Habitat stuff?

Hey guize,

I couldn't help but notice that my snake's (poprocks) terrarium, is extreamly dull, I have been getting her cypress mulch, she has a half log hide, a water bowl, and a heat pad, although I've been told that you don't have to over due it with the terrarium look but I love to spoil my little girl (yes she is like a child to me), and while shes still little I wanted to buy her some things to hang on, but for some odd reason, I couldn't find any second level vine systems and wanted to know if any of you knew some good places to order them for reasonable prices? Or if I should add anything else into her tank. I was going to buy a heat emitter but I was told while she is still small and in a 10 gallon a heat pad will do just fine, so I didn't get one, I may or may not need to buy her a daylight. I was also told that cypress mulch is okay but bark will do just fine and keep them from burrowing?

Either way, poprocks and I send lots of love!


~Kaala

She needs 2 hides that are more enclosed than a half log and your heat pad needs a thermostat.

She doesn't need a daylight.

What are your air temps in the tank and what are the surface temps where the snake sits?

You have raised some questions.

You are using a thermostat correct? If not this is your first purchase period.

The second is what are your temps?

No body can tell you what you will need for heat unless they have the exact same conditions the tank is in. In other words in the same room. The conditions in your living room or where ever the tank is are not the same as mine or the next persons there are simply too many variables.

The temps (warm, cool, and ambient) are the only things that will tell you if you need a secondary heater or not.

Log hides are not the best they often are too open, do you have two hides or just one?

Has 'poprocks' eaten and does he/she eat regularly?

Fake plants can be bought from dollar store places, avoid any that smell strongly. Vines are a bit harder but exoterra and zoomed (others too these just came to mind) make vine products that use suction cups to hold them in place that is a pet store or on line. Avoid hard closed shapes like skulls with open holes for eyes. If a snake becomes stuck it is quite serious after a meal the stomach is not as compressible and on rare occasions a snake can become trapped and cause them selves harm.

If I'm not mistaking you are talking about a red tail boa correct. If so, I would suggest two hides but don't be surprised if she does not use them much. My little boa just recently started going inside of a hide for the first time recently and many people say that thier boa uses hides when little but not as much as they get bigger but still offer at least one anyway. You could clutter it up as much as you like and if there is a reptile show near you then it may be a good place to pick up a variety of things such as vines, hides, fake rocks, etc., and you won't have to pay much for shipping. I think boas tend to be less finicky (not sure if I spelled that correctly) than ball pythons so I would not worry too much about not having perfect hides. Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

You have raised some questions.

You are using a thermostat correct? If not this is your first purchase period.

The second is what are your temps?

No body can tell you what you will need for heat unless they have the exact same conditions the tank is in. In other words in the same room. The conditions in your living room or where ever the tank is are not the same as mine or the next persons there are simply too many variables.

The temps (warm, cool, and ambient) are the only things that will tell you if you need a secondary heater or not.

Log hides are not the best they often are too open, do you have two hides or just one?

Has 'poprocks' eaten and does he/she eat regularly?

Fake plants can be bought from dollar store places, avoid any that smell strongly. Vines are a bit harder but exoterra and zoomed (others too these just came to mind) make vine products that use suction cups to hold them in place that is a pet store or on line. Avoid hard closed shapes like skulls with open holes for eyes. If a snake becomes stuck it is quite serious after a meal the stomach is not as compressible and on rare occasions a snake can become trapped and cause them selves harm.

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I agree with most of this - especially that thermostat. But I do think the 1/2 logs are ok as hides for boas. Boas are not usually as shy as BPs. My question is, why do you want to prevent her from burrowing? Boas, especially young ones, like to burrow and they should be offered that option.

She doesn't need any specific lighting. You should know what your temps are - what is the ambient temp in her cage and what is the hotspot? That is the only way we can gauge if you need the additional heat emitter. Most of the time, a heat mat (ON A THERMOSTAT!!) is enough.

My guy used a half log as a perch more than a hide. He spent more time hiding under his substrate than in his hides.

Other stuff. I have an exoterra fern. He uses this as a hide and it's awesome for keeping up humidity. Just spray well when misting or get it wet in the shower and shake it off before putting back in.

We also have two water bowls. One on the cool side and a larger one in the center to help with humidity.

We don't bother with hides anymore. He thermoregulates and moves around a lot more without them. We also have a chunk of wood in there.

<a href="http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/tt27/AHegbom/?action=view&current=657F820D-0080-400A-A3C6-105703556108-803-0000007BDD1206E0.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt27/AHegbom/657F820D-0080-400A-A3C6-105703556108-803-0000007BDD1206E0.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

Awful photo but this is the current setup. Not the best but it works well for us for now.

Wrong code

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/t...7BDD1206E0.jpg

By the way... The black cable is the thermometer. There's too much to hide :-/

Sorry I missed the red tails my mistake. No the hide is likely fine the thermostat is still a necessary part likely the most important part to keep a reptile healthy, personally it is not a place to save money buy the best you can.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

You have raised some questions.

I can see that...This goes for everyone who left questions.

You are using a thermostat correct? If not this is your first purchase period.

I'm using thermotape, if that's anything near, I couldn't find a stat in my price range but I can get one now. They also work really well.

The second is what are your temps?

there's a gradient of low to mid 80 degrees on the warm side to at least 73 degrees on the cool side.

No body can tell you what you will need for heat unless they have the exact same conditions the tank is in. In other words in the same room. The conditions in your living room or where ever the tank is are not the same as mine or the next persons there are simply too many variables.

The temps (warm, cool, and ambient) are the only things that will tell you if you need a secondary heater or not.

Log hides are not the best they often are too open, do you have two hides or just one?

Has 'poprocks' eaten and does he/she eat regularly?

She eats every week that I feed her, she wont however eat while she shedding which isn't surprising but I had to see.

Fake plants can be bought from dollar store places, avoid any that smell strongly. Vines are a bit harder but exoterra and zoomed (others too these just came to mind) make vine products that use suction cups to hold them in place that is a pet store or on line. Avoid hard closed shapes like skulls with open holes for eyes. If a snake becomes stuck it is quite serious after a meal the stomach is not as compressible and on rare occasions a snake can become trapped and cause them selves harm.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

I agree with most of this - especially that thermostat. But I do think the 1/2 logs are ok as hides for boas. Boas are not usually as shy as BPs. My question is, why do you want to prevent her from burrowing? Boas, especially young ones, like to burrow and they should be offered that option.

Its not that I want her to not burrow, I want her to feel safe, specially with 7 cats and 7 dogs in my house hold it can be stressful for a little girl. It was just a question, more of if bark or cypress mulch which one was better to use and easier to clean.

She doesn't need any specific lighting. You should know what your temps are - what is the ambient temp in her cage and what is the hotspot? That is the only way we can gauge if you need the additional heat emitter. Most of the time, a heat mat (ON A THERMOSTAT!!) is enough.

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thermotape? That is a tee shirt transfer product isn't it? No a THERMOSTAT. That controls the heat source, regulating off and on cycles to provide correct temps. It will allow higher wattage element to run safely.

Your temps are low for a red tail. Typically a hot spot of 88-90º is recommended dropping down to 78-80ºF .

Its just tape that tells me how warm it currently is its def not a thermostat. My apologies but I didn't know what to call it, so I just use my imagination at the time. Her temps are low because its cold here, which is why I keep the day light on for her, but it gets to hot with the infrared, it pretty much skips to the hundreds after 3 minutes of being on, the daylight manages to keep her around 88 to mid 90s, for now.

I'll look at thermostats ASAP I have a lot of things I plan on buying for her specially new bedding, hers is getting hard to keep soft and is drying up fast, but what do you expect when you live in Colorado, its a very dry state.

And if buying a thermostat is a need to have basis could you guys be so kind as to direct me to ones that you would recommend? That was kinda part of why I started this thread to begin with :].

~Kaala

I personally would recommend one of the herpstats from Spyder robotics. (http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html) On a budget I'd suggest the intro+ it has the most safety features for the price of any thermostat on the market. It cannot be beaten.

PFFF HAAHA oookay I know what I'm saving up for....

For an affordable thermostat hyrdofarms are really nice. They are about $30 on amazon. We have had nothing but great luck with these. There is also a breeder that exclusively uses hydrofarms, or at least he use to. Nice thing about these is they default to off when there is a problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WifeOfSlasher

For an affordable thermostat hyrdofarms are really nice. They are about $30 on amazon. We have had nothing but great luck with these. There is also a breeder that exclusively uses hydrofarms, or at least he use to. Nice thing about these is they default to off when there is a problem.

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That would be awesome and around my budget :] You wouldn't mind linking me to some recommended brands if you can? I want to get poprock's an affordable one as soon as I can, but I can't really afford a super nice $100 dollar one atm.

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Korclabael

Its just tape that tells me how warm it currently is its def not a thermostat. My apologies but I didn't know what to call it, so I just use my imagination at the time. Her temps are low because its cold here, which is why I keep the day light on for her, but it gets to hot with the infrared, it pretty much skips to the hundreds after 3 minutes of being on, the daylight manages to keep her around 88 to mid 90s, for now. ~Kaala

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What size wattage are you using for your infrared? If need be, put the bulb on a dimmer like this to help control your heat output. Consistent daylight is not good. I like this one because you can use a CHE bulb which puts out zero light, but good for increasing ambient temps. The downfall to using heat lamps is they tend to suck out your humidity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o05_s01_i01

Quote:

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Originally Posted by martin82531

What size wattage are you using for your infrared? If need be, put the bulb on a dimmer like this to help control your heat output. Consistent daylight is not good. I like this one because you can use a CHE bulb which puts out zero light, but good for increasing ambient temps. The downfall to using heat lamps is they tend to suck out your humidity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o05_s01_i01

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Well the infrared one that I use is way to big and hot for her 250 watts when we didnt realize where to buy them, dad said wallmart, and obviously the people didnt bother to tell us, the daylight I use is just a iridescent light but keeps her tank around the high 80's, and can get aprox 95 degrees in her tank (on the warm side) if I leave it on for a few hours its 50Watts

Thank you for the link in any case though, I can afford that for now, and I am sure poprocks would greatly appreciate it!

My bad, I keep misreading things, its an INCANDESCENT bulb, and its a Zilla brand Day Blue Light that is indeed 50 Watts but Ill still need that thermostat because my mom is planning on getting a chameleon and this light stand and bulb is technically all hers from a terrarium set she bought.