need help...we're a mess

[DooLittle]

Go to Walmart and get yourself one of these. It will tell you your hot side, cold side, as well as humidity.

http://mobile.walmart.com/m/phoenix#...47?type=search

Your uth alone won't be enough for proper temps, especially with a cold house. I would not get rid of the ceramic heater. If its not getting warm enough, get a bigger CHE. I would get a thermostat to run them both though. That will save you a lot of time trying to adjust, as well as make sure it doesn't get to hot and burn your snake. I use herpstat thermostats from Spyder robotics. There is also the Vivarium from Reptile Basics. Or a cheap temporary option is the hydrofarm.

There are several things you can do to help humidity. Larger water dish, under the lamp or over the uth. Frequent misting. Damp towel over 2/3 of the top. Build a cover for 2/3 of the top.

Are the hides snug? Balls prefer tight/small hides. If your hides are big, you can put some crinkled newspaper in them. Typically the saying is a hiding ball is a happy ball. So if he is roaming, excessively, he still needs to settle in and get comfortable. I would get all your temps and humidity dialed in, then leave him alone for a week. No handling, no hands in the tank, no rearranging anything. Then try to offer food. Give him time to settle in.

[dapp]

Good stuff...

Will make the adjustments, monitor for a few days and come back with updates.

BP.net is an awesome community! Thanks for all of the support and encouragement!

[dapp]

Have made zero progress on humidity. Running around 40-45% except after mist and it gets back that low within a few hours. After attempting to feed last night, I misted 8 full oz into the tank and it was 40% again this am. I think I am going to have to add a humidifier to the room to get it where we need it to be until we get a better enclosure unless I fully soak the coconut fiber which may be what I am supposed to do.

Temps seem a bit better albeit still a bit cool on the reading. Didgital thermometer shows 84 -> 76, hot -> cool side with the probe (inside the warm hide showing 88). Our BP has found the cool hide and has been there the past 1.5 days after basking in the tree and in and around his hide for the 2-3 days prior.

Still refused food (f/t fuzzy) last night but seemed MUCH more curious about it. He spent about 10 min checking it out with its tounge before moving on. We may try live next week if we can find a live fuzzy or hopper (anything bigger I think is too big right now). I tried feeding a bit later - 8:00pm and had to pull the cool hide out to get him going. May try to pull the hide ealier next time or wait until he is out and about on his own although that has been happening much later in the night to early morning.

He has settled down a bit and is spending more time doing nothing which I actually think is a good sign.

We'll try to feed again next Monday and will montior temps and humidity until then.

Questions...

I am planning on adding a Herpstat II asaf but until then, I have the UTH and the ceramic heater on a rheostat. To keep ambient temps up, I have it on medium high but am concerned about the UTH possibly burning the BP if he burrows down or moves the substrate. It is under the tank on the outside of the glass with about 1/2" of clearance below the tank for airflow. I have a solid inch, maybe more of coconut fiber in the enclosure. How much risk is there of a burn is this case? It feels hot to the touch with my hand on the glass but doesn't burn me. That said, I'm not the snake and don't have my hand on it for more than 30 seconds or so. I want to minimize risk here while making sure I am providing a warm enough hide. I am probably still a few weeks out from the herpstat II.

Thanks!

[200xth]

Still refused food (f/t fuzzy) last night but seemed MUCH more curious about it. He spent about 10 min checking it out with its tounge before moving on. We may try live next week if we can find a live fuzzy or hopper (anything bigger I think is too big right now). I tried feeding a bit later - 8:00pm and had to pull the cool hide out to get him going. May try to pull the hide ealier next time or wait until he is out and about on his own although that has been happening much later in the night to early morning.

Try leaving his hides in. Some of them like eating in/from their hides. I have a couple who poke their heads out of their hides, grab the food, and drag it back in most of the time.

How much does your snake weigh? Is that a f/t fuzzy mouse or fuzzy rat? If it's a mouse, it's almost definitely too small. A mouse fuzzy will be too small for anything but the smallest of hatchlings. If you don't have a scale to weigh the snake or the food, eyeball it. The food should be about as wide as the snake is at it's widest point. The neck in particular will look too small, but if it can fit in the widest part of the body, it'll fit through the relatively small head and narrow neck. If you're unsure, get weights of both the snake and the food in grams. Weights make it easy to tell if the food is correct sized or not.

If he doesn't take F/T you may need to do a couple of live feedings to kickstart his feeding drive.

[Xtina]

Before I got a PVC enclosure I had a tank, and one that was rather large. I used the coconut substrate and it had to be soaked in water and then squeezed out well before use. I also used a damp towel on top of the cage, and that's what really did the trick for me. I used a thick beach towel, folded. I wet the entire thing, and then wrung out the water, folded it into fourths and put it on top of 2/3 of the cage. Every night and a.m. I would flip and refold the towel, rewetting it as needed and washing it about every 4 days. That, along with misting twice a day, got my humidity into the right place. It also led me to place an order for the Animal Plastics T8 as it was a constant dance and worry to keep it just right in the tank.

I can't help on your main question, but hope that this saves you the expense of buying a humidifier. I live in the desert with very low humidity, and this worked for me. Hope it helps.


Sent from my TARDIS using Tapatalk

[dapp]

So came home today to findnhim still on the cold side with a report that he had ventured into the warm hide for just a bit presumably to warm up. Open to the warm hide is 90 degress and the back corner, 97 so its probably a bit too warm. It's also still a bit to big so we are going to lay some flat rocks in there to tighten thing up a bit. Ambitent temos range from 82-> 76. Humidity at 40 :-(

Plan of attack is as follows:

1) Det up a second digi thermometer and probe on the cool side (probe inside cool hide) and be able to monitor cool temps constantly as well.

2) Pull the ceramic off the rheostat and turn down the UTH a bit to cool the hide a bit. The hide is directly under the ceramic heater so it's tough to tell how much of the heat is being sucked up from above vs below. It's a clay hide.and probably holds a lot of heat. The probe is stuck on the back inside at ground level. Not sure where else to out it.

3) Add the flat rocks to tighten up the warm hide and hopefully absorb a bit if the heat (should prevent him from ever getting to the glass and burning too).

4) Increase the size of the water dish andneither soak the substrate or add some moss to try to get the humidity levels up.

Let me knownif this sounds about right or I'm missing something.

Thanks!

[Crazymonkee]

I would put your ceramic off the side but not directly in the middle if that makes sense
I wouldn't turn down the uth.. I think the che is what was making it 97. If your che is on a rheostat turn it down and move so it is off the uth area but not all the way to the center.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[dapp]

I think we,ve got it! Assuming the Acu-Rites are well, accurate, then I think we've settled into a setup that will carry us through winter or until we set up a pvc enclosure.

We've got 2 acu-rites set up one each side with the probes in each hide. UTH and 100wt ceramic heat on the warm side supplementes by a 75wt infrared on the cool side (daytime only). The infrared and UTH both on med. Seemsblike a litnof heat for this enclosure but temps look good.


Temp ranges:

Warm side (day)
Hide 88°-93°
Ambient 81°-85°

Warm side (night)
Hide 88°-93°
Ambient 81°-85°

Cool side (day)
Hide 71°-73°
Ambient 77°-80°

Cool side (night)
Hide 69°-71°
Ambient 73°-75°


Temps fluctuate a couple of degrees based in house temps and heat running/not running plus pre/post misting.

Humidity still too low but we were able to hold in the 40s and 50s for most of the day after getting the substrate damp. It will no doubt drynout again today but we are going to be experimenting with a humidifier in the room.

Thanks to the community for all the guidance and help getting us squared away. Will be aure to get some pics up soon and keep you posted on our progress.

[tpkaos]

50% in a glass aquarium is about as good as I was able to get it before I went tub. Just know that if you add a humidifier, it will lower you ambient temps a couple degrees as it cools the air out.

Honestly I just left it at 50% with 2 times a day misting and when it got closer to shedding time, I'd throw in a wet hide. Just soak some moss or paper towel and throw it into a cheap Tupperware and cut a hole in the Tupperware. It worked pretty well and they almost always pooped into it as well which made clean up a breeze.

Just my experience which really isn't a lot but it did help.

Goodluck

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[thetong6969]

tbh i use an infra red thermometer to set any tank and vivarium or tub up,never used thermostats or trust them.
i don't know the difference between europe and where you are ,but i for one know glass tanks do not hold heat well(whether this is supplemental to an already hot climate i don't know)
also don't panic about not eating i have had several snakes from reliable breeders on a high feeding schedule stop feeding for 6-12 week ,sometimes it takes them time to settle
good luck with him