Posted by Sarah on September 29, 2008
Ariel emailed me last week with a question, and agreed that it was ok for me to share it with you.
If you have any advice please let us know!
Thank you!
Here is Ariel’s Question:
Hello, I adopted a ball python in need of a home a couple of moths ago. She’s about 1.5 years old and is kept in a 29 gallon tank. I have been having problems getting the humidity in the tank high enough and as a result, she doesn’t shed properly.
I heard that the humidity should be between 60% and 70%. To keep the tank more humid I put it in my bathroom. After I take a shower it gets to 60, but that’s the only time. the rest of the time, its between
30 and 40.
I have a black light on the water dish 24/7 and a lamp in daylight hours. I also mist the tank with a spray bottle. What else can I do to raise the humidity? and preferably get her out of my bathroom (which was small to begin with).
And here’s my response.
Hi Ariel, thank you for reading the blog.
How big is your water bowl? A larger water bowl, or a second water bowl at the other end of the tank might help.
We had our ball pythons in a 75g for a while, and the only way that we could keep the humidity high enough was to have a 2 pretty large dog water bowls in there.
We’ve moved the snakes into their own 30X30 square aquariums with a wood lid with 2 large holes cut out and covered for ventilation, and now the water bowl normally keeps the humidity around 60 without us having to worry about it.
We also use an infrared light and an under the tank heater for heat because they aren’t supposed to dry the air out as much - I’ve heard some people say that if you have a light it’s really hard to keep the humidity up in the tank.
What are you using the blacklight for?
I hope this helps and you can figure out how to get the humidity high enough for her soon.
Let me know if you have any other questions, and if this helps.
Ariel’s response:
The water dish I’ve been using is about 7 inches in diameter and is filled with .5-1 inch of water. It is directly under the black light witch is the heat source day and night.
At one point, I had 2 dishes of water under the lamp, but it didn’t seem to help much.
How much would one of these under the tank heaters cost? I’m in college right now so my finances are somewhat limited.
Thank you very much for your time, and I’ll see if I can make any more changes to increase the humidity.
And my response:
Ariel, the under tank heaters are less expensive online - we got ours in a couple of snake kits that were on clearance at Petco, and then we got a repti therm under tank heater from Drs. Foster & Smith
. They are on sale for $11.99 for the 10-20 gallon size, and $21.59 for the 30-40 gallon size.
Unfortunately they don’t have one specifically for the 29 gallon tank.
I hope this helps!
If any of you have any advice that could help Ariel please leave a comment!
Thank you!
Posted by Sarah on September 24, 2008
I guess I should have seen that one coming.
All of our reptiles are kept in cages in a former bedroom, and we keep the door to the room shut to keep the dogs out, and the heat in.
Last night I decided to take Tiger out while the dogs were out.
Scrappy ran up to see what was going on and poor Tiger got scared and started holding his mouth open.
Although some people say their leopard geckos talk to them, I didn’t hear any noise coming from him.
Even after we put the dogs up Tiger was still scared - and he bit me.
Fortunately it didn’t hurt, but since he was so scared we put him back in the cage.
How do your herps react to your other pets?
Do you let them hang around, or keep them separate?
We usually put the dogs up before we take the reptiles out, but since Jeff was out I figured I’d try it.
Posted by Sarah on September 22, 2008
I’ve come across quiet a few people lately who’ve been trying to get rid of their 10+ foot long snakes lately.
One person I’ve talked to has been trying to get rid of his Burmese Python for over 15 years - unfortunately not very many people are equipped to handle a snake that big, so once you get one that’s grown that big it’s hard to find someone else to take it.
I’ve seen several people who recommended donating large unwanted snakes to the zoo - but most zoos already have enough snakes, or if they don’t already have snakes, they don’t have people who are equipped to care for the snakes.
Even when zoos have zookeepers who are experienced things can still happen - an apprentice zookeper was killed after entering a 10 foot long Burmese python’s cage in August.
I have to tell you that even though I’ve always known I never want a snake in my house that I can’t handle myself, hearing that Burmese Pythons can get up 20 feet long, and weigh over 200 pounds is way different than actually seeing a 18 foot long burmese python up close and personal.
And seeing an 18 foot long snake is completely different from trying to pick up a 165 pound 18 foot long snake and realizing how heavy the thing really is.
Now that I’ve held part of a burmese python I know that there’s no way I’d feel comfortable keeping one - because if anything happened and the snake started constricting me or someone else, I’m not sure that I could stop it.
Before I got up close and personal with a Burmese Python I would have recommended that someone who was considering purchasing one actually visit a full grown snake and see if they thought they were equipped for that.
Now - I think they should hold the snake!
If you’re interested in a Burmese Python look around and see if you can visit with someone who has an adult Burmese Python.
Ask them how they care for the snake, where they keep it, and what they do with the snake when they clean the cage.
Make sure you know how to feed the snake while minimizing danger to yourself, and the person who is there to make sure that nothing happens to you.
Also realize that the lifespan of a Burmese Python is 20 years - and you’ll be feeding, and housing, and cleaning up after the snake for a very long time, and that very long time may seem even longer if you realize that you don’t want the snake any more, and you can’t find anyone else that wants it either.
If you decide that you are interested in a Burmese python check out your local reptile rescues, exotic vets or classifieds sections.
They often have snakes available for adoption, or know of someone who doesn’t want their large snake any more, and they should be able to let you speak with the snakes owner so that you can get a good idea of the care required for the snake, and the snakes treatment while he was in their care.
And oh yeah - if you want a really big snake talk to me.
I know someone who’s been looking forward to getting rid of one for at least 15 years.
You can read more about Burmese pythons at The Keeping or Large Pythons, and Burmese Python.
Posted by Sarah on September 15, 2008
I think Monty, one of our ball pythons has stage fright - or at least he doesn’t like to eat with people watching.
For whatever reason, people love watching the snakes eat.
Last night we had two people over who wanted to watch the snakes eat, so we fed the snakes in front of them.
Sheila ate like she normally does, but Monty ended up eating the rat tail first, instead of head first.
I’m not sure what’s going on.
Ok, maybe it did have something to do with the fact that one of the rat’s legs fell off when it was thawing.
The time before that we had about 6 people over watching the snakes eat - and Monty ripped the mouse’s head off.
Have you ever had that happen before?
I think we’re going to have to start letting him eat in peace from now on!
Posted by Sarah on September 9, 2008
I thought a poll would be fun, so here’s our first one.
If you have any poll suggestions, or if you’d like to let us know how you voted leave a comment and let me know.
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