a few new BP questions

[ilovebugs]

I fed him again two days ago, I picked him up today and noticed his eyes are glazed over and his body looks kinda hazy, so I was wondering how long I should expect before he sheds.
Will the crease on his right eye work itself out in shedding?
should I soak him? and if so, when should I start doing that? anything else I should know? baby oil? haha

I'd also like to know which is best...

human heat pad
petstore under tank pad with one of those thermostats
ceramic infrared heater
and... what do you know about these "heat wires" they look pretty cool, you can wind them around under the tank, or around branches.

what I'm wanting to do with my setup is this:
ceramic heater thing over the basking spot, red light on other end perhaps.(both on a timer)
put the tank on wood blocks and put a human heat(cheaper) pad under it.

so far, this is what I've got:
pretty big tank, with side vents, about 35" long
lockdown screen top
water dish
pine bark chip substrate (is that ok? it's what he came with)
things I've added:
the red light,
branch to climb
I cut a 12 pack box in half and made a door, he loves it, and stays in there most of the time.
and I put a peice of clear plastic over about 3/4 of the screen to keep the humidity up. the light is on the exposed remainder of the top.

sorry this was so long. I just want you to have a clear idea of what I have, what I want and if it's good for my snake.

thanks in advance.

 

[David_F]

I can't answer most of your questions because I'm still learning about the BP I've got. I'll give a couple of them a shot though.

1: The dent in the eye is a good sign that the humidity is a bit too low. Covering part of the screen top wasn't enough to help keep the humidity high enough for me so I put in and old butter tub, with a hole in the side, with damp peat moss and paper towels over that. It makes a nice humid hide. I don't know if I'd recommend using peat moss in it to other people though. It's just what I had on hand. I also clean the humid hide out once a week.

2: I'd switch the substrate to aspen, newspaper, cypress mulch (maybe not the best since it's kind of splintery and it's not really eco-friendly), or something else besides pine. I believe pine, cedar, and other aromatics have been known to cause respiratory problems in herps.

3: Whatever heat source you use, make sure it doesn't get too hot. A thermostat is best for controlling the temp but a dimmer switch(rheostat) will probably be okay. Make sure you have a temperature guage in the cage to..you guessed it...monitor temps. You can find good digital models with an external probe at most hardware stores for $8-$10 (This way you can put the main body on one side of the tank and the probe on the other and monitor both the hot and cool sides.). Some even come with humidity guages built in but I don't know how well they work.

Good luck with your snake. This is just stuff that's worked for me so far but I'm sure someone will be able to help out with more.

 

[ilovebugs]

cool, thanks.

I have only had the snake for a week or so, it was a bit neglected, so thats whats up with the eye thing I suppose. I didn't know what could have caused it, so thanks.

I have a digital thermometer. I need to get a hydrometer or whatever too.
the temp usually stays at the low end of the recomended temps, usually 80-85, and I would like to see that go up and stay no less than 85


thanks

 

[David_F]

I think as long as the temp on the warm end is in the upper 80s it should be fine. 80 is probably good for the low end. Mine is kept at around 79-80 (low end) with the hot side around 88-91. Over night the temps drop to about 78 (82 or so on the warm side). I wouldn't want the cool side being 85 but that's just me. I could be going about this all wrong.

 

[ilovebugs]

I think as long as the temp on the warm end is in the upper 80s it should be fine. 80 is probably good for the low end. Mine is kept at around 79-80 (low end) with the hot side around 88-91. Over night the temps drop to about 78 (82 or so on the warm side). I wouldn't want the cool side being 85 but that's just me. I could be going about this all wrong.

cool.
last night, I setup an old heat pad underneath the tank, it helped me get the temp a bit higher. so now I can turn off his light more often since it's not the only heat source.

 

[ilovebugs]

anyone else have any pointers?

I put a heat pad that we had lying around the house under the tank, with aluminium foil under it to (in theory) reflect the heat from being lost under the pad.
so far this is helping to keep the temp up.

 

[defour]

I wouldn't want the cool side being 85 but that's just me.

I wouldn't either. As long as the hot spot is the proper temperature, there's no harm in having a cool spot that stays below the "recommended range". The snake knows much better than any of us what temps it needs; I like to have setups that allow cool temps down into the mid-70's at least, sometimes lower, depending on the animal.

I wouldn't use a "human" heat pad to heat the cage. They're not designed for continuous, long-term use; I would be concerned about reliability and safety. The easy and effective choice is a heat tape like Flexwatt, which in the 11" width would work well for your setup, either on a rheostat or preferably a thermostat.

Steve

 

[CreepyCrawly]

I have three ball pythons, and have had the oldest one for 6 years now (I think). It can be tough to get the humidity thing right. My cage is 4' long, by 2 feet deep, by 2 feet high. I have a flourescent tube in the top, for lighting, and flexwatt running underneath the flooring. I have a plastic casserole dish that is used as a water dish (like $3 or $4 from Wal-Mart) and it works AWESOME! It has a high surface area, which evaporates well, and I place it sort of in the center of the cage, with half of it over the flexwat. This way the water doesn't get super hot, but stays comfortably warm, and that increases the evaporation. My cage is a wooden box, which is lined in linolium and sealed with silicon. I actually have four of these stacked on top of each other. All of the snakes love the water dishes like this. They actually soak in them on their own when they need it! And because they soak often, and the humidity is kept at a good level, they all have perfect sheds, and dent free eyes. The dent in the eye is due to lack of moisture, and it is also a good indicator that they are probably going to shed in pieces.

I keep mine on crushed walnut, which has proven to work well. It doesn't harbor mites or ticks, cleans up easy like cat litter, and doesn't mold if you keep the humidity at a mid-level. If the humidity is up too high, or the snake is spilling it's water dish though, it could. I also don't feed my snakes in their cages, so I don't have to worry about impaction.

These guys are pretty tough, and can handle a wide range of temperatures. The side of the cage the flexwat is not on, in my cages, is about room temperature, and they are just fine. The warm side is right around 88, and they very rarely bask over there.

The lockdown screen is important! The ball I have had the longest has escaped no less than five times! Every single time was from a tank with a screen lid. I had bought so many of those screen lid clamps it would take me like 15 minutes to get into the cage to change the water - and she wuold still get out! I wound up having to put heavy things on top of the screen to weight it down, and that worked. I used sheets of wood laying across the screen in easy to move sizes that I laid large rocks (like 10 pound rocks) on top of. She never figure out how to get through that! Now my doors are plexiglass, on the side, and have two hinges on the bottom, two latches on the top, and a lock for when I feel it is necessary (friends bring their little kids over... who really really really want to hold a snake, and won't listen).

I know a lot of people think that they're boring, but I think that they're great snakes, especially to start off with.

 

[ilovebugs]

wow. thank you.

"The dent in the eye is due to lack of moisture, and it is also a good indicator that they are probably going to shed in pieces."

you hit the nail on the head there bud. I had learned that he previously had a moisture problem, and that was why his eye was dented, and you were absolutly right, the shed came off broken in many peices. I was kinda shocked, because I had soaked him like the day before.
His eye looks much better now.

do you know anything about the heat wire thing I'm talking about?
I think it would be much like a heat pad (since they are just a heating wire in a pad) only I could have it more directed where I want it.

thanks for the tips