Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'll try to keep it short
My BRB is one of this years babies...I have it in a 20 gal aquarium until I can build a proper enclosure.
I'm more than a bit Obsessive-Compulsive, so I did tons of reading/research before I got him...had lots of big lizard experience, but limited snake time.
I have three temperature "zones", one end has an undertank heater, middle has nothing, and the other end has radiant heat lamp.
Deep enough substrate to burrow anywhere in the tank, and hides the entire length.
He's kept good and humid, substrate is a mix of coconut and cypress.
Ambient temps range from low 70's to mid 90's.
He almost never hides where the undertank is, substrate is warmest there, of course, but definately spends very little time in the middle (coolest) area, and usually chooses to burrow just below the surface directly under the heatlamp, that is the hottest ambient area.
Does this sound right? seems a bit against the grain to what I've read about how cool they like to be.
Thanks!
...btw, he's getting ready to shed for the first time since I've had him, I'll post pics after the shed's over.

You might try getting a temp reading for the substrate layer he is hiding in. It's counterintuitive but depending on the exact setup I could see it being potentially cooler there then in the middle. Just depending on how much radiant heat the substrate is filtering out and how much of the ITH heat is moving sideways through the substrate to the middly region.

Either way getting a temp reading for the layer he is hiding in should tell you alot about what he wants.

Sean.
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1.1 BRB
1.0 Amel Pacific Gophersnake
0.1 Striped Anery Pacific Gophersnake
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat

Temps in the 90's for a BRB are sweltering - 85 degrees F should be the max, especially for a young snake. I'd only heat one side too otherwise it seems like the entire cage would get too hot. That way they can thermoregulate better rather than remain at a specific temperature. Almost more important than the temp is the humidity (again, especially with the young guys) so make sure it's above 70% at least.

The substrate sounds okay, mine loves his humid hides though (mine loves his ziploc plastic containers with a hole cut in them. I fill them with paper towels and spray them, he chills in there or his big water bowl mostly.) and I'd recommend having a few of them. I also use paper towels just because it's easier but it doesn't look nearly as nice. Dave and the others from this forum helped me out a ton when I first got my BRB. I'd done a lot of research beforehand too but they helped me fill in the gaps and now I've had a happy and healthy BRB for almost a year! Good luck with yours, send pics when you can!
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Danne
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1.0 BRB "Monroe"
1.0 Pastel BP "Sebastian"
1.1 Leos "Bowser & Peach"
0.3 cats "Beast, Smokey & Thelma"
0.2 Dumbo (non-feeder) rats "Josie & Holly"
0.4.2 fish

Listen to your snake!!!

The temps you mention are fine at the low end but much to warm at the high end. But, what temps are you actually measuring? I can see that between glass being a good conductor of heat and the su bstrate being somewhat of an insulator, the heat from the UTH could "spill" over into the middle. I can also see with the substrate being somewhat an insulator from the overhead heat with no under heat, the coolest spot in the tank may be just where your snake is. Important here is the actual substrate temps where you find him and elsewhere in the cage. If a BRB has substrate it can burrow in, it will seek that out.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks for the advice guys...
I am definately "listening to the snake" lol, I actually get that concept being a bit "New Age" ugh, I hate that phrase, and Zen in whatever I do.

Substrate is about two inches deep, kept moist enough to hold the burrows he makes.
The UTH is small, so no bleedover, scientific finger-in-the-substrate confirms this.
I definately thought about the depth of the substrate where he spends most of his time...there's no belly heat there, but he stays barely below the surface, directly under the lamp, so much that parts of him are almost always visible, and if I go to handle him, he is warm to the touch.

Last night, I had a bit of insomnia, and between getting up to watch TV etc. I looked on him, and he was actually curled a bit up on the branch that's in his cage even closer to the overhead heat source.?

Thanks for all advice past, present, and future!

Do you have a temp gun? Invaluable for keeping herps, you can instantly measure the temp of anything!!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Not yet...it's on the short list (he hangs his head in shame), but wait a minute, hold on, you've got what, like 140, 150 snakes?
What could I possibly learn from you?
...Sheesh...

That cleaning cages is a dirty job, where's Mike Rowe when ya really need him??
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I recently found some little temp guns for less than $10 at the Harbor Freight. They read a degree higher than my expensive temp gun but always seem to read that one degree higher. Temp guns are an invaluable tool. I often just shoot the snake with it to see what temperature they like in the cage. My non-gravid BRBs are usually in the mid 70s. If the cage is all warmer than that they usually are hanging out in the coolest spot in the cage. Your snake seems to be telling you that it likes warmer temperatures. Hmmm???? I wonder if your damp substrate is cooling off a couple degrees due to evaporation of liquid from it into dryer ambient cage air?

>>Not yet...it's on the short list (he hangs his head in shame), but wait a minute, hold on, you've got what, like 140, 150 snakes?
>>What could I possibly learn from you?
>>...Sheesh...

Thanks for the reply Jeff.
...again, I'm more than a little Obsessive-Compulsive (Zoloft helps, but only so much lol...grid-paper is never far from my side!), so, I'll definately get a heat gun ASAP, and take readings at different substrate levels, etc.
Christ...I may never sleep again.
Most of my Herp experience has been with Monitors, and it's been a LONG time ago (20 yrs.), there was no internet for me back then, just reading "Reptiles and Amphibians" magazine when it was the size of the old school "Reader's Digest" mags.
...and Monitors were relatively easy to diagnose...if they spent the bulk of their waking moments on the branch under the basking lamp, it wasn't hot enough...if they spent the bulk of their time away from, just to the side of, or near the basking spot, it was too hot, adjust bulb wattage accordingly.

Snakes (especially nocturnal ones) are a whole different animal (pun intended), WAY more subtle, so a big Thanks to you, Dave, and everyone who posts info here to help us Noobs out

That old Reptiles and Amphibians magazine was far better than the current Reptiles magazine. It had much less bling but much more good factual information. Those low lifes at Reptiles actually bought out Reptiles and Amphibians magazine and then closed it down.
GRRRR!!!

>>Thanks for the reply Jeff.
>>...again, I'm more than a little Obsessive-Compulsive (Zoloft helps, but only so much lol...grid-paper is never far from my side!), so, I'll definately get a heat gun ASAP, and take readings at different substrate levels, etc.
>> Christ...I may never sleep again.
>>Most of my Herp experience has been with Monitors, and it's been a LONG time ago (20 yrs.), there was no internet for me back then, just reading "Reptiles and Amphibians" magazine when it was the size of the old school "Reader's Digest" mags.
>>...and Monitors were relatively easy to diagnose...if they spent the bulk of their waking moments on the branch under the basking lamp, it wasn't hot enough...if they spent the bulk of their time away from, just to the side of, or near the basking spot, it was too hot, adjust bulb wattage accordingly.
>>
>>Snakes (especially nocturnal ones) are a whole different animal (pun intended), WAY more subtle, so a big Thanks to you, Dave, and everyone who posts info here to help us Noobs out