How do I get him to stop??

[mricyfire]

My snake keeps burrowing..naturally not a problem, but since his last shed (yesterday) he keeps burrowing in the tank and moving all the mulch so he lies directly on the glass which on the other side of the glass is the heat pad. I dont want him to get burnt accidentally

What should i do to make him stop?

[JLC]

You prevent him from getting burnt by keeping the UTH at a proper temperature....which is not more than 95F. Then let the snake go where it wants.


To prevent burrowing, check to make sure your hides are adequate.

[mricyfire]

This pic is about 2 weeks old.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2145/img2645zy1.jpg

Since that pic I have cleaned out the tank. Switched to Repti-Bark. There is a canopy in there now.

The current temp is 84 degrees and the humidity is 70%

The UTH is the exo-terra heat wave desert medium size...cant really control the temp, but i dont think it gets that hot (95+).

I havent had the problem before but in his shedding he was pushing the mulch all around and now it seems to be a habit every time he goes in the cave.

[JLC]

This pic is about 2 weeks old.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2145/img2645zy1.jpg

Since that pic I have cleaned out the tank. Switched to Repti-Bark. There is a canopy in there now.

The current temp is 84 degrees and the humidity is 70%

The UTH is the exo-terra heat wave desert medium size...cant really control the temp, but i dont think it gets that hot (95+).

I havent had the problem before but in his shedding he was pushing the mulch all around and now it seems to be a habit every time he goes in the cave.

You HAVE to control those temps! Look at this thread:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=46547

That's a burn. And it happened very fast.

You can, right away, get yourself to your local hardware store (Home Depot or Lowes or whatever) and pick up a rheostat (dimmer switch). They make them for table lamps and you just plug the UTH into that like an extension cord and then slide the little knob to control the temperature output.

AND...while you're at the hardware store...pick yourself up a real thermometer. The little plastic dials stuck to the sides of the tank are doing nothing to tell you what the temps are against the glass or under that hide. You need a digital thermometer with a probe that can tuck under the hide above the UTH to find out what's really going on there.

Once you have that set up.....get online and order yourself a decent thermostat to replace the rheostat with....that will control the temps in a much more consistent and reliable manner. (But the rheostat is better than nothing and can work with some attention)

As for adequate hides....

Your snake wants tiny little caves it can cram itself into. And if you put one on each side then it won't have to choose between feeling securely snug or laying at the right temperatures.

Hope that doens't come across TOO sharp...but you CAN control those temps....you have to.

[chris B]

X2 on what JLC said.

[Lobo_Reptiles]

DITTO TO JUDY!

Elevate the enclosure from the UTH also works. Layer the bottom (underneath the mulch) with newspaper so he doesn't lay directly on the glass. Burns can be very serious, please take caution.

[chris B]

edit, double post....

[Gooseman]

You may want to look into why your snake is burrowing in the first place. Either your hides arn't adequate (as previously stated), or your snake needs that little extra degrees he gets from gettin closer to the UTH so you might want to take a look at the tanks ambient temps.

[rabernet]

You HAVE to control those temps! Look at this thread:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=46547

That's a burn. And it happened very fast.

You can, right away, get yourself to your local hardware store (Home Depot or Lowes or whatever) and pick up a rheostat (dimmer switch). They make them for table lamps and you just plug the UTH into that like an extension cord and then slide the little knob to control the temperature output.

AND...while you're at the hardware store...pick yourself up a real thermometer. The little plastic dials stuck to the sides of the tank are doing nothing to tell you what the temps are against the glass or under that hide. You need a digital thermometer with a probe that can tuck under the hide above the UTH to find out what's really going on there.

Once you have that set up.....get online and order yourself a decent thermostat to replace the rheostat with....that will control the temps in a much more consistent and reliable manner. (But the rheostat is better than nothing and can work with some attention)

As for adequate hides....

Your snake wants tiny little caves it can cram itself into. And if you put one on each side then it won't have to choose between feeling securely snug or laying at the right temperatures.

Hope that doens't come across TOO sharp...but you CAN control those temps....you have to.

BRAVO Judy!

[mricyfire]

Purchasing right now...
http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/...hermometer.htm

DITTO TO JUDY!

Elevate the enclosure from the UTH also works. Layer the bottom (underneath the mulch) with newspaper so he doesn't lay directly on the glass. Burns can be very serious, please take caution.

I used to use paper towels, but sometimes it didnt seem to get warm enough.

Now the thermostat...is that the herpstats stuff??? which one do I need?
http://www.mgreptiles.com/thermomain.html