• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

My first snake! (picking him up today)

whiffin said:
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

But the snake bloke at my local shops says it's OK to put a heat mat inside a vivarium if:

The snake can get off of it
It is thermostatically controlled so it doesn;t get too hot
A good substrate so water doesn't get on it
Stuck down so snake can;t get underneath

Is this right?
Click to expand...

Yes it can be done, actually someone on this forum, cant remember his name does and has even posted pics of his viv with the heat mat inside. But for such a setup a THERMOSTAT is a must and the heat mat must be secured to the viv, away from the water.
 
OK!

Some positive feelings at last. I bought a thermometer that I can move around the tank - the temp. OUTSIDE his warm hide is 75'F during the day and dips to 69/70 late at night, inside the hide I'm guessing the temps are slightly higher, at least 10'F higher which is perfect.

He's been in there for 2 days now - when I called in at lunch time he was on the prowl, he froze still behind his hide to check me out so I didn't bother him for too long.

He's due a feed tonight - should he be alright feeding by now? If he doesn't eat today he's screwed as I'm away until late next tuesday. If he doesn't eat tonight I'll get my mum to try again on friday.

Any tips for preparing his mice? I left one out to thaw last night so it would be ready for tonight. Won't he prefer it if it was slightly warm? How should I warm the mouse? Hot tap method? Should I make a hole the skull?
 
DavidFallows said:
Any tips for preparing his mice? I left one out to thaw last night so it would be ready for tonight. Won't he prefer it if it was slightly warm? How should I warm the mouse? Hot tap method? Should I make a hole the skull?
Click to expand...

left it out where? In the fridge or out in a room. If in a room 24hrs may be too long and you risk the chance of bacterial growth. I'm not a 100 % sure but i'm sure someone else will have a definite answer. To warm the mouse just leave him it under a heat lamp if you have one or close to some light source. the length of time will be dependent on the size but all you need is slight difference between it and the air. There is a thread that was started about 3 weeks ago that discussed making cuts along the spine of the mouse which made the digestion process much easier.
 
As simple as...

Set the mouse on a paper towel for 2-4 hours at room temperature. Pinkies will take even less time. Room temperature is fine for a corn to eat. They detect prey though smell and don't sense heat like some pythons, boas and vipers.
 
He's fine now - vivarium peaking and dipping to perfect temperatures and scoffing down mice in his feeding box nicely. :)

My mum fed him on Sunday with no problems, then left him in his feeding box for an hour to settle before letting him slide back into the viv.

It felt good being told that on holiday when I was too far away to do anything myself.

Cheers for all the intro help guys! Greatly appreciated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top