Super stressed out? Not sure why?

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Well, to start, my temps have always been on the cooler side since I got Kallista in August and she seems perfectly fine, only skipping one meal, this last one, and I believe that was because it was too big for her.(It was the largest of my FT rats and the last one, so I had to try, she wouldnt' take it, even after striking, she just dragged it into her hide and let it be. I had it heated up correctly too)

And for somereason my UTH and thermostat's being a bit wonky, and though my thermostat said the thing was heated to.... 93 I believe, I measured temps of 97-98*F!
So I bumped the temps down and now the range is, from when it's cool 84-93(I've got the thermostat set at 88 I believe). DX
It's being a pain and I can't get a new Thermostat yet. I've got a hydrofarm... I don't know if that's what's freaking her out.
And her cool temps around always about 75*F, and the humidity is a little high since I recently gave her new eco earth.


OKAY so, rundown of my husbandry.
Now, next thing, she's grown out of her hides. Like, they sit on her when she's under them. It's too cramped in there to get her just new hides, so I'm thinking I might bump the cage size up and switch her to paper towels for a bit, see how she does on those.


And her behaviour all night was: She was trying to escape all night, at one point when I was drawing, I saw her up at the lid, so I came over to see her and she nearly had pushed the lid off!
So I had to get my clips out and secure the lid so she wouldn't escape. DX

What do you think could be wrong with her?

[Skittles1101]

She's most likely hungry from refusing the rat....

[fluffpuffgerbil]

You think that's all it is? :3 She's just hungry? She normally gets hungry on the 5th or 6th day, ad I feed the 7th days, and since she refused, it's been over a week since she ate....
now I feel bad for her. DX

[Skittles1101]

lol that's fine, I know mine get more "active" at night when it's close to feeding day. Just try again in a few days with her normal sized meal, I'm sure she'll stop roaming.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Alright, I'll havce to get someone to drive me to petco so I can get more FT rats...

[mattchibi]

And for somereason my UTH and thermostat's being a bit wonky, and though my thermostat said the thing was heated to.... 93 I believe, I measured temps of 97-98*F!

And her behaviour all night was: She was trying to escape all night, at one point when I was drawing, I saw her up at the lid, so I came over to see her and she nearly had pushed the lid off!
So I had to get my clips out and secure the lid so she wouldn't escape. DX

What do you think could be wrong with her?

Hey there,

Sorry for nit-picking but I noticed a few things that you said. If your thermostat is reading 93, but your thermometer is measuring a 97-98 F temp, then you may have your thermostat probe in the wrong place. Is it right in the centre of the glass, directly above the UTH? The thermostat probe should be in the hottest possible spot on top of the UTH and under the substrate.

As for you having to "get the clips out": You NEED to have these on at all times. For ANY non-locking lid, I would always use clips in combination with a heavy weight (textbooks) on top of the lid to ensure that at all times, my snake cannot escape. Aside from sickness and disease, there isn't much that is worse than a lost ball python. Please do your snake a favour and make sure the lid is secure at all times as they are natural escape artists.

And like others have said, she may just be hungry. Is she roaming her tank during the day as well? Or just at night? Just keep offering an appropriately sized meal every 7 days and make sure husbandry is correct, and she'll be a happy snake. Good luck, hope she settles down soon!

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Hey there,

Sorry for nit-picking but I noticed a few things that you said. If your thermostat is reading 93, but your thermometer is measuring a 97-98 F temp, then you may have your thermostat probe in the wrong place. Is it right in the centre of the glass, directly above the UTH? The thermostat probe should be in the hottest possible spot on top of the UTH and under the substrate.

As for you having to "get the clips out": You NEED to have these on at all times. For ANY non-locking lid, I would always use clips in combination with a heavy weight (textbooks) on top of the lid to ensure that at all times, my snake cannot escape. Aside from sickness and disease, there isn't much that is worse than a lost ball python. Please do your snake a favour and make sure the lid is secure at all times as they are natural escape artists.

And like others have said, she may just be hungry. Is she roaming her tank during the day as well? Or just at night? Just keep offering an appropriately sized meal every 7 days and make sure husbandry is correct, and she'll be a happy snake. Good luck, hope she settles down soon!

Does the thermostat probe need to be in the cage? Oo? It's not on top of the heat pad, it's right under it between the cardboard regulator(I have a tub) and the heat pad. So it goes from bottom to top: Cardboard-tstatprobe-heatpad-tub.
should I have it: cardboard-heatpad-tstatprobe-tub?
I don't have the thermometer probe on the heat pad, since I'm using a temp gun to measure the temp of the heat pad.
The lid does lock onto the tub, she was just pushing extra hard, but I don't think she would have been able to get out.
She was just roaming last night, all night. She wasn't roaming the days before, but she was sitting with her head out like she normally does when hungry.
So I suppose she's just hungry. XD

[mattchibi]

Does the thermostat probe need to be in the cage? Oo? It's not on top of the heat pad, it's right under it between the cardboard regulator(I have a tub) and the heat pad. So it goes from bottom to top: Cardboard-tstatprobe-heatpad-tub.
should I have it: cardboard-heatpad-tstatprobe-tub?
I don't have the thermometer probe on the heat pad, since I'm using a temp gun to measure the temp of the heat pad.
The lid does lock onto the tub, she was just pushing extra hard, but I don't think she would have been able to get out.
She was just roaming last night, all night. She wasn't roaming the days before, but she was sitting with her head out like she normally does when hungry.
So I suppose she's just hungry. XD

AHH my mistake!!

I just got back from class and typed that message in a haze.

so you do actually want the thermoSTAT probe between the bottom of the glass and your UTH. you want your thermoMETER probe above the glass, directly above the UTH in the center, so it can measure the real temp at which your snake can burrow and reach.

So it would go (from top to bottom): Substrate - Thermometer Probe - Glass - Thermostat Probe - UTH.

In your case, it would be : (from top to bottom) Substrate - Tub - Thermostat Probe - UTH

Since you dont have a thermometer with a probe, I highly suggest that you get one so that you can get a first-glance idea of what the temps are like at the hottest spot above the UTH. Using a temp gun works too, but it just means you have to displace your snake, the substrate and possibly a hide every time, in order to get a temp of the hot spot.

As for the locking lid, since it is a tub, I would still use clips all the time as well as a heavy weight on top. It does not hurt to be over-prepared for them escaping, but it does hurt to be under-prepared.

Sorry again for that mistake on my part, let us know if you have any more questions

[fluffpuffgerbil]

XD Alright, that's what I thought...
I'll go switch the placement of the Tstat probe since it's in the wrong place then! :3

[mattchibi]

Heres some pictures from Vypyrz's tub tutorial& sorry again for providing mis-information in my first post..

thermostat probe, foil taped to the bottom of the tub:


undertank heater, foil taped on top of the probe, on the bottom of the tub:


Read vypyrz tutorial if you want more info on stand-alone tubs: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Basics...*DUW*