Proud New Owner

Yeah, definitely don't want a heat rock in there. Use an Under Tank Heater set up with a thermostat or a dimmer. They need heat to help digest their meals. Takes them 2 days to digest, during those two days you won't want to hold the BP.

Also, there's no way of looking at your BP and being able to tell what the sex is. You have to have it popped or probed.

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the addiction of Ball Pythons. Your first priority should be to get the enclosure up and running properly. I don't advise using a heat rock, as they are difficult to regulate, but if you want to use it, a dimmer or thermostat MUST be used, or you risk a nasty burn to your snake. The best way that I can recommend is an Under Tank Heater and a thermostat. Depending on how much money you have, or want to invest at this point, you can get an effective thermostat for $30-$300. You will also want to get a good digital thermometer to measure temperatures and a digital hygrometer to measure humidity. Alot of members use the Acu-Rite wired thermometer. It is available at Lowes/ Home Depot in the outdoor section, and sometimes at Wal-Mart in the hardware section. They cost about $12 a piece and will be able to tell yuou both cool and warm side temp and humidity. Once you tell us what type of enclosure you are setting up, we will be able to help, so that hopefully you won't run into any feed or shed issues...

will she be ok without a under tank pad? i dont have one yet.:O

we have a 30 gal tank, with heat lamp on top of cage, hiding space and with aspen down. we just went with what the lady at the pet shop told us. she said she has 6 snakes of her own.

30 gallon is a bit big, but you can make it work. You'll need to clutter it up with fake plants from Wal-Mart or the like. You need two hides. Aspen is fine. If you have a screen top, you'll probly want to cover up 70% of the lid with aluminum foil to keep humidity in the tank. You might even need to mist the tank daily to keep humidity up.

They can survive with no heat pad. Just get one whenever you can and make sure it's hooked up to a controlling device. When you get the UTH, dump the heat lamp... They suck humidity out of the enclosure.

also: Most of the time (though, not all the time) people at pet stores don't know what they're talking about. Take whatever they say with a grain of salt.

Yeah definately NO heat rocks....Use a UTH with a thermostat so the temperatures don't get high enough to burn the new snakie :D

It should be ok without the UTH for a very short time. As a last resort for extra heat you can leave the heat rock in there until you get a UTH but wrap the heat rock in a hand towel to diffuse the heat so it does not burn the snake. Never leave a heat rock in there with nothing wrapped around it. The bare surface always gets too hot. Not a thin kitchen towel. A nice thick bathroom hand towel.

If you have a human heating pad which is not old you can place this on low under one side of the tank but make sure you use something to raise the tank up at least an inch. You do not want the tank sitting on this directly. You can use those plastic discs for raising furniture legs off the floor or pieces of wood under the 4 corners of the tanks. This is only very temporary and if you do this you must constantly check to be sure nothing is getting too hot.

Thank you all for all the advice. Lord knows i need it. My boyfriend isnt scared of her one bit but im still getting use to her. In time i know.

Welcome to BP.net and as you can see these guys (and ladies) know their stuff. I always give my snakes a slight touch before I pick them up to give them a "warning." As long as you take it easy with them and stay away from their heads Balls are pretty easy going snakes.

Ball pythons are great animals. Please dont use a heat rock, zoo med under tank heatpad works great. If u have a screen lid, u should put a wet towel over 70% of the lid to keep the humidity in