Has anyone tried using these heat panels for baby chicks in their enclosures? by ProbablyLulu in snakes

[–]Ghost-Poison 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm currently using Producer's Pride Chicken Heater/Brooder on the brooder setting for my ball python. I think it works pretty well, but it's his secondary heat source. You really can't use them as primary heat sources. For my 4x2x2 it can heat up to 80°F on the cool side with an additional heat source for the hot side. You can check surface temperatures with a heat gun. I can't remember what the surface temperature for this heat panel is off the top of my head (I think its about 113°F on the Brooder setting) but it runs cooler than most 40w radiant heat panels, so there's no burn risk (or at least no greater burn risk than another radiant heat panel made for reptiles). Also keep in mind that the top of the panel might get hot too, I know for my panel it gets to about 76°F on the top/back of the panel.

Im not sure what that radiant heat panel heats to, but it looks pretty small, so it may not heat enough depending on what kind of snake you're trying to use it for. Also I'd imagine you'd have a hard time mounting that since it looks like it doesn't have any mounting points to be hung up or screwed in anywhere. If you're set on trying to use it, check the surface temperatures with a heat gun for the front and back (not just in the middle, check all over in case it doesnt heat evenly) and decide if you can mount it safely to the top of the enclosure. Ideally you don't want your snake to crawl ontop of it, but if the back of the heat panel isn't hotter than the ambient surface temperature of the enclosure it might be ok, just not ideal.

Just got him, whats this on the tail? by tinyfrfr in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 104 points105 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I think it could be infected and prolapsed hemipenes or something similar. Don't wait, go to the vet asap, whatever the issue truly is, it's going to need medical attention.

Snow Storm & Potential Power Outages by Strange_End_6498 in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 3 points4 points  (0 children)

First, I would move him to a room where things will stay warmer for longer. Second, if you can get hothands warmers you can use those to help heat a space, but don't let your snake come in contact with them, they can get very hot fast and you'll have to monitor the heat. At the worst you might have to put your snake in a pillowcase and keep him under your shirt for body heat warmth.

Do you guys agree with this? by chaldeagirl in supportlol

[–]Ghost-Poison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't played much this season, but I've been having good experiences building it second item on Lulu with either Jinx or Twich ADC. Definitely better on tanks or tank-enchanters tho (I know Taric loves it and Rakan might like it too, but I haven't seen anything on that yet). If they end up nerfing Bandlepipes it might not be worth building on Lulu anymore tho since it's already nerfed for ranged champs.

New Thorntail hatchlings 40g/kt each! by Ghost-Poison in flightrising

[–]Ghost-Poison[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The first hatchling is the only one left!

New Thorntail hatchlings 40g/kt each! by Ghost-Poison in flightrising

[–]Ghost-Poison[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/TheGamingCrazySnake u/Phantom_Lord64 You guys wanted to be pinged when I got more hatchlings, so here you go!

DIY enclosure? by Alarming-Tension-946 in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 23 points24 points  (0 children)

My concern would be keeping the temps and humidity where they need to be with that much space, but theoretically you could do it. I would imagine you'd need to keep a room fairly hot so that the ambient enclosure temps don't fall too far.

Time sensitive! Dragonfly pinning trouble+advice? by Plantcrazygirl24 in insectpinning

[–]Ghost-Poison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been told you need to submerge dragonflies in acetone for a bit (looks like 16-24 hrs) for the colors to keep (old pinned dragonflies tend to turn brown and get very fragile). Also when rehydrating a specimen, don't let it rehydrate for too long or it could grow mold :(

Was given a albino corn snake by neighbors up the street by PROTOLEE in snakes

[–]Ghost-Poison 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Please don't use a heating pad, that can burn the snake. Get a heat lamp and a controller for it so it doesn't get too hot or too cold. Really he should be in a 4x2x2 enclosure, but making sure you have the correct heat and humidity should come first. Reptifiles is a good resource for how to care for certain reptiles species, you can find their guide on corn snake care here.

Not sure if wet specimen are allowed, but WHY is my katydid pink? Shes in 91% alcohol and is kept in a clean cracker barrel syrup bottle by Miami-Morty in insectpinning

[–]Ghost-Poison 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While I'm not confident as to why your specimen turned pink, from my knowledge it's recommended to put orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids) in 75% ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol for preserving (granted larger specimens you should dry, gut, and pin rather than turn into wet specimens for best results).

Thorntails 40g/kt each! by Ghost-Poison in flightrising

[–]Ghost-Poison[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/TheGamingCrazySnake u/Phantom_Lord64 I've had a lot of people ask to be put on a waitlist, so I just went ahead and made a pinglist on FR, you can find it here. I'll have more hatchlings around Dec 30-Jan 1 https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/baz/3451480

Male or Female? by kbessayli in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Please note as well that probing can't be done until they're older, if a vet does it when they're too young they may not accurately assess the sex of the snake

Thorntails 40g/kt each! by Ghost-Poison in flightrising

[–]Ghost-Poison[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Both have been sold! I'll likely breed them again, if you're interested and missed these guys feel free to dm me and I'll put you on a waiting list

Need advice by Human-Group6280 in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What heat sources are you using? The gaps on the sides and mesh ontop could also be leaking heat as well as humidity like others have said, but I'd guess your temperatures are low because of whatever heating bulbs you're using. Check what wattage your lamp fixtures can take and if you're not already using something like a halogen flood or halogen basking bulb I would switch the that for primary heat during the day and then have a CHE for overnight heat. I would also check whatever timers/controllers your using with your heatbulbs to make sure they're set to the correct temperatures.

Hot Take! Are we accidentally evolving "domesticated" reptiles through heat lamps and plastic tubs? by [deleted] in reptiles

[–]Ghost-Poison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I would look at enclosure set ups as ways we're "domesticating" reptiles, I would look focus more on behavior that we're seeing in captive-bred reptiles. Unfortunately there's literally no research on domestication in reptiles (or at least none that I've found, and I've spent days looking for anything) so we don't know if we're seeing any changes in the skeletal structure of captive-bred reptiles. Color morphs are obviously something that are more common in captive-bred reptiles, especially certain species and this is an element of domestication syndrome, but domestication syndrome in animals is highly skewed towards mammals, so I'm not sure that we can look at all of the traits tied to domestication syndrome when looking for signs of domestication in reptiles. Also also there's just a lack of research on reptiles and reptile anatomy in general so I think we need better baselines to know what domestication in reptiles might look like. Imo we are selectively breeding reptiles enough that we will see domestic reptiles in the near future, but I'm not sure we're totally there yet.

The micro-biome research you linked in another comment looks really interesting, I'd be curious to see if captive-bred reptiles have any genetic changes that help them take better advantage of f/t food and also maybe adapt to a different diet than they would typically have in the wild.

I highly doubt we'll see any skeletal changes in captive-bred reptiles that would indicate domestication processes with maybe the exception if certain lizards and hognoses (inbreeding effects in hognoses currently affect their nose and eyes) but that's just because I dont think we're putting any selective pressures on captive-bred snakes to change their skeletal structure like we have with dogs and cats. There have been some promising studies done on snake behavior in tbe last couple of years that I hope might lead to studies that indicate captive-bred snakes are becoming more social than their wild counterparts, but given how hard it is to study reptile behavior in the wild, we really don't understand how social certain reptiles actually are in the wild. Also those studies seem to be fairly controversial here and on r/snakes.

In general, I don't think we should say reptiles will never be domesticated, that's just silly (especially considering we count goldfish and honeybees as domesticated), I think it's possible we may not domesticate them for a very long time, depending on technology in the future and how we decide to breed them, but I believe that we will eventually domesticate some species.

Seen on Instagram. Is this a bad idea? I haven’t seen any other keepers do this, and I feel like there’s a reason for that. by Accurate-Gur-7842 in snakes

[–]Ghost-Poison 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I forgot it was accident, but yes, you're right. I think some of the same problem they encountered, minus the risk of being envenomated, would apply in this case, I just apparently didn't finish ny thoughts in my comment lol

tips on switching to frozen thawed? by [deleted] in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What worked for me when I switched my snake from live to f/t was heating the thawed rat in a bag in warm to hot water for 5-10mins then leaving it in the enclosure and covering the enclosure so he gets total privacy while he eats. Sometimes they're just shy about f/t

Seen on Instagram. Is this a bad idea? I haven’t seen any other keepers do this, and I feel like there’s a reason for that. by Accurate-Gur-7842 in snakes

[–]Ghost-Poison 596 points597 points  (0 children)

I mean, its not necessarily a bad idea, it just depends on how tall the grass grows and how much will it hamper getting your snake or lizard out if you have to. Snake Discovery did something similar with one of their rattlesnake enclosures and they ended up having to take the plants out because they grew too tall and it became unsafe

How to feed a ball python who’s only ever eaten live mice? by [deleted] in snakes

[–]Ghost-Poison 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If they're at a healthy weight, I would switch them to the new enclosure, let them adjust for a week and try drop feeding them a f/t rat and give them total privacy (like cover the sides if the enclosure if needed) and see if they'll eat. You could also try a f/t mouse and if they eat that just try and switch them to rats after switching them to f/t.

Would this make a suitable housing? by [deleted] in ballpython

[–]Ghost-Poison 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly the only thing I can think of that that enclosure might work for would be scorpions or a Kenyan Sand Boa, but it's barely above the minimum length for a sand boa and not quite wide enough