My first ball python setup

I was asked in my welcome post about my husbandry and thought I would post here to be picked apart..as I posted there, that's what I am here for.

My BP is a 32 inch male. I have had him for 3 days now.He is currently in a 20Long with paper towels as the substrate (since I didn't know what was ok) and a water dish (bottom of a planter) He soaks in it a good bit- about 10 min or so each day so far) He also has a large rock under the basking light on one end with a small hidey and on the cooler end he has another hide box- larger. He also has a Uvb light and the lid is mesh wire with locking mechanism but still have books stacked on top.
Soooooooo...pick apart. What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? What do I need to change?

This snake belongs to my 13 yr old and she likes my sons Cornsnake better and has been offered by a friend to trade the BP for a corn...not sure yet but if we keep the BP I need to make sure his home is perfect! :wink:

You said there is a small hide on the cool end and another box hide. Where is the box hide? Is it on the warm end so he has a secure place to warm up?

What are you using to measure your temps and humidity? UVB is not necessary for bp's, so you can do away with the light if you wanted to. Are you using a heating pad for belly heat. Ball-pythons need belly heat to help them digest their food.

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Originally Posted by gen

You said there is a small hide on the cool end and another box hide. Where is the box hide? Is it on the warm end so he has a secure place to warm up?

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I have a hide box on BOTH ends (cool and warm) so he can feel secure wherever he chooses. He spends most of the time on TOP of the hide box. (The hide boxes are "shoebox" rubbermaid containers with "doorways" cut in them)
The rock under the heatlmap stays fairly warm. The rock temp is about 90. Do I need an undertank heatpad under his hide box???

I don't have a humidity gage yet. I am getting that this weekend. I wasn't "planning" on buying these so that's the one thing I didn't have. I do have about 6 under tank heating pads by Zoomed (various sizes) so I will drag them out tomorrow.

Are paper towels ok for the substrate or is something else better?

I use paper towels that's fine.

I'd suggest getting a digital thermometer/hygrometer from walmart. It accurately measures humidity and temperatures on both sides of the tank for about $15. Totally worth it.

Yep digi indoor with a outdoor probe is great wal-mart has them for $15 I jsut had to replace hte one my boa decided need a bath in his dish. Oh and they come with a built in humidity gauge also. a UTH is recommended since snakes need belly heat plus it make keeping the humidity up alot easier. I use a infared light or the water dish ot keep hte water temp at about 87* and a wet wash cloth over half of the tank to keep the humidity up (change ever 2 days or so) yep like LEd said drop the UVB bulb since its not needed.

Ok. got rid of the Uvb. I am so used to every animal I get needing one, I just gave them one..oh well.

Heading to walmart tomorrow fot the humidity/temp gauge. What dept would that be found in????

Usually it's with the big thermometers that you hang outdoors, in part of hardware, often near paint and mailboxes.

Thanks! I hate going in and walking around for an hour looking for one thing..then I end up buying 40 other things!

I know what you mean! Try asking WalMart employees if they carry soldering irons. Heh. They actually tried to send me to housewares for the clothing irons.