Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a couple borneo short tails and Kept them around the mid 80s 85-88 on the warm end and 77-80 on the low end of the housing. I kept the humidity around 50% but raised it during shedding time by misting the cage daily. Both pythons were kept at differant times at differant places and differant cages. I've had king snakes/milksnakes boas/other pythons and never lost one from respitory troubles exept borneos. Do I need more heat? More humidaty? And are other blood pythons just as likely to developing troubles? One of my Borneo ST pythons lived 3 years before getting a RI. My borneo had the coolest personality of all the snakes I've had but can't seem to understand my bad luck keeping them. Please help! And is humidity a must? Or can I drop the humiday more and just mist when shedding like I do with my other snakes?

Where did you get these borneos? Where they captive bred or farmed? Many years ago, I ran into problems with establishing wild-collected borneos and they seem to be perpetually challenged with respiratory problems. Their immune system can be comprimised by lots of things that can lead to illness like URI. Did you ever take it to a vet? Did they do fecals? How about running cultures?

Also, if you search the archives, we have discussed the issue of respiratory distress (too low humidity) and how this could falsely lead someone to believe their is a respiratory infection. Filthy cage environments and mold/fungal growth can lead to very difficult to treat cases of respiratory illness.

I know these aren't answers, but they are things to look for and avoid to increase your chances of success. Working with a good vet can also help.

Good luck.
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thank you,
I got both of these borneos from herp shows. Both did seem cold to the touch when I got them. One of them I did take to the vet and got atibiotic shots. He seamed to have recovered but soon developed mites witch I treated with a pest strip neer the enclosure. He did not live very long. I had him mybe three weeks. Both were captive hatched not captive bread babies. Could this have been the trouble?

Rich hit it exactly. The main problem is that these "curtus" group species (bloods and ST's) are very susceptible to low humidity levels and subsequent lung tissue irritation. This on top of the fact, that like Rich was saying, wild caughts stress easily which only further compounds the situation. If your humidity level was around 50% I would say that was too low for "curtus" group pythons. Usually anything below 60% for an extended period is going to be a problem for them. I try to keep my levels around 65 to 70% for my brongersmai.

On another related and important issue, it is possible that your humidity was even lower than you thought. Lower price humidity gauges are notorious for being inaccurate. Unless you are willing to spend 150 to 200 dollars for a NIST traceable with a certificate, you can never be sure if your hygrometer is reading accurately. However, you can test your own quite easily to see if it is reading properly, and here is the procedure:

1. Place a teaspoon of salt in a bottle cap or small cup and dampen it with a few drops of water (without dissolving it) to make it the consistency of wet sand.

2. Carefully place the wet salt and the hygrometer inside a see-through container and close tightly. Don't allow any of the salt to directly contact the hygrometer. You can use a zip lock bag provided it seals good and you leave some air inside as well, or a plastic food storage container as long as it seals airtight.

3. Let it sit for at least 8 hours at room temperature and note the reading on the hygrometer without opening the container. It should read 75%, and the difference is how much your hygrometer is off.

4. If it does have an adjustment screw or other adjustment device, adjust to 75%, through a small hole made in the bag if necessary.

I have an expensive certified dial hygrometer I purchased many years ago and have checked it periodically using this method, and it does appear to be a very accurate way to check humidity gauges.

Kelly

Thank you very much!!
I think my humidity levels were to low. What is a good way of keeping it up without constant misting?

Make sure you arent using a screen top. That was my problem. You only have to mist maybe once a day if you use a plastic top. But you still have to provide ventilation so dont completely cover it. I bought a peice of plastic from Home Depot for like 8 bucks so not too bad. If you keep your humidty up and your temps in the right range you should be ok. Read more care sheets on them too. I am still rading more on mine.