Blood Soaking?

CHRISANDBOIDS14 · 01-23-04, 03:11 PM

Hello everyone,

My blood python is soaking daily and i know that with bloods this can be a bad thing if they soak too much. Anyways, its a little cooler than it should be in her cage(3-4F). Her humididty is about 60% but goes up to about 75% when i mist(2-3 times per day). She fed well the last two feedings and didnt regurgitate. She last ate sunday. I havent handled her much because she is being a spaz but she doesnt appear to have mites. I am putting her in a more adequate cage next week or maybe earlier. Im just wondering if this is bad that she soaks this much. She mostly stays in her hide on the warm end but the water bowl is right beside that and she goes into that daily. Thanks.

Chris

Invictus · 01-23-04, 03:27 PM

It's not a big deal at all, but I hear this all the time when people have their bloods at only 60% humidity. I know that most care sheets say that this should be adequate, but in my experience, and from what I've read from posts like these, 60% just doesn't cut it.

I keep my blood on moist sphagnum moss, so the humidity is basically 100%. (Ambiently it's about 85%, but the blood has direct contact with the moisture). I've found that if I don't keep her very moist, she soaks all the time, or her scales seem to really dry out. Now that I keep the moss very moist, she doesn't soak at all.

axwielding1 · 01-23-04, 07:09 PM

My blood soaks everynight, after afew laps around the tank. I keep her moist box on the heat pad side, water dish in the center under the heat lamp, and a hide box on the other end. I find she uses both hides regularly, loves her water dish, and at shed time, i wet a washcloth and lay it in the tank to raise the humidity from 75% to 95%. She often burrows under the washcloth, as I have her on a pad for substrate. I also keep a large tupperware bowl of sphagnum moss that she burrows in when I take her out.

CHRISANDBOIDS14 · 01-23-04, 07:40 PM

Ok, thanks. She appears very healthy w/ no hints to any conditions or sicknesses whatsoever. So soaking once a day is ok since my humididty is a bit low? Well once i get her into her cage she is going to be in it should be better. Thanks. And i will be putting some different substrate that holds moisture better(not my artificial turf for quarenteen). Can i do like a forest bedding cause i found some really good stuff that holds moisture and i use it for some of my other herps, juts wondering if it would be ok for a blood? I was thinking what i might do was take some of that stuff(composed of a bit of dirt, shredded woods/barks and what not) and mix it with some sphagnum moss. How does that sound? Its really cheap too, thats a nice thing too. I will also put a humid box in. Thanks. First blood so im just really paranoid about doing something wrong. I want to get it all right before i get a second one(hopefully getting a black blood in march). Thanks

Chris

Invictus · 01-23-04, 07:57 PM

Just use the sphagnum moss. Don't bother mixing it, or you will just end up with mold. Moss resists mold.

CHRISANDBOIDS14 · 01-24-04, 10:04 PM

Alright Invictus! Thanks to you and axwielding1!

Chris