New owner and site member, BP Dehydrated from store.

[Spoons]

"Humidity gauge" - would that happen to be one of the dial ones you stick to the side? What are you measuring temps with? What are you heating with? Give us an exact description of your tank/tub setup. If it's a tank, do you have tinfoil covering the top at all? Pics might help.

[Karokash]

You're right, sorry. Pics are taking forever because I have to use my phone then upload and host them and this isn't my laptop but he's in a 20g long terrarrium with a locking mesh lid that has a locking access hatch. Aspen bedding with two hides at each end. The warm end has a UTH under the bottom with some pseudo tile as a barrier and a 75watt red heat lamp resting on the top above that side. There is a thermometer with probe measuring that side, the probe is under the bedding on top of the glass. that side reads about 95 and i'm trying to bring it down by thickening the barrier. The other side just has a stick on thermometer on the side, reads about 80-85. the humidity gauge is another stick on one, in the middle attached to the back wall, not under the lamp. I know it's not an elaborate setup or the best or most perfect. Like I said, Kaa was a surprise and I just threw this together to hold him until I build him something nice and just for him. I just want to ensure his safety until said vivarium can be built.

EDIT: plastic wrap over the left side of the lid

[Karokash]

Best I could get at the moment, lights are only on for picture purposes. He's in his soak bowl right now which normally isn't in there. The water hide hasn't been made yet.

[200xth]

that side reads about 95 and i'm trying to bring it down by thickening the barrier.

The snake is gonna burrow. You need to adjust the temperature itself so the glass is only 90 degrees.

I can say you sound kinda stressed, but take a breath and relax. You can't be positive from pictures, but I don't think your snake is gonna die tomorrow or in the next few days. In other words, you have time to adjust things and he'll be fine.

My opinion, don't handle him unless needed, don't feed him yet, put a humid hide in the tank for him to go into. If you're really worried about overall humidity, put a bigger water bowl in as well. If you're really stressed about his hydration levels, soak him once a day for 30 mins for a few days. Then try feeding him in a week.

[Karokash]

The snake is gonna burrow. You need to adjust the temperature itself so the glass is only 90 degrees.

I can say you sound kinda stressed, but take a breath and relax. You can't be positive from pictures, but I don't think your snake is gonna die tomorrow or in the next few days. In other words, you have time to adjust things and he'll be fine.

My opinion, don't handle him unless needed, don't feed him yet, put a humid hide in the tank for him to go into. If you're really worried about overall humidity, put a bigger water bowl in as well. If you're really stressed about his hydration levels, soak him once a day for 30 mins for a few days. Then try feeding him in a week.

Thank you. I will admit to being a little overly cautious and paranoid due to my last snake's sudden death. I think the only way I can get the temp regulated is to find a thermostat. Something the local pet shop doesn't sell, with no real surprise there. The barriers are a band-aid solution. The next step is the water hide. I've heard it setup as a large bowl inside a hide as well as a hide with wet moss inside; I think the first option leaves less room for complications. I am also going to increase the size of his dish. I fill it every day but I think it's too small to keep adequate humidity apparently. I'll repeat the soaks until I see all the stuck shed gone but judging from the pictures, would you say the dehydration is a correct call? And if so, what changes should I notice to be able to tell if the soaks are working.

Thank you again

[200xth]

Thank you. I will admit to being a little overly cautious and paranoid due to my last snake's sudden death. I think the only way I can get the temp regulated is to find a thermostat. Something the local pet shop doesn't sell, with no real surprise there. The barriers are a band-aid solution. The next step is the water hide. I've heard it setup as a large bowl inside a hide as well as a hide with wet moss inside; I think the first option leaves less room for complications. I am also going to increase the size of his dish. I fill it every day but I think it's too small to keep adequate humidity apparently. I'll repeat the soaks until I see all the stuck shed gone but judging from the pictures, would you say the dehydration is a correct call? And if so, what changes should I notice to be able to tell if the soaks are working.

Thank you again

Yes. You definitely need a thermostat if you don't have one already. 95F is about the upper limit on the hot side, but it's not fatal for him so you should be okay for a little bit until you get the thermostat.

If he has stuck shed, follow this: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem

A lot of people also put them in damp pillowcases to help the snake remove the stuck parts. If all he has is stuck shed, you don't need to soak him for days in a row, just the once as directed in that thread above.

Humid hide I would use the moss, but that's just because I've done that in the past. I've also used damp paper towels in a pinch, but that dries out much quicker than the moss. Never done the water bowl in the hide. Maybe someone else has and can tell you how well that works.

I would say do the instructions on the bad shed tomorrow to get that taken care of as much as you can, get the humid hide in his enclosure, get the bigger water bowl in place, and then post some more pics of him after that. Based on those updated pics, someone will be able to help you further along at that point if you still need it.

[Spoons]

You're very right, you need a thermostat. Good idea to use a barrier, but really I would stop using it alltogether until you can get a stat if that heating lamp is enough to keep it in the 80s on its own. It's good that you're using a probed thermometer on the hot side, but you need to change the others - those stick on dials are not very reliable at all. You can get an all-in-one thermometer/humidity sensor from wal mart for about 15 bucks, I linked it below. Put the probe in the hot hide under the substrate, put the actual device on the cool side, and it will measure both. It also takes humidity.

Some tin foil covering 2/3 of the screen top will be much more effective than plastic wrap at reflecting in heat and humidity. I can't tell you if he's dehydrated, I'm a bit new myself, but it can't hurt to put in a humid hide. If you're going to put in a bowl of water I'd fill it with sphagnum moss, some snakes don't like physically "swimming" or soaking, but damp media is preferable. A mister will raise humidity also. Put your heat lamp right above the water dish, and I also hear coco husk bedding holds humidity well. I do a 50/50 mix of aspen and coco husk and mist once in a while.


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acu-Rite-I...mometer/896347

[Karokash]

Yes. You definitely need a thermostat if you don't have one already. 95F is about the upper limit on the hot side, but it's not fatal for him so you should be okay for a little bit until you get the thermostat.
...

I would say do the instructions on the bad shed tomorrow to get that taken care of as much as you can, get the humid hide in his enclosure, get the bigger water bowl in place, and then post some more pics of him after that. Based on those updated pics, someone will be able to help you further along at that point if you still need it.

Decided: Taking off tomorrow and getting this done. I'm going to change the tiny dial thermometer and hydrometer for probe ones and replace his water bowl with a bigger one. I actually read that other page for sheds and soaked him with the rag and it loosened the skins. I'll check him tomorrow to see if he got it all off before I try to do anything that requires me to handle him. Also my first priority is finding a thermostat. Another thread here showed one that allowed the UTH to be plugged into it for auto regulation but I haven't been able to find anything like that locally. I'd order one if I knew what to look for. But I'm going on the hunt tomorrow to get this temporary home setup correctly until I can build his custom home. Should I post the update pics here or start a new thread. I'd like to keep it all together in case someone new comes in and wants to see progress to make suggestions.

[Karokash]

You're very right, you need a thermostat. Good idea to use a barrier, but really I would stop using it alltogether until you can get a stat if that heating lamp is enough to keep it in the 80s on its own. It's good that you're using a probed thermometer on the hot side, but you need to change the others - those stick on dials are not very reliable at all. You can get an all-in-one thermometer/humidity sensor from wal mart for about 15 bucks, I linked it below. Put the probe in the hot hide under the substrate, put the actual device on the cool side, and it will measure both. It also takes humidity.

Some tin foil covering 2/3 of the screen top will be much more effective than plastic wrap at reflecting in heat and humidity. I can't tell you if he's dehydrated, I'm a bit new myself, but it can't hurt to put in a humid hide. If you're going to put in a bowl of water I'd fill it with sphagnum moss, some snakes don't like physically "swimming" or soaking, but damp media is preferable. A mister will raise humidity also. Put your heat lamp right above the water dish, and I also hear coco husk bedding holds humidity well. I do a 50/50 mix of aspen and coco husk and mist once in a while.


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acu-Rite-I...mometer/896347

Can't thank you enough for all that. The link especially. That sounds like an awesome piece of equipment. I'll also try the coco husk mix. I have an issue with the foil in that the access hatch is in the middle of the lid :/ which means I can't cover it with foil so I either have to put my lamp in the middle which throws the whole gradient off, or sacrifice covering 2/3 of the lid. But I will change the plastic for foil and see if that can help. My only question left would be if you have a problem with mold with the moss. That's all i'd worry about with keeping something moist like that in the cage constantly.

[Karokash]

Just thought of something, if anyone is still here. I read that the overhead light might contribute to the drop in humidity. Seeing as i'm having trouble with my UTH making that side too hot, Is it possible to just have the UTH going without the light? In other words, is the light necessary for anything more than heat if, say, I turn it off and the ambient temps are fine and the UTH side drops to a healthy level would I be depriving Kaa of anything.