Humidity and temps.

Hey everyone, i just got my first ball python yesterday. I ordered a baby but when it came here it was about 2 feet. i'll post pics soon. =] anyways, i dont have a thermostat hooked up yet so ive been paying close attention to the temps and humidity.

my tank setup is this: 20gal. tank with infrared light and UTH on the hot side and a 40 watt daylight bulb and a 40 watt night time bulb. im using terrarium liner and repti-bark on top of it for a substrate. i only have one hide in the middle of the tank for now but in a couple days im getting another one along with the thermostat.

so here are my questions:

since i dont have a thermostat should i be worried about the UTH overheating.(the digital thermometer i have doesnt have a probe on it either to figure out how hot its getting.)

the hot side is raging from 89-91F and the cool side is staying around 80. i dont have a temperature drop at night. is that okay?

after researching for a while i found mostly that they like to have the humidity between 50-60%. the hygrometer has been slowly decreasing from 60% yesterday to 29% today. i dont know what to do to get the humidity up. ive already put damp wash clothes on the cage and have been misting about 3 times a day. this works for a little while but drops quickly again.

anyone have any ideas?

thanks,

Ethan.

As far as the humidity goes, it is escaping through the top on the aquarium. The wash clothes are only soaking up the moisture as it rises after you spray the enclosure. Temps look good. So try covering atleast 2/3 of the enclosure with something that will not soak up moisture and keep the misting of the enclosure. Hope this helps.

Covering the top of the enclosure with a damp TOWEL (not wash cloth) will help, but it has to be fairly damp. Be sure to change this towel a few times a week to prevent bacteria growth.

A UTH uncontrolled is NOT SAFE. Un-plug it until you get your thermostat - it is very likely over 110 degrees and will most certainly burn your bp. Get the thermostat or a lamp dimmer as soon as possible - your bp needs a temperature gradient, but until then just keep the temp in the tank in the mid 80's if possible via the lamps.

As for other humidity tricks - once you set-up your thermostat, move a rather large water dish over top of the UTH to help it evaporate into the enclosure. You can also purchase a compact humidifier for about $15-$20 and that will help quite a bit in a medium sized room after it has been running for a few days. You can also purchase some sphagnum moss and spray it once a day so it slowly releases the moisture into the tank. You can simply keep it in a bowl or open container.

When choosing the hides, make sure they are identical when you buy them - your bp needs to feel equally secure in both the warm side and the cool side.

If you go to wal-mart or a hardware store, you can pick up a relatively inexpensive digital thermometer/hygrometer combo with a probe that will show you your UTH is likely VERY hot, so that is a priority as soon as possible as well.

I hope this helps, keep asking questions - we are here to help you:)

thanks for the help, i will definetly unplug the UTH and try a towel instead.

No problem, I use thick tea towels (in the winter) or a small hair towel - give it a good soak, ring it out so its not dripping, and that does the trick:)