Am I being paranoid or is my baby really sick?

[Marissa Simek]

Okay I just bought my baby ball python about a week ago and, I'm probably just freaking myself out here, but I don't know what to do. The last couple of days I've noticed that he seems to be yawning a lot and has a little extra skin under his chin. I've read that a swollen chin and excessive yawning can be signs of an RI, but I see no bubbles or discharge coming out of his mouth or anywhere else and when I hold him up to my ear I don't hear any wheezing. And the few times that I have taken him out of his cage he is very active and constantly holding on to my hand and flicking his tongue about. And he's about to shed so I'm not sure if thats what that extra skin flap is or what. And I couldn't really say if his eating patterns have changed because he hasn't eaten yet.. but I've read that balls won't eat when they're shedding and that it can take up to two weeks before they feel comfortable enough to eat, and the guy at the reptile shop said he'd just eaten a fuzzy rat four days before. Right now I have an UTH that is not yet hooked up to a thermostat (waiting for it to be shipped) but I constantly put my hand on it to make sure that it isn't too hot, and he doesn't burrow into the substrate. He actually seems to spend most of his time on top of his hide log. The temps stay at a steady 80-90 degrees (at the moment I only have a 5.5 gallon tank so there isn't much room to create a temp gradient), and right now I'm keeping the humidity at about 55 to help the shedding, but I'm in Colorado and it's really dry here so I wouldn't think that excess humidity would be the problem... I don't know what else you would need to know.. There is some sort of wood substrate in there right now, it's what came in the cage when I bought it I believe it might be aspen?

I've been wanting a snake all of my life and now that I've finally gotten him I might be being overly paranoid and overprotective... but does anyone have any thoughts? Or tips that might tell me whether he really is sick or not?

And on a side note I just bought him a 20 gallon terrarium that I"m going to be setting up in the next week or so, and I'm getting conflicting information on different sites about how to place the heating elements. I've read that you should never have the basking light and the UTH on the same side of the tank because it can cause problems with excessive heat, but then I've also read that you SHOULD put them both on the same side or there won't be a gradient. Which is the right way?

[Sammy412]

Ball pythons don't need a basking light.....they just need a UTH. Basking light will kill your humidity. If he's going to shed, I'd bet that what the issue is. Wait until he sheds and see how things are then.

[Marissa Simek]

Ball pythons don't need a basking light.....they just need a UTH. Basking light will kill your humidity. If he's going to shed, I'd bet that what the issue is. Wait until he sheds and see how things are then.

But the problem is that without the basking light the temp drops down to about 70 degrees. I'm not sure if the UTH isn't putting out enough heat because it isn't connected to a thermostat or what. Although I'm glad that it isn't the other way around and it's putting out too much heat... And I actually need the basking bulb to help create humidity... as weird as that sounds... but it's so insanely dry here that if I don't put the water dish under the basking light so it evaporates and creates humidity my humidity drops down to 16. I've managed to keep the humidity at a pretty constant 55-60 by putting a damp towel over the part of the screen that the light isn't down through. So until I can get a better UTH, which I'm gonna have to do cause the mini one isn't gonna cut it on a 20 gal tank, I'm stuck with having both the lights. And I made him a crappy little humid hide with tupperware and paper towels. He stayed in there for quite a bit the other night..

but so you're saying the general consensus is that I'm being overly paranoid and don't worry about it till after the shed right?

[Sammy412]

Yeah wait until after the shed. If at that point the problem persists, I'd take him to the vet. What are you using to check your temps?

[lisafoster2510]

I use red basking lights because it is quite cold here but i have a 20long for my baby bp and a 40 breeder for my juvenile python this gives them a cooler 1/2 to go to. I also pour some water in my coco shavings? and ecoearth mix alot of people use it here to keep some humidity in I also cover most of my screen top with aluminum foil. I have been told not to handle my snake right beforeand during a shed.

[Marissa Simek]

Yeah wait until after the shed. If at that point the problem persists, I'd take him to the vet. What are you using to check your temps?

I have an AccuRite thermometer/hygrometer in there right now. But not the one with the probes. Just a no frills digital one that records the current and high and low temps and humids. Now that I've got a bigger cage I'm planning on investing in one of those thermostats that control all your temps for you, but with the teeny little 5.5 one I have now it didn't really seem worth it

[Marissa Simek]

I use red basking lights because it is quite cold here but i have a 20long for my baby bp and a 40 breeder for my juvenile python this gives them a cooler 1/2 to go to. I also pour some water in my coco shavings? and ecoearth mix alot of people use it here to keep some humidity in I also cover most of my screen top with aluminum foil. I have been told not to handle my snake right beforeand during a shed.

Yeah I stopped handling him when I saw his eyes start to go bluey. Except for today when I noticed the weird way he was acting and took him out to see if he was making any wheezing sounds or if there was anything coming out of his mouth. And I had actually planned on getting a red bulb b/c I don't like that I have to leave the light on all the time or it gets too cold. Can't be healthy for a nocturnal creature to always be surrounded by light..

[Boanerges]

But the problem is that without the basking light the temp drops down to about 70 degrees. I'm not sure if the UTH isn't putting out enough heat because it isn't connected to a thermostat or what. Although I'm glad that it isn't the other way around and it's putting out too much heat... And I actually need the basking bulb to help create humidity... as weird as that sounds... but it's so insanely dry here that if I don't put the water dish under the basking light so it evaporates and creates humidity my humidity drops down to 16. I've managed to keep the humidity at a pretty constant 55-60 by putting a damp towel over the part of the screen that the light isn't down through. So until I can get a better UTH, which I'm gonna have to do cause the mini one isn't gonna cut it on a 20 gal tank, I'm stuck with having both the lights. And I made him a crappy little humid hide with tupperware and paper towels. He stayed in there for quite a bit the other night..

but so you're saying the general consensus is that I'm being overly paranoid and don't worry about it till after the shed right?

Here are a bunch of rambled thoughts quickly off the top of my head:

I would use a heat emitter if you can. It's not really good to have a bright light on them all the time.

The humidity gauges on the combo accurites are not really that good. I would get the straight up accurite humidty monitor if you can. They are only like $7-10
if I remember correctly. That is what I use and I have a bunch of them. Some even still in the packs as back ups. I can take a pic of one if you needed. You can get them at walmart.

I would also pick up a temp gun so you can better monitor your surface temps. If you do not have a thermometer with a probe you are getting air temps and not really surface temps.

If you are not hearing any sounds when your snake breathes I would wait for the vet visit and see how it is after the shed.

Your not going to hurt anything handling them while they are in shed. Some times they get a bit testier and since they can't see well you will probably stress them out more while they are in shed but your not going to hurt anything physcially by checking them out while they are in shed.

Do you have two identical tight fitting hides in the tank? One on the cool and one on the wam side?

Also if your husbandry is off it could be in the early stages of getting an RI which you can possibly fix by getting everything spot on.

[Marissa Simek]

Here are a bunch of rambled thoughts quickly off the top of my head:

I would use a heat emitter if you can. It's not really good to have a bright light on them all the time.

The humidity gauges on the combo accurites are not really that good. I would get the straight up accurite humidty monitor if you can. They are only like $7-10
if I remember correctly. That is what I use and I have a bunch of them. Some even still in the packs as back ups. I can take a pic of one if you needed. You can get them at walmart.

I would also pick up a temp gun so you can better monitor your surface temps. If you do not have a thermometer with a probe you are getting air temps and not really surface temps.

If you are not hearing any sounds when your snake breathes I would wait for the vet visit and see how it is after the shed.

Your not going to hurt anything handling them while they are in shed. Some times they get a bit testier and since they can't see well you will probably stress them out more while they are in shed but your not going to hurt anything physcially by checking them out while they are in shed.

Do you have two identical tight fitting hides in the tank? One on the cool and one on the wam side?

Also if your husbandry is off it could be in the early stages of getting an RI which you can possibly fix by getting everything spot on.

I think the problem is that, at the moment, I don't have the proper set up for him at all. I don't really even have a warm side and a cool side because my terrarium is so small that there isn't room for it. But I found a 20 gal one on craigslist that I just bought so this is what I just ordered from Petsmart today to go with it:

Zoo Med Nocturnal Infrared Heat bulb (so that I don't have to have that bright light shining on him all the time)

Exo Terra Digital Thermometer (it comes with the probes so that I can get ACCURATE temps unlike that crappy liquid crystal one that I have now... which is right now saying that the temp is somewhere between 70 and 90)

Zoo Med Repti-Therm Under Tank Heaters (because the mini one will definitely not be big enough to do any good in a 20 gal tank)

Zoo Med Repti Temp 500R (so I can maintain a more constant temp instead of realizing too late that its gotten to hot or cold)

Also with the 20 gal tank I got another half log hide, a fake wood kind of hidey hole thing that he might like better than the half log because it's more enclosed, a driftwood climbing branch, and as a backup to the acurite digital hygrometer I also have an analog one.

I should be getting it all set up by wednesday so hopefully that'll be better than the setup I have going on now.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

A thermostat will not make your UTH get hotter. If the UTH doesn't get hot enough to be 90/93 on the surface of the glass as measured by a thermostat probe, then it's not big/powerful enough.

What the thermostat does is keep the UTH from being too hot, and it regulates the temp to stay at whatever you set it at.

As for placement, in a glass enclosure, I always recommend a UTH which takes up 2/3 of the bottom length of the tank. That way, you still have a cool side, but the UTH covers enough area to help keep the enclosure warm. Which is hard to do with an aquarium type enclosure. Place it all the way at one end so it covers 2/3 the tank.

The screen top can be virtually sealed off to hold heat and humidity in. Use duct tape, foil tape, cardboard, aluminum foil, plexiglas, whatever. Just cover all but a couple inches on on end for air circulation.

A heat emitting bulb is a great investment. I have one that I used for 2 years on a QT tank, which I now use on my scorpion viv. They cost a bit more but last at least a few years if not knocked around.