Soon to Shed or Bacteria? Sorry, im totally new! :X

[rattlehead07]

i do have a UTH, doesnt have a temp gauge on it though, i leave about a centimeter or so of space between it and the glass, then i have a layer of astro turf and the fir bark.. temps inside hide are about 95...

would you suggest i use some kind of a&d ointment on him? or should i just crank humidity and let him shed it off?

[crusher]

my advice is to go to walmart, home depot. to find an accu-rite and while youre there pick up a light dimmer to help control the power to the uth as im sure kaorte is about say the same. theyre both relatively cheap fixes to the problem

[steveboos]

Yeah it does look like regular shedding redness. I would suggest getting a digital thermometer to determine the temperature also. Honestly though, i would just keep the tank as moist as possible for the next week and let him take care of his business.

[rattlehead07]

thanks guys. i did get a digital thermometer - the general ambient temperature in the cage is ~83, and about 94 in the hide where the uth was, but i had to take it out, because it was waayyyy too hot, it was bringing the glass to a burning hot almost - i definitely need a dimmer for that thing if ill be using it at all.

as far as humidity, ive been looking like hell for a digital hygrometer, cant find it... i have a nice big water bowl set up under a black heat lamp 50W, and its humid as all hell in there right now haha. hes actually chillin in the water bowl right now, thats fine right?

[steveboos]

thanks guys. i did get a digital thermometer - the general ambient temperature in the cage is ~83, and about 94 in the hide where the uth was, but i had to take it out, because it was waayyyy too hot, it was bringing the glass to a burning hot almost - i definitely need a dimmer for that thing if ill be using it at all.

as far as humidity, ive been looking like hell for a digital hygrometer, cant find it... i have a nice big water bowl set up under a black heat lamp 50W, and its humid as all hell in there right now haha. hes actually chillin in the water bowl right now, thats fine right?

Actually you just answered your question right in your own statement. The humidity is too low because hes laying in his water bowl. You can find digital hygrometers everywhere, any lowes, home depot, walmart, target, etc will carry them at all times.

[rattlehead07]

wow.. i scavenged the isles of my home depot to no avail.. im gona call around right now and ask some more. how would you suggest i raise the humidity?

i got a 40 gallon tank, layer of astro turf with fir bark substrate covering half of it, have most of the top covered with foil and a black 50 watt bulb... what am i missing?

[Lolo76]

Since nobody else mentioned it, I wanted to comment on the "astro-turf" you said you're using... really really not a great idea for snakes! Not because it's bad for them, just because it's incredibly hard to keep clean. I used that stuff for like 2 weeks with my lizard, and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. I'd suggest using newspaper, paper towels, aspen or carefresh as substrate - you'll be amazed at how easy the former two (what I use for my BPs) are to clean! As far as the shedding goes, just let nature take its course, and only mist/soak if you notice he's having trouble.

[Lolo76]

wow.. i scavenged the isles of my home depot to no avail.. im gona call around right now and ask some more. how would you suggest i raise the humidity?

You can order one online: http://weatherconnection.com/product...curite0&page=3
And do you have something to control the temperatures? If not, go get a Lutron dimmer at Home Depot or Lowes... although a thermostat (ZooMed, Helix, etc) is better, the dimmer will do for now.

If you do need to raise humidity, add another water bowl & put it under/over the heat source... you can also mist with a water bottle, throw in some damp sphagnum moss, or a moist paper towel. Just make sure it doesn't get too humid, or you could give him a respiratory infection.

i got a 40 gallon tank, layer of astro turf with fir bark substrate covering half of it, have most of the top covered with foil and a black 50 watt bulb... what am i missing?

A few problems here, which will definitely affect your humidity... tank is pretty big (they only need 20gal as adults), the heat lamp will suck out your humidity, and glass tanks in general are difficult to maintain. I'd suggest converting to a tub setup, but if you want a tank do the following - switch to one of the substrates I mentioned above, ditch the heat lamp, and use only the UTH (once you have something to control/measure it) for heat.

[rattlehead07]

hi lolo!

yeah after i got the astro turf, i read everywhere how annoying it is to clean and so forth. i have enough for maybe 3-4 weeks if i just replace the entire piece every week - that should be clean enough for him i hope. and then after the store owner reccomended fir bark someone here told me it contains toxins? i guess ill end up with aspen regardless, and very soon

[rattlehead07]

You can order one online: http://weatherconnection.com/product...curite0&page=3

And do you have something to control the temperatures? If not, go get a Lutron dimmer at Home Depot or Lowes... although a thermostat (ZooMed, Helix, etc) is better, the dimmer will do for now.



A few problems here, which will definitely affect your humidity... tank is pretty big (they only need 20gal as adults), the heat lamp will suck out your humidity, and glass tanks in general are difficult to maintain. I'd suggest converting to a tub setup, but if you want a tank do the following - switch to one of the substrates I mentioned above, ditch the heat lamp, and use only the UTH (once you have something to control/measure it) for heat.

advice taken. i cant really get rid of the tank cause i got it with the snake as a gift, and cant afford much else. would it be legitimate if i stuck a UTH under the water dish? in theory that should cause the water to evaporate and put out moisture into the air..?