Monty and Me!

[Konbrio]

Hey guys! I'm new to the reptile world and Ball Pythons in general. I just picked up a little guy 2 days ago from a friend who needed the extra room. I would say he's only about 17 inches long, no more then 22 though. I haven't done a accurate measurement. I've been doing alot of reading on BP Husbandry, but for now this is my general set up I have for him.

13 gal tank w/screen top and clamps with Aspen bedding. Water bowl and digital temp/humidity gauge, some fake plants. Two hides, half log for his hot side and a box on the cool side. I'm heating the tank with a light fixture (100w UVA bulb for sim daytime and a 100w red heat bulb for sim nighttime.) As of now (remember im only 3 days into this ) I haven't let the hot side of his tank get above 85 degrees, I've noticed that some people let there hot side heat up to the low 90's. Is this safe? Should I also invest in a under tank heat pad that i keep reading so much about? Also, I'm concerned about his humidity level, I can't seem to get it up bast 34% So any tips with humidity would be lovely!

I'll post more questions as I have them, there are many!

I named him Monty...........Monty Python. HA!................well, I thought it was clever.

Cheers, thanks for any advice and input your willing to give

[pigfat]

1.) Your hides need to be identical.
2.) I would ditch the light and use a under tank heater (uth) WITH a thermostat. Paste this
into your browser for a reliable, cheap thermostat. Under Tank Heaters can get
extremely hot and burn your snake if not regulated. Place the UTH under the hide on
the hot side of the tank.

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...t/dp/B000NZZG3
S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320845955&sr=8-1

3.) To get the humidity up, you can do several things. If you have a petco or similar store close by, you can buy some sphagnum moss to wet down and put into the enclosure. Personally, I got a spray bottle from walmart for $1 and spray down the bedding a little bit (not soaking). You will lose all your humidity out the screen top, so you can cover 60% of the top with foil to help keep humidity in. Personally, I cover 60% of the top with a wet towel, and then place another towel on top of that one and my humidity stays at 55-60.

If your house gets cold like mine does, a UTH isn't enough to keep up the ambient temps up. So you may have to use a light on top, but again. 85 ambient temps sound okay to me though, as long as you have that UTH set on 90-92 with the thermostat.

I hoped this helped a little and congrats on the snake!

[Rusky]

I approve your name choice.

I called my BP Tuna since she is a bee....bumblebee tuna...lol

[Konbrio]

Thanks for the info pig, it really helped. The towel trick really jumped the humidity up!

Tomorrow will be the first time feeding him. Going to put him in a separate container for that, but i was told not to handle or pick him up after he feeds. How would I go about getting him back in the tank? Or is mild handling just fine for this?

I called my BP Tuna since she is a bee....bumblebee tuna...lol

haha rusky, i love it!

[Annarose15]

Tomorrow will be the first time feeding him. Going to put him in a separate container for that, but i was told not to handle or pick him up after he feeds. How would I go about getting him back in the tank? Or is mild handling just fine for this?

Don't move him to feed him - the tank aggression thing is a myth with BPs. That way, you don't have to worry about whether to move him or not after feeding, and you don't risk him taking a shot at your hand when you go to put him back!

[Ezekiel285]

Don't move him to feed him - the tank aggression thing is a myth with BPs. That way, you don't have to worry about whether to move him or not after feeding, and you don't risk him taking a shot at your hand when you go to put him back!

X2

[Konbrio]

Thanks guys

[pigfat]

Thanks for the info pig, it really helped. The towel trick really jumped the humidity up! !

Good! Glad to see that its working!

[Ohm]

Does not matter if your hides are identical or not...but the half log things are not great because they let in a lot of light, and have large openings on both ends...get him something that is dark inside, and not such a big opening...