New owner, new to snakes

[bryansnake]

I've just gotten my first snake 3 days ago now. It's a Miami Phase, about 12-14 inches long and 9 grams.

I've done lots of reading, which has been confusing do to how much information there is and the subsequent clash about people saying what they think is best. I'm being a little bit of a worry wort the more I read though, so any advice, tips and hints from experienced owners is both welcome and appreciated.

My snake is tending to spend 90% of it's time in the large hide I have that sits half on, half off of the heating pad. Is this normal behavior for adjusting to a new tank? How long does it need to keep up before I need to be concerned?

I've read that a humid hide can be a bad thing for my snake, but I haven't found out the explanation for that. It's large hide, where it spends most of it's time seems to be kinda humid, as when I lift it up I find condensation on the ceiling.

I think I might be using the "wrong" substrate, going with the soil-type. It was called plantation soil, which came in a brick that I had to rehydrate. I've read here that most people prefer aspen chips. What would be the pros/cons over what I have now? It was given to me as a christmas gift, as was the heating mat, which were both recommended to the giver by pets unlimited.

I have a picture on the current setup posted in my profile, I've got a small coconut husk for the cold side, and the larger rock like one is half on, half off of the heating mat.

Right now, my new friend seems to be afraid of me. It's spending most of the time in the hide, and when I've seen it outside climbing around, once it notices me, it runs back inside. I'm hoping this is just new home jitters, have any of you experienced this?

On a positive note, Saturday afternoon I gave it its first pinky since I brought it home. It was a f/t and it took it almost right away, just had to put it right in front of it. So at least yay! on that front. I'm wondering now though if I should wait 3 days like many sites I read said I should, or 5 days like seems to be the general consensus here?

On a final note, how can I determine the gender? I'd very much like to stop saying "it". I say he/him sometimes, but I don't really know.

Thank you all for anyone who reads through my wall of worrisome rant. Any advice in any/every area is greatly welcomed and appreciated. And I'm very excited (and nervous. haha) to be sharing many years with my new pet.

 

[dan803]

No soil. I'd use newspaper until you get aspen. Soil can easily carry mites which you really don't want, and I believe it can get stuck in their nose and mouth.

All of this behavior you describe is 100% normal. An outgoing hatchling would get eaten in nature. They tend to mellow out as they grow.

The heating pad will get too hot. You need it to be mid 80's or it can cause regurges and other health problems. Use a thermostat or rheostat with it.

To sex it you need to pop or probe it which I don't recommend doing yourself because you can hurt them. If you give popping a try which I did with my baby as a beginner, just be very gentle. Look Kathy Love's tutorial on Youtube. The most common error is doing it too close to the cloaca.

Also, your snake is probably a normal/classic. Can we see pictures? Because I thought mine was a Miami too when I first got her because I didn't know they are pretty much all gray as hatchlings.

 

[Dustilyn]

Sounds like you have a new cute, tiny baby. Congrats! My recommendation would be to relax a little. There are some things you can do to improve your setup, but I didn't read anything that is imminently dangerous except you may be overheating it a bit. With a little baby like that I think you do more harm if you fuss and fret over it all the time than if you just ensure it has all the basic necessities and leave it to settle in.

I think most people will tell you to get a thermostat for the uth so that it doesn't get too hot and that you probably don't need the light in addition to the uth. What size is your tank? I have the fine coconut husk in one of my tanks. It will dry out quickly so the humidity won't be an issue in the long run. You'll just want to add a humid hide prior to shedding if you live in a dry climate. I've never had trouble with the coconut, but I always feed in a separate tank so they don't ingest it.

As for determining the sex, unless and until the time comes that you want to breed your snake, I think you should just hold it in your hands, close your eyes and go with your gut instinct as to what sex it is. You have a 50% chance of getting it right and even if you're wrong, the snake won't mind

Enjoy your new baby. I think you are doing a great job with your research and efforts to take perfect care of him.

 

[bryansnake]

I've got a thermometer set up underneath the large hide (where it spends almost all it's time) and I've got the uth plugged into a dimmer switch. I spent most of my afternoon fiddling with it to get into the sweet spot. I've been holding steady at 82 degrees for over an hour now. The tank is about 10 gallons, little bit less. I ordered a Miami phase from the pet store, so that's what it should be. I would have gone to a breeder, but there are none around here as far as I know . and I may give popping a try once it's a little older and not so afraid of me. haha.

I think I may call him goosebump cause the coloration on the back of the head reminds me of the goosebumbs G.

 

[Dustilyn]

I believe popping is easier to do the smaller they are. Once he gets bigger you may not be able to do it. He's a cutie!

 

[dan803]

Popping should only be done as hatchlings. It is dangerous to try when they get bigger. I agree that's a Miami. If you feel comfortable with shorts and a t-shirt in the same room, a UTH alone will be fine. Lovely baby!

 

[bryansnake]

well, I've got the heating situation solved. I bought a dimmer switch from walmart, and plugged the mat into that. It stays between mid 81 up to mid/high 82, on the warm side. cold side sits around 70/71. The only problem left now is the tank is too humid, but that'll be solved as soon as I switch over to an aspen substrate instead of the plantation soil I have now.

 

[bryansnake]

well. I just tried popping, and it looks like I've got myself a princess. it was a little hard since there's not much room to roll my finger where she's still little, but it looks like it's a girl

 

[BigByrd47119]

Congrats on the baby girl!

Humidity has been a problem for me as well. Its funny, I got a tub for my corn because its supposed to be so much more stable of an environment (which is true so far) but its been difficult to adjust. Adding humidity is fairly easy, removing it has been a different story. Even with aspen bedding it hovers right around 70% with ambient temps around 72-75!

I going to attempt to make a dehumidifier with dry rice and a sock or other tightly knit material. There was a thread on here a while back that touched on this subject and it was found to be the easiest, most cost efficient way of doing so.

 

[Naagas]

Temps sound great.

What is your humidity at that you are worried about it? What substrate are you using? I could swear that you said in another thread that you are using coconut husk substrate, which is fine. Aspen will lower your humidity- I found that out through experience! Pretty little snake!!

Congrats on the popping! FYI, sometimes you pop them as female, and it is really a male. If it pops as male, you know it is a male- but the only way to really know if it is female is if it lays eggs!!

 

[bryansnake]

The humidity got as high as 90 at one point but hovers around 60/70. I don't know if I should trust that hydrometer though. It was a cheap dial one from the pet store, and I've had nothing but problems with it. It's not holding to the backing, and my snake has climbed up on it twice, pushed it out from the wall with her weight, and gotten herself stuck to the sticky foam . so that's out of the tank now until I come up with a better solution. For now, I've been leaving the tank top off when I'm home, she's not long enough to be able to reach the top yet.

It's been 3 days since I fed her, but I haven't seen any poop. except for when she did when I made my attempt at popping her. she squirmed forward, through the fingers holding that side of her, and a creamy yellow poop? came out, only a little though.

I've been wondering. When you guys say aspen, do you need like aspen chips like large(ish) pieces of bark, or do you mean aspen shavings, like what you would use for small animals like mice/hamsters/guinea pigs/etc?

 

[smallet]

Yup aspen shavings just like for rodents. And that little bit of poop that came out is probably all you would have got. When they are small and feeding on pinkies they poop small and it doesn't smell much....When they get bigger it changes. Just like little human babies.

 

[BigByrd47119]

The humidity got as high as 90 at one point but hovers around 60/70. I don't know if I should trust that hydrometer though. It was a cheap dial one from the pet store, and I've had nothing but problems with it. It's not holding to the backing, and my snake has climbed up on it twice, pushed it out from the wall with her weight, and gotten herself stuck to the sticky foam . so that's out of the tank now until I come up with a better solution. For now, I've been leaving the tank top off when I'm home, she's not long enough to be able to reach the top yet.QUOTE]

I went out and bought a little indoor only hydrometer/thermometer. It ran $7 before tax, at WalMart, which was very reasonable I feel. It has a nice big display (that isn't back lit sadly). Look for it in the same aisle as where you locate light bulbs, no I cant explain that logic, but thats where it was.

I simply placed it in the snake tanks on the cool side up near the front of the tank. Cool air holds more humidity so by putting it on the cool side I know what the maximum humidity my snake can get into is.

Likewise, if you can increase the ambient temp in the tank (75ish is good) you will also reduce the humidity. This worked well for me until outside temps got high enough that the space heater no longer kicks on at comfortable levels.

 

[bryansnake]

yeah. I was just at walmart actually. They didn't seem to have any hydrometers except for a big national geographic combination thermom/hydrom for 20. it's a little bit much for the set up I have now, but perhaps when I move on to my next tank. I'll go back over tomorrow when I get off work though and have another look. At the very least I should be able to pick up a different kind at the pet store when I pick up the aspen chips.

I'll be a little sad to see the soil substrate I have no go, but that's more of an astetic thing. I won't be miss the smell of damp dirt in my living room at all. and I guess she'll have to get used to digging through the aspen instead of the dirt, even though she likes that. just checking on her now from coming back, I saw her tail going into her tunnel, and knew she'd come out near the front of the tank. she worked her way almost to the bottom under 2 inches of soil, hit the side, and them came up, and up to the bottom of the glass door. She likes to climb and dig when she's active, haven't seen her soak/swim yet though.

I haven't been able to get much of a good read for the cold side of the tank. The old dial thermometer just always said 20, (70ish) at all times. and the ambient temperature for my apartment is usually in the 19-21 (68-72ish I think) range. So I figure the tank being enclosed with a uth on one side is probably a little warmer then that on the cold side.

 

[BigByrd47119]

The cool side of my glass aquariums almost always stays the same temp as the room temp, which is why I had to introduce a space heater. 68 is a little too cool according to most people, with 70-75 being the preferred.

Like I said when you go back check for the ones in the light bulb area, or ask a associate (which is what I did).

What kind of corn do you have? My normal sticks out beautifully against aspen and she LOVES to burrow in it. It may be linked to the fact that for the last year or so she was at a reptile rescue where they used the fake turf stuff. Depending on the coloration of your corn, aspen may make them much easier to view.

 

[Naagas]

I saw a tip on another thread about using a bag of rice in the viv to lower humidity. I haven't tried that, but I thought I'd let you know.
(I'd put the rice in a stocking, tie the end)

I wouldn't leave the top off the tank. Just because you think it is impossible.... I have had many babies who can PUSH the top off a tall container and escape. Even if I thought they were way too short.

 

[bryansnake]

I'm not worried about the escape cause she really isn't long enough to reach the top. the tank is 24 inches tall, and she's only 16 at best.

Is anyone able to give me an approximate age for her? The store never said anything about it. She's about 8-10 grams (wasn't able to get a good read, she kept squirming), and about 15/16 inches long.

 

[BigByrd47119]

I saw a tip on another thread about using a bag of rice in the viv to lower humidity. I haven't tried that, but I thought I'd let you know.QUOTE]

Here is the link you were talking about. It was a good discussion I think.

 

[bitsy]

I'm not worried about the escape cause she really isn't long enough to reach the top. the tank is 24 inches tall, and she's only 16 at best.

I know it seems impossible, but trust me, she'll find a way.

I've had one escape from a Critter Keeper type tank where the lid was still securely on and I've never had an escape from it before or since.

Honestly, the lid needs to be on and secured at all times.

 

[Naagas]

I know it seems impossible, but trust me, she'll find a way.

I've had one escape from a Critter Keeper type tank where the lid was still securely on and I've never had an escape from it before or since.

Honestly, the lid needs to be on and secured at all times.

Again, I say that snakes can climb up the sides of tanks with relative ease when they want to.

I have lost a young snake from a 2 foot tall container with a lid on it. I never found her.