New member with Pastel BP

[Mike17]

you're going to need two identical hides, otherwise you might find your snake roaming around which is a sign of stress, especially with a light shining in their face all day.

I am no expert and don't pretend to be, but in my experience, I have 3 different hides and my baby girl loves one in particular. Contrary to what I expected it is NOT the most secluded, it has various openings and it is very tall, but she loves it. If I put that feature on the warm side she goes there, if I put it on the cold side, she goes there so I figured the best was to put it in the middle, and she's always there! LOL

The entrances of that hide are quite reduced so I'll feel sorry for her when she just won't fit in anymore. I understand these are very delicate animals, so any redundancy in weather control is never an overkill. IMO.

A couple of days ago there was a post of someone's BP dead apparently because of a decrease in temperature just after his snakes' meal. I took that as a heads up to double backup all my weather controls.

BTW that's a very pretty animal you've got, again, CONGRATS!


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[tttaylorrr]

I am no expert and don't pretend to be, but in my experience, I have 3 different hides and my baby girl loves one in particular.

the idea in having identical hides is that they don't feel they need to choose their favorite for security over their need to regulate. it's just another way to reduce any unnecessary stressors.
your snake choosing one over the others is just your snake's preference, that doesn't mean it's not secluded enough for her, it's that she doesn't like the others.
two identical hides is a tried and tested method for keeping balls happy; whether you believe it or not is up to you.

[Mike17]

the idea in having identical hides is that they don't feel they need to choose their favorite for security over their need to regulate. it's just another way to reduce any unnecessary stressors.
your snake choosing one over the others is just your snake's preference, that doesn't mean it's not secluded enough for her, it's that she doesn't like the others.
two identical hides is a tried and tested method for keeping balls happy; whether you believe it or not is up to you.

Thanks for the tip, it is a reasonable explanation and I will change them for identical hides, honestly when I bought them I was thinking more on the aesthetics rather than the stress factor.


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[tttaylorrr]

Thanks for the tip, it is a reasonable explanation and I will change them for identical hides, honestly when I bought them I was thinking more on the aesthetics rather than the stress factor.


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i have three identical hides for Yellow in my T8 and he still has a preference for one lol. but since they're all the same he won't be so apprehensive to leave it if he's cold. balls can be weird. 😛

[codycat91]

Kira's suggestions were spot-on.
and what did you think to be overkill? imo the only overkill is bulbs, but that's only because i don't like bulbs. ��

you're going to need two identical hides, otherwise you might find your snake roaming around which is a sign of stress, especially with a light shining in their face all day. that log doesn't look big or secluded enough for the snake to feel secure, but i could be wrong.

ALL sources of heat MUST be regulated. do you have a thermoSTAT/lamp dimmer for all sources of heat? you never state how you measure hotspot temps: a probed thermometer or laser temp gun are good ways to monitor them.

and yes, she's very pretty. congrats!

Yeah, whoops. I didn't even open the link, I thought it was a different sticky that had the layout of like 4 or 5 different thermometer probes, with the mat on the bottom. Anyway, in this link, I don't understand what the difference is between the thermometer probe taped under the tank above the UTC and the probe placed inside the tank over the UTC.

[tttaylorrr]

Yeah, whoops. I didn't even open the link, I thought it was a different sticky that had the layout of like 4 or 5 different thermometer probes, with the mat on the bottom. Anyway, in this link, I don't understand what the difference is between the thermometer probe taped under the tank above the UTC and the probe placed inside the tank over the UTC.

the thermoSTAT probe is placed between the UTH and the glass, the UTH is plugged into the thermoSTAT and monitors the UTH temp and the thermoSTAT adjusts accordingly to what it's set at.

the thermoMETER probe is to get the temperature of the inside enclosure floor.

my thermoSTAT is set to 94°, and by the time it reaches the thermoMETER probe inside the tank, it's at 90°.

thermostat controls temp, thermometer reads temp.

does this make sense? it is vital to have the UTH controlled by a themoSTAT.

[codycat91]

Yep gotcha. Thank you for the clarification. I just ordered 2 bigger cave-style hides with only one opening, one for each side, and also ordered a humidifier. The humidity has been too low. I will look into a thermostat soon, however the several pet stores I have been in including the one I bought Montie from do not have thermostat controlled heaters, and they didn't even seem to know what I was talking about when I asked if they sold them. So although I'm sure they are very helpful to maintain a healthy BP, they can't be vital for survival. Can you recommend a decent one for me please?

And back to the thermometer/stat conversation, the meter is only for you to visually monitor correct? And the stat is what is actually controlling the on/off of the UTC.

[tttaylorrr]

Yep gotcha. Thank you for the clarification. I just ordered 2 bigger cave-style hides with only one opening, one for each side, and also ordered a humidifier. The humidity has been too low.

awesome! sounds good. let us know how your upgrades go.

I will look into a thermostat soon, however the several pet stores I have been in including the one I bought Montie from do not have thermostat controlled heaters, and they didn't even seem to know what I was talking about when I asked if they sold them. So although I'm sure they are very helpful to maintain a healthy BP, they can't be vital for survival. Can you recommend a decent one for me please?

honestly, pet stores will sell you anything they can if it means you'll buy; if they don't sell it, there's no need to push it. almost every UTH instruction manual states they need to be regulated with a thermostat; they are vital for the safe use of a UTH. home improvement stores sell lamp dimmers for $15 or so that you can get right away, or you can get the JumpStart model from Amazon that i use as well as many others. if you decide to order from Amazon, you can unplug the UTH until the 'stat arrives and your snake will be okay for the time being: they handle colder temps WAY better than warmer temps. and when the JumpStart is set up correctly (explained in the How to Set Up a Glass Enclosure sticky) they work awesome.

And back to the thermometer/stat conversation, the meter is only for you to visually monitor correct? And the stat is what is actually controlling the on/off of the UTC.

you got it, dude that's why 'stats are so important.

[tttaylorrr]

almost every UTH instruction manual states they need to be regulated with a thermostat; they are vital for the safe use of a UTH.

just to further explain: an unregulated UTH can reach 140 degrees easily and quickly and can kill your snake. this is why regulation is so important!

[Kira]

I'm going to chime in and agree with tttaylorrr's recommendation of the Jumpstart thermostat. I use that one as well and it works great. Mine is set for 90 degrees so it will turn off the UTH if it gets hotter than that. It turns the UTH back on once the temperature gets below 88 degrees.