Dont know where to post this....

[JonnyMcSavage]

I dont know if there is a specific section for this type of stuff, but here it goes anyway. I go into my local herp shop today to buy food for the little one, and I got talking with the owner of the store. I tell her that I am going to DIY an enclosure and right off the bat she gives me hell about how it wont heat properly, that I am not going to do it right, the snake will suffer, etc. I then tell her that the little one shed last week and that when I found the shed it was in 2 pieces. Again, more chastising for not having the humidity right and not doing this or that or the other. it seems to me that I can do no right when it comes to this woman, even though everything is as good as I can make it. Ambient temp is never below 80, hot spot is about 89-90 and the humidity never drops below 50%. Is this right or am I doing something wrong? Sorry, I just had to vent because everything I hear or read is being contradicted. Can someone help me make sense of this nonsense?:confused::confused::confused:

[Joel]

Sounds like you are in the zone to me. You might want to try to make an effort to get the humidity up a bit when you see a shed coming on.

[Jasonisgolden]

Sounds like everything is good. The ambient could be a little higher, 80 is a little low even for night time temps. humidity sounds good, 50 to 60 is where you need to be. check out the care sheet for burms and compare it to what you are doing. As for the lady at the pet shop... sounds like she doesnt want your business anymore lol. Im not sure if you described the cage to her and it really wasnt the way to go but most DIY cages hold heat and humidity better than glass aquariums. By the way, sheds dont always come off whole...so dont take that too hard.

[JonnyMcSavage]

Thanks guys. I think I am going to have to add a space heater to the room(don't worry, its digital and the temps are dead on) to help raise the ambient. I will be sure to make all the necessary adjustments. As for care sheets, i have read just about every on that I can find a link to and they all say different things so I don't think they are reliable. I will definitely make all the necessary adjustments to keep my little one happy and healthy. As for the woman at the herp shop, I described the cage in detail and she wasn't having it, and a funny thing I noticed was that the burms she had weren't shedding in complete pieces, more like a chunk her and a chunk there. Kind like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it?

[Aurora]

I would tell her reading a 20 page pamphlet about general herp keeping doesn't make her an expert. Thats horrible customer service, if I were her boss I'd give her the axe. While I appreciate that she may be trying to educate you I think the real motivation is to get ya to buy a more expensive cage from them. I am pretty sure there are many people, myself included that have DIY cages that'll say they have no problem maintaining humidity or temps. Like joel said it wouldn't hurt to bump your humidity up a touch during shed. Other than that you seam to be good. Personally man I'd stop shopping there and let management know!

[Aurora]

Thanks guys. I think I am going to have to add a space heater to the room(don't worry, its digital and the temps are dead on) to help raise the ambient. I will be sure to make all the necessary adjustments.

I might suggest running two heaters on timers so the load isn't on one 24/7. Same if you are using humidifiers in the room. I had a bad experience, the whole room almost went up in smoke. I am really lucky I was in the room when the things went bad! Otherwise I would've lost everything.

[JonnyMcSavage]

The heater cycles on and of to keep the temp constant so it isn't constantly running, and if she had a boss I would let the boss know, but she owns the place so she doesn't. The only thing enclosure related that she sells are aquariums. You are right though, I should probably quit doing business with them.

[The Snake Guru]

Welcome to world of reptiles! Where everyone knows everything. LOL

The advice given here is all good.

~B~

[JonnyMcSavage]

Im glad its all good here. Started scouting for new herp shops today and came across one with some cute albino burm babies. I had to control myself LOL!! One is enough for the moment, even though I could have had one for about $80 less than the sticker price.

[Aurora]

The heater cycles on and of to keep the temp constant so it isn't constantly running,

So did my humidifier and one day while I was cleaning cages I had gone to the tub to clean water dishes, a few minutes later I smelled smoke! I went in the room and the humidifier had over heated and started on fire. Almost a real bad day!

Im glad its all good here. Started scouting for new herp shops today and came across one with some cute albino burm babies. I had to control myself LOL!! One is enough for the moment, even though I could have had one for about $80 less than the sticker price.

Temptation is evil. I just keep in mind pet stores mark there animals up 300-500%. But at least you found a new herp shop!

[JonnyMcSavage]

They always have to mark up everything to make money. Sticker was $235 and he was gonna sell it to me for $155. You are right about temptation, it is pure evil.

[dmnall]

I would say that as long as the cage does not drop below 80 degrees you are fine. My cages roast at 85+ during the summer time and 80+ during the winter times, however, I have seen it drop to 79 and that was during the 28 degrees outside of my house and never had a problem. 50% humidity is not bad but I would recommend bumping up the humidity by either a bigger water bowl or even using sphagnum moss in a bowl or something like that.

As for petstores they rip people off badly, plus their animals if they are cbb are usually the ones the breeders do not want to sell themselves and let petstores take them for a number of reasons! My recommendation is to purchase from a breeder for your next snake! Plus I know myself and others around her can give you a better price on some animals that petstores will not carry on a regular basis!

Charlie

[JonnyMcSavage]

I will be sure to keep you guys in mind when it comes time for me to buy another snake. I am certain that I will get a better quality animal with no issues at all. Thanks for all the help so far!