new tub, new stress.

[ms381]

Hi everone,

I have been keeping my 8 month bp in a tank, after some rearranging at the start i had a near perfect setup for him. Temps were spot on, with a uth and thermostat and heat lamp, humidity was 50-55% and he was eating well and behaving normally.

Yesterday i did however change him to a tub, 2 reasons. The first, because of of space and secondly because of what i had read on the forums about the advantages about tubs and racks.

Since he has got in the tub he is mega stressed, showing all the signs as before when i first got him untill i changed and tweaked his set up in the cage.

I thought the conditions in the tub would suit him better and he would just go right in no trouble. as the tub is slightly smaller floor space wise and lower in height.

Here is the set up now,

Size, 72cm length, 37cm wide 20cm height
Temps, 90 d warm uth with thermostat and 72-75 d cool side (i know this is low and whats causing the problem) but i cant use a space heater or anything)
2 hides what he was using before
two water bowls as before
humid hide box as before
2 x water bowls
fake plants to fill out

Also put a line of about 20 scewdriver head size holes on either side of the tank for air , is that enough?

As ive said the ambient is low without the heat lamp, how do u gus keep our tubs ambient temp up?

Why is he stressed so much, i thought the change would suit him more.

Shall i just go back to his cage set up to stop him from stressing and are the ambient temps a major health problem.

I feel really sad as i thought this was for the best, for both me and my girlfreind and henr the bp, but we have just made things worse.

Any help would be appreciated

Matt

[llovelace]

He should be fine, give him a week to settle in

[06gt]

i keep my small bp at 90 uth, and 78.5 w/ ceramic heat emitter i find (this is my opinion) that the ceramic heat emitter doesnt diminish the humidity as much as a regular bulb but keeps my tank (10 gallon W/ 40 watt CHE) perfect i mist the bark daily and it retains the humidity very well. i would say if the tank you had him in before was suiting him better i would move him back. just my opinion good luck.

[SlitherinSisters]

Can you take a picture of the set up with the snake in it? It still sounds pretty big to me, but I'll admit I'm super sick so thinking isn't one of my best qualities right now. If he's so stressed out I would put him in the smallest tub set up he can be in. One that you can only fit one hide and one water bowl in (IMO), it will also help keep the cool side temps up.

Also are your hides really snug for him? He should have to squish himself a bit to fit inside the hides-he should also have to be balled up to lay in it. If he's roaming around all day I would say it's the hides that are the main source of stress.

[chapskis1]

I would say that the hides are probably not the problem, since the OP stated that they are the sames hide he had before moving the snake. I'm not sure about the size of the tub...I don't really know my metric system very well. Depending on the size of the snake, a 32qt tub is about as big as you would ever need for a male and most females, but some larger females could benefit from a 41 qt tub. And I just looked on the side of one of my tubs, and it looks like a 32qt is equal to about 30 liters.

I would probably just let him settle for a week or two, and I am sure he will eventually get used to it.

And about the holes...20 is plenty. Really I would say 5 would be enough. The holes are mainly for adjusting humidity levels more so than for air. I probably have about 60 holes in mine on all 4 sides combined, but it gets very humid where I live during the summer. During the winter it is less humid, and I mist my tubs daily when my snakes are in shed.

As far as the ambient only being 70 -- I would not worry about it. My ambient in my tubs very rarely gets above 70 in the winter being that we keep our house at 68. I keep my hot side at 90. I have had my snakes in a rack with these temps for a year now, with no RI's or any other problems, and am even getting successful locks between two of them right now.

I hope all this helps!!

[Raf702]

Hi everone,

I have been keeping my 8 month bp in a tank, after some rearranging at the start i had a near perfect setup for him. Temps were spot on, with a uth and thermostat and heat lamp, humidity was 50-55% and he was eating well and behaving normally.

Yesterday i did however change him to a tub, 2 reasons. The first, because of of space and secondly because of what i had read on the forums about the advantages about tubs and racks.

Since he has got in the tub he is mega stressed, showing all the signs as before when i first got him untill i changed and tweaked his set up in the cage.

I thought the conditions in the tub would suit him better and he would just go right in no trouble. as the tub is slightly smaller floor space wise and lower in height.

Here is the set up now,

Size, 72cm length, 37cm wide 20cm height
Temps, 90 d warm uth with thermostat and 72-75 d cool side (i know this is low and whats causing the problem) but i cant use a space heater or anything)
2 hides what he was using before
two water bowls as before
humid hide box as before
2 x water bowls
fake plants to fill out

Also put a line of about 20 scewdriver head size holes on either side of the tank for air , is that enough?

Sounds fine to me, if Humidity and temp fluctuate dramatically. Then you might have too many. If it's stable, then your air holes should be fine.

As ive said the ambient is low without the heat lamp, how do u gus keep our tubs ambient temp up?

I actually use a heat lamp(infrared) along with my UTH in order to keep the hotside and coolside up to appropriate temps. I noticed with just using a UTH, ambient, cold and hotside were signficantly low. Even though the UTH would maintain 90-92F. You can use a heat lamp to aid in increasing temps. But just make sure you can control the humidity as well. Since heat lamps do dry out the air, for me to counteract that. I placed a tiny tupperware with a wet sponge and placed it on top of the hide that is directly under the heat lamp. And that kept my humidity up, while maintaining proper temps.

Why is he stressed so much, i thought the change would suit him more.

With any new environment regardless of size. They will naturally investigate their surroundings until they feel secure/safe. Just leave him alone for at least a week to get acclimated. But still cleaning his enclosure when necessary.

Shall i just go back to his cage set up to stop him from stressing and are the ambient temps a major health problem.

Let him get adjusted to his new enclosure, time is the only thing you can count on when snakes move to new habitats. All the while you monitor the temps and humidity.

I feel really sad as i thought this was for the best, for both me and my girlfreind and henr the bp, but we have just made things worse.

Don't worry at all, he's just trying adjust to his new home. He will eventually get cozy and settle in. He'll roam around for a bit, then he'll move into one of his hiding spots and will get comfortable. Same thing happened with my new BP that I got nearly 2 weeks ago. His first day and part of the night he was roaming around and investigating his new enclosure. And by the second day, he was already settled in and found his sweet spot. It's now been almost 2 weeks, and he's adjusted to his home and seem to enjoy it very much. Also BP's have a life expectancy of 20+ years if well taken care of. So a week or two of leaving him alone is nothing compared to having him for 20+ years. It's nerve wrecking for you, but he will do just fine. Good luck, and keep us updated!

Any help would be appreciated

Matt

[SlitherinSisters]

I would say that the hides are probably not the problem, since the OP stated that they are the sames hide he had before moving the snake. I'm not sure about the size of the tub...I don't really know my metric system very well. Depending on the size of the snake, a 32qt tub is about as big as you would ever need for a male and most females, but some larger females could benefit from a 41 qt tub. And I just looked on the side of one of my tubs, and it looks like a 32qt is equal to about 30 liters.

I would probably just let him settle for a week or two, and I am sure he will eventually get used to it.

And about the holes...20 is plenty. Really I would say 5 would be enough. The holes are mainly for adjusting humidity levels more so than for air. I probably have about 60 holes in mine on all 4 sides combined, but it gets very humid where I live during the summer. During the winter it is less humid, and I mist my tubs daily when my snakes are in shed.

As far as the ambient only being 70 -- I would not worry about it. My ambient in my tubs very rarely gets above 70 in the winter being that we keep our house at 68. I keep my hot side at 90. I have had my snakes in a rack with these temps for a year now, with no RI's or any other problems, and am even getting successful locks between two of them right now.

I hope all this helps!!

Oh I thought it was stressed out in the tank too.... Hides probably aren't the issue. Time to settle in sounds like the issue.