Hello everyone!

[Theely]

Minnesota? Me too! Where'd you get Kali?

Woot! I got her at Twin Cities Reptile. I thought I read that they seemed to be a good place for herps for being a pet store. Staff was very friendly as well.

[missi182]

Yeah, now that I've been reading more and more I'm starting to doubt my husbandry and I'm going to need make some changes

Here is what I have so far with reasonings.
* 55gal. Tank. w/ Mesh cover - its what I had.

* UTH that covers 1/3 of the tank.

* 1 - 100watt infrared bulb

* 1 - 60 watt infrared bulb - both close to the same area for basking and gradient heat.

* 2 - hides, warm and cold side unfortunately not identical since I just read that was important. I have seen her use both though. She is in the cooler side a lot more though (more on this soon)

* 1 - large rock looking water dish - to let it soak if it wants and to waist space. Half placed over UTH area half not.

*2 - large grape vine chunks to provide rub and take up area

* indoor/outdoor soft fine carpet for substrate, cut into three pieces for semi-quick swapping with a new clean piece when soiled. I plan on reusing soiled pieces have soaking and cleaning. I have no problem switching to aspen or whatever the other is called. I prefer a dark substrate though.

* I have learned that I have poor temp reading tools. I have a dial therm on the warm side an inch and a half above the floor and a sticky on the cool side half ways up the tank. The dial is reading 90 on the warm side and the worthless sticky is reading either 78 or 82 on the cool side. I'm heading up to wal-mart to get a digital shortly! I think she stays on the cool side because the warm side might be to warm!

* No humidity reading! Don't hurt me! Said tool from wal-mart will read that. The store owner side I wouldn't have to worry if I included a wet-hide. Which I haven't added yet When I do though, what do you guys suggest? I still plan on reading tank humidity, I just want to provide a wet-hide as well.

* 2 - long fake leafy vines that inside the tank along the side and front.

One last question, when should I go about making these changes (sticking my hands in to apply probes and whatnot) since she new here? I don't want her to get even more stressed then they probably is!

Thanks for the warm welcomes! Here is a pic of the tank.

Good for you to recognize some important changes already!! The "wet" hide suggested is usually used during a shed, and is actually a "moist" hide. You don't really need this but it can help during a shed. Once you learn how to identify the beginning of a shed cycle, if you want you can put a moist hide in (basically a container filled with lightly dampened sphagnum moss or even paper towel)

The humidity in your tank should be 50-60%, and you may discover once you start measuring humidity, that it is too low with the two lamps you have. I would suggest with a tank that big either use just the one 60 watt bulb or even a 70 watt on the cool side, then cover the screen with a few layers of foil leaving space for the lamp, to keep warmth in.

Is your UTH plugged into a control? By control I mean a rheostat or a thermostat. A rheostat controls the temp of the UTH with a manual dial or slider (like a lamp dimmer) while a thermostat (which is a little more expensive but more reliable) automatically adjusts the temperature for you. UTH's can easily reach 120 degrees un-controlled and once you get the digital thermometer with a probe, you can measure that direct surface temp under the warm hide in your tank.

As you noticed in another thread already, do not use tape inside the tank on ANYTHING. Thats a good way to end up with a very angry bp with some missing scales.

You can change everything right away, because although your bp is still getting "settled in" you want her to settle into a tank with proper husbandry right off the start. When you are changing everything, you can take her out and put her in a container so she does not escape, but make sure she is somewhere warm and not in the container for more than approx 1 hour.

You should have identical hides, so if you are looking to fix that today as well, you don't have to break the bank, just buy 2 identical plastic bowls, cut out an entrance in them, and flip them over. You could also you flower pots or margarine containers.

Keep asking questions, your doing great!!

[Venenito_X_Remedito]

Woot! I got her at Twin Cities Reptile. I thought I read that they seemed to be a good place for herps for being a pet store. Staff was very friendly as well.

I've only been there once but it was a very enjoyable experience! I was amazed at all of the gorgeous snakes they have there!

I saw a beautiful female pastel and I'm looking into buying her