Reptiles

I run the heat mats 24/7 and the heat lamps at night. But in my case my house always runs a bit colder than most people do. Also I put the heat mats on the side of the tank not underneath. Underneath is not natural. You really don't want the tank to fluctuate in temperature too much it can cause them to get stressed and won't eat. My tanks stay between 78 on the low side to 88 on high side. Once the weather starts to warm up more I won't be running the heat lamp. Just the heat mats. My apartment is on the third floor so it gets super hot in the summer no matter how much I have my ac cranked on.

 

Fed him today, which went well. Is one pinky enough? Hes about 2ft long and roughly as big around as a finger.

 

He should be able to handle fuzzies at that size. I'd feed 2 per feeding each week. He's a growing boy.
As far as temp goes, keep him in the mid to high 70's to low 80s. You should have a warm hide and a cooler hide for him. Use the under tank mat as the higher temp and the bulb as the lower temp. Use a red bulb for heat. Won't disturb their vision and should give off enough heat depending on the watts. You can use a rheostat from home depot for lamps to adjust the heat in the under tank mat. Use a IR thermometer to check the temp.

 

Ok, I'll give him another pinky and do 2 or 3 pinkies per feeding as I have some from the previous owner. Then I'll switch to fuzzies

 

Serious question:

Do you all get complaints about bad smells?

My niece has a snake, and her house really stinks like dead animal...I think. I can't bring myself to stay more than a few minutes.

I'm pretty sure it's the snake, but could be wrong. It's an older house.

 

I'm brand new to snake keeping. But so far I have been surprised by the lack of smell from the snakes enclosure. I'm sure this can vary greatly depending on the kind of snake and the setup its kept in though

 

Normally if the snake enclosure smells that bad the snake didn't digest the mouse and regurgitate the mouse. And yes it can smell very bad. It's a decomposed body that you would be smelling. My ball python has done that 1 time in 19 years. And boy o boy was it terrible. Got to keep up with the tank cleaning. Just like anything else if you don't keep it clean it will smell. But besides that 1 instance none of my enclosures smell.

 

My son built the babies new enclosures. Noodles are lovin it!

 

They are beautiful.
Really nice tanks also

 

this thread makes me want to get a corn snake again

 

Awesome

 

Ended up buying another snake today my local petco had a 75% off sticker on this guy's tank. I didn't hesitate. Juvenile California king snake. I'll get better pics when he settles down in his new environment.

 

This was my girl. Got her in 1990 and she lived to be 23 yrs old. Lost her to cancer.

 

I lost my Blood Python to cancer as well

 

Can't like this post. Sorry for your loss

 

Made a purchase this past weekend to get back into my favorite species yet, olive pythons.

Had them for years but sold off my last one nearly 2 years ago due to some BS work scheduling.

 

Feeding night

 

And he shed right after feeding, last compared to this

 

When you have food thawing out and she keys right in on where it's sitting

 

I measured my cali king shed it came in at 36". Then I measured my Mexican black kings shed that came in at 32". But the black king definitely has more body mass.