i have kept various milks for years,incl. coastals....don't usually have a problem regarding their health,most of my specimens thrive and seem hardy....but i have one that is exp. early signs of resp. aggravation,and thought i'd seek outside opinion on ideal temp(i always hear these guys like it slightly cooler than avg.-say 75 to 77 ambient air temp,but most of mine seem very healthy at slightly higher peak daytime temps,like 78-80) and relative humidity(i feel the latter is the likely culprit-my snake room is pretty dry,around -probably more ideal for my pituophis then my kings/milks).....i have ovecome early stage resp. issues in the pst by increasing temps,but have never had to with coastals,which i feel are pretty fragile compared to say,a common king....also have heard of increased etmps for too long can cause sterility/infertility....i also offer this guy a humidity box of moist sphagnum,but he usually opts to nestle between the newspaper floor covering instead.i continue to help the r.h. by misting the cage every 3 days or so.

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• temp/rh for temporalis - justinian2120, Tue Nov 1 11:37:00 2005
• Low humidity hardly ever a problem - Jeff Schofield, Tue Nov 1 11:57:07 2005
• RE: Low humidity hardly ever a problem - justinian2120, Tue Nov 1 15:02:00 2005
• Good point,to use him as an indicator species - jeff schofield, Tue Nov 1 22:12:14 2005
• RE: temp/rh for temporalis - Tony D, Wed Nov 2 11:51:31 2005
• just got back from the vet's office... - justinian2120, Fri Nov 4 20:20:48 2005