Urgent help: Enclosure smoke/burn

[Scar]

Greetings sSnakeSs forum and thank you for this friendly, helpful and great community.

Earlier today I encountered an unusual(and stupid/careless) problem as I decided to change the water in my Blood Python's enclosure. She was doing her thing as usual and burying herself within the substrate provided with her head sticking out. I decided to place my heating basking spot(which I rarely use since she has a heating pad on one side of the enclosure) on top of her enclosure and left it there for three to four minutes tops before going in to check on her and noticed that it started burning the plastic on the enclosure from above and causing some smoke. I noticed that she was feeling the affects as she was slowly popping out of her buried spot.

I immediately took her out and placed her on my bed for a good 5 minutes till the sickening smell of the smoke went off and opened all the windows to allow the air outside to take its course. Shortly after I sent her back in and she immediately rushed into her hiding spot only to find her less than an hour later out of it and buried in a different spot slightly close to where she used to be prior to this incident. I must add that she's a juvenile/baby that I purchased a week ago and she successfully ate last Friday.

I'm extremely worried about what happened, is the smoke she most likely inhaled going to harm her?, is she going to be fine from this experience or will she feel stressed and uncomfortable within her enclosure?

Would highly appreciate any help and comments. Thank you for reading.

[IW17]

Honestly I don't know if the exposure would be enough in such a short period of time to do harm. I would think not, but definitely watch her over the next few days. If your still worried or notice any different behavior, a trip to the vet may be be necessary.

[alessia55]

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[Scar]

Originally Posted by IW17

Honestly I don't know if the exposure would be enough in such a short period of time to do harm. I would think not, but definitely watch her over the next few days. If your still worried or notice any different behavior, a trip to the vet may be be necessary.

Originally Posted by Teal

Personally, I would think she would be fine considering your quick action to diffuse the situation. Could it be that her movement/discomfort was simply from all that was going on? I know my young blood pythons get fidgety with "normal" enclosure maintenance every time like it's never happened before!

Thank you both for responding. It took a while for my thread to be published and for me to update. Looks like only an hour after the incident she went back to burrowing again like nothing has happened. So all is good so far, thank goodness.

Another question, I noticed that she rarely uses her hide, she prefers burrowing most of the time. Is that normal behavior and do your bloods do the same?

Thank you again for reading, highly appreciated.

[Teal]

Personally, I would think she would be fine considering your quick action to diffuse the situation. Could it be that her movement/discomfort was simply from all that was going on? I know my young blood pythons get fidgety with "normal" enclosure maintenance every time like it's never happened before!

[Scar]

Originally Posted by Teal

Personally, I would think she would be fine considering your quick action to diffuse the situation. Could it be that her movement/discomfort was simply from all that was going on? I know my young blood pythons get fidgety with "normal" enclosure maintenance every time like it's never happened before!

Yes she was getting worried but thank goodness I arrived on time before something worse happened.

Originally Posted by IW17

Honestly I don't know if the exposure would be enough in such a short period of time to do harm. I would think not, but definitely watch her over the next few days. If your still worried or notice any different behavior, a trip to the vet may be be necessary.

She seems to be back to her normal self 1 hour after the incident and left her hide to burrow yet again with her head popping out. I do spray warm water in her enclosure from time to time to reassure humidity, is that the right thing to do and how often should I do it?. Also I noticed that she prefers to burrow most of the time with only her head popping out, is that normal behavior of the blood python?.

I've spent the last entire week reading for at least an hour to two a day about these magnificent species but can't seem to be find a proper straight-forward advice on them. Any help and advice would be highly appreciated and thank you both for reading this. She has been with me for nearly two weeks(will hit two weeks exactly next Friday) now.

[thawes]

Never use heating elements inside the enclosure, always on the outside/underneath. Heating mats are not designed to be used in a humid environment and MUST always be controlled by a thermostat/rheostat. What temperature are you keeping your baby blood at? At temperatures hot enough to melt plastic, you're lucky you haven't cooked your snake yet! Bloods don't need it as hot as other species. I keep my room at 82℉ most of the year besides after breeding, I bump it to 84℉ until eggs are laid.
A good start would be to correct your husbandry.

Terry

[Scar]

Originally Posted by thawes

Never use heating elements inside the enclosure, always on the outside/underneath. Heating mats are not designed to be used in a humid environment and MUST always be controlled by a thermostat/rheostat. What temperature are you keeping your baby blood at? At temperatures hot enough to melt plastic, you're lucky you haven't cooked your snake yet! Bloods don't need it as hot as other species. I keep my room at 82℉ most of the year besides after breeding, I bump it to 84℉ until eggs are laid.
A good start would be to correct your husbandry.

Terry

Greetings Terry and thanks for your response,

I believe you must have misunderstood my post. She already has a heating mat right underneath the right side of her enclosure where her hide is placed, the heating mat is placed OUT of the enclosure NOT within the enclosure. I placed a heating basking spot out of the enclosure right on top which heated up and did melt a portion of the enclosure from the outside. It was a stupid mistake that I caught before things got worse and immediately took her out for a short while and now she's fine in the enclosure again and burrowing as she prefers to do right next to her water bowl. I do spray her enclosure with warm water from time to time to reassure humidity.

Look at the picture on the right, it's something like that and it's not a light bulb, it looks like a light shaped bulb which is black in color that provides heating waves that I'll never use again.

P.S. I have been responding regularly to my thread but it's taking a long time for these posts to go through due to moderation and forum rules.

[thawes]

Originally Posted by Scar

Greetings Terry and thanks for your response,

I believe you must have misunderstood my post. She already has a heating mat right underneath the right side of her enclosure where her hide is placed, the heating mat is placed OUT of the enclosure NOT within the enclosure. I placed a heating basking spot out of the enclosure right on top which heated up and did melt a portion of the enclosure from the outside. It was a stupid mistake that I caught before things got worse and immediately took her out for a short while and now she's fine in the enclosure again and burrowing as she prefers to do right next to her water bowl. I do spray her enclosure with warm water from time to time to reassure humidity.

Look at the picture on the right, it's something like that and it's not a light bulb, it looks like a light shaped bulb which is black in color that provides heating waves that I'll never use again.

P.S. I have been responding regularly to my thread but it's taking a long time for these posts to go through due to moderation and forum rules.

Yes, I must have misunderstood. Good job by tossing the heat emitter, they should never be used for bloods. They're more for animals who actually need a basking spot. Bloods do fine with a simple warm spot on one side. What are you using to control the temp, and what are you using to get an accurate temp reading?

[Scar]

Originally Posted by thawes

Yes, I must have misunderstood. Good job by tossing the heat emitter, they should never be used for bloods. They're more for animals who actually need a basking spot. Bloods do fine with a simple warm spot on one side. What are you using to control the temp, and what are you using to get an accurate temp reading?

I don't have anything to measure temperature unfortunately since the room I have both my Ball Python(has been with me for nearly 2 years now) and Blood Python in is warm enough. Though I will purchase something to measure the temperature as soon as possible if it's necessary.

What about spraying her enclosure, is it necessary?, and is it normal to see her burrowing most of the time as she is at the very moment?

[jpsteele80]

Without something to measure with how do you know if your temps are anywhere close to being right?

[thawes]

A temp gun is an invaluable tool and relatively inexpensive. What are you using to regulate the temp of your heat mat? They run 20-30 degrees higher than what's acceptable for your snake. A thermostat is a must.
Misting is ok, but if you'd like to maintain better humidity in the enclosure, put the water source over the heat source, and place the hide over on the cool side. I offer ambient room temps for my bloods with no supplemental heat, but when I did, they were always on the cool side.

[Scar]

Originally Posted by thawes

A temp gun is an invaluable tool and relatively inexpensive. What are you using to regulate the temp of your heat mat? They run 20-30 degrees higher than what's acceptable for your snake. A thermostat is a must.
Misting is ok, but if you'd like to maintain better humidity in the enclosure, put the water source over the heat source, and place the hide over on the cool side. I offer ambient room temps for my bloods with no supplemental heat, but when I did, they were always on the cool side.

I'm going to the nearest store as soon as possible to make the purchase. I will also change the positions of the hide and water bowl as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your help. Also, is it normal for my blood to burrow on the cool side as she currently is?

[thawes]

Chances are your blood is sticking to the cooler side because the warm side is too warm. Get your temps regulated with a thermostat and pick yourself up a temp gun...they may be available at your local pet supply store, if not try the hardware store. Your snake will thank you.
Cheers

[Batessi]

Bloods are the one terrestrial species I own that make no use of a hide box, I do not even provide one anymore. A temperature gun is a must if you have multiple snakes, Home Depot keeps them in stock and they are usually under $50.