for the other issues, I think everyone else has pretty much given you good solid advice.

I'm not a big fan on bathing, especially if you are struggling with fine tuning your other husbandry parameters. Between the mites and the other issues, the last thing you need is another potential stressor.

Remove the substrate, put him on paper towels and when you receive the PAM, place the new substrate in a rubbermaid container. Treat the substrate in the container, let it air dry and then place it in the aquarium.