This is a two part post. The first part (part 1) contains new questions, where the second part (part 2) contains questions from a previous post that weren't answered fully. Please bear in mind, I have only had my ball python for 1.5 weeks.

Part 1:
How often do snakes use the restroom? To my knowledge, my snake has only used the restroom once. Should I be concerned?

Scale Rot or Stuck Shed?!?! There is a dull area on my snake. Could this be a stuck shed or is this the beginning stage of scale rot? I wish I were able to upload a picture to this post, so you could see what I am talking about. However, I do not have authorization to attach an attachment to my posts, so I do not know any other way to be able to upload a picture of my enclosure to my posts. When I click the insert image button, it requires me to give an URL, but my photo is sitting locally on my computer and has not been uploaded to a server.

What is normal weight for a baby ball python? My ball python is approximately 20" long. When I took her to the vet, the vet said my python is a little on the thin side. However, other than being a little thin, the vet said my python looks fine. I have a digital scale, and I weighed my python at 97 grams. Since I purchased my snake, I have fed her three times (Wednesday's and Saturday's). I want to fatten her up.

Part 2:
Recently, I purchased a normal baby ball python, and I am not certain if I setup her cage correctly. I was wondering if you could give me some words of advice. I would really appreciate it a lot. My aquarium is 36"x18"x16". I am using an under the tank heater that is rated for 30-40 gallon aquariums, since my tank is 40 gallons. Does it matter that my tank is a 40 gallon breeder tank? Should I use a larger under the tank heater? My under the tank heater is on a lamp dimmer, so it does not get too hot. Before I placed it on the lamp dimmer, the warm side of the terrarium was way too hot.

Three sides of my terrarium are covered with aquarium scenery.

Also, I want to create a basking area for my snake, however, when I used an 8.5" dome light with a 75 watt basking light bulb, the overall temperature in my aquarium was too high. Should I use a smaller dome light with a smaller wattage bulb? The humidity inside my tank is 62%. Right now I have an under the tank heater which covers only a small portion of the bottom of the tank. However, my cool side is usually 75 degrees and my warm side is usually between 85-87 degrees. Is this an ideal temperature range? I have two hides for my snake; one on the cool side and one on the warm side. I also have a climbing branch and a water bowl for my snake, which is kept on the cool side. Currently, I am measuring the temperature with two digital thermometers with probes on the end of them, and the humidity is being measured using an analog humidity gauge I purchased from PETCO.

I have had my snake for a week and a half, and she is not very active at all. In fact, she spends most of her time in her warm side hide, even at night. Is this because she is not accustomed to his new home yet? Also, my snake has not soaked in its dish yet, and it has used the restroom only once. Is this normal?

What kind of substrate should I use? I am using aspen bedding.

I know there are a lot of questions contained within this e-mail, but I am interested in taking care of my snake properly, so I would really appreciate any input.

Unfortunately, I do not have authorization to attach an attachment to my posts, so I do not know any other way to be able to upload a picture of my enclosure to my posts. When I click the insert image button, it requires me to give an URL, but my photo is sitting locally on my computer and has not been uploaded to a server. If you give me an e-mail address, I can e-mail you a picture of my enclosure.

Thanks,
Joe