General care questions

[wisski]

I have read all the stickys and stuff. Snake sitting a bp for a freshman in college. I guess they dont allow bp's in dorms. 20L tank with sticky heat pad and light on top. no thermos or any of that stuff. Would like to get a CEH but not sure what size. No probs with humidity. Very active eats one large frozen mice a week. Slow as heck though. And whats with these mites - getting paranoid. Great forum. Used to have 6-8 feet boas 20 years ago. This guy is so little!

[Shelby]

Well, you definitely will want a digital thermometer and hygrometer so you can measure temps and humidity.. if you've read the caresheet you will know the proper heat and humidity levels.

I don't use any CHEs (they tend to suck up humidity, along with any other bulb) so I can't help you there, but if you have a white light on top right now, you don't want it on at night since BPs are nocturnal. The temperatures need to stay constant at night too.. you don't want it getting colder at night, so if the under tank heater isn't doing the job, a CHE or red bulb will be needed.

Under tank heaters need a thermostat or at least a rheostat to prevent them from overheating and burning the snake.. trust me, those things can get HOT.. and snakes don't know better than to move away.

It's good that he's eating well for you, that can be the hardest thing about BPs!

You'll definitely want to get rid of those mites, they're detrimental to their health. The best cure for mites is called Provent-a-Mite, you can get it here http://www.pro-products.com/miteandtemp.html In the meantime while you wait for it to arrive, you can soak the snake in warmish water for a few minutes to drown the mites, just hold the snake in the water so he doesn't have to tire himself swimming. Next, strip down the tank and wash everything in a 10% bleach solution. put new substrate in (newspaper is best while battling mites) and treat with the provent-a-mite when it comes.

Hope that helps.