Heat/Light

hey there :) stumbled upon this lovely site yesterday afternoon, it's been incredibly informative, so first a "thank you" is in order!

here's my issue...i had a female ball about four years ago and unfortunately she died :( i was so upset, and it was frustrating because i couldn't figure out what happened. now i've got a beautiful baby male being shipped to me in a couple of days, and i have a small concern. as far as housing, i still have the aquarium from lily so i'm just going to use that again. the top is wood (with holes of course for ventilation) and a light bulb fixed to the top of the underside. this was the only heat source i had and i'm worried that it wasn't enough. i'm not too concerned about the snake burning himself, as lily never had any issues with that. should i get an undertank heating pad as well? also, i don't recall ever turning the light off, and i've read some caresheets that suggest implementing light cycles. is this necessary or healthier?

i also didn't have any way to measure the temp or humidity last time, so i'm going to invest in one of those accu-rite therm/hygro's i've read a lot about.

i would really like to avoid another disaster, it was so upsetting! so i wanna make sure i get the light/heat issue straightened out. any help would be much appreciated! :)


peace<3,
lane

Ok so what you should do is buy a thermometer and a humidity gauge. The hot side of your tank should be 90-92F and the cool side 78-82F. The humidity needs to stay around 50-60% and when your male bp sheds keep the humidity around 70%. You should also invest in 2 hides, one on your cool side and the other on the hot side. All you need after that is a water dish and your set up. Don’t use any cedar bark and a couple more barks as well b/c it can cause repertory illnesses. Do some research about what should be used as a the ground. Newspaper works great, is cheap, and can be changed with ease. As far as the lighting schedule goes, and other questions like this? The best thing to do is ask your self what would it be like if the bp was in an African forest? So about the lighting just do mimic nature 12-14 hours on and the rest dark. These animals are nocturnal so the time spent in dark is a good thing for them. And one last thing avoid letting your snake be in temps. lower then 73, this is dangerous to their repository and may cause infection. IF you need anything we are all here to help you out so don’t hesitate to ask. Hope this helps.

The Accu-Rite from Wal-Mart (other brands are also sold at Home Depot and Lowe's) is probably one of the best investments and well under $20.00. I couldn't imagine having our snakes w/o the handy dandy thing helping me keep temps and humidty right.

It was suggested to us to start our new b.p.'s on plain white papertowels so you can very easily see their urates/feces and gather any if you need to have something checked our by your vet.

Two hides are a must as they will allow your lil python to go back and forth to thermoregulate and not have to give up his safety factor.

As far as I know belly heat is the preferred heat source for ball pythons.

The best advice we got was to settle in the new snake with hides, water and temps/humidity all set. Then leave the snake totally alone...no picking up or fussing with it other than to change it's water and remove feces/urates..for at least a week before attempting it's first feeding. Once it had fed a couple of times then start handling it in small doses. This slow introduction time has been wonderful we believe in helping our snakes be less stressed, ready to eat and easy to handle. Small steps that paid off big time.


~~Jo~~

Thank you guys! :) Any advice on how to implement a human heating pad with an aquarium tank?

For temps, it is recommended to have the warm side in the range of 92-94 and the cool side at 82-84. Anything below 80 degrees can cause a ball python to go off feed, and make it more susceptible to respiratory disease. I keep mine at 84/94, and she is a fat little heifer. :)

If an undertank heat source alone won't get your warm and cool side temps in those ranges, you will need other heat sources. I use two heat pads underneath an iris tub to maintain these ranges. Instead of those junky "reptile" heat mats, you can use flexxwatt heattape. www.mgreptiles.com sells this as well as reliable thermostats(which should be used with flexxwatt) for a reasonable amount of money.

You don't need an extra light for a day/night cycle. If the enclosure is by a window, then that works just fine.

Since you are getting a baby, small, low to the ground hides will help him feel more secure and be more apt to eat for you(in conjunction with proper temps). Small(4" diameter) clay pot saucers(what the clay pot itself sits in-collects water) work well for hides. Knock a small hole in two of them, and place upside down with one on the warm side, and one on the cool side.

With the digital temp/hygro unit, you would place the unit itself, flat on the floor of the cool side, and run the probe over and place it underneath the warm side hide. OR you can get a raging case of OCD ;) and buy two units like I did. Place one unit in the middle of the wall on the cool side and run the probe under the cool hide. This will read ambient and floor temps, and humidity for the cool side. Do the same with the other unit but place the unit on the warm side, and run the probe under the warm hide. It will measure the same. Now is that anal retentive or what? :)

Anywho! I think a good thing to do before setting everything up, is to disinfect anything that the previous snake touched. This is just for the new baby's safety in case your previous girl had anything that led to her demise. I would fill the tank up a bit with water and then pour some bleach in there. Let it soak for a few hours. If you have any cage decorations, put those in there as well.

I also had a question for you. That light bulb that was secured to the inside top of that board, was it inside the enclosure where the snake could touch it? If so, that is a very dangerous situation that the snake can get into and should be removed immediately. Lamps in general dry the air out, reducing the humidity for proper shedding(which can range from 45-60%).

Ok, that should be it. If we missed anything, just ask. Nice having you on the forum, and hope everything goes well with your new addition :)