how long does it take to digest?

[Egapal]

i know your all not attacking its just its always about the temp.. lol i dunno if this thread has the pics of my cage but the temp is hot/mid hot/cold

the reason for the third temp is simple.. i have a water dish pretty much the size of the cold side there isnt enough room for the snake to have a hide.. and if i down grade the size the humidity will need to be tweaked.. i cannot mount the thing you all are talking about because......... i have a sliding screen top.. i wouldnt be able to open the cage if i mounted on the top of the cage.. and im not drilling through my glass.... so as of now i cannot use the best of the best.... lol my skink alone was 200 the bp 90 his cage 150 extra hide 10 3 digi therms 30 uth 27 water dish 20 beding 30 < bought alot lol
lights each basking light was 15 i have 3 100s 1 75

it all adds up... not to mention the 400 dollar light bill i gotta pay.. so for now im tryn to make the best of what i can afford
scraped up 80 bucks over the week and bought him his real UTH instead of a human heating pad lol along with his other 2 digis and his extra hide...


but really what works for you all doesnt mean it works for me becuase in order for it to work for me i would have to buy another cage.. and atm my wallet cannot take that blow... someone is always with him and my skink lol my fiance stays home and i work... lol

but atm im way frustrated since now i cant run my lights without the humidity getting to 90... the substrate is in the oven once again trying to dry it out ... izzy is in a plastic crate with a space heater and a human heating pad under him... i know how important the temp and humidity is so its the first thing i make sure is perfect.. and right now i cant get it perfect and its pissing me off... nothing that worked before is working now... theres either not enough heat or theres to much heat and not enough humidity <cage top open is y no humidity

put it this way there is so much humidity when i finnaly got tired of fighting with it in the cage.. i lifted one of his hides on the hot side and there was watre droplets on the roof of it... 1.40am no sleep again taken care of him

Believe it or not on top of trying to get you and your snake the best settup you can have we are also trying to save you money. All of the things we are talking about do not have to be expensive. If you had not already spent all the money you have it would in fact be a lot cheaper. I have never spent much money on hides. Terracotta pot bottoms to start: $1.10 a piece (I though they were overpriced at that). I forget the price but I picked up heat tape, mite remover, vet approved cleaner and a thermostat from reptile basics for a great price. Then built a rheostat for less than 10 bucks out of an extension cord and a dimmer switch.

Unfortunately for all the money you have spent the real benefit is going to come from a thermostat and a decent one will cost you over $75.

Another point worth mentioning is that lamps are not the most efficient sources of heat. If they were we all have lamps instead of heaters in our house. Not using lamps for heat is going to save you money.

[Kaorte]

He said its -30 out. I live in Ohio so I know what Michigan and Chicago cold is, however, -30 makes Michigan and Chicago seem like a tropical getaway. If he feels comfortable with changing lamps for both of his animals thats fine. More power to him. And as for the snake burrowing under subtrate, I have a ball python and a number of my friends have ball pythons. I have never ever seen one mess with the substrate to try and get underneath it. NOT ONCE, EVER. He read the back of the box of the UTH and he seems to know what hes doing. I believe he is doing fine. I know someone who heats his tank with a huge ass heat lamp and thats it. His snake seems just as fine and healthy as Ive ever seen them. Everyone does it differently. Seems like everyone is criticizing the guy for not doing anything wrong if his snake is healthy and does everything like your snake or my snake. I think hes just doing fine.

Just my .02.. Please dont hate me for stickin up for the guy! I just dont see a problem if his snake seems happy and healthy.

I have 5 ball pythons and I have personally seen them move any and every kind of substrate I put in there. Aspen, paper towels, newspaper, dirt. They always end up moving it.

OP: I really hope you can get things figured out. I feel your frustration. We were all there at one point. I am sorry you have already spent so much money on all these things that were honestly not all that needed. Hopefully you can get everything stabilized so your new little one can start enjoying its new environment!

That being said, all these changes and tweaking you are doing is probably a little stressful on your snake. Do your best not to handle it for a week after everything is finally set up. Then offer food. Then 48 hours later, enjoy!

[tizzle89]

Believe it or not on top of trying to get you and your snake the best settup you can have we are also trying to save you money. All of the things we are talking about do not have to be expensive. If you had not already spent all the money you have it would in fact be a lot cheaper. I have never spent much money on hides. Terracotta pot bottoms to start: $1.10 a piece (I though they were overpriced at that). I forget the price but I picked up heat tape, mite remover, vet approved cleaner and a thermostat from reptile basics for a great price. Then built a rheostat for less than 10 bucks out of an extension cord and a dimmer switch.

Unfortunately for all the money you have spent the real benefit is going to come from a thermostat and a decent one will cost you over $75.

Another point worth mentioning is that lamps are not the most efficient sources of heat. If they were we all have lamps instead of heaters in our house. Not using lamps for heat is going to save you money.

lol i know the cage was spendy.. i built my moms gecko cage for 70 bucks flat.. lol but in the long run atm lights are all i can do and is the best atm.. of course i could get my hands on some flex wire < talking about the kind u rap around pipes to keep them from freezing lol.. lmk if thats a good idea.. atm i cant keep the temps were they need to be.. ever since i switched from my human heating pad to this reptile uth... the temps have been crazy.. over all cage heat is 89 < bad but when i turn the lights off the sides drop to 80s they both do... and i need 1 in the 90s.... it will reach this if my room is at 70 to 80 degrees but that is to hot for me and the wife... i have 100 bucks saved... im about ready to start from scratch and buy a Rubbermaid and just hobo a cage... and use 2 human heating pads under the tank 1 on high and the other on low... should be good right? would get rid of the lights.... means i gotta start all over.. trying to buy a car soon and this snake.. skink keep draining the pocket money.. lol

[tizzle89]

I have 5 ball pythons and I have personally seen them move any and every kind of substrate I put in there. Aspen, paper towels, newspaper, dirt. They always end up moving it.

OP: I really hope you can get things figured out. I feel your frustration. We were all there at one point. I am sorry you have already spent so much money on all these things that were honestly not all that needed. Hopefully you can get everything stabilized so your new little one can start enjoying its new environment!

That being said, all these changes and tweaking you are doing is probably a little stressful on your snake. Do your best not to handle it for a week after everything is finally set up. Then offer food. Then 48 hours later, enjoy!

i do it all while hes being handled.. we take him out maybe 3 times a day.. mostly at night and then i fix what i can before he gets a chill feeling on him.. mostly he stays on my wifes chest while she plays on her laptop.. just wish he was hardy like my skink.. but oh no he has to have it perfect lol course so does the skink but he will move into his basking light if he is to cold or bury himself if hes to hot... seems smarter imo lol

but yeah atm i cant get it right... it was better before i changed to a real uth and tinfoiled the back of the cage

[dr del]

Hi,

Tinfoil might reflect the light well enough but foam board on the back, sides and bottom would really help stabilise the temp a lot more. You could also use the foil and air pocket insulation but I'm not sure if that would work for the bottom with the weight of the cage on top of it.

I'm not sure how close it would be possible to have it to the lamps so cannot advise on the top of the cage though.

On the plus side it is relatively cheap stuff that you should be able to find in most hardware stores and can be painted to blend in with your decor if needed.


dr del

[tizzle89]

after 4 days of fighting with the glass cage... i returned the 26.99 uth and bought a same size in length rubbermaid tub.. only dif is its 1/4 the height spent 10 on that bought another human heating pas for 11 and a 40 watt light bulb for the kitchen over the stove for 3.99... took a soldering iron put about 15 holes in the lid of the tote then 3 on each long side and 2 on the short sides.. temp is perfect .. humidity is way high now... any ideas to bring it down?

[Swingline0.0.1]

More holes will lower the humidity, just don't put too many!
A human heating pad is not a good idea, they can get very hot.

[tizzle89]

More holes will lower the humidity, just don't put too many!
A human heating pad is not a good idea, they can get very hot.

i no it has settings 6 of the.. using number 5 for hot side an 1 for cold

also has a safety shut off if the pad gets to hot..

more holes it is

[Elise.m]

I have at least 8 holes on the long sides, and 3 holes on the short sides.

[tizzle89]

I have at least 8 holes on the long sides, and 3 holes on the short sides.

i put over 50 on the top... i wake up this morning temps were perfect 93 hot 80 in the cage and 75 on the cold side.... but humidity was 100 and water droplets all over the gauge and the sides n lid.... so im leaven the top off till i leave tonight