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tank setup and temprature

berm8054 Dec 13, 2008 09:27 AM

my blood has a 10 gallon tank, an under the tank heater from zoo med, a 100 wat day bulb, and a 75 watt infared night bulb. he has a rock cave i packed with moss that is above the under the tank heater and a water dish on the other side of the tank. is that a good setup? are my light wattages good? my damn baby still wont eat. i need to get him a hopper today. any tricks to get stubbon snakes to eat?

Replies (10)

beclende Dec 13, 2008 11:12 AM

No offense, but it's no wonder that your little one won't eat. Ditch the heat bulbs. Both of them probably. My guess is that it is way too warm and the little snake feels very exposed. Cover three sides of the aquarium, you can use poster board or something. Check your temps, hot spot in the upper 80's right on top of that heat mat is what you want. put one of the hides right over it and offer another on the opposite side of the tank. As well you may want to lay a towel on top to cover 75% or so of the top. This will do two things; keep humidity inside the tank and keep the heat from your heatmat in there as well. Do those things and give it a few days then try again.

beclende Dec 13, 2008 11:14 AM

also, go to VPI's site and read their caresheet. This will help answer a lot of questions you may have.

here's the link:
http://www.vpi.com/publications/blood_pythons_information_and_care

apeilia Dec 13, 2008 03:14 PM

Perhaps some more details would help. What are your current temps? What are you using in the rest of the tank as substrate? When did you get the snake and how long has it been since it last fed?

I do agree with the earlier response. A 100 watt bulb and an undertank heater are way too much for a 10 gallon tank. If you choose to stick with an aquarium, you will need to provide at least two hides - one on the warm side and one on the cool side. Babies that feel exposed aren't going to eat, and they still need the opportunity to regulate their temps.

berm8054 Dec 13, 2008 09:40 PM

its not too hot, i temped it out, i got rid of the under the tank heater, but the temps are fine, i downgraded to a 75 watt day bulb. cypress bedding is my substrate and he has 2 hides, under his water dish and a rock cave. maybe covering the sides of his hide will work.

apeilia Dec 14, 2008 02:17 AM

So what are your temps? Again, it would help to have some more information to work with so suggestions can be made.

Using bright lights as a heat source can really dry out the air and it also stresses them out. They would prefer to feel secure and hidden when they are little. That's part of the reason why I was saying it was too bright. It might be a better idea to stick with the undertank heater and ditch the lights for now until it's eating better.

berm8054 Dec 14, 2008 09:33 AM

with the lights the temps are fine 89 in the hot area high 70s to low 80s in the cold area, i took the lights down last night and the temp dipped to like 65 in my tank! are you sure that the under the tank heater is the way to go?

btw i put one of my lights up to restore normal temp

apeilia Dec 15, 2008 12:01 PM

>>with the lights the temps are fine 89 in the hot area high 70s to low 80s in the cold area, i took the lights down last night and the temp dipped to like 65 in my tank! are you sure that the under the tank heater is the way to go?
>>
>>btw i put one of my lights up to restore normal temp

If part of the tank isn't covered, you should cover it to try to keep the heat in. They really don't like having a bright light shining on them, so if you could find a different way to heat the cage without them feeling like they are under a spotlight it will help. If you're really worried and she won't eat, I would switch to a small plastic tub, at least temporarily. That will help with both the humidity and helping her feel secure.

berm8054 Dec 15, 2008 03:26 PM

i switched to the under the tank heater with no lights and a thing to make it hotter, it wont push the temp past 75, however that may be because i just hooked it up. will it increase the temp? its been on 4 2 hours.

berm8054 Dec 13, 2008 09:42 PM

ive had him 2 months and all hes eaten is a hopper.

berm8054 Dec 13, 2008 10:02 PM

also i just ditched heat lamps, thnq (they were expensive! [bleep]!) im gunna cover up his tank too, thanks.

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