Heating

I've poked around the forum, but still have a few questions pertaining to heat.

I have an 18-28" ball python in a 10 gallon aquarium with a clamp lamp and a 60 watt bulb. He's on Reptibark as a substrate, has a hide, and a water dish.

I'm having problems getting the heat up above 74degrees. I've added foil to 3/4 of the screen lid and am waiting to find out how that works.

The snake has also spent the past two days in his water dish. I was concerned about him, pulled him out, and he's acting normally. He's about to shed, has lost his color and has had milky eyecaps for two days now.

What should I be doing?

-I think a 10 gallon aquarium is a little small for a ball python nearing two feet. My suggestion would be to swing by WalMart and pick up a rubbermaid storage container for about $5. Solder some holes in it and voila! Instant snake enclosure that holds humidity well.

-What kind of thermometer are you using? Stick on ones are crappy, so if you have a digital one than the temps are correct. Otherwise they may be 10 degrees off! You can get a dual digital thermometer and hygrometer at WalMart for $11.

-It's cold here, so in the winter I get some 250 watt red light bulbs (also from WalMart $6). You can leave these on all day and night. They usually give me a 88-90 hot side and a 80-84 cool side in the day. The reason your temps aren't ideal may be because your bulb isn't strong enough for the weather and like I said, your thermometer might be off.

-Your BP should also have two hides, one on the hot spot and one on the cold spot.

-As for the shedding you can mist the enclosure or soak your BP in warm not hot, water for about 10 minutes. He seems to be soaking himself nicely though.

Can anyone tell I am addicted to WalMart? :)

Hi there and welcome to the forums!

What I would suggest you do is get a Digital thermometer. You can usually find those at Wal-mart, the Accurite brand. These have an "indoor" and "outdoor" temp, as well as a way to measure humidity. Place the "outdoor" probe on the warm side, and I would suggest you use belly heat at 93 degrees, rather than a heat lamp. A heat lamp will dry up his environment. Your humidity should be around 50%, and during shed it should be around 60-70%. If you're using one of those analog gauges, make sure it finds its way to the trash can, fast. They're notoriously inaccurate.

Feel free to ask any questions :D :gj:

leave the snake alone right now, they don't like to be bothered during shed.....

as for your heating, forget the lights for heat, i used to use them and it never got hot enough and they majorly suck the humidity out of the tank.....either get flexwatt heat tape or a UTH (under tank heater) which will have to be controlled by a thermostat (Ranco, Johnson, Helix, etc.)....and u said u have A hide...u must have 2 hides, one on each side of the tank....

I nearly forgot about UTHs! I have a poorly insulated room upstairs and UTHs never cut it for me, at least in the winter. In the summer UTHs rule the snake tanks.

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Originally Posted by HadesBP18

I nearly forgot about UTHs! I have a poorly insulated room upstairs and UTHs never cut it for me, at least in the winter. In the summer UTHs rule the snake tanks.

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Are you using Flexwatt?

I use Flexwatt for Narcissa's tank only because it came with the 20 gallon I had for my old bearded dragon. That with a ceramic heater is enough in the winter. My other small one is just a normal one bought from a pet store. I just keep it to give them belly heat to digest. The third one I use is for Kozma which is a human heating pad. That one works the best. Three settings, no hot spots, no light needed.

He does have two hides, his water dish is in the middle, and I'm not entirely sure where the 28" came from, he's 18-20. The 10 gallon is a temp. thing, he was in a Rubbermaid about a quarter of the size of the 10 gallon, and I had the 10 gallon lying around. I'm using a digital thermometer/hyd. from Flukers. Should I move him back to the Rubbermaid?

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Originally Posted by Threnody

Should I move him back to the Rubbermaid?

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either one will work, but speaking from experience, I can tell you that the rubbermaids will be much easier to clean and much easier to maintain temps & humidity.

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Originally Posted by Threnody

I have an 18-28" ball python in a 10 gallon aquarium with a clamp lamp and a 60 watt bulb.

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Thats where the 28 inches came from.