question about my snake and her hides

I got indica (my snake) yesterday, and she has not used her hides yet at all. I was wondering if this is bad or if this is normal that she hasnt used them right away.

here is a picture of her tub

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/k...kbetter001.jpg

she pushed the hide that is on the uth over(the right side) and just sits on the uth. my cool side is 77degrees and my warm side is 89 degrees currently.

The warm side needs to be 92-94

I would give her a while to settle in. She probably just isn't used to her new enclosure yet. BTW, she is beautiful.

i know the temps are suposed to be 92 but i am having alot of trouble regulating the temps. i have to mess with the t-stat alot or else sometimes it goes hot and sometimes goes cold. i dont know what thats all about

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Originally Posted by First_Phantom

i know the temps are suposed to be 92 but i am having alot of trouble regulating the temps. i have to mess with the t-stat alot or else sometimes it goes hot and sometimes goes cold. i dont know what thats all about

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It looks like the probe is taped to the bottom of the enclosure? Or sitting on the paper towel?

The probe should be somewhere she can't urinate on it, and somewhere fastened securely. I recommend taping it directly to the heat tape, outside the enclosure for safety reasons. If she bumps it off that heat tape currently, it will get very very hot. Not to mention your temps may be fluctuating now as she lays on it/ bumps it.

JonV

awesome. i did as u said and taped the probe to the UTH under the tub. thanks for the advice :)

Your welcome. A temp gun (www.tempgun.com) is always a great investment. Keep that thermostat at such a temp so it's 89-92 on her belly in the tub (that's measured in the tub, not necessary on the thermostat).

Getting your ambient temps up/consistent may be another step, depending on the temperatures in your room. Many times those UTH don't do much for the ambient temps.

JonV

Thermostat probe goes on the OUTSIDE of the tub right on the UTH. The Accurite probe goes on the INSIDE of the tub, under the substrate and right on top of the UTH.

That should help you to get the right temps.

She isn't using her hides yet because she is still stressed from the move. Give her a little while to settle in and she will start using her hides.

i actually have 2 accurites and no probe for my t-stat. my t-stat is actually a lamp light dimmer but i was told they work the same. I have the probe for the cool side on the inside of my tub on the wall and the probe to measre my warm side i put underneath the tub right on the UTH. so far the temps seem to be more stable.

i do not really use substrate just paper towels. but like nevohraalnavnoj said she might urinate on the probe since i have paper towels only so im guessing putting the probe on the heater isnt a bad idea.

right now its been at a quite stable 90-92degrees.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by First_Phantom

i actually have 2 accurites and no probe for my t-stat. my t-stat is actually a lamp light dimmer but i was told they work the same. I have the probe for the cool side on the inside of my tub on the wall and the probe to measre my warm side i put underneath the tub right on the UTH. so far the temps seem to be more stable.

i do not really use substrate just paper towels. but like nevohraalnavnoj said she might urinate on the probe since i have paper towels only so im guessing putting the probe on the heater isnt a bad idea.

right now its been at a quite stable 90-92degrees.

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You don't need two accurites. The indoor temperature will measure your ambient and cool side temp and the probe (outside temp) will measure your hot side temp. Put the entire unit on the cool side. Put the probe right on the plastic over the UTH underneath the paper towels. It doesn't matter if she pees on it really. They are water tight. It is the THERMOSTAT probe that you should worry about, but since you don't have one, it doesn't matter.

A light dimmer does not work the same as a Thermostat. As you can already tell, maintaining a steady temperature with a dimmer is pretty hard unless your room temperature doesn't fluctuate much. I would seriously consider getting a thermostat. It will make your life infinitely easier and make a safer environment for your snake.

okay thx fo the advice. where can i get a good t-stat then? i looked at the pet store and they did not have one. any suggestions?

The most basic of the basic is the reptitemp 500R: http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=75
The next step up would be one of these: http://www.reptilebasics.com/Thermostats-p-1-c-250.html

i'm gonna get a helix :sweeet:

quick question, judging by the size of Indica (my bp) how old do u think she is? pics are on the first page of the thread. the guy i bought her from didnt remember.

How long is she and how much does she weigh?

As far as the hides, some snakes are kinda clueless about a new hide. Direct her head first into the enclosure entrance. The light bulb should then go off over her head. :)

wow lol that was seriously to easy. i picked her up and put her face looking at the entrance of one of her hides, she immediately slithered in and curled up. awesome :)

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Originally Posted by First_Phantom

wow lol that was seriously to easy. i picked her up and put her face looking at the entrance of one of her hides, she immediately slithered in and curled up. awesome :)

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Glad she took the hint. Sometimes it's just something easy like this and you just have to nudge them along to do what needs done. Glad she's happpy in her hide now. :)