Hi all,
My BP is settling in pretty nicely so far- I don't think there's quite enough temp gradient in the tank, which I'm working on, but it's been 77-85 degrees with a hotspot of 88 over the UTH for the last 5 days or so so we're getting there. Humidity has been 55-65%, and he had a great shed about two and a half weeks ago according to the owner I adopted him from.
I attempted to feed him a FT rat tonight and there was lots of interest: strike pose, tongue flicking, tracking, but then he started investigating the tongs and the rat close up and decided not to take it. I'm figuring this is probably a combination of him still adjusting to the new environment and also the mouse probably cooling off pretty quick since I couldn't find a hair dryer. (I used warm water method but I don't think it ever really got hot enough. I dunked the mouse back in warm water a couple times but no go.)
I was attempting to feed in the tank and I gently lifted his hide off him before bringing the rat in with the tongs, since he was balled up very tightly asleep inside the hide. Should I have left the hide on him and just moved the rat around in front of the entrance?
I left the rat in the enclosure in a tupperware and am going to try and warm it up in hot water about 30/40 min and attempt one more time (he's balled up in his other hide currently) before throwing it out. My plan if he doesn't take it is to put a bigger cloth over the cage and leave him alone for another week before trying again with a hair dryer.
Any advice or things I should do differently/watch out for?
I could also use some advice on getting more of a gradient in the enclosure. Ambient room temp is about 75, the coolest side of the enclosure is reading about 79/80, and the warm side currently reading 84. (hotspot over UTH is 88) We're getting an AC but ambient room temp will probably remain 75+ for the rest of the summer. Should I turn off the CHE and just let him use the UTH? He was sitting on the cool side most of the time before I had the CHE installed anyways... <-- not such a big deal when temp is 75 but when temps are between 75 and 80 I'm not so sure I should have the CHE on in there,- I think it's just going to raise the temp up past 80 no matter what.
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