Brazilian Rainbow Boa

[bwvolo]

i need help! i just baught a brb just under a week ago. i have it at home in the tank. i found out the little guy has mits i trying toget rid of that problem. but i dont know wat to do i have a 100 watt blue light for day time and its not hot enough in the tank. and also not even close to the right humidaty. i have a 20 gallon tall glass tank , i have put a towle on top of the screen top and keep that wet it helps. i also have the snake in a smaller tank until i get rid ot the mits i have damp paper towles lining the bottom of that with a water bowl. so my question is what can i do for more heat not a lot just 5 degress more on both sides. and for the humidaty ive got it about 65 i need to get it up to 75 to 80 thanks for the help .... sry about the spelling

[OhhWatALoser]

Buy a 5 dollar tub and use some type of UTH

[bwvolo]

im really new to all of this sry for the dumb question but whats a UTH

[deftones2015]

UTH = under tank heater. There are many different brands you can buy. The most important thing to remember with them though, is they can get EXTREMELY hot, so you will have to buy a plug in light dimmer (buy them at home depot, lowes possibly, and menards etc.) or a thermostat. Also, a good thermometer is required to see how hot it is. Another thing you can buy is a digital temp. gun. They can be found for around 30 bucks online. You'll need a thermometer at least. I would go with a thermometer that has a probe on it so you can put that directly on the glass above the uth.

[bwvolo]

thanks for the info... but do you have any ideas for the humidity?

[deftones2015]

As for humidity you could mist your cage daily, or use some aluminum foil or plastic wrap on top of the mesh to help hold in humidity. You could also put your snake in a tub. I keep all of mine in sterelite tubs. I use the plastic wrap on my poison dart frog tank. You could also use a larger water dish in combination with covering the screen top. You can also use a bark substrate like cypress mulch (make sure it has no chemicals in it though) or maybe even repti bark although I think cypress mulch would be cheaper. Mist it once in a while and it should help keep your humidity up. Like I said though, I use sterelite tubs and have no issues with humidity. I'm sure others will chime in with more ideas though.

If you're having a really hard time with humidity you could also give him a humid hide. I used to do that with a ball python a few years back. I used an appropriately sized closed container (I used a country crock large container) and cut a hole in the top large enough for my snake to get into. Inside the container I used moist sphagnum moss that I bought at my local pet store. I moistened the moss to the same wetness as a well wrung out wash clothe.

Hope that helps.

[deftones2015]

If you have mites though, I would stay with paper towel substrate but maybe give a moist hide using wet paper towels and after the mites are taken care of then try some of the other substrates and wet moss if you like.

[bwvolo]

thanks a lot ... i have him in a small crate thing inside my big tank until i get rid of the mites. i was told that live plants woud help with the humidity what would be the best plant or i guess the worst because i dont want anything that is going to hurt the snake, and where could i get the plant from.... i have part of the lid cover with tin foil and the other part with a damp towle and cypress bark and moss in a hiding spot but again he is in a small tank inside the big tank. the small tank has damp paper towles as the substrate.

[deftones2015]

The problem with plants is lighting. I use live plants in my pdf tank but the humidity in there is near 100%. I keep wandering jew, anubias, cryptocorynes, and a few ferns, I'm not sure how they would do with less humidity though nor am I familiar with how they would hold up with a snake.

[OhhWatALoser]

if you set on using a tank, switch to a UTH, it will make your life way easier as far as humidity goes. as said before make sure it is regulated in some way. then switch to a substrate that hold moisture a little better, personally i use cypress, but there are many to choose from. as said before, cover most of the screen lid, its letting all that nice humid air out.