Newbie PLEASE HELP before I end up killing a $1000 snake!

[Soldierzgurl79]

Ok so here's my issues...

I bought a 2 month old blue eyed leucistic bp male & he arrived Tuesday. I had a thermostat on order but when it got here it was broken & had 2 wait several days 4 another 1. Got it all hooked up last night & am having some issues with the hot side & humidity. We use a couple sterilite tubs w/ side holes, intellitemp heat mat, a VE300 thermostat, an acurite thermometer, 2 identical Exoterra hides, branch 4 climbing/shedding, fake plants, & an exoterra water dish.

We originally used aspen bedding but could never get the humidity high enough so we switched to zoo meds cyprus mulch cause that's what the breeder had been using. Now the humidity stays way to high! The breeder recommends humidity @ 60%-75% & temps @ 90 - 92 hot spot w/ cool side 82 - 85 degrees. Our temps have been that according 2 the thermostat but when I touch the substrate it feels very cool & wet. The bag said it was dry but it came very moist w/ condensation in the bag. Our humidity is now staying around 95% & i think that's not good. WHAT DO WE DO???

Our thermostat probe is under the substrate on top of the area where we have the heat mat. Is this wrong??? I have watched several youtube vids & am not sure how 2 do it since everyone does it differently. WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG???

If this snake dies then my hubby will not ever let me get another 1! We have only had the snake 3 days & have handled him once already to change the substrate. I don't want to stress him anymore...& know we should have waited. When we changed it we noticed what looked like poop but then again didn't. I have seen vids with dark poop but this looked white, small, & had orangish dot like things on it but they didn't move that I could see. IS THIS NORMAL???

[Don]

first, calm down, don't panic. If you let the enclosure settle for a few days, you'll see the humidity come down. A few days at high humidity shouldn't harm the snake. The white "poop" is urate and is perfectly normal. Enjoy the snake, don't let it stress you out.

[Soldierzgurl79]

​What do we do about the temps??? Is it normal?

[Annarose15]

Ok, deep breaths.

1) The thermostat probe should be wedged between the tank/tub bottom and the heat pad, if at all possible. You put the Acurite probe where you currently have the thermostat probe, and then adjust temps based on teh thermometer. If your thermometer probe is already there, and your temps are stable, then your only risk is that the snake could knock the thermostat probe out of place and the heat pad would subsequently be unregulated.

2) Humidity is too high. I keep mine 50-60%. You have a few options. One, the substrate doesn't need to be much more than a half inch thick, so remove any excess. Two, ventilate the tub better with more holes soldered in the sides, or remove some of the covering over the tank lid, whichever is applicable. Once you get it down to ~70%, it will continue to dry and eventually get down to where you want it on its own.

3) The substrate is going to feel cool. If you have access to a temp gun, go check temps of random surfaces in your house and compare them to how they feel on your hand. You'll be surprised.

4) The white "poo" with orange specs was urates, which is completely normal.

Ok so here's my issues...

I bought a 2 month old blue eyed leucistic bp male & he arrived Tuesday. I had a thermostat on order but when it got here it was broken & had 2 wait several days 4 another 1. Got it all hooked up last night & am having some issues with the hot side & humidity. We use a couple sterilite tubs w/ side holes, intellitemp heat mat, a VE300 thermostat, an acurite thermometer, 2 identical Exoterra hides, branch 4 climbing/shedding, fake plants, & an exoterra water dish.

We originally used aspen bedding but could never get the humidity high enough so we switched to zoo meds cyprus mulch cause that's what the breeder had been using. Now the humidity stays way to high! The breeder recommends humidity @ 60%-75% & temps @ 90 - 92 hot spot w/ cool side 82 - 85 degrees. Our temps have been that according 2 the thermostat but when I touch the substrate it feels very cool & wet. The bag said it was dry but it came very moist w/ condensation in the bag. Our humidity is now staying around 95% & i think that's not good. WHAT DO WE DO???

Our thermostat probe is under the substrate on top of the area where we have the heat mat. Is this wrong??? I have watched several youtube vids & am not sure how 2 do it since everyone does it differently. WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG???

If this snake dies then my hubby will not ever let me get another 1! We have only had the snake 3 days & have handled him once already to change the substrate. I don't want to stress him anymore...& know we should have waited. When we changed it we noticed what looked like poop but then again didn't. I have seen vids with dark poop but this looked white, small, & had orangish dot like things on it but they didn't move that I could see. IS THIS NORMAL???

Don - You're too quick for me!

[satomi325]

Edit:ah. Annarose beat me!


The thermostat probe doesn't belong in the enclosures. It needs to be directly on top of the heat source.
Its actually a hazard to keep the thermostat probe in with the snake. Are you using any thermometer to read the temps separately from the thermostat?

The thermometer can be used in the enclosure.

Also, human temperature is 97-98. Anything less will feel cooler to your touch. So as long as your temp readings are accurate, don't worry about it.

Mulch is moist at first, but will come down. You can always mix some of the aspen in if you feel like its too wet.

Snakes will have poop, urates(yellow stuff), and urine. Urates is basically solid urine. Totally normal.

Congrats on your new snake. You're off to a good start.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Take a deep breath first

Humidity depends on the substrate used and ventilation,

Here is what you can do

• Increase the air flow if you can.
• Place a smaller water dish might also help.
• Most importantly avoid using a substrate that feel very wet, not only it will translate as high humidity but other issues could arise as well.

When I buy mulch and it is very wet I open the bag and place it in the snake room (which is warm) for a day or two to let it dry out some.


Now as far as the thermostat goes I highly recommend to place the probe between the heat source and the enclosure (secure on the heat tape), if place in the enclosure and moved or wet (BP are notorious to tip their water dish over) it will cool down the probe which means the temperature will shoot up.

As far as urine it comes in two forms, liquid and solid in the for of urate, the "white, small, & had orangish dot like things" you observed so this is completely normal.

[mshadows]

..... yeah the cypress mulch ids pretty damp out of the bag I usually let mine air out 3 -4 days before I replace the old stuff, if i dont it gets to about 85 % ... but then dries out

[southwind]

Quick send me the snake before you kill it!

In all seriousness humidity being high wont kill the snake just for prolonged times it might cause them to get an RI,

Your body is 96F anything thats is cooler than 96 including your snake will feel cool, unless your hands are freezing

Just make sure you dry out the bedding a bit more!

Im currently having Humidity issues (using aspen) with it being way too high due to all the rain we get where I live, Going out myself to get smaller dishes for my snakes Its at 90% for me at the moment.

Also Welcome to being a new snake parent! these little guys are very robust! Pics of your setup would help a lot as well!

Final tip, always buy NEW stuff for your snake, tubs, etc, not saying you didn't just for future ref, there is a few things other breeders might have that you dont want your snakes exposed to.

[BoostedMX3]

First thing u need to do to help us help u is put up a picture of that awesome bel! Everything else has been covered in previous posts

[kitedemon]

It sounds like you need some more ventilation. A picture showing the side would be helpful.

It sounds like the target temps might be a touch high usually 90ºF warm (I don't use hot because it only will feel warm to you) and 80ºF cool with an ambient air temp of 80ºF give or take 4º on the air temps. Intellitemp pads are very safe so that is a bonus. Interior probe placement can be done safely but there are more criteria than you sound like you can meet. Try placing it (FIRMLY it must not move) on the intellitemp. If you are finding the temps to be very unstable post or PM and the criteria of how to set up for an interior mounting correctly can be discussed.

You also might check the accurite against the VE tstat place the probes beside each other (only 30 min will be needed so when you move the VE probe just for a temp thing place the accurite probe beside it) and check to see if they read the same. You may find a difference or not. If there is a large difference you may give thought to replacing it. With exterior mounting a reasonably accurate thermometer is needed, accurite specs allow 4ºF over or under correct,IF you have a 'monday am' unit it would be prudent to get something else.