New Setup..

Hello Guys and Girls,
I am getting ready to get a 55 gallon tank. I just wanted some help and Ideas. I know the humidity is prob going to be hard to keep up so I am going to put aluminum over half of the screen lid. I have a lot of peat moss from our Chinese Water Dragon setup.(is this alright to use as a substrate in your opinion). I have also seen some other setups with the Rock type backgrounds (what is that) is that the Styrofoam type backgrounds. Yes I have a UTH and Thermo's for cool and hot side. I have a heat lamp to help with heating the cool side to prop. temps. I use a 60 watt regular bulb for daytime. Then I use the moonlight 60 right now but prob go to 75 for bigger tank.. I have some plans to make two identical hides for hot and cool sides. I have fake plants, and some grapevine wood in my current tank, ( I want something bigger for him to move around in if he wants to. He is 4 foot long(about) I have not completely measured him. He is a problem eater(right now on a 3 month fast) going to try and feed today..Any other info of questions that you have on anything I have left out or whatever dont mind to ask. I know a lot of people do not like the idea of a 55 gallon, but it is what I want. So I want to figure it out....Thanks in advance for all the help and comments GOOD or BAD

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Originally Posted by Otto1208

Hello Guys and Girls,
I am getting ready to get a 55 gallon tank. I just wanted some help and Ideas. I know the humidity is prob going to be hard to keep up so I am going to put aluminum over half of the screen lid. I have a lot of peat moss from our Chinese Water Dragon setup.(is this alright to use as a substrate in your opinion). I have also seen some other setups with the Rock type backgrounds (what is that) is that the Styrofoam type backgrounds. Yes I have a UTH and Thermo's for cool and hot side. I have a heat lamp to help with heating the cool side to prop. temps. I use a 60 watt regular bulb for daytime. Then I use the moonlight 60 right now but prob go to 75 for bigger tank.. I have some plans to make two identical hides for hot and cool sides. I have fake plants, and some grapevine wood in my current tank, ( I want something bigger for him to move around in if he wants to. He is 4 foot long(about) I have not completely measured him. He is a problem eater(right now on a 3 month fast) going to try and feed today..Any other info of questions that you have on anything I have left out or whatever dont mind to ask. I know a lot of people do not like the idea of a 55 gallon, but it is what I want. So I want to figure it out....Thanks in advance for all the help and comments GOOD or BAD

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If he is not eating now, I would not recommend moving him to a larger enclosure.

What size enclosure is he in currently?
Temps?
Humidity?
How are you measuring temps & humidity?

I have him in a 20 L and I have two of the Zoo Med probe thremo's the one on the hot side is sitting on the glass under the substrate, and reading 92. The cool side is in the Air (reading the Ambient, ground temp) it stays around 83 during the day and 76-77 during the night. I think I need to go to a higher moonlight bulb.

humidity is around 50 I have one of the accurite hyrgo's

Peat moss isn't a good base substrate. You can use it for a humid hide, but not for the entire enclosure. I'd use Aspen, Cypress, Paper Towels or Newspaper.

You can usually find the styrofoam backings at larger pet stores. They are generally in the reptile section.

The more decorations and hides, the better. This will allow him to feel more secure.

He might just be on a hunger strike for breeding season. I'd offer him a live (appropriate size) mouse or rat to see if that kicks him in gear.

I agree, I wouldn't move him to a larger enclosure at this moment. Get him to feed for a month or so, and then move him. You can go ahead and buy and set up his enclosure, but hold off on the move.

I keep seeing people use foil over their screen lids, I found a much better looking solution that does a GREAT job. Go to wal-mart and track down the fabric department, there they have this clear plastic sheeting in various thicknesses. I like to get a thicker peice, then I cut it to fit over the screen, then I trace out a few air hows in the bottom using a cup as a stencil.

i use reptibark as a substrate with no worries.

Yeah It was not going to be an all of a sudden move. I was going to set it up the way I want it, then move after he eats for a while...any other info would help. I got my Otto from a guy's friend at work. He was just giving him a way so I wanted to make sure he was in a home that would care for him(ME) lol!!!! SO he told me he feeds med size rats. well the pet stores around here only sale small and large rats.. So i have a small rat in an enclosure of its own trying to let it grow....just a little bit. I did this for about a month now. We have a friend that has BP's that is supposed to come over today and show me
her method of feeding to see if it works on my guy and get him to feed.....Any other info from anyone...

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Originally Posted by ParmleyStyle

i use reptibark as a substrate with no worries.

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yeah the guy i got him from had this, but i felt it held too much moisture(prob not but just my opinion)

You said you are getting a 55gallon because that is what you want. Sorry but I think you need to reevaluate the situation. You should be doing what is best for your ball python, not just what you WANT to do. A 55 gallon is HUGE even for a full grown BP. Most of the hugeness comes from its height, which is next to useless for a full grown BP. They are terrestrial and will spend most of their time on the ground. If you really want a bigger tank, I would look into getting something that has more floor space than height.

As for substrate, I would use shredded aspen, looks great and hold humidity pretty well and keeps the smell down.

I had one of those Styrofoam backgrounds once and my BP ended up wedging herself behind it and I had to cut it to pieces to get her out. D:

Get a scale. I got mine from target for $20. Make sure it goes above 3,000grams and has a "tare" button. Weigh your snake, length is really not very useful for measuring snakes. Weigh your snake every week. If he is loosing a considerable amount weight while fasting, then I would see the vet. If he is maintaining his weight, then I wouldn't worry too much.