• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Beginner Help...Need peace of mind

C

Clemency05

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As embarrassing as this is to admit and then announce to people, it must be said.

My Husband loves snakes. He said that as kids he and his brother would grab them from outside and keep them in tanks in the home. Whatever that means beyond that, I have no clue. So when the decision came to get a snake, my daughter and I started researching the best beginner snakes, and read all of the care sheets, etc.

I knew that we needed to get all of the supplies for a ball python first before purchasing so we have everything set. However, my Husband who has no impulse control and has a lack of patience shrugged off that idea just because the guy he talked to who works in the store we go to said that he has many snakes and never once preset any habitat before purchasing a snake. What my Husband failed to realize is that, that guy can get away with setting up habitats right on the spot because he's an expert and knows how to do it. Not that I'd condone this even for experts, but still.

I wasn't able to convince him to do that first and so we naively bought a 6 month old ball python and all of the stuff at one time. We did all of this last Thursday March 5. We set everything up. We have all of the probes in the right positions to check temperature, humidity, etc. We have one of those UTH pads, that attaches directly to the bottom of the tank. It is a glass tank with a metal top. We also have one of those heat lamps. I switch out the bulbs, one bright light to one infrared type. I do this because the temperatures fluctuate and don't stay the same. I just bought a thermostat on amazon and it'll arrive by tomorrow.

Here is the predicament.

The temps currently:

89.8 (hot side)
80 (cool side)
70% (humidity) - I am aware that this is a bit high but I am half sure that he is going to be shedding soon or is at least in the beginning stages and humidity drops fast.

Previous to these current settings, his hot side would only be 84, cool side would only be 70-72 and humidity would be low to 35.

It has taken several amounts of adjustments to achieve the consistent temps I have now. I am worried that because I've been messing with things so much that I've totally stressed this guy out. Fortunately, yesterday he slept all day and all night. This morning (5 am), he was up and drinking and then went back into his hide. Given the fact that you're not supposed to handle them so much the first week what are some things I could look for to see if he really is stressed? He is hiding now which I think would be normal because it's late morning and previous to yesterday he didn't really "sleep" much. He was roaming a ton and laying on top of the hide a few times. I am assuming all is good now but it still weighs on me a bit.

Thank you ahead of time for those willing to put up with this to give me advice and input!
 
Do you have a thermostat regulating the UTH so it doesn't get too hot?

How are you measuring the temperature? If not with a IR thermometer or temperature gun, go get one. You need to know the surface temperatures of the floor of the enclosure, not just the ambient air temperatures.
 
bcr229 said:
Do you have a thermostat regulating the UTH so it doesn't get too hot?

How are you measuring the temperature? If not with a IR thermometer or temperature gun, go get one. You need to know the surface temperatures of the floor of the enclosure, not just the ambient air temperatures.
Click to expand...



The temperatures I listed are the "floor" temperatures. I don't know for sure the ambient which I am looking into the temperature guns now. I get the floor readings by placing the probes directly on the floor of the tank under the substrate.
 
Thermometers with fat probes don't give accurate floor/surface temps, as most of the probe is not in contact with the floor but with the air or substrate above the floor.

What kind of thermostat are you using? Not thermometer, thermostat.
 
bcr229 said:
Thermometers with fat probes don't give accurate floor/surface temps, as most of the probe is not in contact with the floor but with the air or substrate above the floor.

What kind of thermostat are you using? Not thermometer, thermostat.
Click to expand...

So even being buried under the substrate won't be accurate? I mentioned that I ordered a thermostat today so it'll arrive tomorrow. I currently do not have one.
 
Clemency05 said:
So even being buried under the substrate won't be accurate? I mentioned that I ordered a thermostat today so it'll arrive tomorrow. I currently do not have one.
Click to expand...

Well, unless the snake buries under the substrate, then the reading isn't all that helpful.

IR temp guns are the way to go: cheap, non-intrusive, accurate, can also be used around the house for other purposes. They can also measure the temp of the substrate, temp of the snake, temps in the rest of the cage, all instantaneously.

Your thermostat will help with all this. You likely still will need to calibrate the temp the thermostat probe reads with the temp that the snake experiences (because unless the probe is taped to the snake's belly, likely the pad will have to get warmer than the temp you want the snake to be able to maintain).
 
Socratic Monologue said:
Well, unless the snake buries under the substrate, then the reading isn't all that helpful.

IR temp guns are the way to go: cheap, non-intrusive, accurate, can also be used around the house for other purposes. They can also measure the temp of the substrate, temp of the snake, temps in the rest of the cage, all instantaneously.

Your thermostat will help with all this. You likely still will need to calibrate the temp the thermostat probe reads with the temp that the snake experiences (because unless the probe is taped to the snake's belly, likely the pad will have to get warmer than the temp you want the snake to be able to maintain).
Click to expand...

Okay, thank you!
 
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