Brazilian Rainbow advice...

DeesBalls · 01-12-12, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

I agree, temps are too high and humidity too low. For temps, I use a range of 82 on the high end to 72 on the low end. For humidity, do you have a moist moss hide and large water bowl for her? (BTW, when we last spoke back in November, you'd lowered her high end temp from 91 to 83 and raised the humidity, and everything seemed better...what happened my friend?)

As for her behavior, yes, take the nip. You need to teach her that you will not be deterred from picking her up by a pissy attitude. With regular calm handling, her attitude should improve...or at least she'll learn to put up with you. ;-)

right now, it is 83... i cant NOT keep humidity up because of the huge cage... what size cages do you use for your adults?? she is in a 4x2x2 and i feed it is waaaayyy to big... humidity doesnt hold at all

BUT i am making her a humidity box to help with that...

right now she is burried underneath the cypress and it is 83 degrees..

Rainbowsrus · 01-12-12, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiL_Boa

right now, it is 83... i cant NOT keep humidity up because of the huge cage... what size cages do you use for your adults?? she is in a 4x2x2 and i feed it is waaaayyy to big... humidity doesnt hold at all

BUT i am making her a humidity box to help with that...

right now she is burried underneath the cypress and it is 83 degrees..

Buried under the substrate is normal. What temp is it under the cypress where she is?

The cage is way larger than it needs to be but you should still be able to maintain humidity. Three points on humidity...

Evaporation - how the moisture gets into the air in the first place. you will need a very large surface area water bowl(s). In my adult cage less than half that size (24x24x18) my water bowls are about a foot across.

Dissipation - Once airborne, the water molecules will repel each other and spread out as much as possible INCLUDING leaving the enclosure. Screens and other ventilation will not allow the humidity to build up sufficiently. For example, in my Boaphile 421T's (4' x 2' x 1' divided into two sections) I have ZERO vents. Only the small gaps around the drop down doors.

Condensation - once the air becomes overloaded with water molecules they will condense on cool surfaces - the front door. When you see condensation, you know you have decent humidity.

A damp moss hide box will help in two ways. First it provides a nice damp, higher humidity place to hang out. Second, it provides even more evaporation surfaces to get the water into the air.

Misting can also help but IMO is an artificial way to maintain humidity that is reliant on you remembering to mist. I prefer to get my cages working for me so I don't need to do more than clean and feed.

Hope this helps...

DeesBalls · 01-12-12, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainbowsrus

Buried under the substrate is normal. What temp is it under the cypress where she is?

The cage is way larger than it needs to be but you should still be able to maintain humidity. Three points on humidity...

Evaporation - how the moisture gets into the air in the first place. you will need a very large surface area water bowl(s). In my adult cage less than half that size (24x24x18) my water bowls are about a foot across.

Dissipation - Once airborne, the water molecules will repel each other and spread out as much as possible INCLUDING leaving the enclosure. Screens and other ventilation will not allow the humidity to build up sufficiently. For example, in my Boaphile 421T's (4' x 2' x 1' divided into two sections) I have ZERO vents. Only the small gaps around the drop down doors.

Condensation - once the air becomes overloaded with water molecules they will condense on cool surfaces - the front door. When you see condensation, you know you have decent humidity.

A damp moss hide box will help in two ways. First it provides a nice damp, higher humidity place to hang out. Second, it provides even more evaporation surfaces to get the water into the air.

Misting can also help but IMO is an artificial way to maintain humidity that is reliant on you remembering to mist. I prefer to get my cages working for me so I don't need to do more than clean and feed.

Hope this helps...

it is 75 underneath, (cool side) and as for the misting, and humidity i do understand all that... i have 2 water bowls in there now, neither of whitch are under the heat light...

i had a 60 watt che but that barley kept it 80 degrees, so i will be getting a 100 watt, on a thermostat (soon as they come in) right now everything is on a rheostat.

her temperment i can deal with.. i just want to get the husbandry good.

some one asked how she sheds, she shed all in 1 piece, but that was in previous cages...

long story short...

when i 1st got her, she was in a 64 qt tub, got stuck on tape and i put her ina 10 gal aquarium temperment was a baby doll...

got my new rack and she went in a 41 qt tub with a big bowl of water over the heat tape.... temps were around 84 and humidity was always high. temperment was awesome!

she started to act weird while i had her in the tub.. i went to grab her to pick her up, and she coild around my hand and started to nudge me (acting like i was food) so i thought she was hungery and upped her food...

went from a med mouse, to a small/med rat less freqently...

ever since them she has been acting weird.. i took her out of the tub and put her back in a 10 gallon tank and she seemed fine... and finally from that 10 gal, to her 4x2x2 she is in now...

Handeling wise:
1st got her i held her all the time... until about April of last year i have not got to hold her alot, all month of June i wasnt home, i was on a hunny moon and i really slipped on handling, witch im SURE is what the problem is...

hope this helped you all out, and thanks for all the help. if any one can let me know what size cage she should have, please let me know!

thanks!