First snake, Tank/Heat/Substrate/UTH advice

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

I need some advice on my setup. I just got a Ball Python from a friend who breeds them and need some pointers.


I included a picture of my setup. 40 gallon tank I think, 24 watt UTH Heat Wave one. I use care fresh about 1" deep as a substrate, and a hide box. I have a plywood top on the aquarium and it has 20 small holes on each side (cool and warm)

With this setup in my half bath the heat was getting up to 70-73 degrees max with just the UTH and the humidity was 90%+ so i had to toss in a space heater to keep the temp up to 80-85 degrees, and the humidity went down to about 55-75%

Any advice or pointers? He spends most of his time on the cool side of the tank, (the hot side is the right, and just substrate), or in his box... sometimes he will go to the warm side but not for a long period of time..... will the UTH make the glass too hot and burn him? Do i need to stick something like a piece of slate or ???? over there to keep him from direct contact.


Also, is there a way to give him enough heat without having to have a space heater burning up electricity and heating the entire room and subsequently driving down the humidity a bit?


From what Ive read min 75 degrees, 80-90 degrees during day, and 55-75% humidity? Let me know if I have this right.


Any other advice would be appreciated as well. How often do you guys feed a 1 month old ball python? I was thinking a 3 week old rat every 7-10 days?


Thanks again

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dxkj21/ballPython.jpg

[kavmon]

check out the caresheet on this site. temps 80-84 cool/90-94 warm. 50-60% humidity is fine. if possible could you post a pic of the setup?

ps. just curious, did your friend that breeds these give you advice or help you with your setup?


vaughn

[tigerlily]

Ok, here's my thoughts. Take them for what they're worth. I would immediately ditch those dials and strips. I started out with those and well... basically they suck. Mine had a 5-10 degree margin of error. Go to any Walmart/Target/Home Depot/Lowes store and go to the outdoor thermometer section. You'll find a digital thermometer that will measure two temps (indoor/outdoor ---> hot/cool side), and will measure humidity as well. The one at WalMart is Accurite and I found mine for under $12. It's great. Anyway, you'll want to be sure you're measuring temps accurately. You are aiming for a cool side of no lower than 80 degrees. To do so, will be putting your ball python at risk for an respiratory infection. I aim for 84 cool side and 94 hot side, but a nice range is 82-84 cool and 92-94 hot. And a good humidity range is 50-60% I only increase it to 70% during sheds.

And yes, you need to be worried about your snake getting burned. They sell thermostats at many online stores. The more accurate ones being Helix and Herpstat. I actually own a herpstat, but have plans on purchasing a couple Helixes next. A simple Ranco will work ok too. Those heat pads can reach temps of 110. A thermostat will control the amount of heat generated, and is an awesome source of peace of mind. The majority of money is not spent on the snake but on providing an adequate enclosure. These are cold blooded animals, so providing the correct temperatures is crucial. Here's a link to our caresheet. http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

I would also be concerned about that lid, as it doesn't look too secure.

I also use a space heater to keep the general air (ambient) temps up. It's a killer on humidity, but as long as you are in the 50-60% range, you're fine. An alternative is to have two separate heat mats on two different controls/thermostats. You can also try putting cardboard or another insulating material on the sides of the tank to help keep the temps up.

That tank is a bit large for a baby bp. I would try and put 3-4 hides in there. Any open area, just makes them feel vunerable and stressed. I would put two hides, that are small and tight (just big enough for the little guy to get into) on each side of the tank. They like to feel snug and be able to touch all sides, in order to feel secure. That low dark box is great for heigth and darkness. Put the water bowl in the middle, unless you need humidity to increase in which case keep it on the hot end. Allow the snake 1 week of no touching or fussing with, and then offer a rat pinkie. I offer food every 7 days. Creating a routine for the bp to become used to. Do the same thing every time.

I just realized I dumped a lot on your lap, but I hope this helps. Welcome to the forum, and feel free to ask any more questions. (especially if you need help clarifying any of the above )

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Yes the fellow who gave me the snake has given me advice and answered my questions, but we work opposite shifts, and Im the internet junky type who likes to research and get multiple opinions as well as get answers immediately instead of waiting for phone calls back etc

I realize the tank is a little large, but I decided that I didnt have a tank, so why not get one large enough for it for a while for $50 instead of upgrading and ending up with a few extra tanks sitting around.

I Do have a thermostat that I have the heat pad plugged into, the only problem is it never gets warm enough in there to turn it off (80 on cool side, 85-90 on hot side with my electric space heater and the heat pad running). Should I have the thermostat sensor right against the glass that the heat pad side is on?

My friend did give me advice the same as you about getting a more accurate thermostat/hygrometer.

The lid is a temporary setup, and actually got warped by the high humidity that was in the room at first. Those weights on top are 10lbs each, so I figured that might keep him in place at least temporarily... I was considering making a better lid, but I dont want to use screen as that would totally kill the humidity in there. I plan on putting 2 more hides in. The granola bar box was just the best i had lying around and he loves it . Ive been looking around and trying to find some small tight hide that he would like... is it ok to put a hide on the hot side? My water dish is a little large, but apparently I didnt understand spatially exactly how large it was in comparison to the tank until I got it home.

Its been a few days and I've handled the snake twice, and it is very docile and doesnt panic or try to curl up when I reached in, more curious than anything.

Thanks for all the advice, Im going to try to find a good thermometer later today, and keep out an idea for some good hides. This picture says it isnt showing up, did the link work to copy and paste out?

[tigerlily]

Yes. I always tried to secure the sensor so that the snake couldn't move it around. Are those temps you are stating from the thermostat?

And you do need to have a hide on the hot side. Preferable identical hides, so you know the snake is choosing the spot for thermoregulation and not security.

The problem with such a large tank is that all that open space causes stress. Ball pythons are shy, secretive creatures. All that open space is just a source of stress. You should be able to fix that by packing the cage full of hides, and even some greenery. (or heck even crumpled up newspaper will work)

Best of luck getting everything situated. Oh and yes the link worked for me.

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Ok I made two more hides one really low ceramic pot and one medium height one. i will put the low tight hide near the water dish which is now on the hot side until I get humidity sorted out.


I picked up one of those termostats at walmart, except it only had one sensor so i have to leave the whole thing in the cage.

88 degrees on the substrate on the hot side, 78 degress on the cool side, but you were right... humidity only shows 31% on the new device whereas it was showing 60% on the old one... grrr

Trying to figure out how to counteract all that dry electricity space heater heat

[kavmon]

if the snake is a baby that 40 gal. is way too big. like christie said. you could seperate the tank into 1/3 thirds. this would decrease the amount of area to heat and humidify. when the snake grows up a bit,just open up another third of the tank. you will probably have to change your heating setup at some point.


vaughn

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Ok heat on warm side 88, cool side 80, humidity 70% and the place is now littered with hides.

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

As far as portioning it up to make the aquarium smaller. if I make a total of about 5 hides, a water bowl, and leave him in a room that is complete and total dark 98% of the day, would that be sufficient without having to portion it up? When he isnt in a hide, he is either curled up in a corner, or stretched out his full length across the middle of the aquarium...

I guess I will find out if he is stressed or nto when i try to feed him in a week or so.

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Question about humidity.... if the inside of the cage gets up to 80% humidity according to an accurate digital thermometer is that aything to worry about?

I sealed the lid tighter on the aquarium and now it is getting up to 77 humidity on the cool side. the water bowl is in the center so im going to shift it to the right, but I was wondering about "max" humidity as well as minimum


(min should be 50-60 with a 70+% water hide right? )