Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i just got my own snake for the firts time, for the last 10 years iv been around them but never had to care for them myself.
i have a few questions and concerns about certain things i am doing for my 3 foot reticulated pyhton. i think she is about 6-7 months old. 1st thing, i bought a 150watt halgen heat bulb, but i seen somewhere online that nething over 40watts could dehydrate and kill my snake, the 2nd is that i am using a cocanut shell fibr stuff as a bedding and it dries out very quicklywich i am almost positive that its affecting the tanks humidity (oh sorry i forgot to mention the i am usin a 45 gallon tall fish tank as its home, the dimensions are l=3' x w= 1' x h=2' with a screen top. and 3rd this is my own curiosity but a few of my frends wer telling me that i could inject a vitamin called reptacil or sumthing of the sort into the mice before i feed them to my snake to help it thicken up and grow a little quicker.
so if anybopdy can help me out with theses things and give me sum other pointers id greatly appreciate it, just email me streetbikebandit@aol.com
thanks nate schmidt

First off I would not heat the cage with a bulb. They are hard to control the heat in an aquarium and can overheat the cage quickly. Using Flexwatt would be better for your snake. It is easier to control the heated area. It would take some wiring or a temp controller but it is worth it. I would also find a way to close off the top of the cage. You could be losing both heat and humidity from the top if it is screened all the way. Keep in mind a too humid cage is way worse then one that is dry. In my opinion most people keep their snakes too humid because of what others say or what they read. Never have I had a respiratory infection and I feel it is because I keep my snakes more on the less humid side.

When it comes to substrate I only use newspaper. I find it easier to preform cage maintenance. It has worked well for me for a great many years.

There is no need for vitamin supplements. Snakes get everything they need by eating whole food items.

Good luck,

Jim

as far as I know, repticil is an insecticide, not a vitamin. I've not heard of injectible vitamins for snake prey. Has anyone? What are they called? It seems like they could be valuable for undernourished reptiles.
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~Sara~
5 ball pythons
1.0 Black-lined plated lizard (Lizzy Butt)
0.1 Burmese Python (Pixil)
lots of Rats
1.1 Dogs (Ozzie and Mandy)
0.1 Cat (Isis)
0.0.1 Synodontis Catfish (Big Spotty Fish)
0.1 Convict Cichlid
0.0.1 blood parrot cichlid
0.0.1 African Featherfin Catfish

Ok, I'll be the dork and point out the obvious...

1) You got a retic as your first snake? Please, seriously consider finding an experienced keeper to take it off your hands.

2) Retics are close to 3 feet out of the egg, at 6-7 menths it should be, what, 6 feet? Maybe more?

3) That aquarium will be big enough for about 2 more months. See above.

Please tell me some pet shop didn't sell you a retic and a little aqaurium and tell you the snake would stay small if you kept it in a small cage. Seems some are still shoveling that line...

You said "she" right? (Females get much bigger than males.)
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.