Rate my husbandry by specie (grab your popcorn, it's a long one)

[Matt300zxt]

Ok first off, I don't expect the people that may reply to be experts or have experience with all these breeds, but if you are REALLY good with 1 or 2 of these guys, feel free to hop in with your .02 and offer some insight. Feel free to PM me and give me some tips or whatever that may help me and my snakes. I want to type up Microsoft Word documents for all my breeds with real, accurate information. The ball pythons will be easy to keep as so many people are great with them, but I've come across what I feel to be false information or bad advice from some people on some of the less common breeds, and I want to weed that out for my own personal setups.

Since two of my snakes have developed an ri that I didn't notice, I want to make sure I have the proper info here per specie so I can make sure I keep this right and stay on top of it. I use the same substrate on all my snakes, the same stuff I used to use for my tarantulas. It's a mix of 50/50 coco husk I get from rehydrating the bricks, and organic peat moss. The heat and humidity numbers I keep track of through AcuRite thermometer/hygrometers that you can calibrate set in the front corners of my enclosures. I set them from time to time with the salt/water in the cap method but I'm starting to suspect they drift quite easily from the calibration and aren't exactly reliable; the numbers I list are from the readings I see, but I will be keeping a much closer eye on their calibration from now on. I have to trust the gauges, so I'm hoping the numbers they have been showing are actually accurate.

Ball pythons: I have 2 of them in pvc 4x2x15 enclosures. They have Pro Products heat panels on a Herpstat 2 set at 90 on the hotside which runs down to around 80 on the cool side. I have the probe lying on the floor, directly under about the center of the heat panel, so it is set to maintain 90 on the surface of the substrate. The humidity I like to keep around 50-70% but it usually hovers around 50-55%. There is a hot side hide and a cool side hide (though the larger ball python only has a cool side hide right now as I had to pirate one of hers but will be getting some more in soon) and their water dish is about halfway between the hot and cool side, slightly closer to the hot side. They have always shed easily and will occasionally go on a hunger strike, but normally eat fine.

Amazon tree boa: I just got him moved to his forever home, a pvc 4x2x2 with a Pro Products heat panel on one of the cheaper thermostats for seed starting from Amazon set at 90. I have some Pepsi trays that their 2 liters come on that stack together, and a few of them stacked together and placed upside down make a great perch for him when he wants to be out basking under the heat panel, but also makes a great hide for when he wants to be on the ground. I have one stack set directly under the heat panel with the probe set to 90 at about the center point, so the basking surface is 90. He also has a few Pepsi crates upside down on the cool side to perch on, or stretch out between the 2 sides, and hide under on the cool side. His water dish is in the center, slightly closer to the cool side. Since I just got him in this cage and only had 1 AcuRite gauge available, it reads about 50-60% humidity on the hot side, which I know is low, and I mist the cage quite often. I put in one of my old AcuRite gauges, the kind that you can't calibrate, and even though it's a few percentage points off on humidity when I checked its calibration, it's reading quite a bit higher which leads me to believe the adjustable gauges have drifted quite a bit since I adjusted them last. In his old temporary Sterilite tub, the gauge always read 99% (I think they're horribly inaccurate when reading higher humidity numbers) and his ambient temp was mid 70s, though his uth was set to 90. He has always eaten and shed just fine.

Solomon Island ground boa: I've had him in his pvc 4x2x15 for a couple months and had a temporary light bulb fixture for the hot side while I waited on more Pro Products heat panels to be built and ship out. It was harder to maintain his temps because the bulb would make the ground directly under it so hot but not far from it, it would be cooler. Now he's on a Pro Products heat panel on a seed starter thermostat set to 90 with the probe placed to read the surface temperature around the middle point, like all the others. The cool side goes down to around 80, because it's the same setup as the ball pythons. He has a hot side and a cool side hide with his water dish in the middle, closer to the cool side. The gauges say the humidity is around 70-80% now. I've had him since about mid March of this year, and he has yet to shed and going by what the previous owner said, he's about 3.5 years old and eats well.

When I first got him he was just in a 10 gallon tank with a mesh lid and a bulb fixture that just set down on the top, he was not in the best conditions for happiness. His temps would be hard to maintain and his humidity too, and that's not great for a tropical snake. I only had him in it for about a week at ambient temp/humidity before I got him into his pvc enclosure. When I first got him in his pvc enclosure, his humidity would stay around 80%, and I should have trusted my gut as that's what the Solomon Islands stay around but I listened to people on FB and let them drop. I'd say with him being in a 10 gallon for who knows how long with bad husbandry from the guy I got him from, having trouble maintaining heat while I was waiting on the heat panels to ship, and letting his humidity drop, that's probably why he has the ri I have to treat.

Murray Darling inland carpet python: she came with a pvc 4x2x18 that had a red bulb in it for heat, I think the guy used a crappy Zoomed thermostat that didn't come with the snake/cage. I switched her over to a proper heat bulb with a probe on a seed starting thermostat set to keep the surface directly under the bulb at about 90. Since it's only a bulb and not a heat panel, the cool side stays around the mid 70s. She has a hot side hide but no cool side hide, though there is some plastic vegetation and it's dark over there. I need to get her a cool side hide too as well as a proper heat panel. Her water dish is in the center, slightly closer to the cool side. The humidity hovers around 50-55%. Hers is the only enclosure that's on 100% coco husk, but I plan on vacuuming it out soon and giving her the same 50/50 blend as everyone else. Due to her not having a proper heat panel to maintain a set temperature all day/night (she's on ambient temps at night as I shut off her thermostat on the bulb), though I feel her humidity is correct, she has a bit of an ri as well. I've had her since about early to mid February and she's only eaten 4 times and has yet to shed. According to the previous owner, I'd estimate her age at about 3.5 years.

Corn snake: she came in what I think is called a 40 gallon breeder, and she is still pretty tiny. She's on what they said was a semi bioactive substrate, which is just dark chipped bark it looks like with some scarce chunks of charcoal and lava rock mixed in with a bunch of leaf litter and a couple hides. She has the fold open mesh top and she just stays at the ambient temperature and humidity of the room, which is usually around 75-78 and a humidity of around 35-40%, though I do mist her cage some. Either way, she always sheds just fine and is happy to gobble down pinkies any chance she gets.

Colombian rainbow boa: she is in a Sterilite tub that she's getting pretty close to outgrowing but still has a little while left with a uth on a crappy Zoomed thermostat to keep the ambient temp of her house around the mid to high 70s. The gauge would always read 99% humidity, which as I stated before is obviously inaccurate. She has always shed just fine though and is a ravenous eater, so whatever her hot side surface is and her humidity is, she is more than happy.

Reticulated python: I just got this little girl the other day, she's a little over a month old and put her in a Sterilite tub with the thermostat just above the uth set to 88 I believe. The ambient temps hover around the mid 70s and the humidity, once I recalibrated the gauge, appear to stay around 80-84%. I haven't had her long enough to feed her a meal or obviously for her to shed.

[Bogertophis]

Corn snakes prefer ambient temperatures of 70*-75* F. but they do best with an area of heat to promote digestion- preferably UTH, & not over 85*- in one corner. Should have 2 hides minimum- a warm & cool (unheated) hide. Can't speak to bio-active substrate- it's not what I do & never will. A humid hide (with soaked & drained sphagnum moss inside) is far better than occasional misting, especially during shed, but appreciated most of the time. 40 gal. tank is overkill for a young corn, but as long as there's places to hide, it should be fine. Corns often appreciate branches.