Hello All

Well as the title says hello all I found this site and it looked good so I decided to join. I have recently decided to that I want to get a snake. I have always loved them but never got around to owning one. Up till now I have only kept aquariums and a few tarantulas. I have done a bit of reading up and for the most part they are fairly low maintenance(well in comparison to aquariums).So I decided on a ball python they looked like the best choice. I love their colors(I didn't know there where so many morphs so many beautiful snakes) but I will be getting one with a normal coloration, I also like their size they don’t get overly big and they don’t require much space. So I took one of my old tanks I don't use anymore and decided to turn into a terrarium. It’s a 27g (24x13x20) I know it’s not the best dimensions it’s a little to tall. I think it should work for a few months then I plan on upgrading. Well I will talk about the setup for a second. I decided to paint the back, bottom, and sides of the terrarium. I did it mainly for aesthetic purposes and thinking maybe it might help hold heat a little better (I really have no idea if it will or not.) For substrate I am using exo terra soft tree fern. The pet store didn’t have many choices. I asked one of the workers for help on lighting. What we told me to get was a flukers 5.5in 75 watt lamp and an exo terra 13w reptile glo 2.0uvb.After I took it home and put it on the tank I decided it was way too small. I think he didn’t hear me when I told him it was a 20in tall tank. I plan on taking the bulb back and getting a brighter red bulb for night-time. I will also be picking up another brighter light I plan on getting the 7in exo terra light dome and an exo terra day lighting basking light. I will also be getting a UTH. I plan on getting an exo terra medium dessert heat pad. I have read different reviews for this product it seems some people love it and some people hate it. I don’t have much choice its all the pet stores around me carry. But this is getting pretty long so I will wrap it up. But I would love any info and advice that will help me successfully keep a snake alive and thriving.
Here is a pic of my setup.http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...y/DSC00323.jpg

Ball pythons don't need UVA/UVB lighting. Just natural light is good enough for them or really no light is fine too. People keep them in tubs with no lighting at all and they do just fine.

The most important thing you'll want is a UTH connected to a thermostat to keep a constant temperature or at the very least a rheostat.
Invest in a temp gun (they're pretty cheap).

There's a lot of good info on this site, so just poke around and read up. You found this site, so you're already on your way! :)

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Originally Posted by Greekinese

Ball pythons don't need UVA/UVB lighting. Just natural light is good enough for them or really no light is fine too. People keep them in tubs with no lighting at all and they do just fine.

The most important thing you'll want is a UTH connected to a thermostat to keep a constant temperature or at the very least a rheostat.
Invest in a temp gun (they're pretty cheap).

There's a lot of good info on this site, so just poke around and read up. You found this site, so you're already on your way! :)

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Alright thank you. The tank is in the basement in my room so there really isn't much light I just wanted a light so I could see into the tank a lot better. Since I don't need a special light can I just go and get a incandescent bulb from home depot for cheaper. I do plan on getting a temp gun for sure and as for the heater I was reading that a dimmer switch would work for controlling the heat. If I can find a temp controller for a decent price but if I cant I will just go with the dimmer switch.

when it comes to snakes, they get their vitamins from the intestines of the rhodent food. With a ball python, the light is for you, to make the enclosure beautiful, and to maybe help give the snake a day and night cycle. But the snake doesnt care, many people keep them in racks with only passive lighting from the room.

They do make a very good beginner snake, for beginners i recommend always either a corn snake or a BP. But why not get a morph? You can get many morphs for under 200 or even under 100 dollars if you go to reptile shows or directly to breeders. Maybe a pastel or het red axanthic or a spider or cinnamon or mojave or something. And normals are also much cheaper directly from breeders or at reptile shows, it starts as low as 20-30 dollars. Consider what food and electricity and water costs will be per month / per year, consider how long it can live, maybe you want to invest a bit more (like what it would cost it to keep it year to year), and get something more appealing to you, as your first snake. For an animal that lives up to 20 years, i would totally pay what its maintenance will cost over 1 to 3 years just to get a nicer one and to have more choice.

also, 10 out of 10 people agree, we all agree, buy directly from a breeder or at an expo for a good deal, or buy at a pet store that has excellent husbandry for all its reptiles for a fair deal and a healthy animal, avoid badly managed pet stores where the snakes and reptiles dont look healthy. For 80 dollars you can get an unhealthy normal with mites/parasites and bad shed, for 80 dollars you can also get a good looking well started subadult (that maybe even has a codominant morph or is het for something), parasite free and on a feeding shedule, from a breeder.

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Originally Posted by otmmy

Alright thank you. The tank is in the basement in my room so there really isn't much light I just wanted a light so I could see into the tank a lot better. Since I don't need a special light can I just go and get a incandescent bulb from home depot for cheaper. I do plan on getting a temp gun for sure and as for the heater I was reading that a dimmer switch would work for controlling the heat. If I can find a temp controller for a decent price but if I cant I will just go with the dimmer switch.

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The dimmer switch will work best if you don't have any temp swings in the room. Either way, I'd put a good thermostat on your future shopping list. Also, don't be afraid to purchase stuff online. Most pet stores only carry junk.

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Originally Posted by danojeno

The dimmer switch will work best if you don't have any temp swings in the room. Either way, I'd put a good thermostat on your future shopping list. Also, don't be afraid to purchase stuff online. Most pet stores only carry junk.

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reptilebasics.com or lllreptile.com are both good places to start...and usually cheaper than petsmart/petco