Silly questions

Ok so i have done what i thought was plenty of homework on ball pythons and went ahead and bought my little Taboo. The tempatures are where they need to be but i have a question. I read the care sheet and it said basking spot 90 degrees so i have a basking spot thats reading 91, great! but i've been reading this form and alot of people say you can use either a heat pad or basking light. I have both, the heatpad's tempature is at 92, so they are all in the good range, but is it ok to have both? he loves basking and he also uses his warm hide alot. Also the ambient tempature is at 80

Also on humidity, i have to keep spraying the tank to get it to over 50% it likes to drop down to about 45% after a few hours. I have saran wrap on half of the lid but it doesn't seem to work that great? does the saran wrap have to be really tight? Im using cypress btw. or any other ideas would be appreciated!

Welcome to BP.net!

Many tank users have both a UTH and an heat lamp, but as you are finding out, the heat lamp makes it very hard to maintain the humidity. Tanks are bad for keeping humidity in the first place, and the lamp makes it almost impossible with out substrate that can hold a lot of moisture.

Is your UTH on a thermostat?

It is perfectly fine to use both a heating pad and lamp as long as one or both are controlled by a reliable thermostat. Heat lamps and bulbs do tend to suck the humidity right out of the tank though, so misting or placing the lamp above the water bowl should help a bit. I would try covering a 1/4 to 1/2 the top of the enclousure with a damp towel or cloth to help lock in the moisture. Also adding some damp sphagnum moss or paper towel to one of its hides can help with humidity alot and give your animal the option to choose the humid hide or non humid hide. The Ball Python knows what it needs, you just need to provide it for him.

Wow very fast response! so should i just ditch the light then? and yes i do have a rheostat and a thermostat ( its the one thats $12 from walmart, cant think of the brand)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mallowolf

its the one thats $12 from walmart, cant think of the brand

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I think you may be refering to a thermometer, not a thermostat :D

oh geez yeah thats what i meant xD hehe

also i did try using 2 damp wash clothes over the lid, maybe a towel would probably work better then? Or should i just ditch the heat lamp? Taboo just ate his first meal (with me) :D *does dance*

I struggled with humidity in a tank as well. Sphagnum moss....a fairly wide water bowl will help too, but sphagnum moss....thats the stuff

Ok so something like this? http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3678493 How much should i put in the tank? and should i just put some all throughout the cage?

Put it in a little dish with some water. I also found tin foil with a towel over it to work better than saran wrap.