Tub and Other Questions

[Minkness]

Ok, so, I got a tub for my dubia roaches forever ago and keep them on eco earth and feed them lots of fruits and veggies. Why do I bring this up? Because I never noticed more than an earthy or sweet smell in their tub.

Now I have a tub by the same manufacturer (sterilite) and it smells VERY much like plastic. At first I thought it was the mice I was feeding him that he wasn't eating. Wondering if the smell was related to how they may have been gassed. Well...after an experiment of putting one in a normal container, I found no smell on the mouse it's self. However, when I lift the lid of the tub, that chemical/plastic smell wafts out.

Has anyone else experienced this?

And so that I don't spam by posting in another thread about the same issue....Will this effect his willingness to eat?

When I got him he was an established 9 month old chubbs with a fantastic record for being overly excited about his meals. He was kept on a 7 day feeding schedule but the guy I got him from said he feeds on mondays so that they are hungry by the time he packs them up to go to the show that weekend. So, I have had him going on 2 weeks, which makes this 3 weeks of not eating. No big deal since he's a BP. I'm not overly worried about it since I have also watched his weight and he's doing fine. I'm patient. However, I am worried that the smell may be a factor in this previously voracious eater's appetite. Is this a valid concern, or just me being a fretting newblet?

Note: Humidity and temps are fine. I had him on shredded aspen at first but it was sucking up the humidity and blocking the heat source. So I switched to my trusty shelving liner and the humidity and temps are perfect now, but the liner also has that chemical /rubber smell. Below is a pic of his tub set up.

[Albert Clark]

Double check the husbandry points and if they all check out and he is really healthy I wouldn't worry. Remember this time of year most male balls want to breed and they are only thinking about that. Consider switching to 100% cypress mulch and not the home depot brand. Check out the article by Colin Weaver of "east coast reptile breeders" titled " the enigmatic ball python appetite".

[reptiledude987]

I use seterlite tubs for quarentine and temp storage while cleaning vivs. I've never noticed a smell from any of my bins. I'm not sure if the smell has anything to do with him going off feeding. As long as the prey item is warm he will sence it with heat pits which "should" be enough to envoke a feeding response. However as we all know sometimes our little BP friends can be fussu with feeding even when were doing everything right.