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Preparing for my BP's! Any veterans available for questions?

K

Kipling

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Hi there!

I'm new to the hobby and preparing for my BP's. The antsy wait until my tax return arrives has been excruciating but I feel it'll be well worth it soon enough.

I have some questions and would like some recommendations for my setup, if anyone would be so kind. If I'm missing anything

1. Snake rack. I'm purchasing a snake rack from AP Cages, 6 shelf adult rack. It is $225, and quick ship is available for it (meaning it should be in stock) so it should be arriving in 10 days or less after ordering. Flexwatt belly heat is included. Will be calling ahead of time to make sure it is indeed in stock.
2. Thermostat. LLL Reptile has what appears to be a great thermostat, the Vivarium Electronics VE-300, that seems to allow one to adjust the settings to change the heat at night (which I think might come in handy later during breeding season). $139.
3. Tubs. Wal mart, Sterlite 32 quart tub six-pack. $47.
4. Feeding tweezers, LLL Reptile again. $5.
5. Gram Scale, Wal mart again. $25.
6. Temperature gun, LLL Reptile again. $25.
7. Wipe Out reptile disinfectant. LLL Reptile, $15.

I'm breeding purely for the fun of it, and all my snakes are far too young to require an incubator for upcoming eggs yet. I'm breeding truly because I would feel pride in achieving a morph I find stunning and beautiful with (what will soon be) my existing snakes. I've always adored snakes, and there was a strange moment of clarity where I realized I'm old enough now and living on my own... so I can finally get snakes! :D

I am purchasing from two different breeders, possibly three. As far as I know (through BOI threads and the like) two are excellent breeders with zero issues. One of them, while I have seen nothing but glowing comments on facebook from his clients, is local and I have seen nothing on BOI (positive or negative) about him. He is also who I will be buying my frozen/thawed feeders from. One of my concerns is how to quarantine the snakes, the possibility of moving them outside of the room doesn't exist. Also I will only have the one rack, so I don't know how they could be taken care of heat-wise if they are not inside their tubs in the rack.
Do I need thermostats or thermostat probes for each tub, or just one tub in the center of the rack? No amount of googling has been able to answer that question for me.


Any advice? Recommendations for shopping elsewhere? Know of better prices? Ideas for the quarantine situation? Am I missing an element of my setup?

I thank you all very much for your time!
 
And of course I will be getting a few odds and ends, like water dishes and hides too. Don't think I forgot... even though I totally did as I was writing it. -.-
 
Everything sounds good! Of course it your choice, but I would opt for regular wet wipes from Walmart or HEB, it's cheaper. The probe goes in the middle of the rack, directly in the heat source. No need for multiple probes per rack. And as for quarantine, do what you can. From what I read, the snakes your getting are coming at the same time, you could use your new rack as your quarantine rack. And congrats on the snakes and welcome to the addiction! Lol
 
Depending on how dry (or not) your local climate is, you may want to get some cypress mulch as substrate in your tubs. Reptile Basics carries it. I just put it on the front third of the tub on the cool side, with newspaper on the warm side. That way I can mist the cypress and not turn the paper into a soggy mess trying to maintain humidity, especially in the winter.

Pick up a good power strip with surge protector for the thermostat.

I have extra water bowls and hides on hand so that dirty ones immediately get replaced with a clean one, and the dirty one gets run through the dishwasher.

Hate to say it, but also pick up a can of PAM and bottle of Reptile Spray. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
 
So I can just keep them all in 'quarantine' in the same rack even though they're all coming from different places? Phew, that's a relief. So their home will be their quarantine! I might have to name one Howard Hughes. :D

Oh that's a good point. I have one extra water dish, and I'm using plastic bowls with cutouts for hides (the ball pythons I'm ordering are all under 200g, just babies!) so I can definitely get extras. I didn't think of the power strip thing, that's GREAT advice, thank you!

Why would I need PAM though? And what is reptile spray? Is it to help with shedding?

I live in Northern Nevada, it's admittedly a bit dry. Should I keep their water dishes closer to the middle of the tub so the air in the tub remains humid? And I'm a little worried about ventilation, I don't know what is too much or too little when it comes to soldering holes in the tubs themselves.
 
The PAM (Provent-A-Mite) is good to have on hand because you will eventually have to deal with mites. There are plenty of threads here on mites. You can PM me if you need help with that.
As for ventilation, I think it's ok if you don't puncture the tubs, I live in Tx and no holes are needed. But that is also your choice, if you think more ventilation is needed then by all means puncture away. But I would start without holes for now.
Extra tubs, bowls, and hides if used are always a good idea, along with paper towels and wet wipes
 
I can personally account for Provent-A-Mite. I had to deal with mites on three separate ocassions because I made the mistake of purchasing my feeder mice from PetCo, rather than an actual breeder who screens their rodents for the little pains in the rear. Apparently, PetCo doesn't do that sort of screening, because the mice are meant more to be pets than fed to snakes for chow once a week, I guess.
Anyways, I first found the mites on my snake after reading a forum on what to look for and how to prevent them. I found some, and a friend of mine pointed me to one of her friends who has owned snakes for years. So, he recommended PAM to me. If you follow the instructions on the can to the tee and use paper towels on the inside of the cage (as well as clean the entire cage thoroughly with fairly hot, soapy water prior to using PAM), the little black specks will disappear entirely. It's a great investment, I definitely recommend it. And Reptile spray is also a good preventative measure, and a less expensive alternative, but I didn't feel it did anything, for me. But that's merely my own opinion.
 
PythonMan89 said:
I can personally account for Provent-A-Mite. I had to deal with mites on three separate ocassions because I made the mistake of purchasing my feeder mice from PetCo, rather than an actual breeder who screens their rodents for the little pains in the rear. Apparently, PetCo doesn't do that sort of screening, because the mice are meant more to be pets than fed to snakes for chow once a week, I guess.
Anyways, I first found the mites on my snake after reading a forum on what to look for and how to prevent them. I found some, and a friend of mine pointed me to one of her friends who has owned snakes for years. So, he recommended PAM to me. If you follow the instructions on the can to the tee and use paper towels on the inside of the cage (as well as clean the entire cage thoroughly with fairly hot, soapy water prior to using PAM), the little black specks will disappear entirely. It's a great investment, I definitely recommend it. And Reptile spray is also a good preventative measure, and a less expensive alternative, but I didn't feel it did anything, for me. But that's merely my own opinion.
Click to expand...
Also, make sure to clean everything within the cage as well. This includes the hide, water bowls, the screen top of the cage, even the ligths if you use those too. It will drastically cut down on the chance that you might have missed something.
 
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