Snakes

[taurus ;]

So, I'm getting rid of my UTH and switching to just a CHE. I like that with a CHE it provides a more natural heat gradient, as opposed to the heat mat, just being a hot spot in the cage. It will still be controlled with a thermostat.

I'm going to modify his tub by cutting a hole in the lid of the tub with enough space for the CHE lamp and then ziptie some wire into the lid and thats where the CHE will sit.

Seeing alot of people getting their first ball pythons from expos and I will just say that I will never get a BP from an expo. Sure there may be some truthful people, but just know that their #1 priority is selling. So instead of saying 'yeah this baby was really hard to start and im still have a hard time with it', they may sneak around and say 'i mean it's no big deal, he was a little picky but im sure he'll be great once you get him home'. I have even experienced large scale and well known breeders doing this, so I really have no trust in expos, not for ball pythons anyways. Also, those display cages the snakes are put in are very stressful, especially to hatchlings and breeders let people handle them a lot too. BP community is adamant about this too, 'yeah even if the breeder has a perfectly good reason not let you handle the snake DON'T BUY IT'. Only exception I've seen is breeders not letting people hold the scaleless BPs. With all the stress, the snake could also act differently than it normally would, ex. a normally mellow bp being snappy and agitated.

[grafaiai]

Huh. I'm not very knowledgeable about CHEs tbh, how are you gonna handle giving them belly heat?

[taurus ;]

Huh. I'm not very knowledgeable about CHEs tbh, how are you gonna handle giving them belly heat?

It will still heat the bottom of the tub, so technically it does still provide belly heat.

https://rainbowsnakes.tumblr.com/post/1 ... -would-one
There's the toturial, just have to scroll down a bit.

[taurus ;]

I think the CHE might be just a supplement, my house gets really cold in winter, and I really had trouble keeping up Khaa's ambient temp last year. It will be used as the sole heat source until I can get a better heat mat. Those ZooMed ones are literal pieces of crap. A probe has to go in between the tub and the UTH, so now the UTH doesn't work well because it can't stick to the tub all the way bc of the probe, ugh.

[yellowlight]

hey guys! I'm new to the thread, but not to snake keeping. I've had many ball pythons in the past, who unfortunately all lost a long battle to some mites that came from a snake I rescued from a crappy petstore. It's been a year or so since the last passed and I think I'm ready for another new scaley friend! I've been extremely interested in getting a Mexican Black Kingsnake, and as luck would have it, repticon is this weekend. I was already planning to get a blue tongue skink there, but I think I may also get the MBK. I have a lot of supplies already and am planning to get a 20g aquarium for him/her, considering I would like to get a baby.
I like to talk to real pet owners rather than looking online to see their temperament. I have heard though that they are usually extremely docile, but can be cage aggressive due to their overactive feeding response. I wanted to know what you guys have experienced and what you do to not get bit! I've been bit by plentyyy of snakes, but I do try to avoid it. I haven't worked with kingsnakes much and don't really know much about their behavior and warnings as to when they will bite, unlike a ball python that will coil up and show you it's angry.
Also I would love to just hear about your spooky looking friends and know anything about them as well! Thanks(:

[~Tornado~]

Hello! I'm a new snake owner whos done a crap ton of research and am open for discussion to know how to better my snake caring!
I currently have three snakes I'm not going to get any for a while don't worry.
I have a albino pueblan milksnake who we don't actually know the sex of as we don't want to probe or pop it because there's no reason to and the only way we'd do it is take it to the vet, basically it doesn't matter and we call it a girl and her name is Azula. She came from a very well trusted small pet store who was sadly closing, they had two milk snakes (we were originally going for a corn because they are so well behaved and easy to care for) they had a older normal and the smaller albino, but the pet store heavily suggested the albino because of her temperament. I've heard iffy things about milks, that they're snappy and ill tempered. But Azula is such a great individual, she's never bit or hissed or anything, she's really great and calm even when she had a stuck shed and we had to help her out she didn't bite

We also have a Cinnamon Enchi ball python we got from BHB she's really great, very shy but that is the way with them, however they actually did send us the wrong snake, we ordered a yearling of the same morph with a very different coloring, but they sent us a 2017 enchi cinna so we're going to get some of our money back but we're not going to send her back or anything
Her name is Vera

And then I just got another ball python from an expo, he's a pastave bee and we need to be a bit better with our quarantine techniques so I'm really hoping there's nothing wrong with him. He doesn't seem to have any mites or RI issues he seems very healthy but we're checking him out constantly as well as Vera for any bad signs, because I'm going to admit and I'm sorry not doing a good job keeping them separate from each other ( they're not touching or in the same cage or being held at the same time none of that!)
He doesn't have a name yet, he's much more outgoing than Vera is, less shy and he's like actually my snakes as in when I move out and such I'm taking him with me
We did take a shower after the expo and washed all our clothes and such, so if there's nothing wrong with him as it appears to be now everything should be fine
He's got a bit of a spin as is with the spider gene, but he's really young and it's not bad when he's calm. But we're being careful with him but he seems very healthy. He is acting normal sticking to his hide in a loose ball not the frightened tight, head tucked behavior, he just ate before the expo and he seems to be of good build, in fact he seems a little better fed than the one from BHB.

Anything I should watch out for? I'll really need to see how he eats next week, we fed both of the other snakes on Saturday, and he ate the day before, so we'll feed him at the same time as the others next week


Yellowlight dang I am so so sorry about your snakes that's terrible!
I've heard really good thinks about Mexican black kings, but never seen one in person

[kivr & fireflii]

I can't help with the milk snakes, but in regards to the ball pythons...

Can you expand on what you mean by "I'm going to admit and I'm sorry not doing a good job keeping them separate from each other?" If they aren't housed in the same enclosure and you don't have them out at the same time, how are they not being kept separate? Unless I misunderstood you.

For quarantine, if you're not already, I would keep your pastave bee in a quarantine state for at least a month minimum (3 months is better). A simple enclosure using paper towels as substrate, water bowl, and a hide will suffice. It's not a long term solution, but the paper towels will help you see if your snake has any mites and seeing any feces will be immediate (so you can see if anything looks wrong there). It sounds like you're already watching out for mites and RI (black specks and open mouth/drooling/mucus/bubbles/wheezing respectively). Those are the main things to look out for. Track his weight, make sure his feces looks normal, and I'd also recommend not to handle him until he's settled down for at least a week.

Also, if your snake is still having stuck shed, raising the humidity will help them shed completely. You can do so with some moist sphagnum moss to create a humid hide, light misting, changing to a substrate that holds moisture better, larger water bowl, etc.
-fireflii

[~Tornado~]

Thank you for replying!
No they're not in the same enclosure they're enclosures are just are close together as we have their heat set up to the same theromstat
We just need to be more diligent about washing things and our hands I feel like we're not being careful enough but they are most certainly not in the same cage or making physical contact with each other

Yup you're right We're looking for mites or bubbling/wheezing already and we actually are tracking all of our snakes weight to see how they grow and how much to feed them, I don't think we've weighed him yet we usually weigh them right before we feed them and he had eaten recently when we got him
By keeping them separate I just mean any germs they might have not the actual animals
Neither of the ball pythons have defecated yet but I'll make sure to examine that when they do
They're on paper towels and I haven't seen anything Ive just Changed them in the result of spilled water from moving the container and bits of blood from feeding
(Can not say the same about the milk snake goodness apparently they're infamous for pooping on people I can back that up)

As for the shed we did all that research on preventing that and assist shedding and have a hygrometer in there, we didn't have one before because milk snakes don't really need much of a humidity difference from the normal house
She liked the moss box the first shed but not the second this time as soon as she shows signs of she'd we're going to make sure her enclosure is getting misted enough so she can shed normally and by herself
But seriously thank you for responding!

[rose;]

hey guys! I'm new to the thread, but not to snake keeping. I've had many ball pythons in the past, who unfortunately all lost a long battle to some mites that came from a snake I rescued from a crappy petstore. It's been a year or so since the last passed and I think I'm ready for another new scaley friend! I've been extremely interested in getting a Mexican Black Kingsnake, and as luck would have it, repticon is this weekend. I was already planning to get a blue tongue skink there, but I think I may also get the MBK. I have a lot of supplies already and am planning to get a 20g aquarium for him/her, considering I would like to get a baby.
I like to talk to real pet owners rather than looking online to see their temperament. I have heard though that they are usually extremely docile, but can be cage aggressive due to their overactive feeding response. I wanted to know what you guys have experienced and what you do to not get bit! I've been bit by plentyyy of snakes, but I do try to avoid it. I haven't worked with kingsnakes much and don't really know much about their behavior and warnings as to when they will bite, unlike a ball python that will coil up and show you it's angry.
Also I would love to just hear about your spooky looking friends and know anything about them as well! Thanks(:

cage agression shouldn't really be an issue for any snake. Just use a hook or paper towel roll either to pick the snake up with the hook out of the tank, or break the snake from feeding mode by tapping or nudging with a paper towel roll before reaching in to pick him up. Besides, I can't imagine a bite from a MBK would hurt too badly. I've been tagged by a BP adult and juvie and neither were bad. I'm prepared to get tagged by the boa I'm taking in, which will pale the others in comparison I'm sure lol.

[taurus ;]

A month is barely quarantine. 3 months minimum.