Hey guys.
I love this forum, but there is so much info it is hard to find the one answering my question.
So I am a happy new owner of a BP. I got it last week, and the former owner says he is an adult male, over 2 years old. He is ~3 feet long so I guess his size is OK.
The former owner said he kept it at an average temperature of 75 degrees at the basking spot and no UTH. He also said he fed it 3-4 live or f/t adult mice per month.
Now, from all the info I got, I concluded that those were not the best conditions.
I keep the snake in a glass tank vivarium with styrofoam background, heated with a 15W heating cable fitted to the tank's underside.
I tryed to create 2 temperature zones with an adequate hide on each, but the temperatures I got were 73 degrees ambient, with a max surface temp. of 80-86 degrees on the warmer corner and 75-77 degrees on the cooler corner. The Humidity is in the 50-60 range, so that should be OK.
I tried a 50W IR bulb but that raised the ambient temperature to the 100-105 degrees range in only 20 minutes, so I gave up on it.
The snake seems happy to accept f/t mice so I will not risk feeding live. He shed the day I got him and 4 days later I offered it a f/t mouse whitch he happily ate.
My biggest questions are regarding the feeding and the temperature.
How many f/t mouse should he eat a week, considering that he is 2-3 times thicker than a mouse???
I have a feeling he was underfed. He shows a behaviour I call "hunting mode" every time I aproach and move around his enclosure, so I guess he is hungry.
Are the temperatures OK? Could it be that he adapted to lower temps?
I ask this apparently stupid question because the hide on the hottest point of the enclosure is only maxing at 86 degrees, yet he never used it. He only uses the colder hide, maxing at 77 degrees, even after he ate, which I presume should have made him search for higher temps to help with digestion.
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