List of things to buy or make

Ok, after doing my research I've compiled a list of things to buy or make;

1. Rubbermade Cage

2. Human heat pad with no automatice turn off

3. A heat lamp

4. Two hides one ofr the warm side one for the cold

5. A indoor/outdoor themometor

5. Substrate (I'm a little confused on this one, what works best?)

6. A humitifier (the one from the Do It Yuorself section)

7. Metal feeding tongs with no sharp edges to harm the animal

And if there is anything else I need to add please let me know.

I would hold off on buying the heatlamp until you've tried the heating pad out by itself. If you're using rubbermaid, and since it is summertime, that may be suffecient all by itself...depending on the size of the cage and the ambient temps of the room you keep it in.

As for the substrate...newspaper works just fine, or papertowels. There are plenty of others that give a "prettier" look, but if you're going for simple and inexpensive, then paper is the best.

Be sure and decide what you want to use for a waterbowl. It should be large enough for the snake to get completely into for a soak if it wants to, and heavy enough that it won't tip over when the snake crawls over the lip.

There is no shortage of substrate options. At our house we use (in various enclosures) paper towels, astroturf, aspen, and bark. For simplicity at its best, go for paper towels or newspaper. Loose substrates like aspen and bark look nice but can be a pain in the butt. Astroturf is somewhere in between - simple (provided you have at least 2 pieces) and looks nice.

Also, you may want to get a thermometer that also measures humidity. Walmart has that type for about $15...seems to be the popular choice around here and I think they work great..

I agree with Judy skip the heat lamp.

I use aspen bedding for substrate its like 6 bux and you get like 10 lbs and offers a more natural look and provides some cushion and texture for the snake to move on and the heat pad and aspen bedding holds moisture alot better IMO then carpet or papertowels and my BPs always found their way under them.