couple of questions?

The dial guages can be off by a few major degrees either way, get an accurite digital from wal mart to measure your temps . It wouldnt hurt to bump the temps up a little

Yeah...if you read the care sheet you'd know that the temps need to go up almost 10 degrees (F) on each side! Warm side should be more around 90-95, cool side 80-85. Humidity sounds good though (prob since you got rid of the heat lamp).

Hope all goes well for you and your new bp! Just be sure to do the research so you can be sure he/she stays happy and healthy.

Oh yeah, all of us would like some pics if you've got some!!!

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Originally Posted by Nick_bp

i have two temperature gauges(not digital) at both ends of the tank. there about half way inbetween the top and bottom of the cage. and there is a heated pad under one side. and i just switched from astroturf to aspen substrate. i keep my fan on high all the time but her cage stays about 82 to 85 on the warm side and about 77 to 81 on the cool side

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So you have no idea what the temperature of the heat pad is, is it even plugged into a thermostat?
Those frisbees(temp dials) are good for one thing, training your rat to play fetch :P
To know the temp of the heat pad you have to have a probed thermometer so you can lay the probe on the heat pad and the box of the thermometer goes to the cool end to read that temp.

no i dont know the temperature but yeah its plugged in. i will have to get a digital temperature guage. should i get one with a probe or no? does it work the same and is precisely accurate? so then to up the temperature i need to plug in my heat lamp. should i get a ceramic heat bulb? pictures are in my images, i dont know how to post images in the thread

Yes, a heat pad that isn't plugged into a controlling device such as a rheostat or a thermostat is dangerous.
If you don't know the temperature of the surface the snake is touching, it could easily be dangerously hot, and could burn your animal very quickly. Snakes do not sense temperature with their skin very well, and they will lay on a hot surface until they literally cook.

Always measure the temperature of the hottest thing your snake can touch.

And yes, pinky mice are ridiculously small for a ball python--the prey you feed the snake should be as big around as the widest part of the snake. That seems huge, but it's the right size. Don't worry about the snake's skinny little neck--it will stretch, honest. :)

The belly button will heal over and not really be noticeable once the snake grows. It will always be there, though.

ok thanx so how do i plug in the heating pad into a thermostat? how do i keep the humidity up with my heat lamp on to raise my temp to around 90F?

no i dont. and its not plugged into a thermostat. how would i do that and what would i buy to plug it into a thermostat? what should the teperature of her heat pad be at? would i take the temp through the substrate or on the bottom of the glass terrarium?