Aggression/Skiddishness

I don't Think anyone has covered the humidity thing yet. Unless silly me missed it. I'd start spraying at least once a day. They need consistent humidity. Every few days isn't going to keep a tank set up humid enough which could lead to other issues. some balls are temperamental. Most of the time they are extremely docile. You also have to remember that all this is new for her/him. New person new sounds new smells. Is one mouse a week adequately keeping him full? He may be pounding everything because he wasn't fed right but that could also lead to temperament issues. Look at the largest part of the snake. Is a mouse relative to the largest girth on the snake. If not try giving larger prey or another mouse during feeding. Equipment you may feel is optional but look at it this way. It's much better to be safe than sorry. A heat pad can malfunction. It's happened to many many people and the snake is the one who gets hurt. They Dont have the same pain receptors we do so they will severly burn themselves and really not even notice. Then you've got to deal with a snake with thermal burns, possible infection and one hell of a vet bill for a thermostat that cost 20$. Just my .02 on that.

You have successfully raised bearded dragons, but that's a whole other species....you're dealing with a ball python now. I am 100% sure if your heat mat is not connected to a rheostat or thermostat or dimmer, it is most definitely getting too hot. I have a SMALL heat pad from zoomed, and without my dimmer it was exceeding 130* on the glass above the mat. Ball pythons burrow, and move substrate around, and I don't think you should say you "think" it's safe because of the substrate.
Read over this thread, it's of a nice burn on a ball python from an un monitored heat pad.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-me...(graphic)

Secondly, ball pythons do not have behavioral issues. Some take longer to adjust, but what you are describing, and I'm sure almost everyone else will agree, he/she is UNCOMFORTABLE and STRESSED in your setup. Use black Con-tact paper from home depot for 6 bucks, black out the sides and back. With those log hides, and the back being wide open, the poor thing doesn't feel secure, even in it's own hide. What kind of substrate is that? I'm firm on the fact that given you do not have anything covering the top of your tank, and it's a glass tank, that your humidity sucks. Block off most of the top, and mist about 2-3 times a day and that should better your humidity.

I can't stress how badly you need to monitor the heat pad other than touching it with your hand. Get a temp gun ($25.00-35.00), a dimmer ($10.00 at home depot), a thermostat ($50.00-120.00)....SOMETHING before you injure your snake.

As I said in my previous post, I've removed her access to the heatpads until I work out if they are even necessary, and if I do find that they are needed I'll invest in a dimmer. The thermostats are a bit on the pricey side, and I'm a college student so I don't have cash to be slinging all over the place. I also stated that I was going to go and purchase decorative backgrounds to line the back and sides with, as well as a more secure hide.

The substrate is:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3945029

Anyone know where I could get some plexi plates for the lid? I'm going to glue them into the screen lid so you can't see them, but get the same effect.

Well the heat pad is very beneficial for digestion, Home Depot has the dimmers for $10.00, they carry temp guns, but tempguns.com is having a sale on their best model for $35.00, and Home Depot also has plexiglass that you can have cut there for any size you need. At the very least you need the dimmer and temp gun for the heat pad, and as long as you check a few times a day with the temp gun you won't ever need a thermostat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andromeda

Anyone know where I could get some plexi plates for the lid? I'm going to glue them into the screen lid so you can't see them, but get the same effect.

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I just bought some plexiglas from Lowes yesterday. They cut it for free and they had many different sizes to choose from and were all reasonably priced.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andromeda

As I said in my previous post, I've removed her access to the heatpads until I work out if they are even necessary, and if I do find that they are needed I'll invest in a dimmer. The thermostats are a bit on the pricey side, and I'm a college student so I don't have cash to be slinging all over the place. I also stated that I was going to go and purchase decorative backgrounds to line the back and sides with, as well as a more secure hide.

The substrate is:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3945029

Anyone know where I could get some plexi plates for the lid? I'm going to glue them into the screen lid so you can't see them, but get the same effect.

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That regulating device is important. You can get a programmable hydrofarm thermostat from amazon for 35.00 I have one that I'm temp testing right now and its pretty consistent.

There are plenty of places for penny pinching when it comes to bps (hides,water bowls, tubs, substrate), the thing keeping your animals safe is not one of the places I'd recommend skipping out on.

You can get a ReptiTemp for under $30 -- not the best thermostat in the world, but it will get the job done, and it is better than a dimmer.

You could use a thermostat on a heat pad, and then use the heat lamp on the opposite side to keep the ambients up. After you get a good thermometer, then you could possibley get a dimmer for the lamp? You can pick a dimmer up at Lowe's or Home Depot for around $10 -- and that would probably work okay for the heat lamp.

I have never used a tempgun, so I can't really say if they are good or bad, but I have heard mixed reviews on them. And with a tempgun you have to constantly physically use it and check the temps. For $12 you can pick up an Accurite thermometer at Walmart and just look at it and see how the temps are. Plus you can monitor you humidity and 2 temperatures. You can put the thermometer on the cool side and monitor your ambient temp and the humidity, and it has a probe that you place directly on the glass floor of the terrarium where the heat pad is located. No guesswork -- you always know what your temps and humidity are.

Hope this helps...knowing your temps is definitely preferred to guessing -- then at least you can rule out those things as the problem if you know they are spot on.

I had the reptitemp thermostat, and I returned it and got the dimmer. I live by my temp gun, which IMO is a necessity. Digital thermometers are good for taking ambient temps, but NOT good for temping your heat pad. I disagree there, if you do not get a thermostat, a tempgun is necessary. Regarding the reptitemp thermostat, that will not keep your snake from frying if it ever shorts or has a surge....If you are looking to save money, like Cinderbird said, don't save money when it comes to the safety of your snake.

I had a dimmer switch on my very first cage about 10 years ago, and as far as I know, if a dimmer fails they most likely stick wide open if they fail. That is what happened with mine anyway.

I wouldn't recommend a ReptiTemp (I use a Herpstat myself). All I was saying is that a ReptiTemp or something similiar would be better than having the heating pad completely unregulated. I suggested the ReptiTemp as the original OP more or less stated that he would not be willing to fork out over $100 on a good thermostat. And since a dimmer and a ReptiTemp both will stay wide open upon fail, I think a thermostat would be better -- I have tried dimmers and they are way too hard to regulate if the temps in your home fluctuate.

And like I said, I am sure tempguns work okay, but I prefer an accurite. I am just curious -- not trying to start an argument -- how do you temp the actual surface of your enclosure where your heat pad is with a tempgun? I'm not talking the top of the substrate, but the actual glass or plastic on the bottom of your enclosure -- since that is what should be temped; the hottest part the snake could come into contact with.

I'm not sure how you figure you can't take the temp of the floor where the heat pad is with an accurite -- you stick the probe right on the floor; the closest point the snake could come into contact with. I was thinking it would be much more difficult to temp that spot with a tempgun.

Like I said, I'm not starting a fight ... just interested in how that works :)

Move the substrate out of the spot I want to temp, and point and shoot....same way you would with the substate on top. I agree I only have one tank, I use tubs for my others and I use a herpstat, which clearly the OP doesn't want to spend that much money. I haven't had any issues with my dimmer holding temps, but I do temp with my gun like 3 times a day and only adjust a fraction of a millimeter if I need to, but I think if he was to go the thermostat route I wouldn't go for the ReptiTemp. Easiest (and cheapest..which he's concerned with) would probably be the dimmer and temp gun, and the safest would be, at minimum, a Johnsons or Ranco. But to answer your question, I temp the same way I do with the substrate or ambient temp, I just have to move the substrate out of the way in a spot and hold it down for a few seconds to read it. I'm seriously considering getting rid of my tank that I worked so hard on just because it's so much more "complicated" than my tubs.