New guy with a few questions

[iLLwiLL]

firstly, this is a kick butt board and i cant express how glad i am that i found this place. now with all the butt kissing out of the way on to the real questions . . .

i picked up a captive bred ball hatchling about 2 weeks ago, and here's where i'm now. he's in a 30 gallon tank, newspaper lining, 50w heat lamp, screen top, cardboard hide, ladder lined with fake plants for climbing, rough rock, water dish half covered (for humidity?), and under tank heater. my humidity is at 55-60, and ambient temp is 80* during the day, and 70-75* at night. sound about right???

i've been feeding him twice a week on live small mice / hoppers, and he's shed once since i've had him. if the humidity is too low, would that cause the shed to be flakey opposed to one piece? any ideas on how to help him get through sheds better?

thanks.

~Will.

[Royal-y__Great]

whats the basking temp?

you shouldnt be feeding more than one time a week, i dont know if you meant you fed on seperate occasions, or twice on the same day

its ok to feed two in one day, but not like one in morn one at night, but its still not advisable, itd be better to try to go up in food size so you can just feed one.


and if he doesnt shed in one piece, the humidity is low

try to get it up by putting a water bowl on top of the heat source, and misting the cage

and if he doesnt shed full, put him in a bath, and gently massage the skin, going down, not against the grain, DONT PEEL IT OFF, and it should take about a half hour or more of this, depending on how much actually did come off, and once the water gets cooler (i forgot to mention, have it at luke warm water) you need to change the water

WELCOME TO THE SITE, ASK QUESTIONS AND POST PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Smulkin]

Welcome aboard!

If he's a hatchling he may feel a little dwarfed by that tank - make sure he's got plenty of hides to minimize the feeling of exposure.

Now a few questions for you:

What type of thermometer are you using and where are you taking measurements?
Are you providing a thermal gradienst (warm side cool side)?

Low humidity can indeed result in patchy sheds, covering the screen top (moist towel, contac paper etc on the outside) will help retain humidity better) - elevating the humidity when he is going into shed will help acheive a cleaner shed. If the feeders are leaving a noticable lump you might want to cut back the schedule to 5 days.

Never hesitate to ask questions - you'll always find folks on this site willing to take the time to hook you up with info.

[iLLwiLL]

last night, i re-decorated the tank a little, and put the covered half of the water bowl over the undertank heater. as far as measurements, i'm taking them with stick-on analog dials i got at a huge pet store. i stuck them to the back of the tank about 8-10 inches from the screen top.

as for the thermal gradient . . . i think so. i have the heat lamp over the middle of the tank, and a heat pad oriented way over to the left quarter of the tank, and the cardboard hide is on the right side . . . anything i should do different?

when i said 2x a week, it was geared more towards once every 4 days or so with a descent sized mouce. i'll try to grab the digi from work today on my lunch break to get a few pics up so you can get a better idea of what i'm working with . . . i like the wet towel idea, i think i'll put one over the screen top when i go home in about 2 hours.

thanks for the fast replies!

~Will.

[Royal-y__Great]

well....

those analog thermometers dont work, they are always off by so much

go to walmart, buy an acurite indoor/outdoor therm. it has two temps and humidity, its great (costs 15$)

and, i think that if you are using a heat pad and a heat light, they should be directly over/under each other, if there is too much of hotness in the cage, and the bp wants to be on the cooler side, it might not be able to escape the heat.

and the cardboard hide is on the right side

does this mean you only have one hide? you need a hide on both sides, so when he wants to be on the warm side, he can be secure, and vice versa

[iLLwiLL]

since i got nothing better to do at work today, and i feel like fingerpainting, heres a quick draw up of my setup . . . and yes, the screen top is nice and secure with that ladder being so close to the top



~Will.

[Marla]

You definitely need to add a warm side hide and get a more accurate way to measure temps, like the Acu-Rite model mentioned.

[Royal-y__Great]

yeah, you are gunna need to get another hide for the warm side, and id move the lamp ove so it only covers half, not the middle

and still go with the acurite.


and please say thats not a heat rock, and just a normal one, thats been disinfected?

[Smulkin]

Nice thoroughness in the diagram, man. Yeah as others have warned and as I experienced early on those thermometers are

A) Notoriously innacurate sometimes by as much as 10+ degrees they are positioned such that
B) You won't get useful measurements that high up in the tank - need to take measurements down where the snake will be hangin out at floor level - with a UTH (Under Tank Heat) that temp difference can be significant as well.

THe analog thermometers heat rocks etc are often wound up with as a result of a pet store telling you you need em - this is more likely especially if that's where you got your python - not a reflection on yourself but on their own ignorance and desire to make sales - that's where sites like this become an invaluable resource.

[gozetec02]

Your thermometers and hygrometers need to be lower toward the floor so they will tell you information about the floor of the tank. Dont cover half the water dish for humidity, cover half the tank lid. The water dish should also be in the center of the tank between the 2 hides.

Now about the hide. You need at least 2 one for the warm side one for the cool side. They also need to be just big enough for them to fit inside. I have found that baby ball pythons love those little cereal boxes that come in the variety packs for hides they are small cheap and yummy to replace.

Now shedding. If all the conditions are met your snake will have a complete shed. make sure you have things in there for him to rub on so he can get it started. Humidity should be about 60% raising it to 70% for shedding. What I do is spray a little water under the warm hide the heat will make the water evaporate and it makes a great temporary humid hide. Getting digital thermometers and hygrometers would be a good idea because they are very accurate.


Here is a picture of my old setup I have since switched to sterilite housing because of humidity problems.

Here is my setup now. Jojo is in the big sterilite and i had a little ball python in the little one.

Now heating. The heat pad and the heat lamp should be on the same side of the tank.