His new home for now

[knads06]

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/5158newsnake-med.jpg

Well this is Slim's new home for now as everyone had suggested for me to do. Before anyone says anything im currently trying to find or make a smaller water dish so if wont take up half the rubbermaid. I figured id give this a few weeks and see how it does. If it gets him eating then obviously it worked but if it doesnt then ive just about run out of options with this little guy. The only step i have left is to bring him to a vet and force feed him.

[nita]

His hides seem really big, usually you want something he can just barely squeeze into. Any small tupperware dish or small glass bowl will work as a water dish. I usually use tupperware bowls. Good plan on switching him to the rubbermaid and good luck.

[knads06]

So you honestly think this is the right size home for him for now??? It seems small to me but most people on this site have told me to switch to a smaller enclousure for now

[nita]

Yup, I would say that is ok but you need the smaller hides. BP's don't roam alot and so don't need or like a lot of space. On general they will stay under their little hide and once in a while come out to eat and drink. Otherwise they are happy in a tiny little box for a hide :)

[marisa]

It's not too small. That rubbermaid should be his home for the next few months. It seems small to YOU but thats because you are human. He is a snake, and it probably seems SECURE to him.

Now just leave him be and try some feeding attempts in a week or so.

Marisa

[mykee]

I think that rubbermaid is still quite a bit too big personally, but you may have success. Also, bp's roam A LOT but you're more concerned with security right now. Lastly, you don't want to force feed, you want to assist-feed, very different.

[sapphire_moon]

and unless you have tried all the tricks I wouldn't assit feed unless absolutely necessary. Have you been keeping track of his weight? If not I suggest you start.

And start with live mouse pinks (large ones, maybe just getting a bit fuzzy), yes mouse pinks, they are small, not very intimidating, and move.
Then work your way up from there, live, f/k, f/t, brained, wet, overnight. All while keeping track of his weight.


Got any air holes in there? It don't look like it, just about 10 or so should do it., how are you measuring heat and how are you controlling it?

You might want to put something down on the top of it as well, baby bp's are amazingly strong and will find any weak spot they can......


Edit:

You might want to move the heat pad to only directly under the hot side hide, so he doesn't have to be in his water to get away from the heat.

[knads06]

I have about 25 holes in the cover, i have two temperature gauges that i use to give me a good idea of how it is in there, but i rely on the digital thermometer to give me a exact reading. I also have the humidity gauge as well. Right now its reading about 82%. How would i lower that if its too high??Its at 90F on the hot side and 78F on the other side so i think i have that aspect under control. I lastly use to rocks on top to keep the cover on and make sure he doenst get out, the top snaps into place but i didnt trust that from the beginning......

[sapphire_moon]

holes in the cover suck, humidity is to high. I'm not sure how to lower that, But i'm sure someone will have an idea.

Temps sound good. But you might want to try to get something about the size of the personal size ceral boxes.

My male bp's fat but can fit in a regular sized ceral box cut in HALF. Don't know how he does it, and he don't lay on top of himself either.....lol

and like I said, move that uth out from underneath some of the rubbermaid, so he doesn't have to lay in his water bowl to get away from the heat.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Holes go better on the side, and just use a yogurt conatiner cut in half. Don't buy water dishes that are ACTUALLY water dishes, because that is just like flushing money down the toilet! There's NOTHING that you have to get at a pet store to keep a Ball Python properly.

Getting better....

[mykee]

The more holes you make, the less humidity you'll have. My advice to you would be make a few holes, then check the humidity after a few hours, if it's too high, make more holes until you can get it around 60%. Remember, slowly. You can make more holes, but it's really hard to take them away.

[knads06]

Well i weighed my bp before he went into his new home and he was about 75 grams. I hope this is right and not way off, i dont have a digital scale so i used some little scale my girl use to use to weigh food and ect. Does this give anyone some idea how old my bp is???????

[mykee]

If your ball is 75 grams, he is the same weight as a 2 minute old, smaller ball. I really hope your scale is wayyyyy off.

[knads06]

I need help controlling the humidity level inside the rubbermaid as everyone told me to move him into. Its currently at 90 or above for a humidity rating and the only way i can think of to make it less humid is to make more holes in the top of the lid to let some of the heat and mosture out.. Is that correct????

[Jeff_Favelle]

Even though the point is completely moot and rather obvious to you now, this is ALL better done BEFORE you get the snake. Just for future reference, even though you probably realize all this now.

Your snake has to suffer while YOU get the cage rigth. Its much easier to get the cage right, and then add the snake.

[knads06]

His cage temps are right its just the humidity factor im having trouble stabalizing. The only way to keep the temps the way they are and yet lower the humidity is to just keep on putting more holes in the top and side which will then lower the humidity if i am correct. Im sure Having a 92 degree day here in CT didnt help stabalize the temps either. I listened to what a majority of the people on here said for me to do. I moved him out of his 20 gal tank and into a 14L Shoebox size rubbermaid. Before i did so i stabalized the temps but im having trouble keeping the humidity low. I come to this site because its extremely informative and has helped me out a lot so far.

[sapphire_moon]

the more holes you put in the cage, the more humidity AND heat escapes.

Oh, get a SMALLER WATER BOWL.

[knads06]

And the more humidity i have escaping means ill have a lower humidity inside the enclosure, correct?If its at 90 now its should lower to 80 or even lower in a few hours???? He already has an extremely small water bowl.........Ive put about 20 holes or more in the top of the lid so im gonna wait a few hours and see what happens with the temp and humidity.

[mykee]

Holes in the side. Condensation builds up on the sides of rubbermaids, and you can release a lot of that excess humidity with holes in the side, not the top.
You could also spray/mist less, that would also lower the humidity level.

[knads06]

Thanks Mykee for always helping me out with my questions. You and a few others here have always had a answer for everything ive had questions about. I drilled some holes in the side seeing how 8000 holes on top did nothing, jk about 800 holes it was more like 25-30. So hopefully when i check tomorrow morning the humidity will be down. thanks again.

[knads06]

Well i just got home from work today at 5pm and i checked on my little guy and was very pleased to see the humidity at 60 and his temps at a pleasing 90 and 79. Thanks Mykee for the advice on the holes in the side of the rubbermaid. Now ill just have to plug a few up with duck tape or something every once in a while to get the humidity up during shedding. I guess its time to wait one more week and see if his new home does the trick and gets him to eat after all.

[mykee]

Knads, thanks for the compliment, it's nice to hear that I have been helpful (that's not always the case as some of you are aware). With regards to duct tape, make sure you tape from the inside too, as the sticky will be snake side in, and may get stuck to snakie's nose and cause more problems for you. Also, I wouldn't worry about losing heat with more holes as long as you have an under tank heat source , the temps you're concerned with are the ground temps, 90-95 hot side, 75-80 cool side and air temp, 80-ish. Sounds like you've got it bang on . Good work.

[knads06]

WEll its been two days now and my bp seems to be settling into his new home just fine. The temps are perfect and hopefully the little guy will eat next time around.

[sapphire_moon]

ya, I try to keep tape away from snakes, bad things happen. Ummm try taking the top and using a hot glue gun to fill in some of the holes (obviously use a temp cage while the glue is drying!) instead of tape.

Glad to hear everything is going well. Keep us posted and goodluck!

[nita]

You could also just toss a small tea towel or the like across a section of the top to cover the holes while the snake is in shed. Easy to remove as well when the shed is over.

[elevation24]

Or you could just go to the store and sneak another lid... :D