I have a baby ball barely a year old. She'll be a year in July. She eats live (and please don't tell me to feed prekilled, I've already tried to switch her to prekilled multiple times and she just won't have it right now, however I do plan on trying again once she starts to require larger prey) and she has a pretty good demeanor. She chills in her hide during the day and comes out to explore at night. Sometimes she'll move out of her hide and go to a cooler spot in the tank for a couple of hours, but then returns to her hide. The temp in her hide used to be warmer but I added a layer of substrate because it felt warm to MY touch. I read that if it's warm to me it's too hot for them. That and I picked her up one day to spot clean and she was pink on her belly and really warm. However, since adding the layer of substrate (which wasn't a whole lot), it's not very warm at all. I did test the temperature in the hide though and it does get to a solid 85. I'm not 100% sure if my thermo is accurate or not though and I've been debating on getting a new one. Any good ones out there that aren't too terribly high in the price range? If not, I don't mind spending a little extra if it will help in the long run.

Next, the tank I use is a 20 gal terrarium with a locking screen top (though half of the top is covered) and side doors that swing open (also lockable). I use Zoo Med Cypress for her bedding and never had issues. I do have two plants with reptile moss set around them to help them hold humidity. The plants are ivy and something else (I forget but she's had the second one since I got her and had no problems, it's the ivy I'm concerned with but I read ivy is harmless, was this incorrect?). The other "plants" are fake. There is also some driftwood/grapewood for her to play on and it's set up so that she doesn't fall from a height that'll hurt her (the tank is pretty shallow to begin with). I had a UV reptile bulb but it didn't produce heat (I just hear it's easier on their eyes, appears more natural, and is also nice for the plants). I switched it to one that produced mild heat that can keep the air in the tank at around 80-85. Should I switch it back to the UV since her hide gets warm enough? Her dark light also gets warm. I've set these lights on 12 hour timers. I also have a small humidifier pump that runs during the day and helps keep my levels around 50-70% (but it drops a little faster with the heating bulb than the UV so I sometimes have to help keep it stable). It doesn't run at night though and my levels drop during the evening, but I have a large bowl beneath the night lamp to keep the water warm enough for her to comfortably soak in (without the lamp, it gets REALLY cold and she avoids it like the plague) and the water keeps the one side of the tank somewhat humid (but I'm ashamed to say not at optimal levels). So once the day stuff turns on, I lightly mist the glass and the humidity stabilizes at 50-70% throughout the day. Should I just keep the pump on to keep levels at night stable? And I thought about getting the Zoo Med Fogger to better help with humidity but the darn thing is expensive and I'm not 100% sure if it's necessary, especially after buying this other humidifying system. Does anyone have experience with the Zoo Med Fogger that can tell me a little about it?

Finally, since the day I found her with a warm, pink belly, we've been having some issues. Some of the scales feel dry and look slightly wrinkled. They aren't a deep brown but they are a mild tan. Sections of her belly are pinkish but not warm. She's also been flaking bits of dry, clear, thin plastic-y pieces around the sides where the belly scales meet the side scales. I did some research and found some other people had a similar problem but that, in most cases, it just went away after a couple of weeks of monitoring and soaking. I did give her a good, long soak and she looked normal after, but the next day it was the same. I'd really like some advice on this one. I'm worried about her and would like to try and help her myself. I will take her to the vet if you all think it's serious enough (I personally have never dealt with this and don't know how serious it is). Thing is, I'm looking for a new Herp Vet that's close to me since the person I used to contact retired or left or something.

Some info about her: Her last shed was Feb 28 (and she had a slightly rough time but not completely, most of it came off in large pieces). She last ate March 22 and is due to eat this coming Monday. She eats slightly larger mice (not as big as small rats but larger than mice you find at Petco or Petsmart). She ate well and she pooped, nothing was out of the ordinary. Her demeanor hasn't changed either since all of this. However, I'm still concerned. I've provided pictures of both my set-up and of her.











Picture 1: A pic of her to give an idea of her size and length.
Picture 2: Her tank with everything described above.
Pictures 3-5: To show the discolored, dry scales and the pink tone on her belly. I couldn't get a good picture of the flakes though but it's similar to this case: http://www.rcreptiles.com/forum/about4235.html

Please note, I am still learning and struggle every day with myself, wondering if I'm doing everything possible to give her a long and comfortable life. Kind advice and helpful tips are appreciated. One thing I ask is don't tell me to switch the bedding to newspaper or paper towel. I'm sorry if this sounds stubborn or immature but I just don't want that for her permanent enclosure. However, should I have to put her in quarantine, I will be using paper towel. I will accept other bedding ideas for her enclosure though. I have considered EcoEarth and would like to know more about that since I fear the cypress chips might be a little rough.

Sorry for the really long post. I just wanted to be as descriptive as possible and touch on as many subjects that are of concern as I could. My biggest thing right now is her belly so I'd like to discuss that first. Please and thank you!! <3