My Mexican Black King Snake - Page 2

chydro · 04-16-11, 12:07 AM

here is his set up.

Marica · 04-15-11, 01:48 PM

Nice MBK. Looks about the same size as my guy Grendl.

The UV bulbs are indeed unnecessary, though if you are using a UTH (under-tank heater) additional heating such as a ceramic heat emitter isn't really needed in my opinion. One heat source should do the trick and for snakes I prefer the belly heat provided by a UTH to a light heat source as I find they decrease humidity, which is especially troublesome to maintain in the dry climate I live in. Usually a rheostat or thermostat are required to regulate heating devices, though it sounds like your temperatures are stable.

A 40g is probably quite large for your little guy, though as long as you provide plenty of hiding spots and coverage I'm sure he'll feel secure enough. Mine borrows underneath his aspen as much as he used his hides.

Giving him some time to settle in is often recommended, though some keepers have success feeding as soon as their snake is brought home. You'll probably want to keep up a feeding schedule of approx. once a week, as he was previously. For his first feed, I would suggest thawing 1 pink (I'm assuming you're going to feed f/t - frozen thawed). If he takes it no problem than try 2 the next feed. When you're no longer seeing a lump, time to upgrade to small fuzzies.

As for how to link pictures into your posts you'll have to upload them onto a hosting site such as Photobucket, Flickr, or my favourite iHerp (because it easily allows you to resize and provides you the link). Copy the link into the box provided once you've clicked the Insert Image icon above. I look forward to more pics of Hydro

infernalis · 04-16-11, 12:33 AM

Now I see the confusion, black lights are UV, that is infrared.

chydro · 04-16-11, 01:06 AM

so is it set up right?

infernalis · 04-16-11, 01:16 AM

looks good to me.

I have Pueblan and eastern milk snakes, care is roughly the same, and I can say that you put a lot more thought into your set up than I have mine.

chydro · 04-16-11, 01:24 AM

so what are the temps i should keep on the left side and the temps for right side, night n day....

infernalis · 04-16-11, 01:32 AM

An ambient daytime temperature in the high 70s and a hot spot of about 90 degrees is ideal. Night time temperatures can fall as low as 70 to 75 degrees.

I maintain the whole room at 80-85 during the day and 70 at night....

I have too many snakes to try and heat just the cages.

The only animals that get extra heat are my tropical pets.

The colubrids (Garters, milks, racer & corn) have been doing fine with just room heat.

It feels like Florida after a rain storm in there, but in the end, it's loads cheaper for me to keep the room heated rather than running so many heat pads and lamps.

chydro · 04-16-11, 03:19 AM

ok so i just took a look at his temp, its 517 am left side was at 82 and right was at like 76ish. looks like the red heat lamp is un neccessary. i check his day temp and usualy it runs like 86-90 hotside and 82-84 cool side

Marica · 04-16-11, 10:22 AM

It looks like your probes are attached to the side of the tank? It's better to place the warm end probe below the substrate, directly above the heat pads. Then you'll get temperature in the warmest spot your snake can actually get to.

chydro · 04-16-11, 05:27 PM

Feed Him For His First Time today. he ate a pinky, he did not hesitate to grab the food. not complications swallowing. also he was very calm after he ate, he was kind of skidish to get back in his regular tank though. i had to kinda assist him in getting back in

Marica · 04-16-11, 06:14 PM

Grats on the successful meal. Mine doesn't like to be picked up from his feeding tub, so I either slowly tip it over and let him slither onto my hands or place the tub in his enclosure and let him come out whenever he's ready. Also, a couple days like Wayne suggested in your other thread is usually a good amount of time to let them digest before handling. If the pink only left a small lump, you can see if he'll take 2 next feed. Judging by the photo he'll probably be able to handle fuzzies pretty soon if not already.

mistersprinkles · 04-16-11, 11:07 PM

oh by the way- use the aquarium trick on your background. Cut it roughly with scissors to match the back of the tank, tape it on. Now with it secured use a razor to precisely cut it to the size of the rear glass without the black tank trim.

Now clean the background and the tank itself and wipe them totally free of dust and then cover both with vegetable oil (just soak a paper towel then rub them down). Now just stick the background to the tank. It won't move. To remove the air bubbles use a ruler, then a credit card for smaller bubbles. It looks like the background is inside the glass. It doesn't come off for 10 years. The vegetable oil evaporates mostly but it leaves behind a slick that holds the background in place.

chydro · 04-17-11, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistersprinkles

oh by the way- use the aquarium trick on your background. Cut it roughly with scissors to match the back of the tank, tape it on. Now with it secured use a razor to precisely cut it to the size of the rear glass without the black tank trim.

Now clean the background and the tank itself and wipe them totally free of dust and then cover both with vegetable oil (just soak a paper towel then rub them down). Now just stick the background to the tank. It won't move. To remove the air bubbles use a ruler, then a credit card for smaller bubbles. It looks like the background is inside the glass. It doesn't come off for 10 years. The vegetable oil evaporates mostly but it leaves behind a slick that holds the background in place.

is that safe with using heatlamps? wouldnt the oil cause a fire? and the backround isnt on yet cause i didnt buy tape yet lol

infernalis · 04-17-11, 07:42 AM

I'd just tape it on..

To answer your question though, even the lightest oils require over 400 degrees before it would burst into flames without the aid of an ignition source, heavier oils need to be heated to nearly twice that to catch fire on their own.

Not even a pile of gunpowder could ignite at the temperatures we keep our reptiles at.

chydro · 04-17-11, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

I'd just tape it on..

To answer your question though, even the lightest oils require over 400 degrees before it would burst into flames without the aid of an ignition source, heavier oils need to be heated to nearly twice that to catch fire on their own.

Not even a pile of gunpowder could ignite at the temperatures we keep our reptiles at.

oh ok i didnt know that, i appreciate that very much.

is this normal, besides me feeding him yesterday, he has been hiding in the same spot for almost the last three days.