New ball python keeper, really need some advice!

Hi there, I just got a 4 month old normie BP about 4 weeks ago. She's my first snake, and I have a few experienced friends that have been showing me how to care for my girl, Arias. But, she's going to shed soon, or she's in the process. She has the cloudy blue eyes and is very dull. My problem is, I cannot keep the humidity up in her enclosure. It'll go from 50% to 17% within a few hours. At the same time, I can't keep her heat up to 80 degrees. I live in Canada, so the winter is really cold here. My room is in the basement, and I have a space heater to help and she has a heat lamp and a heat pad. Still only gets to about 75-77 degrees.

Please, any advice would be lovely and I'd appreciate it so much!

If she's in a glass tank... I would keep warm wet towels on top of the screen top and wrap the sides of the tank with foil.

what type of substrate are you using?

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Originally Posted by Spencer88

If she's in a glass tank... I would keep warm wet towels on top of the screen top and wrap the sides of the tank with foil.

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Yes, she is. I was told to put tin foil over the mesh screen, so I have that on there. I do have a dry towel on top, but I will try your advice out. And I have aspen bedding with some moss I was told would help humidity from the pet store.

Thank you for your reply.

Welcome to the forum.

You should check out the post below yours (ball python and cold apartment thread) They answer your exact questions.

Also, check out this DIY it will also answer most of your questions.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=201740

Best way to keep heat and humidity in, is to close off most of the top of the enclosure (I take it you have a glass one).

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Originally Posted by bkrueger

Yes, she is. I was told to put tin foil over the mesh screen, so I have that on there. I do have a dry towel on top, but I will try your advice out. And I have aspen bedding with some moss I was told would help humidity from the pet store.

Thank you for your reply.

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Just lay a wet towel over the top and you can put the foil on top of the towel if you want. You can also mist the inside of the substrate and that will help hold humidity to.

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Originally Posted by Spencer88

Just lay a wet towel over the top and you can put the foil on top of the towel if you want. You can also mist the inside of the substrate and that will help hold humidity to.

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I mist it about 4 times a day. And I was thinking about putting her in one of those plastic storage tubs with a warm wet towel on the bottom and one on top of the tub for about an hour a day to help her, do you think that would help her out during the shed as well?

How are you controlling the temps of your heat mat and lamp? Do you have a thermostat connected?
Since you're not getting enough heat, try insulating your tank. They sell insulation panels for a few dollars at Home Depot/Lowes. They're basically foam boards that can be cut to whatever you want. Just box your tank in with the insulation panels to help retain heat.

As for humidity:
-Cover 90% of the screen lid with a damp towel, taped down tin foil, or plexiglass.
-Use substrate that will retain humidity well (coco husk or cypress mulch)
-Move larger water bowl near the heat source. You can do the same thing with damp moss.
(Larger the bowl, larger the surface area for evaporation.)

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Originally Posted by satomi325

How are you controlling the temps of your heat mat and lamp? Do you have a thermostat connected?
Since you're not getting enough heat, try insulating your tank. They sell insulation panels for a few dollars at Home Depot/Lowes. They're basically foam boards that can be cut to whatever you want. Just box your tank in with the insulation panels to help retain heat.

As for humidity:
-Cover 90% of the screen lid with a damp towel, taped down tin foil, or plexiglass.
-Use substrate that will retain humidity well (coco husk or cypress mulch)
-Move larger water bowl near the heat source. You can do the same thing with damp moss.
(Larger the bowl, larger the surface area for evaporation.)

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Right now, I just have a basic plug in heat pad under the substance and a basic pet store plug in heat lamp. Don't have a thermostat. I was told I can just use all my old heating stuff that I used when I had a Bearded Dragon. The heat isn't really much of a problem, it'll be at 80 and drop to 75 and back to 80 through out the day, and at night it'll be about 70. It's definitely more the humidity I'm worried about.

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Originally Posted by bkrueger

Right now, I just have a basic plug in heat pad under the substance and a basic pet store plug in heat lamp. Don't have a thermostat.

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You should get a thermostat for the heat pad because you don't know how hot its running and might burn your snake.

A hydrofarm heat pad thermostat is like 35 bucks and is totally worth it

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZ...dir_mdp_mobile

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Originally Posted by Misha

You should get a thermostat for the heat pad because you don't know how hot its running and might burn your snake.

A hydrofarm heat pad thermostat is like 35 bucks on amazon and it's definitely worth it.

http://link2.tapatalk.com/?id=11082X...8275232&sref=4

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It's under a lot of substance, and I felt it just the other day, with everything on top of it, it's really just leaving a warm spot. I don't think it's burning her. When I picked her up from the breeder, he told me to watch for pink on her belly and if some shows up, the heat pad is too hot. No pink has came up, and she spends most of the day in her hide on top of the heat pad. I would imagine if it was burning her, she'd stay away from it. I'll definitely look into getting a thermostat once the holidays are over!