Hey guys im thinking of getting my first BP very soon need help with the setup!

[denisthemenace]

Hey, Im pretty new to Herps in general and i have afew questions regarding the setup. I could use all the help i can get. Well first off alittle about where i live and my environment. I live in NYC so clearly everyone knows the temp. vary and can drop very low during the winter. In my room, where im planning to house the BP temp. drop to around 68 at night if not slightly lower and are around the 70s in the afternoon. This is a concern of mine, because im not sure what direction i should take inorder to maintain the right housing temp. Im looking to get a baby BP (hatchling) im read that it is better to house them in rubbermaid vivs the size of a 10g tank (i was curious how big is the 10g tank in dimentions and if anyone can recommend a good site for rubbermaid style enclosures) This is where my questions really come in because im not sure what direction i want to take. Either a glass tank or a plastic enclosure? the only thing that is turning me off about the plastic enclosure is that its going to be difficult to use a light. If i go with the tank im thinking of having this set up; screen lid, light fixture for a incandescent daytime bulb and a seperate fixture for a night time IR bulb. Flexwatt under tank heat through out the entire bottom of the tank.. to maintain a constant 82 degrees (w/termostat) with the light i should achieve a hot spot of 92 (well at least im planning on to). Im alittle concerned about the Humidity, i know lights dry the viv out so i was thinking if misting the sides once in a while was fine or having 40% of the screen top covered with Glad press and seal wrap (that is what i use to do with my Tarantulas seemed to work quite good). Along with that im thinking of running the lights on a 10 on 14 (IR) cycle. Im gonna go with aspen as substrate and ill be feeding in a seperate container for various reasons, such as accidental aspen injestion and for training purposes so the snake doesnt make it a habit to think that once i open the viv its feeding time. Ok guys i think thats about it for now... what do you think and what are your recommendations.. looking forward to everyones feedback.

[new2BP]

i am using a glass tank and have been sense i got my BP in June. however i am able to keep my room temps constant throughout the day and night. Glass tanks tend to be effected by temperatures in the room more so than plastic contianers. sense this is an issue with you, i would consider plastic tanks.

[kavmon]

sounds like you've done some planning. personally for a baby, i'd go with a small plastic tub and a piece of flexwatt for heat. always use a thermostat, they will save you alot of headaches/stress. when the snake is bigger you can do a bigger setup. hides are also very important to babies, have a couple in the enclosure. it is vital that the baby is warm and secure and eating steady,just my thoughts.


vaughn

[tigerlily]

Congrats on being thorough on your planning. Big kudos to you!

Add in a digital thermometer to monitor temps too. You want a plastic tub that will just fit two small hides and a water dish. You don't want a ton of open area, since that just stresses them out. The only other thing I can think to suggest is to set up your housing for at least 24 hours before you get the snake. That way you can work the kinks out, and have a nice home for the snake ready for its arrival. Good luck.

[recycling goddess]

as far as i know (and i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong here) - you only put the UTH on one half of the tank as it's important the other side to be cooler and you want to heat your pb with your UTH. a light which is used for heat isn't recommended as it is very drying to the air and humidity is important to bps.

here's a link to the caresheet on this site:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

welcome to the wonderful world of balls... they are GREAT!

[denisthemenace]

I was wondering if i got with a plastic viv .. how can i maintain the proper cooler side temp. if my room temp ranges from 67-72.. Because if i go with a UTH for the basking spot .. i dont want to go with another thermostat and another UTH to control the cooler side. I also spoke to someone who said that plastic vivs dont need any lighting

[recycling goddess]

when my temps are low i use a human heating pad set on low on top of my viv (i use a rubbermaid container).

and nope, no lighting in the plastic viv.

[ddbjdealer]

Lights are not necessary unless you're breeding. For a baby, a basic 14 on 10 off or 12 on 12 off is just fine, IF you even use lights. You asked about size, well, for my babies (up to around 500g or a little larger) I use 15qt sterilite tubs. The ambient temps in the room I'm keeping them in is around 75, but with the flexwatt going across the back of the tub (3" strips), it creates a hot pocket in the back of the tub, and while the floor temps are 92 to 94 in the back of the tub, the cool side still gets up to around 82 to 85 with ambients IN the tub getting up to around 82-84.

In order to get rid of some of that extra humidity that the plastic will help you achieve, drill some holes along the FRONT and side of the tub to help circulate the air and let out some humidity.

I use both a glass tank for my male, and a rack system with all plastic in it for my girls (and future males), and I can tell you from experience and much headache, it's MUCH more constant and a lot easier to control temps/humidity in plastic than it is in glass!

Good luck, and welcome to the forums! It's a great place and lots of people have really good info!