So, I just recently brought home a brand new baby Ball Python! My first one ever. I once had a corn snake, and I currently have a Bearded Dragon, so I am not new to reptiles, but it has been years since I had a snake! I named him Crane, after Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow from Batman.

Anyways, I wanted to get advice about my setup, to make sure everything is good for him. He is really small, about three and a half weeks old, if I remember correctly.

Here is my current set up, in a 20gal long tank:



I hesitated about offering the branches, since I heard that Ball Pythons prefer the ground, but ten minutes after I put Crane in his cage, he was crawling on them, and has been doing it ever since. He seems to really like them, so I figured it couldn't hurt. The aren't far off the ground in any case.

I am not sure if the hides are too big. I got them before I realized he would be so tiny and now I am thinking that I may need to swap them out for something smaller. They dont 'hug' him, as I have read BP's like. Any thoughts if they are too big?

Now for the temperature advice.

The basking spot is always anywhere from 93-97 degrees. That doesn't really change. However, the ambient temperature is what is causing me problems. I can't seem to get it to stay in the 80s. It keeps dropping into the low 70s. I tried turning on the heat in my room, but that didn't seem to really help except make it really, really stuffy and unbearable to be in it without having a window open, which defeats the whole purpose.

Would getting a lamp for it help to raise the ambient temp up? I thought about getting a heat lamp, but then I don't want to sacrifice the humidity, which seems to be pretty good. Right, now, it is at 56%. Any ideas on what I can do to raise the ambient temp for the cage alone and not my room as a whole?

Also, is the placement of my acu-rite thermometer correct? I have it about two inches from the substrate, on the inside of the tank, and the probe is stuck to the glass bottom, right over his UTH. Is that correct?

And one final question, I am waiting about a week before I offer him food, to let him get settled and used to his new surroundings, but what size mouse/rat should I feed him? There is so much different opinions about what size I should feed, so I have absolutely no idea. The breeder said mice fuzzies to pinky rats, but I am just double checking to make sure that that is correct before I go out and by the wrong size.

Thanks for answering the questions! I have a ton, and I would rather be safe than sorry! I really want Crane to have a proper environment to live in. I am afraid I have fallen completely in love with him, and want to give him the best of care.

Thanks again!