Question Regarding Health of ball python

Hello all, I am fairly new to snake keeping (got about 3 months experience now) and I have been starting to question my husbandry. I currently have 2 Balls (one normal female and one male spider) both are under 6 months old. My current set up is two 10 gallon glass tanks with Eco Earth and infra-red heat lamps. I have a large water dish in each and 2 hides (one on the hot side and one on the cold) the hides aren"t identical but close in size.

My male spider seems to drink regularly but I don't see him actually drinking all that often but I can see the water level drasticly drop every few days. My normal female on the other hand does't seem to drink ever. She looks dehydrated from time to time but I may just be paranoid. is there any way to tell if she is?

I would also like to know on average how much a 6 month old ball should weigh.


I live in florida so you would think that keeping humidity levels high enough wouldn't be an issue, but it defiantly is. I think that this is because of the heat lamps and he screen top. I've measured the ambient humidity level of my apartment to be consistently 60% but my tanks read 30%-40% without misting. I have an Animal Plastics T12 (48"x24"x24" LxWxH) on order and should arrive in about 2 weeks. I got the divider and am using flexwatt for heat. I will be housing both snakes in it, separately of course. I'm hoping this will eliminate the humidity issue but I would like to get some conformation on that.

Lastly on a what might sound a bit of a crazy note I have noticed that all the Balls that I have seem on the big time breeders websites and here as well that I consider to be higher quality snakes have this sheen. they just seem to be somewhat glossy. My spider has a little bit of this but my normal is fairly dull even after shed. so my question is this:

A) is this due to good health and husbandry
B) is this because these are "higher quality snakes"
C) is this because of the lighting (most but I can't say all seem to be under florescent lights)
D) does this just vary from morph to morph/snake to snake?
E) or am I just crazy?

Thanks in advance for your time and insight.

It very rare to see snakes drink water. There are plenty of tips to keep humidity levels in tanks at a good level from covering the top with plexiglass with holes, putting a wet rag on top. Putting the water dish over the heat. Heat lamps do kill the humidity.

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Originally Posted by SMSReptiles

It very rare to see snakes drink water. There are plenty of tips to keep humidity levels in tanks at a good level from covering the top with plexiglass with holes, putting a wet rag on top. Putting the water dish over the heat. Heat lamps do kill the humidity.

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Guess it depends on timing, I've seen my BP drinking numerous times. It's neat to watch her drink, she dips her head in the water bowl and chills there for a bit.

Should I be worried about it if I see her drinking often? I don't have a device to measure humidity so maybe it's on the low side.

idk why but the last week or so ive seen my bp drinking water as soon as i put him up from handling him. sometimes he'll just dip his nose in and sometimes he'll actually lick the water like a dog. pretty awesome really lol. but most ppl dont get to see it happen very often so dont worry if you dont.

i had the same problem with my humidity, all i did was tape aluminum foil overy 85-90% of the screen and move the water bowl to be mostly sitting underneath the lamp and over top the UTH. i also mist it once or sometimes twice a day which brings the humidity way up and will usually stay there. hope it helps :gj:

Mine doesn't seem to really drink, or at least not when I'm noticing. Usually hanging out in one of his hides.

My screen doesn't lock on my tank, so I ended up placing a couple of large pieces of tile on top, and it keeps the lid on, as well as keeping the humidity in.

I guess I wasn't clear on what my question is regarding the drinking and humidity. My question about the drinking is how do you know if a ball python is dehydrated, and my question about the humidity is Animal Plastics webs tie advertises their enclosures to hold humidity much better. While this makes sense since there is no screen top, I'm wondering if there really is a drastic difference in the humidity levels in a glass tank and in an Animal Plastics T12

Thanks for all the replies regardless.