I'm new to the whole snake world - bought my first BP!!

[Slownlow]

Hey everyone, Sorry if this is long. I will post my questions in point form at the bottom!
So, I bought my first BP on 4/20 (what a date to remember ) I named her Nyx - Primordial Goddess of the night. Got her from Petsmart - couldn't tell me the age. But they don't get them until they're at least 8mths and she arrived April 2 - I say female as that's what they told me. She looks like she's an Alpha Morph.
Now my question is.. everything ha ha. - I have spent a fair bit of money just to make sure she's happy and healthy. At the moment she has Aspen in her tank (screen top lid) Zoo med's 20 gallon with snake kit. I recently switched over to the 100 watt heat emitting bulbs. No more light. I'm struggling with heat and humidity. I have the heat to about 85F on the warm side. That's what I can get consistent. But the humidity has been around 15-20% - can't get it up.
I purchased a humid hide, too small of a hole. Going back - also purchase the moss so I could wet it and put it in the hide. Since it's going back I actually took some moss and wet it and put it down on the heating pad which is under the light and I swear the humidity dropped!! I've purchased 2 digital thermometers, one has the humidity probe for it as well. She hides under her rock all day, comes out in the evening, trying to get out most times, sometimes basking under the lamp for a minute. I have taken her out of cage a few times. One time she was rather cold. She seems happy, fed her last Wednesday. Her first feeding at home. She took it like a champ and startled me lol. I think the fuzzies are too small for her. she's about 2 feet long. thickest part of her is an inch high at least. They said every 7 days.

- how wet should the moss be in her hide?
- besides orchid bark what else can i put in her tank to mist everyday? - will this bring up the humidity? - also purchased the coconut fiber.
- how exactly do I mist? the whole floor of substrate? Once a day?
- What is best to bring up the humidity on a consistent basis?
- is 85F too low for the warm side?
- should I be feeding her more often than once a week right now?
- Heating pad is super hot to the touch but I have aspen on it and some moss on that - she doesn't seem to burrow under the aspen. - should I purchase a thermostat to regulate the pad?
- is it okay that she is always looking to get out? She's not mashing her face or anything, but is constantly sliding up the sides to the top and checking.
- should i wrap the sides and back with a landscape and just leave the front open

I think for now that's all of my questions. My biggest concern are the temps and humidity and maybe feeding her every 5 days right now. the fuzzy was so small you wouldn't even know she ate anything.

Thank you everyone!!! This is my first forum of any kind and I read and read.

[GoatBoy]

My personal thoughts:

1 - Soak the moss, squeeze out the extra water so it doesn't drip, throw it in the hide.

2 - You should not have to mist every day. Try Forest Floor or coco husk, not the finely ground version though.

3 - Misting should be about once a week, IF you need it. Just get everything a little wet.

4 - Get a larger water dish. Place it in the middle so some of it evaporated. Cover you screen lid with aluminum foil or aluminum tape (outside only!).

5 - Generally speaking 80 on the cool, 90 on the hot. Do your best and don't stress over it.

6 - If shes a baby, 5 - 7 days per feeding. Gauge her hunger and monitor weight in grams.

7 - BUY A THERMOSTAT. NOW. RIGHT NOW. LEAVE THE HOUSE AND GO BUY IT.

8 - She is stress exploring.

9 - Yes, cover the sides. This may fix #8.

[Craiga 01453]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

There's definitely a few things you need to tweak. But I'll answer your questions in the order you asked to keep things simple

- the moss should be damp. Not wet. It's best to soak it thoroughly and squeeze out excess water.

- changing the substrate will help immensely. Aspen stinks for holding humidity.

- once you have your setup dialed in you likely won't need to mist often at all. But if you do, simply mist the substrate so it's damp on top, then mix the substrate around with your hand. It shouldn't feel wet once mixed.

- there are several ways to help with humidity. As discussed earlier, a change of substrate will help. Also, you can add a larger water bowl. You can also wrap the enclosure in foam board insulation. I do this with all my glass enclosures. It helps a ton with heat and humidity control. (If you're interested in how I do this feel free to ask here or via PM). It also closes of the tank to provide security for the snake.

- temps should be 89-90 hot spot, 84ish ambient and 78-80 cool.

- feed one appropriately sized meal weekly. No need to feed more often. If you are feeding mice fuzzies they are WAAAAAAY too small for a BP. They eat hoppers right out of the egg for their first few meals only and quickly move up to small adult mice.

- ***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT*** ALL HEAT SOURCES SHOULD BE REGULATED BY A THERMOSTAT.
- So yes, your heat mat should be on a thermostat. And so should the lamp. Unplug the heat mat until you get a thermostat. If you doubt me, Google search snake burns. The heat spikes can even be fatal. Your snake CAN AND WILL BURROW.

- She's likely just exploring. Since your husbandry needs work, she may be looking for a spot where temps and security meet her needs. She could also be hungry since she's only eaten fuzzies.

- wrapping the sides is a great idea. BPs crave security. Again, I use foam board insulation.

Also, it is strongly advised to hold off on HANDLUNG until the snake has eaten three consecutive meals without refusal. You've got 25+ years to handle your pet, let her settle in.

[indygunnerguy]

Hey everyone, Sorry if this is long. I will post my questions in point form at the bottom!
So, I bought my first BP on 4/20 (what a date to remember ) I named her Nyx - Primordial Goddess of the night. Got her from Petsmart - couldn't tell me the age. But they don't get them until they're at least 8mths and she arrived April 2 - I say female as that's what they told me. She looks like she's an Alpha Morph.
Now my question is.. everything ha ha. - I have spent a fair bit of money just to make sure she's happy and healthy. At the moment she has Aspen in her tank (screen top lid) Zoo med's 20 gallon with snake kit. I recently switched over to the 100 watt heat emitting bulbs. No more light. I'm struggling with heat and humidity. I have the heat to about 85F on the warm side. That's what I can get consistent. But the humidity has been around 15-20% - can't get it up.
I purchased a humid hide, too small of a hole. Going back - also purchase the moss so I could wet it and put it in the hide. Since it's going back I actually took some moss and wet it and put it down on the heating pad which is under the light and I swear the humidity dropped!! I've purchased 2 digital thermometers, one has the humidity probe for it as well. She hides under her rock all day, comes out in the evening, trying to get out most times, sometimes basking under the lamp for a minute. I have taken her out of cage a few times. One time she was rather cold. She seems happy, fed her last Wednesday. Her first feeding at home. She took it like a champ and startled me lol. I think the fuzzies are too small for her. she's about 2 feet long. thickest part of her is an inch high at least. They said every 7 days.

- how wet should the moss be in her hide?
- besides orchid bark what else can i put in her tank to mist everyday? - will this bring up the humidity? - also purchased the coconut fiber.
- how exactly do I mist? the whole floor of substrate? Once a day?
- What is best to bring up the humidity on a consistent basis?
- is 85F too low for the warm side?
- should I be feeding her more often than once a week right now?
- Heating pad is super hot to the touch but I have aspen on it and some moss on that - she doesn't seem to burrow under the aspen. - should I purchase a thermostat to regulate the pad?
- is it okay that she is always looking to get out? She's not mashing her face or anything, but is constantly sliding up the sides to the top and checking.
- should i wrap the sides and back with a landscape and just leave the front open

I think for now that's all of my questions. My biggest concern are the temps and humidity and maybe feeding her every 5 days right now. the fuzzy was so small you wouldn't even know she ate anything.

Thank you everyone!!! This is my first forum of any kind and I read and read.

Hey there! Well I am kind of new so you are in good company here lol. Everyone here is extremely knowledgeable. I bought the same kit with my BP about 3 weeks ago. first thing I noticed was the water bowl was far too small as is supposed to be big enough for them to curl up and soak in. Also my next purchase was a thermostat. This helps keep the temperature regulated as ideally the warm side is supposed to be around 90. I made a cover for my screen lid. Reference the picture below. Basically, I took a piece of cardboard and coded one side with shiny side out aluminum foil. On the other side, I covered it with black duct tape to help hold on the foil as well as make it not look quite so janky lol. I also cut holes in each corner and on each side to make sure air flow was sufficient. This has helped keep my humidity up tremendously. Also, I have learned that they should be eating fuzzies right out of the egg and now should be eating baby rats. I've also put a picture of the feeding chart below. a lot of these questions, I will leave to the experts here, I am just trying to pay it forward from all the day of taught me. Good luck!

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[Bogertophis]

You're losing a lot of humidity thru the screen top, & as the post above demonstrates, you can wrap/cover most of the screen with foil, plastic, piece of plexi
cut to fit, & some other things. By restricting the airflow, you'll help keep in the warmth AND the humidity.

[gunkle]

Just popping in to say welcome to the forum. There's some great info here. Read through the sticky posts and search and you will find tons of useful info. Some that you didn't even know you needed. Ask questions, take notes but most of all enjoy your new life long friend. Don't stress it can be a bit overwhelming at first but we all have your snakes best interest at heart.

[indygunnerguy]

I know there are a lot of opinions and choices out there, but I really LOVE my herpstat ez2 thermostat from Spyder Robotics! It lets you control two devices so you can control your CHE and heat pad with one device. Plus it's pretty stinking cool looking lol!



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[reptilemom25]

Welcome!
You are getting some great advice on this thread, and i think if you follow it your situation will improve immensely. I just wanted to chime in on thermostats.

A proportional thermostat like the herpstat is the best choice. It regulates the heat by adjusting the power output going to the heating device, rather than simply turning it off and on. The drawback to these is that you are looking at a $150-200 piece of equipment to run two heat sources.

If you need to save up to get something like that them a jumpstart thermostat might be a good stop gap. It is the onn/ off type but decent quality nad fairly reliable.
https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Ger...s%2C167&sr=8-3

If that is out of range, I have also had good luck with this one
https://www.amazon.com/Century-Therm...s%2C167&sr=8-4

These control one heat source so you would need 2 to do the heat lamp and the heat mat. Another option would be to put your heat lamp on a dimmer. I like the fluker's lamps with the dimmer already installed.

Bottom line is like everyone said, you NEED to get your heat mat on a thermostat ASAP at the BARE MINIMUM.


Also, be aware that the 20gL tank will not house the snake for it's lifetime. You will eventually have to upgrade. I highly recommend looking into a PVC enclosure when that time comes. I have been very happy with mine from Boamaster, and lots of people on her swear by animal plastics enclosures. It is a LOT easier to control heat and humidity in one of these. I run mine with a radiant heat panel as my only heat source and it runs beautifully.

[Slownlow]

Thank you!! I will have to purchase something else for her to feed on.. I have 4 more fuzzies. I'm going to feed her tonight. Tomorrow would be 7 days but like I said and everyone else. they're too small. I thought that right away when I saw them and her. I will fabricate something like that for the top as well. One suggestion was alum foil across the top. I have done that for now over 2/3 of the tank lid. I just want her to be happy and healthy!!

[Slownlow]

Thank you for your comments!!! I know one day I'll be going up to a 40 gallon and funny enough. The snake kit I purchased here in Canada, only comes in the 20 gallon for the snake and 40 gallon for the Bearded dragon, in the US they have the 40 gallon snake kit.. I couldn't for the life of me find any way to purchase that one here anywhere, or online. I searched and searched. I didn't want to buy the larger tank with the bearded dragon set up as it would be a waste to me.
I will promptly purchase a thermostat. I've seen some decent ones on Amazon and 2 day shipping. She is not burrowing where her mat is. I have been keeping an eye on it. The only thing I don't like is that with my digitial thermometers, there's the probes and I had them stuck down near the bottom and she found a way to get in behind the wire!!!! Is there a clear type tape that is safe so I could possibly take it along the corner of the tank down to the bottom???