Dead BP

[gold217]

what was your setup like and what were you trying to feed? do you know where the store got them from and when they were born? Sorry for your loss. i hate hearing about these stories.

My set up was a 10 gallon tank, UTH, hides, heat lamp (when needed), water dish....your usual newbie setup, but this absolutley wasn't a husbandry mistake, just poorly bred animals. The store says they have their own breeders, and the snake isn't that old only like a month and a few weeks. Thanks, I hate this stuff too.

[CoolioTiffany]

My set up was a 10 gallon tank, UTH, hides, heat lamp (when needed), water dish....your usual newbie setup, but this absolutley wasn't a husbandry mistake, just poorly bred animals. The store says they have their own breeders, and the snake isn't that old only like a month and a few weeks. Thanks, I hate this stuff too.

Did you have the UTH controlled by a thermostat?

[gold217]

Did you have the UTH controlled by a thermostat?

No rheostat

[CoolioTiffany]

No rheostat

What were you measuring your temps with?

I've used a rheostat for a UTH before but it had temp spikes all the time over 100F. Temps over 100F could easily overheat the snake to death.

[Skiploder]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...elp-and-advice!!!

Same snake? Same set up that you were criticized on and then blew your stack when Alex pointed out that your ambient temps of 90 degrees on the hot side were to hot?

Is it coincidence that two snakes died from the same store? Maybe.

But some of us know that very young snakes can be very unforgiving if the husbandry is wonky. Many helpful people here tried to point out how to improve your setup and you responded by throwing yourself on the floor and pitching a fit.. When people recommended that you take the animal to the vet - you got snippy and nasty. If you and your friend were keeping those babies the same way, then I wouldn't be so quick to blame the store.

While I am not absolving the pet store of incorrect husbandry, I would advise you that before you go blaming someone else for that snake's death, you take a long hard look at how you handled this situation and maybe you'll see that you had 5 weeks to do the right thing and didn't.

Let's recap:

- Your husbandry was off and you argued with people about fixing it.

- It was recommended that the animal be seen by a vet and you argued about the cost.

- You kept it in a 10 gallon glass tank with the ambient on the hot side at 87 to 90 degrees and a cool side of 90 degrees. That cool side reading came from an analog thermometer which you did a hill-billy adjustment on and ASSumed was 10 degrees high. God only knows how hot that cool side really was.

From where I sit kid, that snake's life was in YOUR hands and you flapped your gums, argued and got diaper-rashy while people tried to help you save it. Let me state this for the record - your husbandry had major issues. When people tried to help you got all nasty and pouty and cried that it was perfect - even when it wasn't. I read that thread and you were doing just about everything wrong. The most important aspects in maintaining a ball and getting it to eat are temperature and security. On both fronts you failed.

Now you can throw a tantrum at me, or you can come correct, shut your flap and reflect on your part in all this. Not only would that show some maturity, but it will also help you later on in life when it's time to shut up and listen with something more precious than a snake's life on the line.