Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok guys I don't want the title to sound bad. I am pretty new for the most part, but over the last year I feel like I've really learned alot. The first addition to my collection was 6 snakes and quickly added a seventh. Those seven have been doing absolutely beautifully. Then mid summer I picked up two more. They were doing well. Anyway a week ago I got an opportunity for a good deal. So I picked 5 new snakes and purchased an open CB 70 Rack. Anyway these are the changes I've had. So far all the larger snakes are doing well, but then again none of them have shed. I put my bumble bee, which was doing well until the move, into a CB-70 she's fairly small only about 250g. She was the first one to shed and gave the first nasty shed I've had in this year. BTW she one of the mid summer purchases. Now with all the new snakes this is what I have. The mojave threw a shed as nasty as the bee and the the two het for pieds are hiding under their paper alot. I pulled one of the het for pieds out and it seemed completely dumb founded I laid it upside down and it didn't really move at all. It wasn't like a limp snake or anything, but just didn't move and seemed to be breathing heavy. I think what has happened is I bit off a little more than I could chew at one time, but I want to work through it.

Obviously my humidity is way to low. I've done everything that I possibly could. I've got a humidifier running in the room 24/7 and I've got himid hides in the bee, mojave, and a het for alb that's in blue right now, but it just doesn't seem to be working.

And now I'm super paranoid that I'm not going to get the humidity right. The only thing I have going for me is that around march the humidity around here will spike right back up to 40-60%, but I'd like to get things fixed in the mean time.

All the bigger snakes seem to be fine, but the smaller snakes in the cb-70s seem to be having the problems. My plan is to switch the cages to shoebox tubs if nothing seems to get better by next week.

Next issue is that I've had the new snakes for over a week now and I haven't even been able to attempt to feed. And I'm paranoid that if I move them to a different tub in the mean time that it's going to push feeding back even more. Anyway sorry for the rant here just had a bad night of snake husbandry and not feeling real good about things right now. Can someone give me something positive to think about and any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike
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1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python

For the winter, I switched over to cypress mulch as a substrate. It keeps the humidity higher and you can put a little water on it to keep it up without causing molding. My snakes without it have had incomplete sheds that required soaking to get all the shed off. When I have switched to cypress, they have come out clean. This has all been in a Reptile Basics rack with CB70 tubs.

I know some breeders cover part of the screen tops with towels or Styrofoam to help hold in the moisture and as said already if you have cypress bedding it holds more moisture plus you can spray it down to replenish the water in it. Also if you need to buy cypress most home store like menards and home depot have it in stock. It is normally just frozen on a pallet out back some where so if you ask for it they normally still have some on hand.

Matt

Shedding always seems to be a problem this time of year. Cypress def helps. Be careful if you buy it from lowes or home depot depending on where you live. It should be 100% cypress, some have fillers of different types of wood that are not really good for our snakes. Plastic wrap also works good to close up some of the ventilation holes. Also you can try larger water dishes and moving them to the back of the cage where the heat is for extra evaporation. Spaghnum moss can also be used in hides and helps with humidity problems. I have had huge issues in the past with freedom breeder racks and eventually switched to all closed tub racks and havent had any problems since.

The only thing that would concern me is the lathargic snake. Is he or she doing better now? Where are your temps at? If it had labored breathing listen to it in a quite room and make sure that it is not the start of a RI infection, sometimes if humidity, heat or stress from moving is involved they can start a RI. There are different types from bacteria, stress and viral but i would be more concerend about that animal then the ones that are having bad sheds, just my opinion. Let us know how he or she is doing and maybe we can help you to figure it out

Good luck with everything.

Dont feel too new, even the breeders that have been doing this for years are thrown a curve ball everyonce in awehile. After 10 years of working with balls i still scrath my head sometimes and need my other hobbyists input

Kim
N.A.R.C

Thanks for the tips. I'm seriously considering switching to cypress. I am really concerned about the lathargic one. I've had to work late the last few nights and haven't been able to check on her, and I'm not totally sure there is a problem. She wasn't really lethargic and I was in a quiet room I couldn't hear any noises or see any bubbles. And i am pretty nervous over all about taking on five additional snakes, which may not sound like a lot to some, but increased my current collection by 50%. So I'm thinking I could be over paranoid. The get pied still had good strength just didn't really wanna move, but I'm guessing she may have just still been stressed from the move. But I guess that's why we come here. To discuss our problems with people who understand and can help and talk us through and for that I'm thankful. I'll try to give an update when I get everything figured out.
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1.0 Spider Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.3 Het for Albino Ball Python
0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python
0.1 Bumble Bee Ball Python
1.0 Hypo Ball Python
1.0 Lesser Ball Python
0.1 Mojave Ball Python
0.2 Het for Piebald Ball Python
0.1 Normal Ball Python