First Thread/First BP/First set of questions

[Ball Loon]

Hello everyone,

First of all thank you to all who have posted such informative threads. I have read quite a bit and it has all been very helpful.

I got my first BP 2 weeks ago from Rodney Miller off of the kingsnake marketplace. I got a Orange Ghost Enchi male. I have two boys 10 & 8 who absolutely adore him. They wanted to name him Khan, a Jungle Book reference. He is currently residing in a 32 qt Serilite Tub lined with paper towel, with Flexwatt heat under half of it on a thermostat. I have a laser heat gun to test the temps as well as an ambient humidity and thermometer placed inside the tub. He has 2 hides, both the same hollow log type, one on the hot side and one on the cool side.

I have the thermostat set to 101 degrees and the temp reading on the paper towel, on the hot side is reading 92-90 degrees (i assume the heat transfer must be losing around 10 degrees once transferred into the tub), on the cool side it reads 78-80 degrees.

He has eaten twice now. Live mice. And he doesn't waste a second once he detects the mouse in his tub.

I have been handling him often. 10-15 minutes at a time. Except after eating. He has a great temperament ... he has never struck at me or my boys. He does flinch aggressively if anything gets near his head sometimes but I assume that's normal while he is young. When myself or my boys do handle him he is pretty active. He hasn't ever just balled up and chilled out. He wants to go and explore. The only time he is still is on or around my neck. Is this just because he is young? Will age chill him out a bit?

My other question is his love of the cool side of his tub. He very rarely goes to the hot hide. Even after he eats he goes to the cool side? I have seen him in the hot side, i don't think it's uncomfortable, but he probably spends 80% of his time on the cool side. I suppose he is smart enough to figure out what to do for himself but I wonder if I am getting bad readings from the temp gun?

Anyways,

Thanks again everyone.

[bcr229]

I have the thermostat set to 101 degrees and the temp reading on the paper towel, on the hot side is reading 92-90 degrees (i assume the heat transfer must be losing around 10 degrees once transferred into the tub), on the cool side it reads 78-80 degrees.

...

My other question is his love of the cool side of his tub. He very rarely goes to the hot hide. Even after he eats he goes to the cool side? I have seen him in the hot side, i don't think it's uncomfortable, but he probably spends 80% of his time on the cool side. I suppose he is smart enough to figure out what to do for himself but I wonder if I am getting bad readings from the temp gun?

What is the temp of the plastic under the paper towel? Paper towels are pretty lightweight and let enough air get under them that they can give a false reading unless something is holding them firmly against the tub, like when your snake lays on it.

Also, those half-log hides aren't very good, the openings are too large to make your critter feel secure, and cleaning them is a major PITA when it gets pooped on (and it will). The plastic ones from Reptile Basics are better, or you can even check your local Dollar store, WalMart, or Lowes/Home Depot, buy a plastic bowl/dish, and cut an access hole in it.

BTW your new guy is very nice looking and color me jealous, that morph is on my to-buy (or to-produce) list.

[Eric Alan]

Hello everyone,

First of all thank you to all who have posted such informative threads. I have read quite a bit and it has all been very helpful.

I got my first BP 2 weeks ago from Rodney Miller off of the kingsnake marketplace. I got a Orange Ghost Enchi male. I have two boys 10 & 8 who absolutely adore him. They wanted to name him Khan, a Jungle Book reference. He is currently residing in a 32 qt Serilite Tub lined with paper towel, with Flexwatt heat under half of it on a thermostat. I have a laser heat gun to test the temps as well as an ambient humidity and thermometer placed inside the tub. He has 2 hides, both the same hollow log type, one on the hot side and one on the cool side.

I have the thermostat set to 101 degrees and the temp reading on the paper towel, on the hot side is reading 92-90 degrees (i assume the heat transfer must be losing around 10 degrees once transferred into the tub), on the cool side it reads 78-80 degrees.

He has eaten twice now. Live mice. And he doesn't waste a second once he detects the mouse in his tub.

I have been handling him often. 10-15 minutes at a time. Except after eating. He has a great temperament ... he has never struck at me or my boys. He does flinch aggressively if anything gets near his head sometimes but I assume that's normal while he is young. When myself or my boys do handle him he is pretty active. He hasn't ever just balled up and chilled out. He wants to go and explore. The only time he is still is on or around my neck. Is this just because he is young? Will age chill him out a bit?

My other question is his love of the cool side of his tub. He very rarely goes to the hot hide. Even after he eats he goes to the cool side? I have seen him in the hot side, i don't think it's uncomfortable, but he probably spends 80% of his time on the cool side. I suppose he is smart enough to figure out what to do for himself but I wonder if I am getting bad readings from the temp gun?

Anyways,

Thanks again everyone.

First off, he looks awesome! Enchi and OG compliment each other VERY well.

Each BP has their own personality. I have some that flinch for a second and then chill when I take them out. I have some that could care less when I reach in and mess with them. I have some that tend to ball up when they're out and then relax, and I have some that are constantly on the move. They do tend to mellow out as they get older, but that's not always the case.

For your temps, make sure that you're measuring the tub itself above where the Flexwatt is - NOT on the paper towels. That's where you want the 90ish range. When he decides he wants to move the towels around and redecorate for himself, you want to be sure that he's not going to find temps that are too hot for his liking and end up putting him in danger. Honestly, that could be the reason he's favoring the cool side (temps being too warm for his liking on the hot side). Once you have the temp directly on the tub in the right range, then you can chalk it up to him deciding what's best for himself.

[Ball Loon]

Thank you both for your replies. I'll check temps tonight without the paper towels.

[JoshSloane]

If your bp is spending a majority of the time under the towels when on the hot side, definitely make sure that the temps are correct on the bare plastic and not too hot to burn the snake. If I see that my snake doesn't ever burrow under the paper towels, I would adjust my temps accordingly on top of the paper towel, where the snake is actually residing. You must however make sure that the paper towel is flush against the bottom of the enclosure and not bunched up, as this will give you a false reading. I usually like to find a happy medium, where hot side temps are appropriate whether the snake is on top of or below a sheet of paper towel. Regardless, you never want hot side temps to be out of the range of tolerance for Bps. I find that if I get the bare bottom of the tub to be 91-92 deg, on top of the paper towel will read out at ~ 89, all appropriate temps. Obviously your choice of paper towel will make a difference.

I would bet you that at night, as they are nocturnal animals, that your snake is sneaking over to the hot side for some increased temps. In all my years with snakes I've never seen one animal split their time 50/50 between hot and cool. Usually notice seasonal and age differences with regards to temp preferences. Seems like you are getting all the basics down, so good work to you!

BPs also definitely calm down with age and handling. Vast majority will become super tame with constant handling. Only a rare few are nasty as adults.

[Ball Loon]

Wow ... here's a crazy follow up ....

I lift up the paper towel on the hot side and temp gun it, it's at 100 degrees ... stat set at 101 ..... So I drop the stat to 95 degrees. Within 5 minutes of dropping the thermostat setting Khan moved over to his hot side hide ... incredible. I guess I didn't take into account how the snake itself will compress the air out of the paper towel and change the temperature i was reading on top of it. Lesson learned. And thanks again.

[Eric Alan]

Wow ... here's a crazy follow up ....

I lift up the paper towel on the hot side and temp gun it, it's at 100 degrees ... stat set at 101 ..... So I drop the stat to 95 degrees. Within 5 minutes of dropping the thermostat setting Khan moved over to his hot side hide ... incredible. I guess I didn't take into account how the snake itself will compress the air out of the paper towel and change the temperature i was reading on top of it. Lesson learned. And thanks again.

Hooray! I'd drop it even further. 95 is on the edge of what is considered safe. They really don't need to be above 90 much at all.

[serpenttongues]

They wanted to name him Khan, a Jungle Book reference.

Also a Star Trek reference.


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[Srt_529]

Im sorry to intrude into your post but how do i post threads? Im new to this and clueless if anyone can help me out. Beautiful BP by the way!

[M.P.C]

Im sorry to intrude into your post but how do i post threads? Im new to this and clueless if anyone can help me out. Beautiful BP by the way!

Go to the forum tab, select the sub forum for where you beleieve your post best fits and above the list of threads on the left side of youll see the create new thread bubble