Concerned about my BP

I am new to this forum and have a few concerns about my python. I believe it is a male so I will just say "he" :oops:. I received him last year sometime in July and he was already close to 4 ft. I am not sure how old he is but seemed pretty active and healthy. We got a nice 50 gal. glass home for him which has two plexi-glass openings and wire mesh in the middle, a large dish for water and a heating lamp with one bulb for "day" and one for "night". These were all things to just start off. So anyhow, he was eating well, and very active. I followed some advise from my brother that now I am not to sure it was good advise or not. He had told me that there was no need for nighttime for a snake and that I didn't need a hide for him and that my set up was simple and fine. All the snake needed. He went on about how the decorum of the snakes home is mainly for its owners enjoyment. Anyhow to make a long story short, we moved in January and that was the last time my python ate. January 9th to be exact, he had shed two weeks later. He had become a whole lot more skittish and I am not sure but I think he actually hissed at me a few days ago. I believe I am not doing right by my animal if he is that uncomfortable and think my brother is full of bull. :mad:

This week I am starting over, I got a hide for him and another bulb for "nighttime". I also bought some moss to help with the humidity since I am concerned that the heat lamp is making it too dry. The pet store by our home does not have the nice digital meters so I have to find one online. Since I put the hide in his home he has been inside and has not come out at all. He has poked his head out a few times. I put the moss in and am trying to keep it moist but the lamp is drying it out. I mist the inside quite often through out the day. I don't feel like I am doing to good of a job here and would love some feedback. Sorry this is so long and if I have left out any pertinent information, which I am sure I have please ask. Thank you.

BPs need hides, at least 2, one on the warm side and one on the cool side. He's probably very happy now that he has a hide. They are not great display animals because they love to hide. I would suggest that you at least get one more hide for other side of the tank. As for your humidity, BPs don't need very high humidity. What you can do is provide a humidity hide for him. When I kept my BPs in glass tanks I used zoo med repti shelters with damp towels. This seemed to work pretty well. You'll also have better luck with your humidity if you switch from using lamps to using an under tank heater, just make sure you get something to control it. If you want to stick with heat lamps I would switch to using a red/blue/black blub then you only need one and can leave it on all the time. BPs don't need light, I keep mine in tubs and the only light they get is what makes it through the plastic or when I take them out.

I hope this helps, good luck! :)

Indeed, an under tank heater with a thermostat would be beneficial for the boy's health, along with the 2 identical hides.

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Originally Posted by Kinra

BPs need hides, at least 2, one on the warm side and one on the cool side. He's probably very happy now that he has a hide. They are not great display animals because they love to hide. I would suggest that you at least get one more hide for other side of the tank. As for your humidity, BPs don't need very high humidity. What you can do is provide a humidity hide for him. When I kept my BPs in glass tanks I used zoo med repti shelters with damp towels. This seemed to work pretty well. You'll also have better luck with your humidity if you switch from using lamps to using an under tank heater, just make sure you get something to control it. If you want to stick with heat lamps I would switch to using a red/blue/black blub then you only need one and can leave it on all the time. BPs don't need light, I keep mine in tubs and the only light they get is what makes it through the plastic or when I take them out.

I hope this helps, good luck! :)

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Thank you for the suggestions. I will be sure to get another hide for him. As for the under tank heater. I had purchased one the other day then realized that the stand we have the tank on is all wood and the rubber "feet" that were included would not lift the tank enough. I will be investing in another stand, one that is more appropriate for that type of heater. I did get a red bulb, it is only a 50 watt though. I may have to get at least a 75watt??? Thank you very much for your help. I will make the next hide a humidity hide.

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Originally Posted by TheWinWizard

Indeed, an under tank heater with a thermostat would be beneficial for the boy's health, along with the 2 identical hides.

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:) Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.

I can't really picture your enclosure. You say it's "a glass home which has two plexi-glass openings and wire mesh in the middle", but I'm a bit confused as to what that means.

You don't have to have anything special to hold the tank up. I got 8 pieces of 2" tall, 1" diameter PCV pipes from my work and that's what I used to lift the tanks up for both of my snakes. I just put it underneath the glass in all of the corners and it works great.

If you have a UTH on one side of the tank that is controlled by a dimmer, rheostat or thermostat, you don't really need a lamp. Lamps suck a lot of the humidity out of the air. So honestly, unless it is totally necessary, don't bother with the lamps. If you got rid of the lamps, you probably wouldn't be having such a tough time with humidity. Having two hides will definitely benefit your snake. Like we say "a hiding ball python is a happy ball python". The hides don't have to be anything fancy or expensive. Maybe try to black out the back and sides of the enclosure to make him feel a little more secure as well.

Thanks for coming on here and trying to get advice on how to improve the care and happiness of your snake. Even if you aren't doing some things correctly now, you are certainly taking the right steps to making things better.:)

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Originally Posted by smason0820

Thank you for the suggestions. I will be sure to get another hide for him. As for the under tank heater. I had purchased one the other day then realized that the stand we have the tank on is all wood and the rubber "feet" that were included would not lift the tank enough. I will be investing in another stand, one that is more appropriate for that type of heater. I did get a red bulb, it is only a 50 watt though. I may have to get at least a 75watt??? Thank you very much for your help. I will make the next hide a humidity hide.

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Bulbs are more of an irritant for the snake as they are nocturnal AND they will kill the humidity causing bad sheds. I strongly suggest a UTH with a thermostat instead since the cons of "lights" are a lot more and the pros. How are you measuring temps? Bulbs also get very hot, and analog temp guages are not accurate.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Bulbs are more of an irritant for the snake as they are nocturnal AND they will kill the humidity causing bad sheds. I strongly suggest a UTH with a thermostat instead since the cons of "lights" are a lot more and the pros. How are you measuring temps? Bulbs also get very hot, and analog temp guages are not accurate.

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I have a digital temp gauge but another one is on the list. I would love to get a UTH and be rid of the bulb. I am looking at another stand as I can't use the UTH with table its on now. It is literally a table. Thanks for the info. :)

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Originally Posted by Bones

I can't really picture your enclosure. You say it's "a glass home which has two plexi-glass openings and wire mesh in the middle", but I'm a bit confused as to what that means.

You don't have to have anything special to hold the tank up. I got 8 pieces of 2" tall, 1" diameter PCV pipes from my work and that's what I used to lift the tanks up for both of my snakes. I just put it underneath the glass in all of the corners and it works great.

If you have a UTH on one side of the tank that is controlled by a dimmer, rheostat or thermostat, you don't really need a lamp. Lamps suck a lot of the humidity out of the air. So honestly, unless it is totally necessary, don't bother with the lamps. If you got rid of the lamps, you probably wouldn't be having such a tough time with humidity. Having two hides will definitely benefit your snake. Like we say "a hiding ball python is a happy ball python". The hides don't have to be anything fancy or expensive. Maybe try to black out the back and sides of the enclosure to make him feel a little more secure as well.

Thanks for coming on here and trying to get advice on how to improve the care and happiness of your snake. Even if you aren't doing some things correctly now, you are certainly taking the right steps to making things better.:)

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The problem with that is the table that I have the tank on is slightly shorter than the tank itself. Each side only hangs of by 1/2 inch but makes it harder to create little legs for the tank to stand on. The top of the tank has a plexi-glass door on each side which latch close. In the middle of the tank is a square of mesh that the heating lamp sits on. Sorry if I am not explaining this better. I will be working on uploading some pictures so maybe it will be easier to help me. Thanks for the suggestion though I am still going to see what I can do. I really would like to get and use the UTH instead of the bulb. :gj:

I would say to get a 2x4 and cut two pieces to lay across the table and set the tank on top to give the UTH ventilation. Just a thought...