Yet to be named, now has a name

Shetective · #1 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 04:31 AM

Well, my new baby officially has a name. My son has named him Lestat.

I have been reading for hours tonight. I never thought I would want to know this much about snakes ~laughing~

I visited him on 4 different occasions before I bought him. Held him and got to see his temperment. They wouldn't sell him to me because he hadn't eaten yet. They had tried on several different occasions, but they had only had him a week. I think he just wasn't ready. They called me Saturday to let me know he had eaten and I was thrilled. I went by today and was talking to the owner...they fed him live and had a live in the cage with him. Made me a little uncomfortable. I 'm still going to try and go with F/T. I am hoping he simply wasn't ready and comfortable with his surroundings. Hopefully, I'll have some luck with F/T. I don't want to feed him live.

A friend gave me a 55 gal aquarium that will have to do until I have something built. It is 4' long, 1.5' deep and 2' high. When I first put him in the cage he knotted up into the most awful ball with his head up..and sat that way for hours. I'm sure that this was because of the new surroundings, but I kept having to look at him to make sure he was breathing. My son took him out of the cage for a bit and now that he is back in, he has been crawling all over the place for the last hour. I think is trying to find a way out.

I couldn't believe the knot he got himself into though.

I'm going to continue reading. My son is at Wal Mart buying a digital thermometer. I just have no clue about humidity. Not sure how to even get humidity IN there. I misted the substrate *shrug*.

I am soooo anxious to learn all I can.

Talk to you all soon, I hope. *sorry for rambling*

Karnis · #2 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 04:36 AM

The best way I have found of raiseing humidity in the cage other than misting has been to setup a water dish on the warm side of the gradent, But as from my earlier post I have only dealt with a terrestial snake and from reading the "Watering hole" humidity idea may be a bit harder to work with, You can though make a great cheap mister from one of thoes 1 gallon long type water jug, just poke holes into one side and fill it up, it will drastically help in raiseing humidity, Especially if you have fake greenery in for the water droplets to fall onto, Hope that helps and good luck

Shetective · #3 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 05:43 AM

Thanks for the tip, Karnis ..

Here's my next question.... it has taken several hours to get the tank up to temp...now that it is night time, do I turn out the lights on the cage or just trust he will go to the darker/cooler side of the cage or to his hide?

Karnis · #4 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 05:45 AM

I would suggest turning them off, Or if you are useing A Special lighted bulb (The colors are not comeing to me this late) Or any "Special" heating bulbs I would keep on, A good day/night cycle is very good to keep to insure a healthy herp

Ed_r · #5 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 05:54 AM

I may have missed it somewhere, but what kind of snake is this?

I really don't like the waterbowl being on the hot side. No one wants to drink warm water. Most of the time if its a Ball python or a boa, humidity isn't too much of an issue. if the snake has a bad shed, then you may need to up the humidity a bit. You can do this by covering the screen lid 2/3rd of the way with plastic. this will hold mor humidity in. Or you can cover the lid with a damp towel. a daily misting would be good too. But i really wouldn't go into all that unless your snake is having bad sheds. Bad means coming off in dry flakes, not coming off in a couple pieces becuase your snake ripped it against something. You dont have to make things complicated to keep your snake happy

Shetective · #6 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 03:20 PM

I'm sorry Ed ... the snake is a red tail boa ...
His water is on the cool side .. I've gotta go buy one of the undertank heaters I believe.. the lights I have on the top just aren't making the tank warm enough..

Another question..the tank sits flush on the stand..should it be propped up a little if I use the undertank heater pad so the pad isn't flush on the stand? Or will that not hurt anything..?

KuhnDog · #7 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 04:59 PM

Another thought is a ceramic heat bulb. IMO, they generate heat much better. They cost a bit more, but last forever... I've had mine for almost 3 years.

For the UTH pad, when I had a glass tank, I had it proped up a bit (using inch-thick wood pieces). I think its safer to allow some of the heat to escape.

Shetective · #8 (**permalink**) 07-20-2004, 05:07 PM

Thanks so much KuhnDog

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