Husbandry checkup please

[Trillian]

I've just placed an order for 25 fuzzy rats (the minimum) from Big Cheese Rodents, because they were listed highly on the feeder thread, and I found them a few months ago when I was researching corn snakes. They should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.

I'm hoping that feeding her these every 5 days should fill her out.

I've never used rodent feeders before, but I got used to invertebrate feeders quickly enough, and they are pretty cute little beasts at times too, so hopefully this will be the same.

[apple2]

Also you should ditch the white bulb and only use the night one. BPs don't require a photoperiod like most lizards do and the white light drains humidity like nothing else.

[Trillian]

So just leave the night one on all the time? Just looking at thermostats, got UTH but daren't risk using it without.

Handled her a little today, here are some pics:

[apple2]

Yeah, leave the night one on unless the temp gets too high. Be sure to buy a thermostat to use with the UTH or else it will burn the snake.

[Trillian]

Couldn't find a thermostat in stores, so ordered one, should be here next week. Been unplugging the UTH every couple of hours as the heat goes up! Hoping that temp dips aren't a huge problem as she hasn't eaten for a couple of weeks. Think the UTH is a hit, she's very active this evening! I'll turn it off when I go to bed though.

[Inarikins]

Until your thermostat gets here, pick up a lamp dimmer. It's what I used for about a month and a half until I got my Herpstat. You have to watch it closely because it won't keep the UTH at a consistent temp and fluctuations in the ambient temp of the room/tank will make the temp of the UTH go up and down. If you have consistent ambients then a dimmer will only require adjusting once every couple of weeks or less. I bought mine for $12 or $15 at Lowe's. Though if your 'stat's on the way, you might not even want to bother.

Active isn't necessarily a good thing if she's doing it during the day! Exploring is good at night, because they're nocturnal, but roaming during the day is an indicator of stress.

[Trillian]

It's night!

[Trillian]

She scarfed down a fuzzy with no faff on the 21st, last night I had to grab a f/t fuzzy by its scruff with forceps and have it prance about before she struck, I jumped a mile and dropped the fuzzy, then had to do it again and try not to jump. She took longer eating, but the previous one was after a few weeks without food being offered. So the second one was 6 days after the first. Hopefully I can keep offering every 5-6 days and we can get her up to a healthy weight.

[AdamF]

Maybe it's just me, but 88g seems low after an entire year. Mine actually looks smaller than yours and he is pushing 250g. What did you weigh him with?

That snake weight more than 88g

[Trillian]

That snake weight more than 88g

Really? I haven't weighed her yet, figured the vet knew what he was doing when he weighed her. She is still quite small, not sure what info he based the hatch date on.