Very moody BP - any insight appreciated

[Kaorte]

You need to give us a better description of your husbandy. Temps might be fine I you but they could be all wrong. What kind of thermometers are you using? How are you heating the enclosure? What kind of hides are you using? What substrate? How often do you feed him and what sized prey item?

It sounds like this snake is stressed out. How often do you try to handle him?

[Derteufel]

Elise, covered on 2 sides, 2 sides are open but its not see through, not glass or clear plastic. No UTH, hes off the ground off any surface for UTH. Ive seen him soak though he rarely puts his entire body in, at least from what ive seen.

Kaorte: What?, Infrared lighting for heat execpt for an occasional blacklight, news paper. Feed him once a week, not too big not too small. Used to handle him 5 days a week for 5 - 15 minutes a day. I left him a lone for about a month after the hard shed and the to let him alone after the first episode and now its hot or miss. For the last 2 weeks maybe 3 times.

I should add member of the forum, Brett, lives in my building and agrees things seem right. hes just moody.

[Kaorte]

that is precicely not helpful. What size prey item? Hopper, fuzzy, adult mouse, rat weanling, small rat. You could not be feeding him enough.

What kind of thermometers are you using and what do they read? What kind of hides does he have? Describe them.

What do you mean he is off the ground for a uth?

[Elise.m]

Well not using an UTH can irritate him if you handle him too soon after eating. Belly heat helps them digest their food, so if you're using a lamp he might take longer to digest. If you have a spare $45, I would invest in a UTH and a thermostat.

[Derteufel]

Hi Elise, I dont handle him for 26 - 30 hours after eating. He is warm all all times though (pick him up and hes warm) hes off the cold floor and the enclosure is plastic. Its not the money for a UTH its how Ive set him up. Hes very warm but well hydrated and its any day though he does seem to be least irritable the night before feeding. Ill need more time to confirm this.

Kaorte, what is your native langauge? maybe I speak it and we can talk, I dont think we are undestanding eachother. He eats small to medium size adult mice. He is a good weight for his lenght. The hides are bark. I dont remember what kind of wood but its not a scented wood. "What do you mean he is off the ground for a uth?" What do you mean what do I mean? Hes not on a flat surface, the enclosure is not on a flat solid surface.

[Derteufel]

Hey Elise, the temp is no lower than 80* at night and 95 - 98 max in the day. I might cut down the lighting and get an UTH to try but hes been this way for almost 8 months with no issues.

There was on thing that happend around the time... I live on the top floor 80 ft off the ground in an old office building built in the 00's. 1907. Had a mosquito problem. One night I moved him out of the loft and had it sprayed and came back 30 minutes later. There werent any fumes and I followed the procedures but could this have made him sick? mad? hehehe. this was in July about 1 - 2 weeks before he started goind insane.

[Kaorte]

My native language is English. I assume yours is not since you don't seen to understand what I am asking.

Do you know the snakes weight? He should be eating 10-15% of his body weight. If he is 8 months old then he should be eating small rats, not small mice.

Are the hides half log hides? If so, they do not provide enough security for the snake. He needs small rock cave like hides with a small opening. He should fit snugly on all sides (including the top).

Your temps should not fluctuate. It should be 92-94* on the hotspot at all times. Any more than 95*F could burn or COOK your snake. Ambient air temps should be more than 75*F but not more than 85*F. You should be measuring temps with a digital thermometer with a probe. Stick on or gague thermometers are horribly inaccurate.

Spraying for bugs could have caused some neurological damage.

You really should get a UTH. Lamps, as you may have noticed, tend to kill humidity and cause bad sheds. A UTH must be used with a thermostat. This is a device that directly controls how hot the UTH gets.

[Derteufel]

My native language is English. I assume yours is not since you don't seen to understand what I am asking.

Do you know the snakes weight? He should be eating 10-15% of his body weight. If he is 8 months old then he should be eating small rats, not small mice.

Are the hides half log hides? If so, they do not provide enough security for the snake. He needs small rock cave like hides with a small opening. He should fit snugly on all sides (including the top).

Your temps should not fluctuate. It should be 92-94* on the hotspot at all times. Any more than 95*F could burn or COOK your snake. Ambient air temps should be more than 75*F but not more than 85*F. You should be measuring temps with a digital thermometer with a probe. Stick on or gague thermometers are horribly inaccurate.

Spraying for bugs could have caused some neurological damage.

You really should get a UTH. Lamps, as you may have noticed, tend to kill humidity and cause bad sheds. A UTH must be used with a thermostat. This is a device that directly controls how hot the UTH gets.

Well your spelling mistakes and bad grammar were an indication. English is my first, but I speak several others well. Not using stick on, I know about them, and the humidity can be sucked out by lamps. Hes had one bad, not terrible, but bad enough shed where his head, just his head wouldnt finish. Ive fixed that. Are you sure he could have neuro damage? It seems very possible but how often has anyone heard of this happening?

[blackcrystal22]

Hi Elise, I dont handle him for 26 - 30 hours after eating. He is warm all all times though (pick him up and hes warm) hes off the cold floor and the enclosure is plastic. Its not the money for a UTH its how Ive set him up. Hes very warm but well hydrated and its any day though he does seem to be least irritable the night before feeding. Ill need more time to confirm this.

Kaorte, what is your native langauge? maybe I speak it and we can talk, I dont think we are undestanding eachother. He eats small to medium size adult mice. He is a good weight for his lenght. The hides are bark. I dont remember what kind of wood but its not a scented wood. "What do you mean he is off the ground for a uth?" What do you mean what do I mean? Hes not on a flat surface, the enclosure is not on a flat solid surface.

Don't get defensive, Kaorte is correct on being confused. Many of my cages are off the ground and have UTHs. You use foil tape, or if you have to, the adhesive on the UTH itself.
Also, I recommend waiting at least 48 hours after feeding to handle him, especially without a UTH for proper belly heat digestion.

Hey Elise, the temp is no lower than 80* at night and 95 - 98 max in the day. I might cut down the lighting and get an UTH to try but hes been this way for almost 8 months with no issues.

There was on thing that happend around the time... I live on the top floor 80 ft off the ground in an old office building built in the 00's. 1907. Had a mosquito problem. One night I moved him out of the loft and had it sprayed and came back 30 minutes later. There werent any fumes and I followed the procedures but could this have made him sick? mad? hehehe. this was in July about 1 - 2 weeks before he started goind insane.

98 is way too hot and 80 is a bit on the colder side. You need exact temperatures on both sides of the cage. It should be about 80-85F on the cool side and 90-95F on the warm side. You need some good thermometers with probes (digital, dial is useless) to read these temperatures or a good temp gun. The ambient air temperature should never drop below 80F.

I doubt the spray was bad unless it mentions something on the bottle about it.

Elise, covered on 2 sides, 2 sides are open but its not see through, not glass or clear plastic. No UTH, hes off the ground off any surface for UTH. Ive seen him soak though he rarely puts his entire body in, at least from what ive seen.

Kaorte: What?, Infrared lighting for heat execpt for an occasional blacklight, news paper. Feed him once a week, not too big not too small. Used to handle him 5 days a week for 5 - 15 minutes a day. I left him a lone for about a month after the hard shed and the to let him alone after the first episode and now its hot or miss. For the last 2 weeks maybe 3 times.

I should add member of the forum, Brett, lives in my building and agrees things seem right. hes just moody.

Blacklight is dangerous, do not ever use it on any reptile.
What is your humidity in the cage? With heat lamps, I highly doubt your able to keep the humidity at a stable 60-70% unless your spraying the cage 3x a day.