New BP Owner - is this normal?

[Monkey girl]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding our 2yr female, approx 3.5ft long, we called her "Baby."
We have only had her for almost a week, at first she stayed in her hide during the day and would come out at dusk (like clock work). Today she came out of her hide several times, laying out on the cool side to the middle of her terrarium. Is this normal? I have read a variety of answers but the majority said BP's stay in their hide during the day. Does this mean she is stressed or is she becoming comfortable with her new surroundings?

Thanks so much for reading my thread.

[Nismogizmos]

Congrats on the new BP! Qhat size is her enclosure? What are your temps like? Also how many hides do you have?


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[ZacharyPoller]

I had the same scenario and mine started investigating during the day eventually he went back to the hide during the day time, but like above said what is the set up and what is in your enclosure

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[Monkey girl]

Congrats on the new BP! Qhat size is her enclosure? What are your temps like? Also how many hides do you have?


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Well, good news! We fed her for the first time this evening (2 live gerbils) and she didn't hesitate. We fed her in a Tupperware box and she ate like a pro!

Since I'm not good at describing, I took a few pics of her enclosure. We were having trouble keeping the temp up (always around 70f) on the hot side. My husband just finished insulating the terrarium on 3 sides while she was out feeding and the temp has already started going up (currently 78f and hopefully still rising). We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will improve her climate. We use a day time heat lamp for 12 hrs and then switch to infrared for 12hrs at night, she also has an UTH. The moisture ranges anywhere from 55 - 65%.

Here are some pics I just took this evening, some of them are hard to see due to poor lighting:

[Archimedes]

Oh boy... if I may ask, what possessed you to feed gerbils? Nutritionally, I don't know all the facts, but I've heard that BPs can basically get addicted to them and that its the biggest pain to get them switched off. Not to mention, they get expensive quick. You can also feed her in her enclosure, unless you were using the time she was eating to make husbandry adjustments, but in general they have better overall response and comfort in their own homes.

Also, if ya can, ditch the stick on analog gauges. Wal-Mart carries Accurite outdoor thermometers for less than 15 bucks, much more reliable, and it'll give you humidity as well.

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[Monkey girl]

Oh boy... if I may ask, what possessed you to feed gerbils? Nutritionally, I don't know all the facts, but I've heard that BPs can basically get addicted to them and that its the biggest pain to get them switched off. Not to mention, they get expensive quick. You can also feed her in her enclosure, unless you were using the time she was eating to make husbandry adjustments, but in general they have better overall response and comfort in their own homes.

Also, if ya can, ditch the stick on analog gauges. Wal-Mart carries Accurite outdoor thermometers for less than 15 bucks, much more reliable, and it'll give you humidity as well.

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hey thanks for the tips - I will remove the stick and we going to walmart tomorrow for a much better thermometer as well.

The reason we feed gerbils is because we are from Alberta, Canada and rats are illegal in our province. We could try and feed ASF but where we are located it is not always available. The other reason is because this is ALL the previous owner fed her once she out grew eating live mice, she has never had f/t only live. Gerbils are the closest thing to rats we could get, and apparently it isn't uncommon here in Alberta (according to person at the Reptile store). Price wise, they are $5/ea - the reptile store ONLY sells gerbils for food only. I suppose we could try mice but she would have to eat 5 per feeding and they are not as nutritious as gerbils. I hope we didn't offend anyone by sharing info of what she eats.

[Archimedes]

Oh, no,not offended at all! Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into and now it makes sense, knowing where you're at.

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