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  1. #1
    Registered User iron.jaw's Avatar
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    Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    Hey guys!

    I am a new BP owner and I am looking for some advice on a few topics.

    General info: My BP is male, aprox 8 m/o. I got him from a local pet shop. He appears extremely healthy.
    Feeding

    • I got him on 1/28. Per the shop, he ate last 1/21. He has not eaten since . He was eating f/t hoppers, which is what I have been trying to feed him.
    • I thaw them out in a plastic bag in hot water, then use his day time lamp to heat the mouse for 5 minutes. It’s very warm and is sometimes bleeding. I have been trying to feed him in his enclosure, I tried once in a separate tub and he was so stressed out trying to escape the tub wouldn’t even look at the mouse.
    • I use metal snake feeding tongs, and do the zombie dance. He won’t even look at the mouse. Last night I got a tongue flicker, but every time, he curls in a ball in the back, hiding his head under his body. I have tried to leave the mouse, he does not touch it
    • I always try to feed him at night with his red thermal lamp on. My apartment is also dark and quiet when I try to feed him.

    What could I be doing better? Does he still need more time to adjust? Just getting worried.

    Enclosure info
    • 20 gallon tank. Hide on the cool side, one way in and out. Water bowl in the center, large enough to bathe in. Large driftwood on the hot side for basking.
    • Tons of suction cup foliage against the back wall to hide under and he climbs up them to hang on the top branches/leaves. Also use substrate for bedding
    • 2 thermometers, one on each side. Hot side varies between 85-95 degrees, cool side around 70-75 degrees. Also have a humidity meter, it is around 45-55%.
    • I spray his enclosure with a spray bottle when I am home, and when I am not, I have a cool mist humidifier that cycles on and off every hour to keep up the humidity
    • I also have a web cam so I can check on him when I am not home and check on the temp/humidity levels.


    Behavior

    • During the morning and most of the day, he chills on the hot side and sleeps. Around 5pm he gets active, moves around his enclosure. He also appears to be trying to escape? The enclosure has slide doors in the front and opens at the top, sometimes when he’s active he appears to be trying to escape. Is this normal behavior?
    • He seems less stressed and more comfortable. He appears to be less afraid of me.
    • I do catch him drinking from his water bowl.


    Any advice on feeding/husbandry would be appreciated!


    Joelle

  2. #2
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Re: Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    It’s still early doors tbh ..

    I usually leave mine anywhere between 10 and 14 days before even attempting to feed ..

    Ideally NO handling until its had a few successful feeds .


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro




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    iron.jaw (02-09-2020)

  4. #3
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    Quote Originally Posted by iron.jaw View Post
    Hey guys!

    I am a new BP owner and I am looking for some advice on a few topics.

    General info: My BP is male, aprox 8 m/o. I got him from a local pet shop. He appears extremely healthy.
    Feeding

    • I got him on 1/28. Per the shop, he ate last 1/21. He has not eaten since . He was eating f/t hoppers, which is what I have been trying to feed him.
    • I thaw them out in a plastic bag in hot water, then use his day time lamp to heat the mouse for 5 minutes. It’s very warm and is sometimes bleeding. I have been trying to feed him in his enclosure, I tried once in a separate tub and he was so stressed out trying to escape the tub wouldn’t even look at the mouse.
    • I use metal snake feeding tongs, and do the zombie dance. He won’t even look at the mouse. Last night I got a tongue flicker, but every time, he curls in a ball in the back, hiding his head under his body. I have tried to leave the mouse, he does not touch it
    • I always try to feed him at night with his red thermal lamp on. My apartment is also dark and quiet when I try to feed him.

    What could I be doing better? Does he still need more time to adjust? Just getting worried.

    Enclosure info
    • 20 gallon tank. Hide on the cool side, one way in and out. Water bowl in the center, large enough to bathe in. Large driftwood on the hot side for basking.
    • Tons of suction cup foliage against the back wall to hide under and he climbs up them to hang on the top branches/leaves. Also use substrate for bedding
    • 2 thermometers, one on each side. Hot side varies between 85-95 degrees, cool side around 70-75 degrees. Also have a humidity meter, it is around 45-55%.
    • I spray his enclosure with a spray bottle when I am home, and when I am not, I have a cool mist humidifier that cycles on and off every hour to keep up the humidity
    • I also have a web cam so I can check on him when I am not home and check on the temp/humidity levels.


    Behavior

    • During the morning and most of the day, he chills on the hot side and sleeps. Around 5pm he gets active, moves around his enclosure. He also appears to be trying to escape? The enclosure has slide doors in the front and opens at the top, sometimes when he’s active he appears to be trying to escape. Is this normal behavior?
    • He seems less stressed and more comfortable. He appears to be less afraid of me.
    • I do catch him drinking from his water bowl.


    Any advice on feeding/husbandry would be appreciated!

    I only had a very quick scan of the above but it looks potential very good .

    What kind of thermometers are they ?

    Stand alone , stick on ones or do they have wired probes as well ?

    Same applies to the hygrometer .


    Are they anything like these


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Last edited by Zincubus; 02-09-2020 at 03:27 PM.




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    iron.jaw (02-09-2020)

  6. #4
    Registered User iron.jaw's Avatar
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    Re: Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    Thanks for the reply!

    I’ve been leaving him alone. The 11th will be 2 weeks that I’ve had him. I’ll reevaluate then. Thanks!
    Joelle

  7. #5
    Registered User iron.jaw's Avatar
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    Re: Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    The thermometers are exactly like the ones you posted!
    Joelle

  8. #6
    BPnet Veteran Crowfingers's Avatar
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    Re: Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    First and foremost - those thermometers / hygrometers are trash. They are about as accurate as you just guessing the temperature by touch. Ideally you need digital thermometers with probes - but know that these will only read the air temperature around the probe. To know how hot/cold the surfaces are that the snake is touching you need a infrared heat gun. You can get a pack of thermometers and the heat gun from amazon for around $30 bucks (depending on brand).

    For heat, I assume you are using a day time basking bulb for day heat and a red lamp at night?? - Switch to a ceramic heat emitter bulb ON A THERMOSTAT instead. This is slightly more expensive than bulbs but they last for 3-5 years each. I'm guessing your temps are much hotter than you think they are - this will keep him uncomfortable and unwilling to eat. Also snakes can see all the light - red or otherwise.

    You state that he has a basking log - if this is one of the 1/2 pine log things it does not count as a hide. Ideally both the cool hide and the hot hide are the same thing. To get perfect belly temps inside the hot hide (88-90 max 91) usually requires an under the tank heater. Otherwise the top of the hide will always block a lot of the heat as well as potentially becoming a very hot surface by itself.

    45% humidity is too low - but my guess is since you are using the non-digital things that your humidity is much lower. Esp if you are using a glass tank with a wire lid. To help maintain humidity you need to cover 1/2 to 3/4 of the lid in something insulating. I used tin foil back when I had a tank.
    No cage is too large - nature is the best template - a snoot can't be booped too much


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    dr del (02-13-2020),iron.jaw (02-10-2020)

  10. #7
    BPnet Veteran Crowfingers's Avatar
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    Get your husbandry corrected, give him a week or two - then try and feed.

    Also, get a gram scale to weigh your snake. If the store was feeding hopper mice then he has been being underfed - hoppers are really only for right out of the egg babies. He needs to eat prey that is 10-15% of his body weight. So if he is 100g then he needs a 10 -15g meal. This is either best achieved through rat pups or adult mice. In the long run rats are more nutritious and you only have to feed one - an adult male would need to eat several mice at a feeding.

    If you have difficultly getting humidity up, then at least offer a third hide on the warm side that has moist sphagnum moss in it. This will give him somewhere to go when he needs to shed.

    This is a great place to learn and help your little snoot grow successfully. Don't worry too much about mistakes made now, they are resilient creatures and you've got 20+ years of bonding time.
    No cage is too large - nature is the best template - a snoot can't be booped too much


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    iron.jaw (02-10-2020),Jakethesnake69 (02-09-2020)

  12. #8
    Registered User iron.jaw's Avatar
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    Re: Seeking advance, new BP owner. Feeding/husbandry

    Thank you so much! I will do research on all of your advice today. Thanks again!
    Joelle

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    Crowfingers (02-12-2020)

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