New BP!

[Deluge]

Yeah, I assumed I don't need it super high, but I guess I'm sort of compensating due to the a/c kicking on every so often and I know that tends to dry things out. But yeah, so far it's been going well. Super happy with my current setup.

As far as shedding, do you add anything like a piece of drift wood to help them out? I know when I had Corns, they needed something to scrape against to get things started. Or does the moss do the job?

[KMG]

My ball can shed with nothing at all as an aid but it has plenty to rub on if it wants. I have live plants, drift wood, and vines but I have found every shed in a tight roll in its hide. My bloods do not have anything to rub on and they shed fine as well.

[DennisM]

Now, I'm not sure if I have mites, or if I just saw a random bug. I was handling him last night and I saw a black bug crawling on my hand. At first I was like, damn he has mites! So I grabbed a flashlight and basically gave him a full cavity search, but I didn't spot any. So I took out his hides and searched...nothing. The water bowl didn't show any signs, either. Just that one random creeper.

if the snake has mites it would most likely be soaking nonstop and you would have a water bowl full of drowned mites. Hopefully just a random bug.

[Deluge]

I spotted another bug yesterday, still not sure if it's a mite problem, though. I gave him another thorough search, but still turned up nothing in the usual spots. He's still not soaking. I'm wondering if they're just random bugs coming from the substrate. I'll just throw it out and give the tub a thorough cleaning this weekend. I'll use paper towels for now, until I can confidently say they're not mites. I'm going to pick up some Reptile Spray, as well.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys! I appreciate it.

[AnnaK231]

I spotted another bug yesterday, still not sure if it's a mite problem, though. I gave him another thorough search, but still turned up nothing in the usual spots. He's still not soaking. I'm wondering if they're just random bugs coming from the substrate. I'll just throw it out and give the tub a thorough cleaning this weekend. I'll use paper towels for now, until I can confidently say they're not mites. I'm going to pick up some Reptile Spray, as well.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys! I appreciate it.

Interesting that it's only one here or there. Good luck with the cleaning, hopefully the change to paper towels helps.

[Deluge]

Seriously! I was expecting a full blown outbreak. I tossed all of the substrate, he's on newspaper, now. I got some Reptile Spray, wiped him down with it and let him soak for about 45 minutes. After all of that, I saw maybe 8 mites. I'm thinking I caught it before they had the opportunity to spread. I sprayed down the tub, as well and let that sit for a good hour. I didn't see any mites in the tub, at all, and I went over it with a flashlight. Today was feeding day, but he didn't take it. I'm assuming it's because he was a little stressed due to the treatment. I'll try again next week.

I also have a small piece of no-pest strip sitting on top of the tub, just to make sure I get any mites that decide to return. Hopefully that covers everything and takes care of them for good.

[AnnaK231]

Seriously! I was expecting a full blown outbreak. I tossed all of the substrate, he's on newspaper, now. I got some Reptile Spray, wiped him down with it and let him soak for about 45 minutes. After all of that, I saw maybe 8 mites. I'm thinking I caught it before they had the opportunity to spread. I sprayed down the tub, as well and let that sit for a good hour. I didn't see any mites in the tub, at all, and I went over it with a flashlight. Today was feeding day, but he didn't take it. I'm assuming it's because he was a little stressed due to the treatment. I'll try again next week.

I also have a small piece of no-pest strip sitting on top of the tub, just to make sure I get any mites that decide to return. Hopefully that covers everything and takes care of them for good.

That's great! I'm sure he didn't eat because of the handling. Hopefully they don't come back.

[Deluge]

So tonight I tried a frozen/thawed medium rat. I thawed it by submerging it in a container of hot water for about an hour, then I used a blow dryer to raise the temp a bit...And he took it so fast. Faster than a live rat. So, I guess he's on frozen/thawed, now.

I've lowered the humidity to about 60%, ambient temp is at 79. So far, so good. He hasn't shed yet, though. So I'm looking forward to that.

The mites seem to be gone, I've handled him a few times since his treatment and I haven't seen any. So that looks like it's been sorted. Super happy about that!

[Deluge]

So things are going really well. He's eating like a beast. I was thinking about building my own rack out of one of those Home Depot plastic shelves. I have a few questions, though. First, here's my badly drawn plan.



Obviously, the red/grey lines are the heating system I'm going to wire up. Just some Flexwatt, nothing special. However, I was looking at the Freedom Breeder heating inserts and I noticed it's just Flexwatt attached to some sheet metal. I can build that myself, I just need to know what type of sheet metal and what gauge/thickness I should use. So, if anyone can help me out with that, I'd appreciate it. Also, I'm going to build this to fit both 32qt and 41qt tubs. So I'm going to use 11" Flexwatt. For the 32qt tubs I'm only going to keep 1/3 of the tub on the heat source, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'd rather have too much than not enough.

Also, this rack is going to be setup in a relatively dark area and I'm looking into making some sort of cover for added privacy. With that being said, would hides be necessary? I noticed quite a few breeders don't use hides in their tubs, and I assume it's mainly because their tubs/rack act as a hide. Any info about this would be awesome, as well. Thanks!

[Albert Clark]

That's great! I'm sure he didn't eat because of the handling. Hopefully they don't come back.

Hey, make sure you retreat the bp and his enclosure with the pam and reptile spray to kill any hatching eggs. Good luck.