Newbie Questions

Hey all, I am new to this forum, and pretty new to owning a ball python. I recently purchased a ball about 4 days ago. She is said to be roughly 6 months old. I was told by the breeder that he was feeding her hopper mice. The hopper mice seem to be a bit too small. I just fed her yesterday and I cannot tell that she ate. I'm not sure if I should feed her another hopper, or try adult mice next time. Any suggestions?

Also, I have been monitoring her viv. The warm sides seems to be staying at about 79-80 degrees depending on my house temp. I use a UTH but was told to put cardboard between the substrate and the glass so the snake doesn't get burned, but it seems the temperature is too low. I use a digital thermometer and it seems the cold side is roughly 71. The humidity is reading 22% and I'm not sure that's right. I don't know what to do. I can't seem to get the temps right. Should I buy a heat lamp, should I remove the cardboard, what should I do? The temperature in my house is currently 72 degrees. Any advice that anyone could give would be great.

I'd check out a few caresheets so you can get your husbandry right. Right now your temps are too low and your humidity is way low.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBall.html

Here's a couple caresheets to get you started.

As you can see, both caresheets reccomend that you have temps about 80 on the cool side and 90 on the warm side with 50-60% humidity. Temps below 75 are unhealthy for your snake, as is a low humidity.

There are also instructions on the site on how to better make your tank humidity and heat-holding.

--Kim

Welcome aboard! :handshake: I hope you find all your answers here. :D


I agree that fuzzy mice are way too small for a 6 month old BP. An adult mouse should be fine. Just wait until your next scheduled feeding day and give it a try.

Cardboard between the UTH and the bottom of the enclosure is not the way to keep your snake from being burned. As you've already noted, all that does it make it impossible to achieve and control the proper temps. What you need to do is attach the UTH to the glass...and then plug it into a thermostat, or at the very least a rheostat (dimmer switch).

A t-stat is a far better method of controlling the temps, because it will adjust the mat's heat to compensate for fluctuations in the room temperatures. If you use a dimmer switch, you have to be aware of those fluctuations yourself and make all the adjustments by hand.

Johnson Controls and Rancos are both excellent and affordable t-stats that can be ordered online and shipped out to you within a couple of days. Try Reptile Basics or any number of other online suppliers. The t-stats you usually find in pet stores are not reliable.

Hope this helps some!!

Thanks!

I can get one of those for the warm side, will that help the cool side? I've heard of also getting a UTH for the cool side too, just to make sure it stays around 80, but I'm afraid that will make the humidity even worse. I've read about using pastic wrap to help trap humidity. Do I just wrap it around the screen top?

Sometimes a second UTH is needed to keep the "cool" side warm enough...especially with a glass tank in a cool room. But a UTH is much easier on the humidity levels than a heat lamp. Overhead heat sucks moisture out of the air.


Insulating three sides of the glass with cardboard or something similar will help hold in some of the warmth, as well as help your snake feel more secure.

When I used a glass tank for my BP, I covered the top with clear contact paper (can be purchased at any WalMart type store). It goes on very easily and stays put, but also peels off easily as well. Just be sure to leave some openings at the corners for air circulation. And if you look at the top of this Husbandry forum, you should see a thread that is "stickied" that gives a good explaination of other ways to cover the top and hold in humidity.

Best thing I ever did though, was switch from a glass tank to a plastic tub. It's not very pretty, but it's SO much easier to maintain and my snake is much happier in there.

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Originally Posted by eyeownvango

Hey all, I am new to this forum, and pretty new to owning a ball python. I recently purchased a ball about 4 days ago. She is said to be roughly 6 months old. I was told by the breeder that he was feeding her hopper mice. The hopper mice seem to be a bit too small. I just fed her yesterday and I cannot tell that she ate. I'm not sure if I should feed her another hopper, or try adult mice next time. Any suggestions?

Also, I have been monitoring her viv. The warm sides seems to be staying at about 79-80 degrees depending on my house temp. I use a UTH but was told to put cardboard between the substrate and the glass so the snake doesn't get burned, but it seems the temperature is too low. I use a digital thermometer and it seems the cold side is roughly 71. The humidity is reading 22% and I'm not sure that's right. I don't know what to do. I can't seem to get the temps right. Should I buy a heat lamp, should I remove the cardboard, what should I do? The temperature in my house is currently 72 degrees. Any advice that anyone could give would be great.

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Well welcome and congrats.

The warm side is way off it needs to be between 90 & 94 degrees and it is possible obtain this with a UTH but you will need to remove the carton board for that.

First before you remove the carton board you need a thermostat no matter what heating device you chose, it very important since any device producing heat can overheat the cheapest ESU 1 outlet or 3 outlets start at 25 dollars (Of course you get what you pay for but for). I would highly recommend to invest in a Ranco ETC-111000 or Herpstat Digital Proportional Thermostat they are more expensive but they are worth it. (here is where youcan find some reptile supply ReptileSupply.com & BeanFarm.com, ReptileBasics.com)

It is important to get a thermostat because without thermostast you will not achieve the required temp and your BP is at risk for burns.

For the cool side you have couple of options

1 Space heater in the room where your BP is kept to raise the ambiant temp

2 Second heat mat with second thermostat set between 80 & 84 degrees

Glass enclosure are harder to control but it is possible

For the humidity you need an acurate reading since you are not sure I would recommend you get a digital thermometer / hydrometer from walmart

Your hmidity needs to be 50% and 60%

You ca mist your enclosure
Have a substrate that hld humidity better
Add a humid hide
Put a water dish above the UTH

Finally for the feeding your BPP should be fed a preya little smaller then the girth size once a week that way your BP will be eating with consistency

Thanks all again for posting.

I've already moved the space heater into the room for the cool side, and I'm going to order the thermostat for the warm side so I can keep it up. Obviously I'm going to have to order it offline, will the snake be okay until then? I know 80 something is not too good, but I don't want to put him on the bare glass either because I'm afraid then it will get too hot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eyeownvango

Thanks all again for posting.

I've already moved the space heater into the room for the cool side, and I'm going to order the thermostat for the warm side so I can keep it up. Obviously I'm going to have to order it offline, will the snake be okay until then? I know 80 something is not too good, but I don't want to put him on the bare glass either because I'm afraid then it will get too hot.

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If it were me, I'd keep it in the 80's until the t-stat arrives....rather than risking a burn by removing the cardboard. The space heater should help with that as well.

Any other ideas for increasing humitity.. err keeping it as a constant level?

Ive heard of putting amoist towel over part of the cage. Would live moss be good if you resoaked it each day/s?

Just change it regularly. Warm and moist is mildew and mold's best friends!