It has been over a year since I have been on this forum. But things have happened since last year. My latest bit of news was horrible news... My spider ball Apollo a few months ago had a spot on his underside that appeared to be a burn. I treated it with a little triple antibiotic ointment (make sure no infection would occur.) A month later all seemed fine, the "burn" had shrunk. I went off on a trip about 3 weeks ago, and got a care taker for my snakes. I got back 2 days ago, and checked back on my snakes, and I was totally stunned what I found on my spider. On his stomach I saw giant slightly blackish red spots, and they covered 1/3rd of his underside. I suspected scale rot, so I put some betadyne on his stomach, and again applied my antibiotic ointment, and left him in his cage for the night. The next morning I checked up on him, I knew something wasn't right when I saw him laying belly up. I opened the cage and picked him up, and he was limp... Apollo died in the night, I never said good bye.... I suspect he died of scale rot, but it was a fast onset. My cage conditions are clean, and I inspect my pythons regularly. I want to know how he got this... But something obviously went to hell. Why? Because on one of my normals, she has those weird "burn" spots. I frankly am scared for the safety of my collection, so I am quarantining them off from each other. In fear of if it is a contagious disease, I am twice daily going to clean them with my antibiotics and change there bedding. I hope this doesn't hurt any more of them. Also, this is my first time dealing with a snakes death. Honestly, this death is a hard thing to deal with...

On a brighter note... I have been working to find how to cheaply, and humanely euthanize large quantities of feeders. I feel I have found an amazingly cheep and fast way of killing them. Take a small tupperware tub with matching lid, then cut a hole in the top of the lid. Now comes the interesting part... I have found that gassing rodents has consistently been the most humane way to go. But getting bottled co2 or dry ice can be expensive and more time consuming to find. My goal was to find a way at home to produce gas fast. This is my finding: Compressed air (computed duster). It is cheep, accessible, and last a long time for multiple uses. God knows what is in this gas, but it certainly isn't air. Anyway, take the compressed "air" and blow it through that opening in the lid. It takes literally 30 seconds or less till the rat/mouse is dead. Its fast, cheep, effective, and most importantly: humane.

As far as housing for my snakes go, I have been using 20 gal. glass aquariums for each snake. In each cage, I have sticks, and 2 hides, a rock (not a hot rock,a real one), water, harlan tedlad sani-chip bedding, and an external underside heat pad. I find that upkeep is laborious and difficult for the aquariums. I am transferring to a rack system. I want the easiest to maintain system as possible. Efficiency+Ease of manageability=Healthy snakes, and a happy owner! But I have a few questions... First, do I need a hide in the cage? The shelves themselves are going to be mostly dark/dimly lit inside by my snake room. Secondly, what is the best arrangement for the heat pad?