Enclosure help?

[punx]

So i have had my ball python for about a month now and he just completed a shed that was pretty bad, he is about 3 or so months old and I just have some questions about the enclosure so i can avoid him having to go through a bad shed again.

here is my setup for his terrarium

-Right now i am using i think a ten or 15 gallon tank with a lock screen top ( not sure what size it was given to be by the person who original had the snake)
-I'm using a zoo med under tank heater for a 10-20 gallon tank along with a hood fixture cycling 50 watt uv, and then 50 watt night bulbs for heat and for a photo cycle
-he has a good sized water bowl that if he curled up he could soak in, 2 hide huts, one on the hot side above the UTH, and one about halfway in the tank under a piece of wood i got from the pet store for him to climb on.
-along with this i am using eco earth cocoanut substrate

my main problems are that i can't seem to keep humidity above 30% and i spray often but the humidity goes down rather rapidly even when i spray heavy ( usually within a few hours). Also i can't seem to get the temperature of my enclosure about about 75 degrees either, my snake comes out often and seems happy enough, but im worried that my setup is insufficent for him. If anyone could give me some tips or let me know what i am doing wrong i would greatly appreciate it.

[kameo37]

Do you have a thermostat to control the temp of the UTH? That is the #1 thing you really, really need.

Also, how are you measuring temps and humidity. I've read a few things about getting a false read from certain hygrometers. Maybe you just have a bunk one?

Also, the UTH will do you no good at all of your substrate is too thick. I don't use ecoearth, but with the cypress mulch I use a 1/2 inch or less.

I don't think they really need the lights for a photo cycle at all. I've always heard that if they are in a room with a window, that's sufficient...but someone with more experience may want to chime in on that. I would use a CHE over any light bulbs if I needed to pump up the ambient temp.

Hope that helps! If I've missed anything I'm sure someone can follow up!

[punx]

I don't have a thermostat tied to the UTH, i also have a ceramic heat admiter with a dome but im just worried if that might put to much heat in the tank, also im using just a simple zilla temperature and humidity gauge that measures both.

[KMG]

You NEED a tstat. The uth can easily burn your snake. Unplug the uth until you get a tstat. I love my Herpstats. Buy the best tstat you can afford. Buying a cheap one will mean it will need replacing when it breaks which will add up to the price of a good you in a few broken units. http://www.spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

You can use bulbs or a che as long as they are giving you the correct temp. Both can also cause a hotspot directly under them that is to hot. The easiest way to check surface temps are with a IR temp gun. They are cheap on Amazon.

The pet store gauges can very very inaccurate. I would upgrade them when you can.

To help your sheds here are some tips.
1. Cover the screen to leaving a window for the light and heat to pass through. Use foil or foil tape. This will help hold some humidity and heat. Some people use a damp towel but I don't like to because it will rust the screen top.

2. Mist the tank daily, maybe a couple times a day if its really dry. At the first signs of a coming shed (red/pink belly, dull colors, foggy eyes) start to mist more often.

3. Create a humid hide. This can be as easy as keeping damp moss in the hides. I do this. Every few days I dampen the moss during non shed and allow it to dry out. During a shed I keep it damp.

[kameo37]

I use a hydrofarm thermostat, I'd say it's more reasonable for the single (or few) snake owner. About $30.
I'm not familiar with the zilla humidity/temp gauge. It needs to have a probe that you can place directly on the glass to see what the temp is that your snake is actually experiencing.
You can get a dimmer switch for the CHE at home depot or lowes. $12.

I agree though, don't use the uth until you can get a thermostat. Which also means no feeding (unless your ambient temps in the room are like 85+) so it's pretty urgent that you get one. It has been proven time and time again that bps get burned by them. I know it seems weird, why wouldn't they just move off of the heat source? But they don't. They get burned.

I'm sure you can get together all the stuff that your snake needs! It's a learning curve, but hopefully, a short one. Then you can enjoy your new pet for years to come!

[kameo37]

Oops, I just saw the part about using the lamps temporarily until you can get a thermostat. So I guess it would be fine to feed, assuming you have a thermometer with a probe on it to check those temps. You can get a zoo med for $7 and I have found most of them to be accurate.

[punx]

Thank you KMG, the spyder thermostats look awesome, but im not sure which one i should buy, i can see that they all regulate temperature and have a humidity gauge, but on the hepstat 1 it only have one output for a probe but still is showing readings on humidity and temperature, so i am confused on if that one would be a good option or if i would want to get the hepstat 2 which has to outputs. Also the humidity probe on their website is very expensive so i was wondering if you knew what exactly came in the box with these hepstats. Thank you guys for all the help.