New ball python set up.

[Terretes]

This is my new Ball Python Set up. I just want some expert opinions. Im new to this. I've always loved the way snakes were and I now got the money and time to have one. I just measured him at 2 feet last night and I've had him a week and he just ate today willingly . 20 gallon long with aspen bedding, I'm thinking about switching to reptibark or cypress to have it hold humidity better. I have a small undertank heater on the left side under the plastic log. I have a thermostat coming in the mail from amazon. The lamp is a flukers 150 watt with a 60 watt Zoo Med daytime bulb. The greenish looking box in the left corner is his humid hide I made for him. Just a Tupperware container with wet paper towels. A Zoo Med 3 in 1 cave in the middle which is what he spends all his time in. His water dish on the right side filled with fresh water every morning. The background made him feel more secure as when I put it on he started coming out more. The screen is held down by two cage clips and the Towel on top for humidity and heat. Under the towel I have foil. He also has a new Exo terra hide coming in the mail to put over the UTH with two jungle silk fake plants and A Macs creatures and critters grapevine jungle gym that I will put in the middle. I also mist the tank once a day.

If there is anything I have done wrong please don't hesitate to say something. I want the best for my Ball. He is a normal morph and his name is Dink by the way.

[thgstang]

This is my new Ball Python Set up. I just want some expert opinions. Im new to this. I've always loved the way snakes were and I now got the money and time to have one. I just measured him at 2 feet last night and I've had him a week and he just ate today willingly . 20 gallon long with aspen bedding, I'm thinking about switching to reptibark or cypress to have it hold humidity better. I have a small undertank heater on the left side under the plastic log. I have a thermostat coming in the mail from amazon. The lamp is a flukers 150 watt with a 60 watt Zoo Med daytime bulb. The greenish looking box in the left corner is his humid hide I made for him. Just a Tupperware container with wet paper towels. A Zoo Med 3 in 1 cave in the middle which is what he spends all his time in. His water dish on the right side filled with fresh water every morning. The background made him feel more secure as when I put it on he started coming out more. The screen is held down by two cage clips and the Towel on top for humidity and heat. Under the towel I have foil. He also has a new Exo terra hide coming in the mail to put over the UTH with two jungle silk fake plants and A Macs creatures and critters grapevine jungle gym that I will put in the middle. I also mist the tank once a day.

If there is anything I have done wrong please don't hesitate to say something. I want the best for my Ball. He is a normal morph and his name is Dink by the way.

You should get the same hides for the cool side and the hot side. The reason is that the snake may choose only one hide bc it feels more secure and therefore get too cold or too hot. Also you don't really need the light, all it does is stress the your bp and you will have a difficult time keeping the humidity right. You should also get a digital thermometer with a probe to check you hot side. And something to check the humidity(digital) I got mine from the home depot. Reptibark is a good substrate looks good and keeps humidity a lot better than aspen.

That's my .02 cents there are a lot people here they will give you better info. Enjoy your Bp.

[Lexx]

If you're having trouble with humidity, put the water dish directly below the heat lamp. You may need a bigger dish or need to fill it multiple times a day. I would also recommend putting aluminum foil over the screen instead of the towel. You can fold the foil over the edges of the screen so it stays on the screen when you remove the screen. It will hold in humidity a little better.

If the light seems to be stressing the snake, you could try an infrared bulb (that's what I use) or even a ceramic heater, but those can get pricey.

Looks like a nice setup. I agree you want hides on the warm & cool ends.

[j.smith7823]

I actually have 2 uths on dimmrs set at 92. I also have a 75 watt infared and a 50 watt sunglo on dimmers to with the sun glo set on 12 hrs day 12 hrs night with the infared running 24/7. I currently use jungle mix but bought repti bark and will be changing him very soon like today. I went away from aspen. Also identical hides aren't really required well from my experience there not. I juss cover the hides with fake plants vines and leaves. Spray the leaves 1nce a day and he's great. I have friends with snakes and their jealous of my husbandry and care. Its all really trial and error as long as humidity and temps are good.

[mommanessy247]

a really good digital humidity monitoring device is this one. it's called an accu-rite...



this one displays time on top, temp in middle & humidity on bottom as a percent. i personally use my temp gun to monitor surface temps in my girl's terrarium so i had no use for the corded probe that measures the temp so i snipped that off. i use the accu-rite to monitor humidity and i have the time set on it so i can record the time when i check and record the humidity.

some awesome identical hide boxes like these...



very similar ones can be found at reptilebasics.com. it's where i got mine. get the size that allow your snake to curl up inside nice and tight.

as stated already, that light is only gonna suck out the humdity. bp's are nocturnal so a light that is on 24/7 will only stress them out.

an awesome substrate is exo-terra forest bark. i got mine at reptilesupply.com. my only complaints about it is that
1) it's dark color hides poo very well and thats no good for someone like me who will reach in blindly to "re-adjust" the bark that's been displaced by a snake constantly re-decorating her home, lol. ew.
2) if the bark is handled too roughly you can get tiny splinters but those are easily avoided by handling the bark gently.

[dryates]

Take the identical hides with a grain of salt. Yes and no, I dont know how long you've had your ball, but if they seem to be thermoregulating then dont worry too much about your hides, if not then get two similiar hides, I think what most people think when other say identical is looks/size, ur python could probly not care about the looks, as long as they are the same size and your ball can feel like he is secure, probly touching most of his body to the sides of the hide, you should be good, but your 3 in 1 hide looks alot smaller then your humid/hot hide, so if he is not going back and forth then you might change it up, but don't go crazy. also for the top, what I've done for humidity is cover then screen top entirely with foil except for about 2 inches on both sides and cut a hole in the foil in the middle over the water bowl, and run a IR bulb 24/7 to maintain ambient temps and humidity, with 1 UTH on an on/off thermostat. keeps humidity great about 60 all the time, during sheds place a damp wash rag on that 2 inches of screen. This is just my experience, I have only had my ball since i think the end of last september, but once i got to this point, about 2 months in, I havent had to mess with his husbandry, except the occational tweek.

[dryates]

also get an IR temp gun, they are way more accurite then any of those other thermometers, i wish I would have got one sooner, and you can get one online for around 30-40 bucks, definately worth it. also a combo incage ambient temp/humidity is also a good idea.