New guy with questions!

I just purchased a BP a few nights ago now and I also got a 30x12x12 glass cage as well. I love the snake and its an overall cool pet. But my questions are what do you guys use as a substrate? what lights would you use and is the heating bad a good idea? right now I belive I have a 50 or 60 watt blue light for the day and its impossible to keep the heat up in the cage. I have to run that light along with my 75 watrt black light I use at night for my thermometer to read 80.. and with that my humidty is wayyyyy to low, I spray water about 5 times a day to keep it up. I just want to know if I need a bigger light, what kind/color light to use and what substrate!! Thank you!

Its hard for us to tell you exactly what you may need but I can tell you what I have and maybe you can judge better what you may need.

My room is 68F and a 40gal glass tank for my BP.
I have a 100w che and a 60w bulb to keep my ambient temps within range.
I also have a uth on a tstat.

To help keep the heat in I covered three sides of the tank with thick art paper which boosts the temp by a few degrees.

To help keep the heat in and the humidity up I made a cardboard cutout to place on the screen top. I cut out windows for the che and bulb heat to pass through and then covered the cardboard with foil.

I use cypress mulch as a substrate and have live and fake plants in the tank. Because of the plants I have a mister that sprays twice a day so I do not mist myself. With all of that the humidity still was not great and I found that if I place damp moss in the hides it gives my snake all the humidity it needs. During a shed I keep the moss damp but during regular times I will allow it to dry out before making it damp again. These gives me perfect sheds.

Thank you I will have to give those tips a try! I have the temp up to 80 now but that's using 2 lights...Is there any type of bulb i cann 24/7 and put it on a dimmer? I was considering a red light that stays on all the time would that work? and also was going to get either aspen or the coconut stuff for a substrate because that's what seems to be what iv read altot on the internet.

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Is there any type of bulb i can 24/7 and put it on a dimmer?

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Ceramic bulbs do not emit any light so they can be ran 24/7 without messing with a light cycle, I have never tried using one on a dimmer though. I imagine it would have a greater fluctuation in temps because they warm up a little slower, also depends on how well your setup holds heat.

Aspen and coco fiber is good, but I feel that Cypress holds humidity alot better, if that is an issue. it is usually bigger chunks and not as messy as coco fiber, because of this I can pull out all the substrate, soak it, drain it and you don't have to mist as often. you do get a humidity spike the first couple days then it evens out. But if you want to use another substrate, a humid hide with Sphagnum moss works great, as mentioned above. There is also Craft paper you can buy online in bulk rolls if your not to concerned with a "natural" look. if you really want to go all out, you can look into a bio-active substrate. you can also build your own cage with insulated walls if your handy, there is tons of options out there, most of the common types of substrate and caging are mentioned because they are easier to maintain if you have multiple snakes, which most people end of getting, lol.

You can use red or the black night bulbs 24/7. The black bulbs never last that long and have always burned out faster than the red ones.

What I do on my tank I was telling you about is place the che on the warm side and then I have a double fixture over the cool side. In that fixture I have a red bulb that stays on 24/7 and a fluorescent bulb on a timer to simulate daylight during the day. When the fluorescent bulb kicks on you can not see the red light coming from the heat bulb. This has worked well for me for both aesthetics and function.

Aspen would be a poor choice when you have low humidity. Cypress or Coco would be your best bet. Coco can be a bit dusty when used alone. I actually mix cypress, eco earth, and repti bark for a more natural substrate look and it holds moisture well.

Sweet thank you for the help! ill be heading to the store tomorrow to get a red bulb and some coco fiber and that should help my problems. Now I found out he is favoriting a hide, does this mean anything I should be worried about? I added another hide and moved it to the colder side and he curld up in that one. I thought that was a little odd

I use the coconut stuff. It's fine, but not dusty. Easy to clean out and spot anything that needs attention.

I was really lucky and got my whole setup from a guy on craigslist. He told me to use cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil. I taped it to the sides and back of the tank and made one to sit on top. Holds heat and humidity well. You could even go as far as to make a removable one for the front. It's unusually dry right now in my part of WA and the house heat drys any moisture left in the air. I've been battling humidity levels the past few weeks.

You can get 60w day/night packs off petmountain for much cheaper than any of the chain stores. I change mine out every 6 to 8 weeks but you could probably get away with longer. They seem hit or miss on the life. Some will go 3 weeks others get changed out before they die.

I run the lamps and heat pad with this guy:
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiT...lla+thermostat

I am pretty sure I paid less than that for the one I bought. If you can get 2 life will be stress free!

If he's young he might not have figured everything out yet. Took my guy a few months to realize the temperature differences. He usually hangs out in there when he's full or shedding now.

Post up some pics!

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...1/sam_2556.jpg


http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...1/sam_2560.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...1/sam_2561.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...1/sam_2562.jpg

Sometimes a snake will pick a favorite hide and no matter where you put it the snake will go in it. If you could get a second hide to match it that may be good but some snakes even have a favorite of two even when they are identical.

If your overall temps are good it really shouldn't matter if it prefers one over the other.

Snakes can be weird. My BRB has his favorite spot in his cage. It is not on the uth and just seems to be a random spot he likes. If I place a hide there he will go in it but move the hide and he will go under the newspaper or just lay in the open.

Thanks you guys are lots of help, im going to try and run the red light 24/7 along with a regular light to imitate day time light, and shoud i just run the r ed light at night?

I alternate blue and red every 12 hours as best as I can. Too much heat in a shared fixture like mine will probably burn the bulbs out quicker. If you have a divorced setup though shouldn't be a problem. Humidity might become an issue with them both running.