Could Roe be fasting..? My baby BCI

[Sauzo]

I did warm the mouse up. I thaw the hopper in one of those small plastic baggies, then I put the baggie in an old pill bottle filled with hot water (but not like boiling). I leave for about a half hour. I check to see if it's all warm and thawed before I offer though, and if not I hit it with a hairdryer.
Maybe she is going into shed. I saw her when I checked the temps, and I might have been imagining it but it looked like her cheeks were a bit pink? I'm not sure if that means anything.

That can mean she is going into shed. Rosey my big girl's cheeks get even more rosy than normal when she is shedding but the easiest telltale with her is she will darken up a LOT and becomes antisocial and usually sits in a hide for about 2 weeks haha.

[GpBp]

The UTH is too hot. I wouldnt go above 90F and from my experience with all my snakes, none of them like it above 86-88F.

Warm side is fine. Cool side is a bit cool. I personally wouldnt like it to get below 75F and prefer 77-79F. But for me, that is the whole cage ambient temps as i use flexwatt. So i just offer the 86-88F belly heat spot and the rest of the cage stays room temp which is 75-79F depending if its night or day.

Humidity is ok although might want to mist once a week to spike it. My boas seem to like a warm misting. They perk up and usually come out and wander around for while and are more active.

Thing with smaller cages is despite what a lot of people say about snakes "needing' the small cages, it is harder to get a good temp gradient. You can put a baby snake in a 400 gallon tank if you want assuming you get the security, temps and humidity right. You will probably never find him in there but he wouldnt care either way. The key is you need to make the cage feel secure to them. In the wild they dont live on a 24x12 plot of ground. They move all over but they do have lots of cover and junk to hide in and under and around. You want to replicate that in a larger cage.

And finally like others have said, could he be shedding? Some snakes will eat in shed, some wont. My sunglow is probably a couple days from shedding and she ate a leftover small rat last night. Also the temps of the food dont seem to matter to my boas. They eat stuff that is room temp. It seems more the smell of the item but you can always trying running it under hot(not burning) water to heat it up and them paper towel dry it and hang it infront of him.

Also a final word, how are you taking the temps? With a temp gun? Or that analog temp gauge you got? Analog gauges are generally junk and notorious for being very inaccurate. Go out and buy a temp gun and a digital temp/humidity gauge like an acurite one from Walmart or Target. I use these and they seem fairly accurate. https://www.walmart.com/ip/AcuRite-D...00325/16888914

Also they are bulletproof as my retic has dumped his in his water bowl twice and after removing the battery and letting it dry for a couple days, it works fine again.

I'll turn the UTH down. I have a spare dome I think, so I'll see if I have a low wattage bulb I could put in there over the cool side? I'll be sure to mist a bit longer when I do and make sure it gets into the moss so the humidity isn't getting out as fast. The thing with the tank size is that for 1 I thought I was going to get a hognose (but went to that reptile show and NEEDED Roe lol), and 2 it was super cheap at my dollar per gallon sale lol. I'm actually even looking now for some cheap 40gals so I have something in a couple months I guess she might be in shed, I won't offer until at least another week and watch for signs that whole time. And about the scent, it reminds me that maybe 2 weeks ago when I fed her I fed a hopper with blood coming out of it's nose and a strong smell. She took that thing faster than a knife fight in a phone booth! Any ideas for making feeders smelly? I'm using a temp gun, and a pretty nice one to. I'll send a picture of the temp gun, of my setup now that I changed the hide, and of Roe if I can find her without disturbing her.

[GpBp]

That can mean she is going into shed. Rosey my big girl's cheeks get even more rosy than normal when she is shedding but the easiest telltale with her is she will darken up a LOT and becomes antisocial and usually sits in a hide for about 2 weeks haha.

Oh! Good to know. I thought it was just me seeing things lol. And now that I think about it she might be a bit darker than normal I haven't seen her out much lately, but that's kinda normal lol

[GpBp]

Had to include that octopus lol

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[Sauzo]

I'll turn the UTH down. I have a spare dome I think, so I'll see if I have a low wattage bulb I could put in there over the cool side? I'll be sure to mist a bit longer when I do and make sure it gets into the moss so the humidity isn't getting out as fast. The thing with the tank size is that for 1 I thought I was going to get a hognose (but went to that reptile show and NEEDED Roe lol), and 2 it was super cheap at my dollar per gallon sale lol. I'm actually even looking now for some cheap 40gals so I have something in a couple months I guess she might be in shed, I won't offer until at least another week and watch for signs that whole time. And about the scent, it reminds me that maybe 2 weeks ago when I fed her I fed a hopper with blood coming out of it's nose and a strong smell. She took that thing faster than a knife fight in a phone booth! Any ideas for making feeders smelly? I'm using a temp gun, and a pretty nice one to. I'll send a picture of the temp gun, of my setup now that I changed the hide, and of Roe if I can find her without disturbing her.

Ehhh, i'd probably skip the incandescent lightbulb method. It will do nothing but dry the air out. Since you only need a a few degrees, i would probably go with something like a small CHE. It's only a 10 gallon cage so you really shouldnt need something big and if you cover the sides and most of the top of the cage, it should keep warm. I would probably look into something like the new Zoo Med Nano line stuff. The line is only 25 watt or 40 watt and you can leave them on 24/7 as it doesnt give off light. Just make sure the snake cant touch it. i would probably go with a 40 watt one. Try it on full power and see how warm it gets after an hour or so. If it gets a little too warm, either open up some of the top or buy a lamp dimmer from Home Depot. I would also buy the stuff from a local pet shop because if for some reason the 40 watt Nano set up doesnt provide enough heat, you can return it and upgrade to a something like a full size 8 inch dome and a 60 watt CHE but really i cant see a 40 watt Nano not working as its only a 10 gallon tank. Thats what i use for my GTP 18x18x18 cube with a Herpstat and it keeps the top perch at 86F and halfway down, 79F and on the floor, 77F. Remember, you dont need to heat the floor of the cage with it. You just want to heat the ambient a little.

[GpBp]

Ehhh, i'd probably skip the incandescent lightbulb method. It will do nothing but dry the air out. Since you only need a a few degrees, i would probably go with something like a small CHE. It's only a 10 gallon cage so you really shouldnt need something big and if you cover the sides and most of the top of the cage, it should keep warm. I would probably look into something like the new Zoo Med Nano line stuff. The line is only 25 watt or 40 watt and you can leave them on 24/7 as it doesnt give off light. Just make sure the snake cant touch it. i would probably go with a 40 watt one. Try it on full power and see how warm it gets after an hour or so. If it gets a little too warm, either open up some of the top or buy a lamp dimmer from Home Depot. I would also buy the stuff from a local pet shop because if for some reason the 40 watt Nano set up doesnt provide enough heat, you can return it and upgrade to a something like a full size 8 inch dome and a 60 watt CHE but really i cant see a 40 watt Nano not working as its only a 10 gallon tank. Thats what i use for my GTP 18x18x18 cube with a Herpstat and it keeps the top perch at 86F and halfway down, 79F and on the floor, 77F. Remember, you dont need to heat the floor of the cage with it. You just want to heat the ambient a little.

Ok! Sorry to get into husbandry *cough*again. I did find 2 extra regular size domes, but the lowest wattage I could find was a 60w. That's a really good idea to go to the nano stuff! I could go Thursday, would that be too long to go with it being a couple degrees cool? I've got free time in the evening on Monday and Thursday, so that would be the best time. I'll get a 40w nano set

[Sauzo]

Ok! Sorry to get into husbandry *cough*again. I did find 2 extra regular size domes, but the lowest wattage I could find was a 60w. That's a really good idea to go to the nano stuff! I could go Thursday, would that be too long to go with it being a couple degrees cool? I've got free time in the evening on Monday and Thursday, so that would be the best time. I'll get a 40w nano set

Should be fine. I'd keep the UTH up to around 90F then to offer a little bit warmer spot than usual since you have a colder than usual spot.

You could probably use the 60 watt too actually but you would definitely need a lamp dimmer from Home Depot. These are what I used to use just for ambient and I still use them for my dubia roach bin with a CHE https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-...-10E/203812619

And no problem. Better to ask questions and learn than to just guess and make a grave mistake.

[GpBp]

Alright. I got home from PetSmart an hour and a half ago. I couldn't find the nano stuff, so I bought a $20 dome with a dimmer. Well... when I got home I found out I had a 40w bulb that would do well in my domes I already had . I put the 40w in there and tested it out, and it worked! I cut out another hole in the tin foil for the other dome and set it on there. (I can get a pic) I left it for an hour or so and here's what my temps are reading now:
Cool 79°F
Warm 82°F
Is this okay? I still haven't opened the dimmer, so I'll return it if this works. If not, I'll open up the dimmer and adjust the temps

[Sauzo]

Alright. I got home from PetSmart an hour and a half ago. I couldn't find the nano stuff, so I bought a $20 dome with a dimmer. Well... when I got home I found out I had a 40w bulb that would do well in my domes I already had . I put the 40w in there and tested it out, and it worked! I cut out another hole in the tin foil for the other dome and set it on there. (I can get a pic) I left it for an hour or so and here's what my temps are reading now:
Cool 79°F
Warm 82°F
Is this okay? I still haven't opened the dimmer, so I'll return it if this works. If not, I'll open up the dimmer and adjust the temps

Looks awesome to me. Now just drop the UTH down to around 86-88F and you should be golden. You generally want to see the boa going from cool to warm sides. If they are on the warm side all the time, then bump the warm side up a couple degrees. If its on the cool side all the time, drop the warm side down a couple degrees. You want the boa to move around the whole cage, not sit balled up on the cool side or warm side.

[Sauzo]

Alright. I got home from PetSmart an hour and a half ago. I couldn't find the nano stuff, so I bought a $20 dome with a dimmer. Well... when I got home I found out I had a 40w bulb that would do well in my domes I already had . I put the 40w in there and tested it out, and it worked! I cut out another hole in the tin foil for the other dome and set it on there. (I can get a pic) I left it for an hour or so and here's what my temps are reading now:
Cool 79°F
Warm 82°F
Is this okay? I still haven't opened the dimmer, so I'll return it if this works. If not, I'll open up the dimmer and adjust the temps

Just take the new bulb back and get a refund. That is pretty much the only reason i like using local pet shops. If the stuff doesnt work out, you can return it And you mean a CHE right? Not an actual bulb that gives off light right? You dont want a 'light' bulb as that being on 24/7 probably wont help you or the snake sleep lol.