Some husbandry questions

I have a number of questions about the setup I have for my little ball python, Kylara. When I first got her, I set up her plastic rubbermaid tub with papertowel substrate, an under-the-tank heat cable, and a Herpstat ND thermostat. I am also using a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo meter from Zilla to measure temps and humidity. Originally, she was in a small cardboard hide, but recently I bought a similarly sized rubbermaid tray and converted it into a hide for her.

The first issue that I have had has been with her humidity. Her last shed wasn't as great as the previous one, with retained skin on the tip of her tail that I managed to soak off of her. Additionally, her skin doesn't feel the same smoothness as it did before I got the new plastic hide; it feels coarser and dryer. Since the only thing that has changed in her enclosure has been the addition of this new heavy plastic hide, could that be what's leading to humidity problems? Readings with the hygrometer outside the hide are at around 50 to 55%, with the hygrometer failing to return a result when the probe is placed inside the hide.

Another thing that has been bothering me is that the readings from the Herpstat and the Zilla combo temp and humidity meter do not match one another; the Herpstat (set for 94 degrees for the warm side) will give a reading on the Zilla thermometer of about 85 degrees at the warmside. I'm not all that sure what is going on there. :confused: Is this something I should be worried about? She seems warm and happy, so I have just left her temp at the 94 degrees Herpstat setting.

Finally, I had a quick question regarding my cleaning schedule (I haven't had any problems with this so far, but I want to stay on top of this too :) ). I clean Ky's tank every 5-7 days with soap and water and I change her papertowel substrate whenever she makes a mess. However, I know that I need to add a disinfection component to the cleaning process. I see some people use a 10% bleach solution to clean their ball's enclosures. I would assume that this would be safe for Ky as well then? Would regular weekly cleaning, and a biweekly or monthly disinfection with bleach, be appropriate to make sure her tank is healthy?

Thanks. :)

-Exo-ky

Where is your probe placed? I have had many digital thermometers be very inaccurate... as much as 8 degrees off or so in some cases. I would trust the herpstat over the digital thermometers. If the prob in underneath the tub the temp inside the tub will usually be a degree or 2 lower so that may account for some of the discrepancy. An IR thermometer is the best way to check temps accurately. I use this one and it works very well. http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-201.html

If you are having problems with sheds you can increasing the humidity by simply plugging some of the holes in the tub.

I would plug some holes and when you it in shed, I would mist daily until it sheds! I personally just wash my tubs with soap and hot water and never had a health problem! I would get a digital thermometer with a probe and put the probe directly on the bottom to get an accurate reading and adjust temps accordingly! Sometimes you may have to set the temps on the herpstat a little higher to get the right ground temp!

http://www.songbirdgarden.com/store/...URITE00891.jpg

I use one of these to measure temp and humidity and it seems to work pretty good and its only about 10 bucks at a hardware store or walmart.

Hey everyone, thanks for all your great advice! :)

My temperature and humidity probes are just sitting on the paper towel substrate next to Ky's hidebox. Sometimes I will put the humidity probe into Ky's hide, but usually when I do that, it gives a value of "--.-" (very helpful, I know ;) ). I actually think that the reason why its doing that is because the hygrometer will only give readings if the humidity is above 30% but less than 80%. So that's why when it fails to return a result in the hidebox, I have come to believe the hide is somehow killing her humidity levels (making them too low, somehow, because they obviously are not high enough :( ). I agree I need to get a IR tempgun, I've been looking at some sellers online and I think I'm probably gonna buy one online tomorrow afternoon :)

As for putting holes into her tub and her hide, I already have holes in her tub (I got a bit carried away thinking about ventilation when I set her tub up). I may also add some holes to her hide to try and increase the airflow in there.

Thanks again for the help!