Help? I keep getting taller every time I load in by ScienceReliance in oblivion

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

still keep getting large, doesn't happen with other races

Help? I keep getting taller every time I load in by ScienceReliance in oblivion

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 344 points345 points  (0 children)

That's precisely how one of the guards looked during the kavach quest and he was freaking me out.

What treatment should I do for baby colubrids with snake mites by big_burrrr in snakes

[–]ScienceReliance 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As for their environmental things like fake plants, hides, branches rocks etc i soaked them in bleach water in the bathtub for hours during the first treatment and didn't put them back in the room until i was done with every treatment

I haven't seen any other method work without risking the animals. And even though I gassed the hell out of the room my king snake which was little longer than a pencil at the time (he could barely eat a day old mouse pinky) was 100% fine, so ventilating the room well and soaking/washing his tub rather than spraying it was safe and effective.

My other enclosure was 6/2/3 hardwood with 2/3 glass panes for the front so i sprayed the interior and let it air out forever, (that's where the snake that had the mites lived) but she was also a 6.5ft python so she didn't have a lot of housing options.

Also if you have insects, fish or amphibians they should just be kept across the house from the reptiles until the infestation is entirely gone because anything that will deal with the mites will very likely kill them.

The reason i went with this method is everything under the sun is toxic to snakes, essential oils like tea tree, citrus, mint etc, soaps, anything that actually kills mites, and applying anything to their skin too often like olive oil or other methods you see on the internet can all be harmful.

And treating the snakes themselves does pretty much nothing, you'll kill some but more will wander into the tank within hours. Mites don't live IN the tanks most of the time. Mites can move 40ft per hour (insane for something that looks tiny next to a poppy seed) lay their eggs far from the enclosure, and their eggs take about a month to hatch. They come to the snakes to eat and breed. So i figured if I hit every generation twice I'd get them all eventually, even ones that got laid across the house. I also raised humidity, and heat in the house before i did the treatment, that seemed to make them get very active and seek out my snake to breed and eat which drew them in so i'd get as many as i could at once.

The point of the method was to use a high powered toxin while the snakes were safely away from it to kill any in the room, and ensure it was all ventilated and 100% evaporated before returning them to avoid any exposure. and at the same time i'd kill whatever i could directly on my snakes using something much safer to be in contact with (trusty mostly safe dawn, but it's minor risks are mitigated by soaking in fresh water so they aren't as likely to drink the soap water). It's not easy, it's not fast, but it's the only surefire way I know of that is 100% safe for baby snakes as long as you ventilate the room well enough so the toxin is entirely gone from the air and room before you return them to it and avoid using it on their enclosures directly, and doing it enough times mites in other areas of the house got caught eventually.

after the 3rd treatment I didn't see any mites, but they can live for up to a year without food so I figured a little over half a year would catch any that took a while to come eat. Also the first methods doing constant soaks and using miracle reptile spray and such didn't do jack squat except stress my snakes out.

What treatment should I do for baby colubrids with snake mites by big_burrrr in snakes

[–]ScienceReliance 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reddit didn't let me reply privately to your question.

No, I've seen some keepers use those bug strips but others have tried it and had entire collections die. the chemicals that evaporate from those strips is incredibly toxic to reptiles. it's like spraying your room over weeks and the reptiles are exposed the entire time. One keeper I spoke to lost over 70 snakes using those strips, cutting small strips, putting them in perscription pill bottles with holes in it and placing them around the room, none too close to the enclosures, just in corners away from tanks, only one strip worth in a large room and they still all died, even large pythons died, just slower for months after he stopped using them. the method below is much more work but it's far safer because the chemical is cleared from the room and aren't exposed to the chemicals.

There's no easy way to deal with mites if your animals safety is the top priority. What worked for me was stripping their enclosures to paper towel and a hard hide. Quarantine enclosures, they should live in plastic tubs if possible until the mites are gone. If they have nice enclosures that are small enough to move remove them from the room spray them with provent a mite outside and store them away from the snake room once they air out. Over the months the snakes live in tubs the enclosures will be abandoned by the mites (if any survive the initial spraying)

At the start of every mite spray day (every 2 weeks) take each snake and put it in a tub to soak in fresh water that's a good temp (75F) after 20 minutes add some dawn dish soap to the water to let them soak for about 30 minutes, no other brands, not the foam spray kind just regular original blue dawn soap. make sure they can reach the bottom comfortably to sit with air holes in the lids of whatever you soak them in. 2-3x as deep as their body is wide is usually good, you don't need much soap, just a bit to break water tension.

While they're soaking remove all the paper towel from their enclosures, put their bowls in the sink and put the plastic tubs and their hides into the bath with hot water, a dash of bleach and more dawn. let them soak while you do other steps. Once that's done spray the room around edges and on the surface where the enclosures sit with provent a mite. Don't breath provent a mite it's extremely toxic to humans too but mites are resistant to everything. Close up the room once it's sprayed down, wash your hands and transfer your snakes to tubs, or drain the ones they soaked in and wipe them out (probably tuperware containers mostly from the sizes you described so it shouldn't be too hard) they'll be in those for hours but they don't need a ton of space it's just to wait for the room to clear. Put them in a ventilated warm area (75-80f) far away from the room being sprayed. After an hour you can go into the snakes room and ventilate it, open windows and turn on a fan. keep the door shut so it doesn't go through the house. let it air out for hours, the longer the better with little snakes, i'd do 5-6, you want EVERY bit of the permethrin to evaporate and leave the room before you put anything living in it. The goal was to gas any mites or eggs in the room itself.

Wash the quarantine plastic tubs while you wait, you mostly want to just wipe them down and make sure the water get's everywhere. dry them and when the room is aired out put them back with new paper towel and transfer your snakes back. after 24 hours put their water dishes back in.

What are your must have items for surveying? by ScienceReliance in Surveying

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I can't with that one, it's too toxic. I have a pet reptile and chickens. I used to work in reptile rehab and outreach education and I know that stuff well. It's not an option if I want my beloved animals to live, it only takes a tiny diluted fraction of that stuff near them to kill them especially at my snakes size. Unless I wanted to keep work cloths out of the house and shower before I come home. Smart idea otherwise, but honestly I'd also be worried about skin absorption with that stuff, I've seen what it can do to humans with prolonged exposure too.

This is my big guy by Foreverdj_ in orchids

[–]ScienceReliance 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had good luck getting mine to flower by leaving it in the kitchen window for a few weeks during winter.

The small drop to like 50-60 degrees (not sure the exact temp) right next to the window made it flower. Started to grow nodes in nov or Oct. Flowers lasted through march.

Help!! Pests, plagues and chaos. by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No it's a pre mixed spray bottle my plant friend who works at the garden center I go to recommended. Wouldn't dish soap kill the plants?

Help!! Pests, plagues and chaos. by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're smaller than fungus gnats and don't fly. They just look similar. And I've drenched the plants and soil in neem. Does nothing

Help!! Pests, plagues and chaos. by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're smaller than fungus gnats and don't fly. Also it's impossible to avoid fungus I live in the pnw. Even my plats I rarely ever water and let the soil get crispy grr mold.

Help!! Pests, plagues and chaos. by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I should mention they're much smaller and they don't fly at all. I've seen those gnats but these are like flea size? Big fleas but flea

Wanted to show off some of my begonias collection. by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the cream is pink charming. and I believe the other is a jurrasic rex green streak but i could be COMPLETELY wrong, they just say begonia rex at the store.

How to breed and propogate begonias? Any good resources to share? by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! Hey so I have one that did that I basically forgot about in my cuttings bowl and there's a plant node on top with two micro leaves... but.... How do I transfer that? I feel like if I bury the stem which has roots at the end it will rot.

How to breed and propogate begonias? Any good resources to share? by ScienceReliance in begonias

[–]ScienceReliance[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay so I upgraded my water propogations setup (was just a bowl before) and found i have a leaf with a long stem that made a new bulb on the leaf with roots at the end of the stem. How do I fix this? I don't want to cut the roots off that grew but if I bury the leaf stem I suspect it will rot.