Ball python humidity

[Amp625]

I just got a ball python and i love him they are amazing pets and i want to have him in good health conditions. I spray every morning and night and the humidity goes up to 75 then creeps down and is back to 50 in a hour and a half. Ive been researching and people say humidity is a key part of health for the the ball python should i invest in a automatic mister or is this okay?

[dr del]

Hi,

If you give us some details of your setup we might be able to give you a few tips that should help.


dr del

[Amp625]

i have a 20 gallon long tank with a undertank heat pad and a heat lamp so one end is about 90 and the other is 80 and i have aspen shaving for substrate

[dr del]

Hi,

Is it a screen topped tank?

Theres a sticky somewhere that shows how to cover that with tinfoil to help with humidity but I can't quite put my hands to it since the update to the forum.

I'll try and find it for you.

**edit**

Found it.

**end edit**


dr del

[snakesRkewl]

i have a 20 gallon long tank with a undertank heat pad

Is the heat pad plugged into a thermostat?

and a heat lamp so one end is about 90 and the other is 80

With what are you measuring the temperatures?

[Amp625]

The heat pad is not plugged into a thermostat i am upgrading to a digital thermometer but for now i only have the regular cheap ones

[loonunit]

What you should get is a good point-and-click IR thermometer. The reason people are asking about the UTH and thermostats is because the UTHs often run too high--like 120F, instead of 90F. A good way of controlling that on the cheap is to buy a table-top lamp dimmer (for sale at home depot in the lighting section) and play with it until you can get a nice regular 95F out of your hot spot.

And if you can get that under control, the heat lamp is probably redundant. (unless you live in a cold, drafty house in the winter.) UTHs (when not too hot) are better than heat lamps for controlling humidity--a heat lamp will bake it right out of the tank.

But actually your humidity sounds excellent, what with your spraying.(I live in Phoenix, and can only envy a low of 50% humidity.) A mister is generally overkill for a ball--if you get a rainbow boa or any kind of tropical tree snake, THEN you'll want one.

[Amp625]

thanks so much so i have the hide right over the UTH i dont know how hot it is in there but it just feels warmish after all the research know you need a warm side and a cold side are you saying that the warm side of the tank can only consist of the hot spot which would be in the hide or do i still need a basking light for outside of the hide? right now is it dangerous for my ball python with the basking light and the UTH the cheap thermometer says it 90 in that side of the tank but i dont know how much it is under the hide im getting a digital thermometer soon and i can put the probe under the hide also how would you hook up the dimmer?

[Brunoheart]

The tabletop lamp dimmers are great, you just plug your UTH into it and then plug the dimmer into the wall. The one I have has a slide switch that you can adjust to control the electrical output which also controls the temperature. This prevents the bottom of the tank from getting too hot which could lead to a burn. This is why a quality thermometer is so very important because the cheap dial type are not accurate. The heat lamp is not necessarily dangerous, just unnecessary (unless the room your tank is in gets cold as previously stated) and it will deplete your humidity quicker than a UTH. Getting an accurate thermometer and a dimmer to control your temperature should be top priorities to prevent injury to your ball. Hope this helps and good luck!

[loonunit]

after all the research know you need a warm side and a cold side are you saying that the warm side of the tank can only consist of the hot spot which would be in the hide or do i still need a basking light for outside of the hide? right now is it dangerous for my ball python with the basking light and the UTH the cheap thermometer says it 90 in that side of the tank

Yeah, so the temperature you're interested in is the temp under the hide, right where the ball python's belly is. It's nice if the air temp (what the cheap thermometer actually measures) is at least 75F or better yet 80F in there (even on the "cold" side). But it's the warm spot that really counts.

Ball pythons like to be warm, but they don't really use "basking" spots the way lizards or tortoises do. What they like is a choice of hides--one on the warm side AND one on the cool side. That way if they need to cool down, there's another nice secure hole they can tuck into and still feel safe.