problems problems and more problems!!!!!

[Tammy]

ok, so last night i went home and checked on my Batista, who is about to shed. i removed from his tank to change his water and do some spot cleaning. i put him back and was watching him and i saw a mite on him!!!!! so, i took him out for a warm soak, and gutted the cage and sanitized it with bleach mixture. he pooped while he was soaking i was glad to se that. anyway, not only do i ahve mites, but this morning he had begun to shed, little pieces of shed all trhu out his cage. i have been having humidity problems. i did the sarn wrap trick last night, didn't seem to help. i have a75 watt red heat light about and an uth below. do you think the uth is enough? i know its the light that is drying him out so bad, but it keeps the temps perfect! helppppppppppppppp!!! how do i get rid of mites and how do i fix the humidity for the next shed??? I feel like a terrible mother!

[joepythons]

ok, so last night i went home and checked on my Batista, who is about to shed. i removed from his tank to change his water and do some spot cleaning. i put him back and was watching him and i saw a mite on him!!!!! so, i took him out for a warm soak, and gutted the cage and sanitized it with bleach mixture. he pooped while he was soaking i was glad to se that. anyway, not only do i ahve mites, but this morning he had begun to shed, little pieces of shed all trhu out his cage. i have been having humidity problems. i did the sarn wrap trick last night, didn't seem to help. i have a75 watt red heat light about and an uth below. do you think the uth is enough? i know its the light that is drying him out so bad, but it keeps the temps perfect! helppppppppppppppp!!! how do i get rid of mites and how do i fix the humidity for the next shed??? I feel like a terrible mother!

Tammy,the mites will cause him to have a bad shed also.Majority of the members here use provent-a-mite and some pet stores carry it.The light also causes a problem(as you allready know),so you have 2 things involved with the bad shed.What type of UTH are you using? If its not big enough for the enclosure then it will not provide enough heat.What size is the enclosure? You also need a thermostat to control the heat output of the UTH.Relax mites are a common hemroid in the reptile world and are easily wiped out .

[joepythons]

Tammy,by the way Welcome from a fellow Illinois member .I live between East Peoria and Pekin or across the river from Peoria

[Tammy]

Mendota is a town in the middle of a cornfield...no good pet shops around here. can i order the mite spray online? have you used it? is it hard to use? I ask alot of questions huh. how do i make ahumid hide for the next shed? my tank is a 30 gallon reptile tank. has the vents in the side for air. i have a pet med uth, but i know it's not big enough. it was on my anoles ten gallon. only cover about a 1/4 of the tank.

[sho220]

Relax...you're not a terrible mother! You're just having issues and you're working on resolving them. That makes you a good mother.


Do a search on Google for provent a mite. Lot's of places carry it. I think you can even order from the manufacturer. Just follow the instructions, and tada, no more mites!

[joepythons]

Mendota is a town in the middle of a cornfield...no good pet shops around here. can i order the mite spray online? have you used it? is it hard to use? I ask alot of questions huh. how do i make ahumid hide for the next shed? my tank is a 30 gallon reptile tank. has the vents in the side for air. i have a pet med uth, but i know it's not big enough. it was on my anoles ten gallon. only cover about a 1/4 of the tank.

Yea i have been to Mendota once,at the pet store that was next to train tracks.Well i have two freinds that have pet stores kinda close to ya if you have a car its maybe 10 minutes.One is in Lasalle the other is in Ottawa,if you would like there phone numbers pm me and i will give you the numbers.I think the Ottawa one carries the Pro-vent-a mite.Yes you can order it online and i hope i can find the info if you need it(maybe someone who has ordered it here will chime in).Yea that UTH is way to small,i would get maybe a 10 1/2 x 11 (i think its 10 1/2).I used exo-terra UTH when i had tanks for my ball pythons.You can never ask to many questions when learning about ball pythons .

[Rapture]

To judge what kind of heat you need in your enclosure, you need to get a digital thermometer to read your cool and warm side temps.

[bigballs]

hi tammy, if your using a glass aquarium then im guessing you have a screen top?

try wrapping the screen up to the heat lamp with plastic wrap. that should help with humidity a little.

a humid hide can be made simply by cutting a hole in a plastic container just large enough for your snake to get into and inside the container you can put damp paper towels or sphagnum moss.

good luck!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

i have a75 watt red heat light about and an uth below. do you think the uth is enough? i know its the light that is drying him out so bad, but it keeps the temps perfect! helppppppppppppppp!!! how do i get rid of mites and how do i fix the humidity for the next shed??? I feel like a terrible mother!

Hard to tell if your UTH is enough or not can only tell by knowing your temps and how you measure them. (Sometimes people think they have the right temps but they don’t measure them properly or do not use a reliable thermometer)

As far as humidity goes you have several options

· Humid hide (Moss has to be change on a regular basis as it can be ground for bacterias)

· Misting the enclosure

· Partially covering the top of the enclosure

· Having an additional water dish on the warm side Switching to a substrate that hold humidity better (Cypress Mulch, Repti-Bark)

Here is a good post regarding glass enclosure

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32800

Now for the mites only one thing works and is safe for reptiles and it is Provent-A-Mite (PAM), here is where I get mine http://entirelypets.stores.yahoo.net/proventamite.html


You might also be able to find it and specialized pet stores

[firehop]

Tammy,


Welcome from another Illinoisian (south burbs of Chicago). I have used Provent a mite with tremendious success. Follow the directions once you get it and remove any spiders (the 8 legged kind), it does bad things to creepy crawlies. The bad shed I have had an issue with on any rescue I have done that had mites, and there has been too many. You will get great info here so hang out and take it all in. I have 2 humidifiers going in my snake room and its still isnt enough so you can see the midwest isnt the best for winter humidity control. Good luck and hope to talk back to you in the future.