New here, couple pics of Mary, with questions

[HogHead]

here is my BP "Mary Jane." I am new to ball pythons and don't know the differences in them but here she is, I have had her since last July. When I got her she was about 10 months old.

here is how I had her tank set up a while ago:




then she got too big for that log so I replaced it with this:




tonight I went to the store to buy a new daytime lamp because the old one went out, so I got a few other things and redid her cage. This is what it looks like now:




Mary hanging from the tree I bought tonight:




drinking her some water:




now my question is this.... she has a few white spots on her head and her eyes look like the last shed, she did not get her eye caps off. Should I be worried about these 5 or 6 spots on her head and what should I do about her eye caps? it has been almost a month since her last shed, I was going to wait until this shed to see if the caps came off this time.

here is about the best pic I can get of the spots on her head:



comments and suggestions welcome. I am also having a hard time keeping the humidity up in the cage. it usually stays between 45 and 55. I do not run both lamps at the same time, was just doing that for pics. Also, whatever lamp is on, its on the right side of the tank, the left side is her cool side. I also have under tank pads, 1 big one and one real small one.

[satomi325]

Hello! Welcome!
Nice girl you have there.


You don't have to worry about the spots on her head. She will shed them off during her next shed. You can put her in a damp pillow case for an hour to try to get those eye caps off. Other than that, I wouldn't mess with them. Just get your humidity up for the next shed and they will come off


For humidity, you can do a number of things. You can use a larger water bowl or put your current one over in the warm side of the tank. You can also cover the tank cover with plexiglass, tin foil, or a damp towel. You can also mist the tank with a spray bottle.

What are your temperatures reading? If its warm enough, you can probably ditch the heat lamp. Heat lamps suck the humidity out like a sponge.

I also recommend getting rid of the log hide. When its too humid it tends to mold. It's also too 'open' for balls to feel totally secure.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[DellaF]

Welcome to the forum. Pretty girl you have. Love the photo of her drinking water. I'm sure you already know this but don't try to pull the eye caps off yourself.

[HogHead]

here are 3 pics when she was younger and I first got her. Was dumb back then, had a heat rock in her cage to begin with and and also taped some paper down so she wouldn't get under it. only left the tape in there about 10 mins before deciding that probably wasn't one of my best ideas...

[mattb]

I would go to Walmart and get an acu-rite thermometer / humidity can't find a link to it on my phone but it runs about $12 and does a very good job of measuring the temps and humidity. Also are you using a UTH if so do you have it on a thermostat?

Nice looking snake. I will say that my male pastel kept his eye caps for about two sheds I was having trouble with humidity too. I moved mine into tubs and it was better to control the humidity and he shed them the next time. With a tank you can try covering a good bit of the top with plexi glass with some holes or plywood this would help to keep the humidity in and temps steady too.

[HogHead]

Hello! Welcome!
Nice girl you have there.


You don't have to worry about the spots on her head. She will shed them off during her next shed. You can put her in a damp pillow case for an hour to try to get those eye caps off. Other than that, I wouldn't mess with them. Just get your humidity up for the next shed and they will come off


For humidity, you can do a number of things. You can use a larger water bowl or put your current one over in the warm side of the tank. You can also cover the tank cover with plexiglass, tin foil, or a damp towel. You can also mist the tank with a spray bottle.

What are your temperatures reading? If its warm enough, you can probably ditch the heat lamp. Heat lamps suck the humidity out like a sponge.

I also recommend getting rid of the log hide. When its too humid it tends to mold. It's also too 'open' for balls to feel totally secure.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Temps read between 85 and 90 with lamp on. I will get rid of the log hide, what should I replace it with?

Welcome to the forum. Pretty girl you have. Love the photo of her drinking water. I'm sure you already know this but don't try to pull the eye caps off yourself.

Thanks for the kind words! yeah, I am def not going to be pulling the eye caps off.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Looks good except for your thermometer/ hydrometers. those stick on fail thermometers simply do not work. this is what you want to get, it costs $12 at Walmart:



These measure 2 temperatures and humidity.

I second that you don't need to worry about the spots... just get your humidity up (and having a hydrometer that actually works will help with that )

I also would say to ditch the log hide. You really should have 2 identical hides. I prefer these, which are sold on Reptile Basics:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes



Just a few questions:

• Does the tank temperature drop at night?
• What are your hot/cool side temperatures during the day (and night if they are different)

[HogHead]

Looks good except for your thermometer/ hydrometers. those stick on fail thermometers simply do not work. this is what you want to get, it costs $12 at Walmart:



These measure 2 temperatures and humidity.

I second that you don't need to worry about the spots... just get your humidity up (and having a hydrometer that actually works will help with that )

I also would say to ditch the log hide. You really should have 2 identical hides. I prefer these, which are sold on Reptile Basics:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes



Just a few questions:

• Does the tank temperature drop at night?
• What are your hot/cool side temperatures during the day (and night if they are different)

the tank temp stays pretty much the same, between 85 and 90 on the hot side (according to my crap thermometer) and unsure about cold side since I only have 1 thermometer.

I just switched to that big water bowl today thats in the pics, I was using the small water bowl since I got her, tried using other things but she kept knocking them over. She wont knock this one over.

I like those hide boxes you posted, should I just go ahead and get the larges now or get mediums and when she is full grown get the larges?

[Evenstar]

Aaron hit the nail on the head and beat me to it! LoL.... Anyhow, I totally agree with him on the Accurite and the hide boxes. I use those too and love them (so do my snakes).

I recommend ditching the lamps altogether. They'll suck humidity right out of there in no time and with a tank you're going to have a hard enough time keeping humidity up without them hampering it even more. The UTH set correctly should be enough to keep your temps up if your room isn't too cool. What is your room temp?

And you didn't mention whether or not your UTH is on a t-stat. That is not an option. What type are you using and what temp do you have it set at (for the UTH specifically)??

I suggest covering the screen top with foil or wax paper to help hold in humidity. Here is mine so you can see what I mean. I use wax paper and you'll want to seal it around the edges. I use painters tape which seals the paper but isn't sticky enough to be a danger. Leave about a 1/2 inch gap along the back for ventilation.


And here's a better view showing the rest of the tank to get an idea of the identical hides, etc...

[HogHead]

also what section is that thermometer in at walmart? gonna head there now to pick one up.