Questions about my daughter's new BP

[Zincubus]

In attempt to get back on topic in the winter time how is it possible to heat a glass aquarium, to above 75 degrees without raising house temps to 78? Who is going to actually do that for 1 BP? If you run a CHE your humidity plummets and that's a whole other issue. The other option being a space heater that needs to somehow be regulated. What's the suggestion toss the whole setup?

I ended up putting in a second heat mat with hide set 80 degrees with sphaghnum moss to keep humidity maintaining 88, 80 and 72 spots. Worked great. In the wild temps go down to 68 all the time, they either move to hotter location or fast until the weather goes back to normal. I don't see an issue.

According to you I should just keep quiet until I get 15 years under my belt in order to post. Why?

Feeding live works for me right now and for my particular situation. That might change in the future who knows.

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I really didn’t suggest that at all to be fair ..


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[walzon1]

I really didn’t suggest that at all to be fair ..


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That's the way I took it when you said keep a low profile for awhile. Maybe that's not what you meant.

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[Faith.luu]

Only question my daughter still has is about the humidity levels. Right now it is 45% on the hot side and 55% on the cooler side.

I would strive for 60-65% humidity, but 50% is totally fine. Just make sure to boost them during shed. If you or your daughter aren’t sure of what methods you could apply to increase humidity, feel free to ask. I would also suggest adding a humidity box, that way you won’t have to worry so much about keeping the humidity up to 65-70% during shed.

To answer one of your earlier questions(apologies if someone did reply... there was just too much unnecessary reading):
A humidity box is not required, but it doesn’t hurt to have. However if you find that your snake spends ALL their time in there, then I would opt to put it in only when they are in shed. If they sit in there for long periods of time(and I mean days on end in there) there is an increased risk of scale rot.

Don’t be alarmed if your snake is in there through the duration of the day! That’s okay, as long as they are moving and getting around at night. I can usually tell that my snakes are active because stuff moves around, whether that he substrate or some plants/decorations.

[Zincubus]

I would strive for 60-65% humidity, but 50% is totally fine. Just make sure to boost them during shed. If you or your daughter aren’t sure of what methods you could apply to increase humidity, feel free to ask. I would also suggest adding a humidity box, that way you won’t have to worry so much about keeping the humidity up to 65-70% during shed.

To answer one of your earlier questions(apologies if someone did reply... there was just too much unnecessary reading):
A humidity box is not required, but it doesn’t hurt to have. However if you find that your snake spends ALL their time in there, then I would opt to put it in only when they are in shed. If they sit in there for long periods of time(and I mean days on end in there) there is an increased risk of scale rot.

Don’t be alarmed if your snake is in there through the duration of the day! That’s okay, as long as they are moving and getting around at night. I can usually tell that my snakes are active because stuff moves around, whether that he substrate or some plants/decorations.

This ^

If you put some branches in there Royals will spend ages in the evenings climbing all over the place ..


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[Faith.luu]

In attempt to get back on topic in the winter time how is it possible to heat a glass aquarium, to above 75 degrees without raising house temps to 78? Who is going to actually do that for 1 BP? If you run a CHE your humidity plummets and that's a whole other issue. The other option being a space heater that needs to somehow be regulated. What's the suggestion toss the whole setup?

There are many methods to assist with increasing ambient temperatures. For myself, I use a 60Watt heat bulb on a timer during the winter because my house temperatures can drop as low as 18 degrees Celsius. Many other individuals will use ceramic heat emitters, others will have a dedicated room for their reptiles where they are able to apply some sort of regulated heat source to safely heat a room to maintain proper temperatures for their animals. If you are curious about the different methods feel free to create your own thread and many people will offer great advice and wisdom.

The way I see it: if someone is willing to heat up their whole house for one animal, it only proves the large amount of dedication, commitment and love that they have for their animal

[dr del]

Hi,

Your post is on a public forum. People are going to comment, or in this case disagree.

People come here to learn, and sharing inaccurate info doesn't help anybody.

Not trying to attack you, I'm sorry if you thought that, I apologise. Really wish you would just let it go. I don't hold on to the past.

Not sure why you feel you are the only one who is allowed to post and have an opinion. You keep trying to discredit me and degrade me. I never did that to you. As you said, if you don't like it don't post. If you don't like it block me. It's a public forum right?

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Actually it's a privately owned forum - we just don't tend to restrict what anyone posts as long as it is within the rules. Since the day it started the Admin team have been the owners responsible for the bills etc. We just don't tend to mention it much.

So don't worry, if the bailiffs come knocking, it will be me with one leg out the window holding a suitcase. Lets hope not though as I live two floors up.

Wrong again, unfortunately, you have zero scientific papers or articles to back you up. Most of your information is from breeders and enthusiasts who tried something and it worked, that's not science.

Breeders are going to run hotter temps to get the BPs to gain weight faster so they can breed quicker as well as sell quicker. This is not true for your average BP keeper when long life and health is a priority.

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Not sure where you got this but hotter temps will speed up the snakes metabolism, so if you do try it without factoring in how much extra food you need to provide to compensate they will probably gain less weight in the long run. The breeding as well is much more focused on the body condition rather than just weight as I have seen horribly obese snakes with the weight over 1500g that are in no way fit to breed. I've also seen older, smaller, snakes under 1500g that bred perfectly well.

In attempt to get back on topic in the winter time how is it possible to heat a glass aquarium, to above 75 degrees without raising house temps to 78? Who is going to actually do that for 1 BP? If you run a CHE your humidity plummets and that's a whole other issue. The other option being a space heater that needs to somehow be regulated. What's the suggestion toss the whole setup?

I ended up putting in a second heat mat with hide set 80 degrees with sphaghnum moss to keep humidity maintaining 88, 80 and 72 spots. Worked great. In the wild temps go down to 68 all the time, they either move to hotter location or fast until the weather goes back to normal. I don't see an issue.

According to you I should just keep quiet until I get 15 years under my belt in order to post. Why?

Feeding live works for me right now and for my particular situation. That might change in the future who knows.

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Glass tanks can be insulated on the outside with either polystyrene (Sp?) or cork sheeting to improve the insulation. We have some stickies that give good advice on how to do it.

As you have indicated there is no "one way" to keep these snakes in terms of temps or enclosures - lots of things can be made to work. VPI, for example keeps their animals in much different temp regimes than we initially advise.Both David and Tracy however are professional biologists and are incalculably better at spotting when things need changing. What we generally do is advise on a simple setup that will work for the majority of the species while people have a chance to get to know their animals well enough to start personalising things.

We also don't tend to judge on the FT/Live debate - I'm in the UK and have only ever fed F/T. But, as long as it is done correctly and responsibly to all animals involved, I have no problem with it.


Del

[walzon1]

Hi,





Actually it's a privately owned forum - we just don't tend to restrict what anyone posts as long as it is within the rules. Since the day it started the Admin team have been the owners responsible for the bills etc. We just don't tend to mention it much.

So don't worry, if the bailiffs come knocking, it will be me with one leg out the window holding a suitcase. Lets hope not though as I live two floors up.



Not sure where you got this but hotter temps will speed up the snakes metabolism, so if you do try it without factoring in how much extra food you need to provide to compensate they will probably gain less weight in the long run. The breeding as well is much more focused on the body condition rather than just weight as I have seen horribly obese snakes with the weight over 1500g that are in no way fit to breed. I've also seen older, smaller, snakes under 1500g that bred perfectly well.



Glass tanks can be insulated on the outside with either polystyrene (Sp?) or cork sheeting to improve the insulation. We have some stickies that give good advice on how to do it.

As you have indicated there is no "one way" to keep these snakes in terms of temps or enclosures - lots of things can be made to work. VPI, for example keeps their animals in much different temp regimes than we initially advise.Both David and Tracy however are professional biologists and are incalculably better at spotting when things need changing. What we generally do is advise on a simple setup that will work for the majority of the species while people have a chance to get to know their animals well enough to start personalising things.

We also don't tend to judge on the FT/Live debate - I'm in the UK and have only ever fed F/T. But, as long as it is done correctly and responsibly to all animals involved, I have no problem with it.


Del

Thanks for this, what I meant in terms of temps is that most breeders will run an entire room at 80 simulating a perpetual summer environment, where as I believe most hobbyists will run at whatever their house temps are being somewhere around 75 which would be on the much cooler. I have read that slower steady growth is better than fast growth in the long term. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Also I do know there is no summer or winter in their natural environment its just easier for my brain to translate

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[dr del]

Thanks for this, what I meant in terms of temps is that most breeders will run an entire room at 80 simulating a perpetual summer environment, where as I believe most hobbyists will run at whatever their house temps are being somewhere around 75 which would be on the much cooler. I have read that slower steady growth is better than fast growth in the long term. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Also I do know there is no summer or winter in their natural environment its just easier for my brain to translate

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Indeed, VPI keep their facilty at a flat temp and only change it per animal when there is a reason to like follicle development or other parts of the breeding cycle. Their book is, frankly, one of the best books there are on understanding and keeping ball pythons. It isn't a cheap book however. And most hobbyists starting out can find themselves in real difficulty following their how without understanding their why. The main goal of the forum always has been to help new keepers and their snakes as well as we can until they understand what can be done and why it might be right for them.

We understand this can come across as "our way or the highway" but our main focus has always been to keep your snake and yourself on track until you know enough to pass beyond the basics.

It's a hard thing to judge ( someones experience and understanding ) through text posts. So forgive us if we recommend do this, this and this. And someone replies I did that, that and that and it worked out fine. We might have a few questions to find out if it really is fine or not. You really would not believe the number of posts we have seen saying " he loves his new huge enclosure - he's exploring constantly" followed the next week by "my snake won't eat".

You really wouldn't believe the total years amalgamated by the members on here working with these animals ( I tried to work it out once and gave up ). And every year we learn more through articles, shared content, and practical experience.

It's a lot of wisdom to give up because tone is read wrong through a text based medium.



del

[rosiegirl]

That humidity isn’t too bad for when the snake is not in shed. I’d suggest covering 2/3 or more of the screen top with something to minimize moisture and heat loss though, especially during the colder months. Aluminum foil/plexiglass/etc will likely help your humidity levels. I try to aim for 65-70% or so when in shed.
You can use the dimmer lamp with a thermostat no problem. Thermostat will just adjust temps for you rather than having to fuss with the dimmer all the time.

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Thank you! We actually bought a different lamp without a dimmer to use with the thermostat, so we have both until we return one! Which is better to use?

[jmcrook]

Thank you! We actually bought a different lamp without a dimmer to use with the thermostat, so we have both until we return one! Which is better to use?

You could keep the dimmer lamp and use the dimmer as a back up in case the thermostat ever fails. Just fiddle with the dial until you can maintain a temp a couple degrees above what you want the thermostat set at. Then if, god forbid, the thermostat should fail the dimmer will limit the amount of power available to the heating element


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