UTH is hot; tank is cold

I must say getting our first ball had proven to be quite the learning experience. Stevepoppers and I have done nothing but research since getting her and have worried constantly about temperatures and feeding. She's in shed right now, and our humidity seems to be sticking between 50-60%. Could not having our humidity raised be part of the problem with her refusing to leave her hide? And if so, what are some of the best ways to raise it. We mist every few hours and have covered the screen with wet towels and foil, and it just doesn't seem to raise very much.

50-60 hum is good. U need a thermostat though. When u get one just make sure you attach the thermostat probe DIRECTY to the UTH. And your thermometer goes where the snake will be. That way u know the temp of the pad.
If I were you when u get the thermostat and get it all set up I'd chooseto use the Aspen or carpet. You don't really need both. And be careful because your snake will move that Aspen so I hope your takig the current temps on top of the repti carpet. If your worried about her getting under the carpet you can always just put some tape around t.
Good luck :). Jeremy.

Thanks. We've been considering removing the aspen. Gonna get some double-sided tape from the store to put under the carpet as well. The pet-store in the area is ordering a digital thermostat for us that should be in by Thursday (*crosses fingers*)....I think we're gonna wait until Friday or Saturday before disturbing her tank at all, so she gets more acclimated.

....Ball pythons are shy secretive animals. They RARELY leave their hides when they are happy. If your ball python is in shed, it will most definitely not come out of its hides until it is finished. This is completely normal.

Let me tell you this, if you were looking for a display animal, you got the wrong species, haha. Ball pythons will spend about 90% of their time in hides, coming out occasionally to look for food.


Please: DO NOT PUT ANY TAPE IN THE ENCLOSURE. Trust me on this one. You will end up peeling it off the snake at some point. I learned this the hard way. Many people learned this the hard way. Save your self the trouble and don't put tape in the enclosure. Hot glue could also work.

Also, I would try getting your humidity into the 70% range while she is shedding. While 50-60% isn't bad, the shed could still go bad and then you are left with a bunch of stuck shed to remove. Misting once or twice a day should help.

We do mist and it's actually usually towards the mid sixties. I've gotten used to the fact that it would be in the hide most of the time, but it's getting hot in there. It hasn't even moved to the cooler hide in days. That is what was worrying me.

We had the liner taped down and took it all out after seeing the strong warnings against it. It just made sense once someone mentions it.

Just waitin on that thermostat...

Don't worry about which hide the snake is in. As long as it doesn't get hotter then 95* he will be fine.
The reason you have a temp gradient is so the snake can choose. It is not uncommon for a snake to favor the warm side or favor the cool side.

Well, it is hotter than that. By a few degrees, usually. As long as my AcuRite is accurate and right.

wat do

Well, she wouldn't come out because of the shed. She may have actually been switching hides and I didn't notice. She did shed, and it was in pieces. Not really surprising the way things have been changing since we got her. Things will be more consistent for her next time. I actually caught her during the shed in the middle of the night. Tried filming it, but she did everything inside of her hide. Not a very exciting video, but exciting being there. Only a tiny bit of shed stuck to the tip of her tail.

The thermostat arrived at the petshop yesterday. Turned out to be a Reptitemp 500R. A little overpriced, but I'm just glad to have it. I'm still fine tuning it. The delay between the temperature of the UTH and the other side of the repticarpet makes it difficult. We're waiting until after we feed her tonight to change all that. Sunday, hopefully.

If you have the thermostat then you really don't need the reptile carpet, it will just make it harder to get the right temps since the UTH only heats surfaces and doesn't heat through materials very well.

A thin layer of aspen, cypress mulch, paper towels, or newspaper works well.

Yeah, we're just waiting til after she eats to change the bedding because we don't want to get her stressed again.