New to the taking care thing...

[sypher]

I work at a Flea Market here in Indiana, and a vendor had some ball pythons maybe 20 at the most and 1 hep python mixed in with them. Mine is a female as the guy said and is about 14 in long. MY friend bought one also a male about 15 in long I don't know how old they are or parasites or anything... I need help on what to put them in and humidity everything... They are just babies and im wanting the best for them...

So far we have a 10 gallon tank
(Carpet) for the bottom << friennds idea
Drift wood for sheeding purpose
lil half cut shoebox for hiding
lamp in one corner for heat
rubbermaid tupperware cut in half with water in it


i don't know of thats enough for the lady and male we are going to pet shops tomorow and buying pinky mice for it too eat but i just read give it 1 week - 2 weeks to adapt to the new environment...

Plz post what we should do thx

and for humidy / moisture /heading / setting im all up for advice I want the best for her.

[maniac]

Ok here I will break it down for you in what you need... Here is a pic of my tank for starters..


(This is a 20 gallon tank)

1. You might want to take out the carpet and replace it to ReptiCarpet(similar to astroturf) and use a heating pad on the same side of your lamp to provide heat during the night (remember your balls are nocturnal animals and a heat lamp cant be on 24/7 beacuse it will stress out your snake and cause feeding problems, they only need about 12 hours of it so its good to practice a 12 hour light / 12 hour darkness schedule).. You might also want to try and put Cypress Mulch ontop of your ReptiGrass so it holds good humidity and prevents your ball from getting a burn if the undertank pad gets to hot.

2. You should consider getting a bigger tank if your housing 2 balls.. Room is important and you might wanna get a 20 gallon or bigger. 10 gallons usualy just dont cut it for 2 balls. I would also reccomend a maximum of a 60 watt bulb to provide your lighting heat.. This makes the temperature nice and not to hot during the day time.

3. Provide a hidebox on both sides of the tank so they dont have to pick between a warm hidebox , to a cool side w/ no hidebox and vise versa.. As you can see in my setup I have hideboxes on both sides (you dont have to go all out with the moss and plants but i thought it would make the setup look nicer).. I covered my boxes with thin layers of towel to make the setup just as nice and to match my layering.

4. Make sure you have thermometers on both sides of the tank so you can maintain good heating for your cool side and warm side. Also get a hydrometer so you can maintain good humidity levels when your balls are starting to shed. Its also good for the snake to use a spray bottle and mist down your tank every couple days including the snake. During the winter if the humidity gets to low I put a humidifer in my room to raise it up a bit.. Always a nice way of maintaining good natural air

5. I also provided my snake with a Reptisun 2.0 bulb.. This gives natural light and helps the snakes immune system (so says my vet)... Its not a neccessity but if your snake gets sick its a good way to keep him feeling better. It also provides just a little bit more heat which is always good if your using a 60 watt bulb.

6. You might also want to quarantine (or seperate) your balls and watch there conditions before putting them together.. 1 of them might be sick and infect the other, thuss giving you a medical bill x2 .. (which can be very expensive due to the lack of exotic vets in any area) If you're unsure of your snakes medical conditions take them to a vet if you want to spend a little extra and get them checked out for parasites or any kind of diseases.

7. Try introducing your balls to frozen mice.. It helps the prevention of parasites and your snake getting attacked by a mouse that has value for his own life..

8. Go to walmart and purchase bleach.. It is important to clean your snakes enclosure every month (maybe more since ur housing 2 animals)
You wont need 2 much bleach..just 5% each time you disinfect an item. Wash it down with warm water and try to get the bleach smell out of it.

8. I think I covered the basics, if you have any more questions just ask.. Im sure other people will give you there views on tank setups.. Its always nice to have different opinions..

Here are some good websites specificily for reptiles, were you can order and look stuff maybe petstores wont have...

http://www.lllreptile.com

http://www.reptiledirect.com

I hope you get your setup working well and you own your pythons for years to come. They are great animals and provide good company.. have fun be safe Oh yeah.. And its always a good thing to handle your snakes every now and then to keep them tame ( Wash your hands up to ur elbows w/ disinfection soap before and after)..Its safer for you and the snake(s).

You might also want to try and put Cypress Mulch ontop of your ReptiGrass so it holds good humidity and prevents your ball from getting a burn if the undertank pad gets to hot.

As opposed to doing this.......which could cause a potential fire hazard......just get a good thermostat for your heat pad.

You should consider getting a bigger tank if your housing 2 balls.

Instead of housing 2 snakes together, which you should never do unless you are breeding them, get 2 enclosures.

I also provided my snake with a Reptisun 2.0 bulb.. This gives natural light and helps the snakes immune system (so says my vet)... Its not a neccessity but if your snake gets sick its a good way to keep him feeling better. It also provides just a little bit more heat which is always good if your using a 60 watt bulb.

UV light is completely unecessary with most snakes, especially nocturnal ones like Ball Pythons. Too much light can stress your snake out....also the comment about it "helping thier immune system" is false. If your snake is sick....UV light won't do a darn thing to help.

Try introducing your balls to frozen mice.. It helps the prevention of parasites and your snake getting attacked by a mouse that has value for his own life..

Be sure to always offer your snake food from a set of tongs or hemostats to reduce the risk of getting bit or constricted by your snake should he/she miss the rodent and get you instead.

And its always a good thing to handle your snakes every now and then to keep them tame

Make sure your snake is an established eater before you handle it often.....handling is stressful for snakes and Ball Pythons are easily stressed. Once it is a good eater, you can handle it fairly frequently.

Its always nice to have different opinions..

I certainly agree.

[SatanicIntention]

I hope this helps alot. Thank you Jonah for contributing This shopping list is great, and you can find TONS of fun stuff at WalMart. Rubbermaids would probably be, in alot of people's opinions, the best way to house a BP, but that is up to you. They certainly keep humidity and heat very well and are very cheap (which is good on alot of our budgets). Also, there are some things that you don't have to get at the pet shop, but just reading this should give you the gist of mostly everything you need.

Ball (Royal) Python Shopping List!

Pet Shop List
Tank - This can be a glass aquarium (20L is good), a large rubbermaid, or a nice little professional number found at vision, animal plastics, neodeshacages, etc. (See weblink section under caging - http://www.ball-pythons.net/Web_Link...ink-cid-2.html ) also this housing care sheet could help - http://www.ball-pythons.net/Sections...-4-page-1.html

LOCKING LID - a locking lid is very uesful as BP's are strong and can push off a typical lid. Be sure to get lid clips on a tank or clamps or very strong locking rubbermaid.

Substrate (bedding,litter,etc.)- Your substrate is your cage or tank flooring. You can choose many things the best of course is newspaper for economic and cleanliness reasons, then repile carpet ain't bad (be sure to get 2 pieces so you can clean one and have one in the tank). Cypress bedding also works well, as does bed-a-beast and eco-earth (ground husk types of bedding). DO NOT USE - anything even close to PINE or CEDAR unless you would like to poison your new pet.

2 Hides- One for the warm side and one for the cool - you can buy the rock or cocount looking ones at petstores or make your own from empty boxes, old clay pots, disposable tupperware etc.

Water Dish- It is very important to provide your new BP with fresh water daily. You can buy one of the fancy water dishes at the pet store (be sure it is big enough for your BP to soak in if he wants) or you can just get a heavy bowl from somewhere else, just be sure it isn't so light that when your snake tries to get in it tips. No fun cleaning up soaking wet substrate, plus your snake won't be able to soak.

Thermostat/Rheostat- How antsy are you? If you can keep your temps where they need to be without one than awesome, but if you are using a light or ceramic heat emitter you NEED either a rheostat or thermostat. Even if you are using a heating pad depending on the adjustment amount (L,M,Hi, or 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,etc.) you may want to pick up a rheostat or thermostat. Don't buy the petstore thermostat try to get the one from http://www.bigappleherp.com the pet store ones tend to eat up bulbs and such fast, the BAH one is a little easier on your bulbs and such. If you are comfortable/have the time to monitor temps regularly a rheostat is for you. Pet store rheostats will probably be fine.
EDIT: A sliding dimmer switch works as well and is a bit less expensive. -Thanks Jotay!

Tongs- Tongs are essential for feeding any snake from colubrid to reticulated. NEVER feed by holding the mouse with your hand it is a very n00b thing to do. Snakes have an INCREDIBLE sense of smell so unless you would like to get bitten use tongs and wash your hands after handling any prey items. NOTE: BP's don't have the best aim when striking so it is best to avoid any tongs with sharp points (i.e. tweezers) so that if your BP misses he won't slice himself on what you are holding the prey with.

Walmart List
Heat - this can be a human heating pad WITHOUT AUTO SHUT-OFF (recommended), A heat lamp with either a red or blue(*edit* Black light style) bulb, a heat lamp with a ceramic heating element,(pet store) a pet store style under tank heater, heat tape, or a combo of the above. You only want about 1/3 of the tank to have the heat source to keep a proper temperature gradient.

Rubber Feet - if you decide to go with a tank get some rubber feed that stick on the bottoms of chairs to prevent scratching the floor, these can be found at Walmart for cheap, get four to create some air space between your tank and your heating device (heating pad ).

Anti-Bacterial Soap/ Soapless Hand Dis-infectant - BP's can carry salmonella be sure to wash your hands frequently after handling your snake and especially between handling different snakes.

box of cheap latex/plastic gloves- You'd be amazed at how handy these come in - everything from cleaning out the nasty cage floor on cleaning day to protecting your hands from caulk while making the home made humidifier.

Thermometer/Hygrometer- This to some extent determines whether your snake thrives or suffers. Most dial thermometers are WAY off. A digital combo Thermo/Hygro from Walmart runs about $15 and can be used to monitor the temps on each side (one probe, other sensor is in the unit as is the hygrometer [humidity level meter]). This is the most important device of all - snakes can't talk so it is up to you to maintain the environment properly, if you aren't recieving good information (i.e. bad dials/sensors/meters) you can't maintain the environment well and the snake suffers and could die. So go the extra mile and dollar and get a thermometer/hygrometer you can put some confidence in.

OPTIONAL you could pick up some contact paper, or duct tape to use on the lid if you choose a tank it helps keep the humidity in (glass tanks have trouble holding humidity and heat at times). So you can get that while you're at Walmart if you feel you may need it.
This info is from http://www.ball-pythons.net/PNphpBB2...5-start-0.html

I really hope alot of his helps, but the most important thing a new bp owner needs is patience.. Lots and lots of patience. Oh yeah, and the right-size mouse/rat once a week helps too (On this subject, read more on the feeding aspects)

[maniac]

Like I said second opinions always help.. I might have had a couple of holes but with Davids corrections you have a good idea of a setup.. (Even though the fire hazzard shouldnt be problem, Cypress Mulch and a heating pad is just as flammable as any newspaper or bedding you might use)..but nonethless that really isnt a problem unless ur using a poor heating device

(Even though the fire hazzard shouldnt be problem, Cypress Mulch and a heating pad is just as flammable as any newspaper or bedding you might use)..but nonethless that really isnt a problem unless ur using a poor heating device

The substrate isn't the issue when it comes to the fire hazard.....its if the heat pad gets too hot and excess heat cannot escape. A small gap between the pad and the cage should always be present so as to allow that excess to ventilate and not over-heat the pad or tank.....trapping that heat can cause a fire hazard for you and your animal. That is why a regulator of some sort is usually needed when dealing with undertank heating methods.

[maniac]

There is always that chance though isnt there?.. What i do is cover my heating spots with just a little layer of cypress mulch..not 2 much but enough to make sure my snake wotn get burned. I never considered the fact about trapping heat, but nonethless i still had those "small gaps".. good point though.. maybe one day down the line i would have made that mistake :X

You'd be surprised how hot those pads can get if the heat is trapped and cannot ventilate. I myself have almost burned through a cage before.......extreme pad temperatures can even crack glass. This is why the importance of a good thermostat (Ranco & Helix are a couple of EXCELLENT names) can never be underestimated.

[maniac]

I have a heating pad under my rubbermaid which houses my redtail.. The whole "rubber" thing doesnt really sound good to me and i have been thinking to just switching to glass soon. Rubbersounds like a more firehazzard then glass does even though with glass it is always possible.

[SatanicIntention]

Do those little rubber feet from Wally World usually solve that problem? Human heat pads usually have adjustable heat levels on them, correct? So one wouldn't need to invest in a dimmer since there is already one on the unit itself? Whenever I get my first snake (I'm making sure I have all of this information covered and I am comfortable with how it's going to work), I will be using a Rubbermaid and a human heating pad for the ease of use and economical reasons, how would one lift the rubbermaid off of the floor since they really don't have much for corners? Maybe 1/2" piece of wood? I certainly wouldn't want the wood or whatever was used to get hot and make a hot spot on the floor of the enclosure.

Thanks for answering all of my neverending questions. I am learning very much as well as trying to help out where I can. I am a Vet Tech in training and the medical aspect of this is what I know the most about. Although I know some stuff, the people who actually own snakes and know what works and what doesn't are who new owners should ask, if they can't get to a vet yet.

Well anyway, thanks again. I appreciate all of this.