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Help ME PLEASE!!!

How awful... I'm so sorry.

You stated your temperature was an even 84F... do you have a temp gradient? Or is the whole tank at 84F? It is a good idea to make one end of the tank cooler than the other. That way if the snake gets too hot he can slither down the other end and cool off.
 
Turniphead said:
Ok everyone. thank you for the concern that you have all shown. I got off the phone with Andrea (my vet) about an hour ago. She hasnt gotten everything back as far as labs go, but she told me that she was pretty sure that the official c.o.d was going to be mold spore inhalation, which absolutely kills me. For everybody who asked me about my set up, here's what i can tell you.

The bedding was reptibark. I had two half log hides in each tank. Temps had been a pretty steady 84 degrees f. they each had shallow stone water dishes. they both had uth's and then lamps for when temps started to fall.

After the long chat that i had with several of you i have decided to make several changes. Aspen bedding to replace the reptibark crap, i have purchased ceramic water dishes and smooth hides. I havent brought myself to think about new snakes yet. If you can think of any other changes that i need to make, please let me know. I will do anything to prevent this from happening again.

Thank you all for you help in this awful time.

Laurie
Click to expand...

I would have that repti bark tested. If it has the black mold then you can turn around and contact repti bark and see if they will pay for the vet bills and replace your pets. I would still contact them and see if that is possible.
 
Just had another thought on temperature - you said you use a lamp for when the temperature begins to fall. Corns really don't need 2 heat sources. I recommend you ditch the lamp and get your UTHs connected to thermostats. The thermostat will allow you to maintain a constant, accurate temperature at all times.
 
Plissken,

I'm not sure where in California Turniphead lives......but I know here in Wisconsin, I need two heat sources. The ambient air temperature of my house is just too cool to keep my "cool" side of the viv warm enough.

I use an UTH hooked up to a thermostat along with a ceramic heat emitter over the cool side hooked up to a rheostat. Also, the top of the viv next to heat lamp is covered by form core.

If I don't do this, my "cool" side temperature will drop at night to the ambient air temperature of the house, around 64 degrees.

Regards,
Steve

http://webpages.charter.net/ssmith6178/Enclosure.jpg
 
hey all

ssmith said it. i used to have only the uth, and in the summer that was fine but i noticed that when it started to get colder outside, even though i didnt notice much difference inside my own house, the terrariums were a little too cool air wise. i dont use the lamps all the time, and i make sure that when i do use the lamps, they are supervised very closely.
i cant realy remember all the questions that were asked, but... the humidity in the tank was at 45% i wish that i had saved the reptibark to have it tested but unfortunately, i hadnt even thought of mold and i threw it all out. and i bought the smooth hides and ceramic bowls because they will be easier to clean.
 
Sorry for your lossess

well i have only just read this thread but its very sad and tragic for you. i hope that you find out what killed your snakes and that you will consider buying new ones, as they really are great pets. R.I.P Donut + Chuch.
 
Hi Laurie.

That's really awful for you, but at least you have a reason.

If you still have it, retain a sample of the Reptibark for analysis. Mold spores can exist in our homes - it hasn't necessarily come from the bedding. You need to make absolutely sure it was the Reptibark before you get more Corns (and I'm sure you'll want to once the shock has won off).

You'll especially need to keep a sample of the bedding if you plan to take it up with the manuafacturer/supplier. If they're worth their money, they'll want to run their own tests and find out what could have caused this. Imagine if a warehhouseful of this stuff is carrying mold spores! Disaster for countless keepers.
 
Really? I've always thought California is a warm place - certainly warmer than England, where my snakes do fine with a heat mat. Just shows my ignorance of the weather over the pond haha :)
 
Plissken said:
Really? I've always thought California is a warm place - certainly warmer than England, where my snakes do fine with a heat mat. Just shows my ignorance of the weather over the pond haha :)
Click to expand...

Some parts are. California has one of the widest topographies and climate variations of all the states. We have everything from Desert to Mountain, and everything in between. In fact, we have the lowest point in the country at roughly 200' below sea level less than 2 hours drive from the highest point in the continental US at over 14,000'. Mt. Whitney and Death Valley are a relatively short drive from each other.

Where I live, I can experience temperatures as high as 70*F in February, and less than 50 miles away, it can be 20*F and snowing up to 3 feet in one storm in the same day.

I have had days where I was snowboarding on fresh powder in 20* temps and whiteout conditions in the morning, than went fishing in the afternoon with 60* temps, bugs hatching and fish feeding on the surface. It all depends on where you are.

There's a saying around here...If you don't like the weather, drive 50 miles...
 
Plissken,

Temperature wise, what do you normally keep your house at during the winter?

Myself, 68 degrees during the day if someone is home and at night we set it at 63 degrees. My viv is downstairs so the temps tend to run on a bit on the cool side to begin with.

Regards,
Steve

:-offtopic
 
We actually got a fresh layer of snow day before yesterday. i klnow that California and San Diego are virtually the same thing to most people, but it does get very cold in some parts,.
 
San Fran isn't exactly hot at any part during the year, so you have a very valid point :)

All of this temperature discussion coming from a guy (me) who lost his first corn on January 1st of this year :eek1:

Regards,
Steve
 
ssmith_1187 said:
Myself, 68 degrees during the day if someone is home and at night we set it at 63 degrees.
Click to expand...

Actually, those temps are ok for the ambient air. Just so long as the corn has a warm spot of around 82-85 to digest.
 
:-offtopic

Here's a fine example of California weather--yesterday, outside my front door at 12noon it was 18*F. Last night it was 3*F. Today at 12noon outside my front door it was 48*F and right now, at 3:15pm it is just over 50*F. Yea...we get some temperature variations here...
 
:-offtopic
Just for the record, I'm pretty sure that 14,000 ft is not the highest point in the U.S.
I'm in Cali too, but I used to live in Colorado Springs, I think it's like 16,000 out there, and the mountain "Pike's Peak" in that town is quite a bit higher...
Maybe you meant Highest mountian from it's base to tip?
 
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