BP/general questions

[Reptile_Reptile]

1. i gave him a moss hide now all he does is sit on top of it. is this still giving him extra humidity/ is this normal?
2. mites there are black spots in his water but nothing on him at all and nowhere to be seen inside of his cage. is this normal? or does he have mites?
3. how can i help him shed he always seems to have some left on his neck after shed

thank you,
JR

[presspirate]

Hey JR, I can maybe help with the humid hide, but someone else will come along with a mite answer for you.

When I first give my snakes a humid hide, I have to introduce them to it. In other words, I take the top off and let the snake crawl in itself. Once it is all of the way in, I put the lid on and return hide and snake to the cage. Sometimes I have had to cut two hole, one on the face and one on the top of the hide. My coastal now uses it as a kind of jungle gym. Hope this helps!

[Reptile_Reptile]

i have put him in it and i used one of his already in use hides. but i might try to cut another hole for him and maybe take some moss out. thanks

[Ch^4]

He'll know when he needs to use the humid hide; my adult male has a humid hide and a misting system (ambient humidity can get down to 10% inside my house), and he will take the occasional "dip" into the humid hide. Most of the time he just uses it as another piece of furniture!

When you start noticing that his color is dulling in preparation for the shed cycle, I'd suggest providing a fresh/humid hide, coupled with more than normal misting to aid in the shed process. If all else fails, you can use the wet towel, wet pillowcase, or water box trick to aid in removing the excess skin. Good luck!

[Aaron_S]

Rub your hands down his side and see if you acquire black dots. Is he soaking in his dish a lot? What kind of substrate do you use?

[Lankyrob]

I spray my Ball every day as well as providing the moss hide - RH here is around 50% - a light misting each morning raises his enclosure to about 65% which then drops during the day and overnight to a morning RH of jsut about 50% again. The moss hide i have is a largish reptile hide stuffed with sphagnum moss - i lift the hide and spray the moss a couple of times a week.

If i cant find the BP for a couple of days then i know he is in blue - he literally lives in his hide from blue through to shed (usually find a complete shed in the moss) but i rarely see him in there when he isnt in the shed process.

[Reptile_Reptile]

oh i have newspaper for substrate. and i guess he doesnt have mite's cause i havnt noticed any extra soaking aka none at all, and i didnt see any when i ran my hand down him. thats cool i was just a lil worried and not exactly sure

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Reptile_Reptile

1. i gave him a moss hide now all he does is sit on top of it. is this still giving him extra humidity/ is this normal?
2. mites there are black spots in his water but nothing on him at all and nowhere to be seen inside of his cage. is this normal? or does he have mites?
3. how can i help him shed he always seems to have some left on his neck after shed

thank you,
JR

pick the black spots out the water and squeeze them between your finger tips

if they burst and leave blood then its mites

if not it may be substrate or something similar

mites are like the full stops ....................

jet black and they move

i put them on white paper towel then check for movement or you can always just squish them and look for blood

cheers shaun

[Reptile_Reptile]

thanks. ill actually go do that next time i see them (just did tank maintenance)