Housing Information Needed: The Whole Shabang

[shhhli]

Hi, my name is Ansli, and I've recently become extremely intrested in the idea of owing a Ball Python. I've spent oodles of time hunting down research information on the beautiful snakes, but am having a few questions on housing.
**Note, i do not own a Python yet, and wont attempt to get one until i have a full understanding of them, and am planning to purchase one in a couple of months.

Heating / Loco:
I have a 20 gall - long - aquarium that i will be using for starters.
How many lights should i use? or should i use a Heating pad - or a combo.
If i use a heating pad (which i have- human type, with dial), i place it under the aquarium correct?
Will this harm a wooden dresser top? or should i locate it ontop of a metal desk i have, or, my other plan is to keep him/her in my walk in closet, where my room is the warmest. i have the shelves, white plastic/rubber type shelves with wire underneath- you know, the open bar'd ones? should i place the BP on a shelf there, it's secure, easily accessable, or will the heater burn up any of these surfaces? if i leave it on all the time?

Now about Humidity:
what is this 'moss' type thing or what that people use? i havent been able to look this up with good results.
can i purchase a humidifier instead? or what alternatives do i have?

Times:
i attend school, and wont be able to be with the snake from 7:30 to 4 or sometimes 6, will this be a healthy situation- nocturnal arent they, i dont see how? i can clean and feed and do all other necessary rituals without problems if i do them early in the morning and the rest of the day? i have free Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and i plan on getting the Snake during our Christmas break (i live in alabama, so he's not likely to experience extreme cold, and my closet- honestly, has a good temperature constantly, my room never goes below 70).

I cant really think of anything about those above other than what's the best way to go about keeping one side cooler than the other, would i just make sure more of the heating pad was to one side?

also: i've always noticed that diffrent sexes have diffrent... tendencies.. like rats (which i do NOT have anymore- no worries) : males are more of the 'pet me' kind, while females are adventurous- same thing with the dogs i have, and cats i've had.
are males more laid back and females more adventuresome? i've also read females have larger heads.

thank you sooo much for any comments, im sure this was troublesome to read.

[rex322]

no trouble at all. welcome to the site. ok first. a 20gal long is good for a baby BP. just make sure you have 2 hides, one on each side. my heating pad (also a human heating pad) has always rested on wood, and never damaged it yet. the UTH should only cover one side of the tank. make sure you prop the tank up alittle bit to let the warm air from the UTH to vent. i have a 29gal aquarium and i keep 2 lights handy, with a few different wattage bulbs. id say its better safe than sorry to have at least one. with a screen lid, which since you have an aquarium, im assuming you have, you will want to cover the top with a damp towel to keep humidity in. heat lamps also kill humidity. make sure you dont use an analog thermometer. you can get a digital thermometer/hygrometer for around $20. i dont see a problem with the shelves, as long as they can support the tank. someone else might know better though. the moss is just to boost humidity. try covering up the tank first, as you might not need the moss. if you wont be able to check the temps for a long period of time like that, you might wanna consider purchasing a thermostat. these control your temp and automatically shutoff or turn on a heatlamp when your temp drops or raises past a certain temperature. females tend to be larger than males, 4-5ft, although a 5ft BP is rare, while males are only about 3-4ft. rex is a male, and hes really adventurous. just think about it though, these "pets" as some call it live for about 20yrs. hope i helped, any other questions, go ahead and ask away. im sure someone else will be along to get something i missed

[Tigergenesis]

Welcome! Always a pleasure to find someone who does their research before hand.

Okay, now to the nitty gritty:

Your primary source of heat should be belly heat - so use a human or reptile heating pad set on a thermostat. If using a human pad, be sure it does not have auto shutoff. You rest/stick the pad directly on the bottom of the tank covering 1/3-1/2 of the tank.

You then want to lift the tank/pad combo up a bit to provide some airflow underneath - this will cut down on any 'trapped heat' thaty may be dangerous. I also don't think the human pads feel as hot so I'm thinking you'll be safe. If you need, you may supplement with overhead heat - but do not make this your primary heat source. Lights tend to dry out the tank and wreck havoc on humidity, so I avoid when possible. You may, as many of us, have problems keeping your cool side up and may wish to add a heat lamp to the cool side.

Warm side: 90-95, Cool side: 80-85, nighttime drop not required but if it does maintain a temp gradient of 5-10 degrees between the two sides and don't go below 75 (72 is pushing it in my opinion).

As you may have found in your research so far, glass tanks make for a more difficult time maintaining temps and humidity. So it is very important that you are prepared for this and set the tank up before getting your snake. That way you have time to fix anything.

Be sure to get a good digital thermoter with probes to measure temps - the stick on kind are generally crap.

The moss is spaghum moss. People use it in humid hides - hides made to help increase humidity and aid in sheds. If you put a humid hide on the warm side of the tank, and your bp uses it, then you may not need to worry about the overall humidity in the tank. It's the easiest (or one of) way to increase humidity. You'll find other easy ways listed in other posts in the General and Husbandry forums (such as misting, covering with damp towels, adding a TropicAire Air Exchanger and Humidifier, etc). There have been some recent posts in the last couple of days so just browse through and you'll find them.

Also, your snake won't care if you're there or not during those hours. As long as you can do the daily/weekly, etc maintanence you'll be fine. As much as we'd like to think otherwise.....he/she won't likely miss you.

I hope you'll share pics of your bp when you get one!

[Tigergenesis]

Also, they are nocturnal so any 'white' light is more for your benefit of viewing your snake. So it's not needed. I like adding the infrared heat lamps (get a low wattage if you don't need the heat benefit of the light) to my tanks so that I can view them at night.

[Marla]

Hi Ansli! Glad you're joining us here, and that you're doing your homework before getting your snake. You might want to get your snake at the Dixie Reptile Show (though it's a little small and doesn't have the best selection) or at the show in Greenville, SC on Oct 30-31 or in Atlanta Nov 20-21.

The moss is sphagnum, as Tigergenesis said, and you should be able to find it in the garden department at Lowe's or Ace or your local garden supply store. I think it ran me about $3 for a bag of it.

I also suggest you use your human heat pad (without auto shutoff), but I would like to mention that if you use any under-tank heat source on your wire shelves in your closet, it's very important you make sure there is no weight resting on the heat pad itself or on the power cord. That's a fire hazard. You should be able to buy shims at Lowe's to keep the weight off the pad and do just fine, or you can just use books at the ends of the tank if you can do that and keep it stable. The heat pad is not harmful to any furniture surface, so wooden dresser top, metal shelves, or closet shelves is all up to you.

As far as gender differences, I have observed that females are less stressed over being handled than males, but in every case the females I've had have been older as well, which I think is a more likely explanation.

[Smulkin]

Welcome to the site - as you can see there are always a horde of helpful folks waiting to answer questions!

I mirror Marlas observation on relative "shyness" between genders - out of our 7 (age notwithstanding) there is a clear distinction in reaction behavior. This could of course be coincidental and isn't much more than anecdotal evidence - be curious to pool some observations from folks who own multiple BPs.

[msolorz]

Definetly my female is a little more aggressive than the male. He seems a little layed back, always checking me out when I am near the glass window.

[RobertCoombs]

Im with Marla and Smulkin, My boys tend to be much more shy/agressive than any of my females . agressive is really a bad term to use but the males tend to show their obvious dislike to being handled more and the only time I have ever been bitten by a adult ball python, it was a male

[shhhli]

Thank you everyone SO much, and i will definatly check out that show, i'll have a list of several places to check out on choosing a healthy bp.

also, i do know how long they live, and it's one of the reasons i am attracted to the animal.

thanks so much again, you're all so kind.