Newbie snake owner with questions..

I'll try to explain this the best I can, sorry if it is hard to understand..

Ok, so, I have had my ball python for about 5 months now, and have only had a UTH for her [set at 94F] on her hot side, but I read somewhere on the forums that UTHs only give belly heat, and that if the ambient air is too cold, they could get a RI.

My room is usually 79-81F, I don't know if that is too cold for her, I recently heard her making a weird wheezing noise after I fed her, and thought she had a RI, but she hasn't done it since, I am still worried though, so I sold some stuff and ordered her a ZooMed heat lamp, and a 50Watt bulb [Didn't know what wattage to get, so I just went with 50..], because it was all I could afford, the thing is, I was reading the reviews on the bulbs, and some people were saying that they exploded soon after they bought them? I am concerned because I don't know if this happens that often, I don't have a job, so I wouldn't be able to buy her another bulb if it exploded, how do I go about making it last as long as possible?

I also had another concern, when I was feeding her the other day, after she was finished constricting the mouse, and started to unwrap herself from it, she did this really weird corkscrew thing, almost like a spider.. I had read that snakes with IBD do that, and kinda freaked out, but she hasn't done it since, I don't know if she just was trying to figure out how to unwrap herself, or what. I would like to add though that I had just bought it prekilled, so it was still squishy, so I don't know if that changes anything, or maybe contributed to it? I may just be overreacting, but you can never be too sure I guess..

I want a healthy and happy snake, so any advice for this newbie would be much appreciated!

What's the humidity at?

If your room is 79-81 that is fine, but other than that as Jhill pointed out is the humidity. you want your humidity levels between 50-60% a little higher when your snake is in shed doesn't hurt. If the humidity is too low or too high it can cause respiratory issues

Your UTH could use being set at like 92, 94 is a little high. Ambient temp seems fine. Humidity is something to monitor closely to prevent RIs. As far as the corkscrewing, my little girl did some weird stuff tonight when I fed her. Sometimes they do weird stuff just to make us worry I think :P

It is usually at 40-50%, 60 when shedding

Anybody who uses heat lamps that can help me regarding the light bulb question? <3

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Originally Posted by ShayInator

Anybody who uses heat lamps that can help me regarding the light bulb question? <3

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Like said earlier do not use the lamp. 79-81 is fine you don't want it warmer.

Ahh jeez, which I would've known that before I bought the heat lamp.. Is it still alright if I use it? I'd hate for it to go to waste, just on the hot side anyways.

I bought a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer for $20. The small outdoor sensor/transmitter is very water resistant so I put that closest to the water bowl which is on the hot side. This measures the ambient temp well.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81...pstnppnb9y.jpg

You can see both the main body and the outdoor sensor in this photo, both are inside the tank and run on AA batteries.

I did a boo boo though and didn't shop around enough to find one that measures humidity. I will buy one that can and use this one I bought as a regular room thermometer and outside thermometer.

I suggest saving for a similar thermometer. It sounds like you have a thermostat for the UTH which is great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShayInator

....I want a healthy and happy snake, so any advice for this newbie would be much appreciated!

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I suggest you check these links out

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Husbandry-FAQs