new to bp care and want some inputs

just got my first bps in october of this year and the store i got them from told me i can keep them in the same setup.. which i have done some reading and want to seperate them as soon as possible. right now i have 3 female normals in a 10 gallon terrarium, 2 hides, 2 water bowls..

i have been feeding them in seperate containers usuing gallon ice cream buckets with holes in the lid and have had no problems..

i got the basking (hot side) (using heat lamp and heating pad) at 90 degrees and the cool side is 81 right now usually its 75-80

im using two cheap guages for temp as well as a acurite for temp an humidity

my question is since the guy told me it was ok to house them like this..:confused:

i have one who is gone into the shedding process and want to make it as good for her as possible the humidity right now is @ 64 it was too low so glad i got the acu-rite and ive gotten it up since two water bowls and towel on top trick i read on here..

what i dont want to do is get it too high so it bothers the other snakes but dont want it too low so she doesnt shed great..

any input or ideas comments anything would be much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by ball-pythons

just got my first bps in october of this year and the store i got them from told me i can keep them in the same setup.. which i have done some reading and want to seperate them as soon as possible. right now i have 3 female normals in a 10 gallon terrarium, 2 hides, 2 water bowls..

i have been feeding them in seperate containers usuing gallon ice cream buckets with holes in the lid and have had no problems..

i got the basking (hot side) (using heat lamp and heating pad) at 90 degrees and the cool side is 81 right now usually its 75-80

im using two cheap guages for temp as well as a acurite for temp an humidity

my question is since the guy told me it was ok to house them like this..:confused:

i have one who is gone into the shedding process and want to make it as good for her as possible the humidity right now is @ 64 it was too low so glad i got the acu-rite and ive gotten it up since two water bowls and towel on top trick i read on here..

what i dont want to do is get it too high so it bothers the other snakes but dont want it too low so she doesnt shed great..

any input or ideas comments anything would be much appreciated.

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Yeah, never listen to that guy again. :rolleyes:

Definitely separate them ASAP. Tubs work best. Easier to control temps, humidity, etc. There are a million threads on this subject.

After you get them separated, don't feed them in separate containers. This adds unnecessary stress. Feed them in their tubs/cages. No it doesn't make them aggressive.

That is quite the temperature gradient for a 10 gallon, especially using a heat lamp. I wouldn't trust your cheap-o temp guages. Go by your Accu-rite.

A little extra humidity isn't going to harm your other snakes, but again, separate them ASAP! You can pick up locking tubs at Wal-Mart for around $10 a piece.

1. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet <-- read that

2. seperate them ASAP (even if you put them in sterilie tubs, 3 snakes, 2 hides = 1 hideless stressed snake, you can even make another hide out of any household thing, when mine was smaller i used a bowl from a local fast food place, and cut a hole for her to go into)

3. Putting a damp rag over the top of the enclosure will increase the humidity (i do it myself (or some wet moss, i use that during the shed cycle) the others shouldnt be to effected by the extra humidity.

Not trying to be harsh, sorry if my post comes off that way.

appreciate the replies - no harshness taken or offense here i posted so i could get honesty and straight forward feedback i appreciate that - i will be switching them all to tubs this week and NEVER listen to the store guy again. thank u

This is deffinietly the place to get the information you need! I myself am still fairly new and am always learning, everyone here is extremely helpful. its great.

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Originally Posted by BFT12890

i used a bowl from a local fast food place, and cut a hole for her to go into)

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Yup, I've done the same. I scored a bunch of Subway soup bowls when our store quit selling soup. Hides don't have to be fancy to work. Simple is usually better.

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Originally Posted by ball-pythons

and NEVER listen to the store guy again. thank u

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Good call. Not all pet store employees are clueless about reptiles, but most are. They rarely have any formal training outside of dogs, cats and hamsters. Minimum wage isn't usually enough incentive for them to learn on their own or even look a care sheet. :gj:

Generally what I do when told anything by store owners, is before doing what they say, I research. I either browse forums here, or start my own, and base my decision on whether its good or not by majority answer, if 85% say good and 15% say bad, its probably ok to do, and I also use the post count/reputation of posters to kind of sway my opinion as well. just my :2cent:

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Originally Posted by AK907

Yup, I've done the same. I scored a bunch of Subway soup bowls when our store quit selling soup. Hides don't have to be fancy to work. Simple is usually better.



Good call. Not all pet store employees are clueless about reptiles, but most are. They rarely have any formal training outside of dogs, cats and hamsters. Minimum wage isn't usually enough incentive for them to learn on their own or even look a care sheet. :gj:

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well put.. thats why i joined this site to read and learn all the info i can to make me a better care taker of these great reptiles, the only reason i was using different containers to feed is to prevent them from going after the same hopper but once rehoused i will feed in their housing. thanks