Our Beloved BEL - Helena

[JRLongton]

I've been meaning to do this for a while now. Back in October, my daughter picked out this adorable BEL at the Manchester NH Reptile Expo.

Her name is Helena, as I like to name my BPs with Roman names.

We got her from a great breeder (not sure we're allowed to name names but I'd love to give them a plug!). They gave us a detailed genetic profile and a birth certificate that included her birth weight, current weight, and a picture of her. Though I may choose to breed someday, currently my snakes are first and foremost pets. So the whole birth cert and all really added that something special to the experience.

Her dame was a white diamond and her sire was a lesser/mojave. So she is certainly het white diamond, but the breeder strongly suspects that the other gene is mojave and not lesser, but of course couldn't be sure. Either way she is beautiful.

More important, she has a phenomenal personality.

Now, I am a bit concerned for her. Some of you may recall that I got two snakes at the expo. The second, very sadly, didn't make it out of quarantine and had been in close proximity to Helena. But so far she seems fine.

She was started on live rat pups, but I got her changed over to f/t in short order and she has been pounding them ever since.

With no further ado, here's a few pics. Stories can wait till my next post!

[richardhind1972]

Very nice indeed,really glad little your little Helena has settled in nicely


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[JRLongton]

We have had one mishap with little Helena.

I check all the snakes several times daily to see if there's any fresh feces, but if I don't see the snakes themselves, that's a good thing, they should be hiding. So, about two weeks ago, I thought nothing of not seeing Helena right away at feeding time. But I know where she likes to hide! I gently lift out her RBI small hide and ... she's not there. OK, then it's the paper towel tube. I lift it, light as a feather, no snake. Uh-huh, so she found a new hiding spot. She's in a 2x3x1 Reptile Basics PVC, so there is a lot of places she could be. One by one, I start removing all the cover, hides, water bowel, and in utter desperation remove the newspaper substrate. No little white snake, in a black PVC enclosure. Now I freak. Where is she! How did she get out!

Then I see it, a little white reflection on the ceiling of the enclosure. I grab my handy flashlight (an underrated snake keepers tool) and see her there, wedged between the top of the RHP and the ceiling.

The RHP had warped from the heat and created enough of a gap for a small white snake to crawl up and in. I wasn't so much relieved to find her as terrified that she had cooked herself! I grabbed a screw driver and carefully took down the panel so I could grab a very warm but very much alive Helena.

I left the amateur Houdini with my daughter as I grabbed about 30 screws to re-affixed the panel with a strong dose of overkill.

All my panels are from Pro-Products, except this one that warped. I thought I'd try something new. Won't make that mistake again.

[richardhind1972]

At least all ended well and no one got hurt

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[WhompingWillow]

The RHP had warped from the heat

First, I am so glad that you found her and that she is okay! I called my husband in a panic one day because one of our ~500 gram snakes was nowhere to be found in his enclosure. Turns out he had somehow wedged himself behind the foam background. No idea how he managed to squeeze behind it.

Your ^ above statement about the RHP warping is concerning to me. You do have it controlled by a thermostat, right? An RHP should not warp with heat, because it shouldn't get hot enough to be affected like that.

[JRLongton]

Your ^ above statement about the RHP warping is concerning to me. You do have it controlled by a thermostat, right? An RHP should not warp with heat, because it shouldn't get hot enough to be affected like that.

I absolutely have a thermostat. Right now Helena's RHP is being regulated by a Herpstat 2. The rest are on a Herpstat 6. Excellent devices. I've had the Herpstat 2 for a few years and got the 6 recently. I have a Jumpstart also for emergencies because the Herpstat is too sensitive to power fluctuations. In the event of a power outage the Herpstats don't function on generator power, but the Jumpstart does!

As to why it warped, cheap plastic construction. It also seems to warm up unevenly, one side getting warmer than the other. Helena was coiled up on the cooler side, which is probably why she was OK. The manufacturer makes other products that are great and that I use happily, so I don't want to bash them, but subsequent research has shown that mine is not the first of their panels to warp.

[WhompingWillow]

I absolutely have a thermostat. Right now Helena's RHP is being regulated by a Herpstat 2. The rest are on a Herpstat 6. Excellent devices. I've had the Herpstat 2 for a few years and got the 6 recently. I have a Jumpstart also for emergencies because the Herpstat is too sensitive to power fluctuations. In the event of a power outage the Herpstats don't function on generator power, but the Jumpstart does!

As to why it warped, cheap plastic construction. It also seems to warm up unevenly, one side getting warmer than the other. Helena was coiled up on the cooler side, which is probably why she was OK. The manufacturer makes other products that are great and that I use happily, so I don't want to bash them, but subsequent research has shown that mine is not the first of their panels to warp.

Good to hear It's crazy what trouble snakes can get into. We just had to make adjustments to our BEL's cage because she kept wedging herself behind the flourescent light fixture. We purchased the AP cage pre-assembled and I didn't realize they had left a gap.

[WhompingWillow]

Good to hear

Meaning, good to hear you have a thermostat, not about the poorly made RHP. Just wanted to clarify, lol

[nightscavenger]

Beautiful one it is, I’ve been wanting to own a BEL maybe I’ll get lucky with putting my 1.0 Mojave and 0.1 Mystic Mojave together.

Really glad you found your escape artist I know that feeling when don’t see a snake anymore. It’s happened to me. Found her a little over 2 weeks later inside a glove in a top sterilite drawer.


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[MR Snakes]

I once dated a girl named Helena. And boy was she a snake! Good luck with your Helena!